What a beautiful family....

Yes, I am talking about my own family. I am not really vain but I do make incredibly cute kids.
Every October since the kids were born we have done family pictures. This has been the best money ever spent.
Here we are in 2008:

in 2009 (okay so this is not one of the professional pictures but I can not seem to find them on the computer so here is one that I took just so you can compare):

and here we are in 2010:







Here we all are... (Jason's family):













See? I am right.... I have a beautiful family (for which I am very, very grateful)

**Erin Elaine Photography took all of the pictures this year and Kylene Krotzer took the pictures in 2008

Bella is in love.....

with coloring that is. The girl loves to color. She has filled up a whole notebook and is working her way through several coloring books. Crayons, pencils, markers.... she hasn't met an art project she hasn't liked yet. (gives me hope that she inherited some of Grandmom's talents).
Some mornings she will get up, go straight to the table and say "more". I will ask her what she wants more of and once I say "color" she goes "YEAH".

Jack is more into stickers but he will color as well

Bella's first love still does continue to be her baby though. She has shared the love with more babies but "baby" still is her favorite

Bella is not all girl, she loves playing with a cool car or truck as well

and of course she loves her Jack!

Jack and his sign language....

Jack and Bella are both in Speech Therapy. They were a bit behind in talking and they qualified for services so so they began (they have been in Early Intervention services in the past and it has been wonderful). Jack was getting SO frustrated, he would want something but not be able to say it. Bella wasn't speaking much but she has been more laid back lately. So we started with the Speech Therapist and she suggested we work on sign language with them. Jack picked it up so quickly and was able to do "more" pretty quickly. He soon caught on to "cookie" "please" and "milk" (can you see where my boy's brain is??). Jack tends to modify the signs a bit but he is able to get his point across.
Here are some pictures from last month when Jack started signing
"Milk" (the sign is similar to moving your hands like you are milking a cow)
Well Jack turned it into pulling on his ears

and then he gets milk... YAY!

"Please" (it is similar to making a circular pattern around your chest/belly)
I LOVE when he signs please... he moves his hands up and down his belly and will flail his tongue around as well (it is better seen in person but I love it)

"two"
When I ask Jack if he wants "one or two" of something he puts two fingers up and yells "twoooooooooo". (I don't think he really gets the concept of 2 being more than 1 but if he says two he does realize that he would get more snack)


Now they still use signs some and they both are talking so much more. Jack has some sentences! Bella will use two words together but she will take longer I think. Jack is more of a people pleaser, he likes when you praise him. Don't get me wrong, Bella does too, but she is more content to just let it be. (except with macaroni and cheese lately... "more , more, more"
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I was just about to post some pictures of Bella to be fair but my computer is acting funny and the kids are getting up... so that is that for today :)
Love you Grandmom!!!

Flinchbaugh's Orchards....

Mom and I took Calla, Bella, and Jack to Flinchbaugh's Orchards one day last month to go pumpkin picking. At first Jack and Bella did not want to get out of the car but once they saw the hay maze they were all about it:




We had to take a hug break

Then a preschool came to do the maze and pick pumpkins. Jack decided that he needed to be part of their class. All three of the kids were running around with the school kids and having a good time. The school kids had to stop and all sit together so they could go over what they were doing next.... of course Jack insisted he join them. It was really cute. The teachers there were very nice and did not mind both of my kids joining them. They sat there with all their "friends", it almost makes me want to put them in daycare a couple days a week for socialization... when I win the lottery, I guess.
The kids were not that into picking out pumpkins but Bella was able to find the one

As much as they loved the maze I think they enjoyed the corn more. They have kiddie pools filled with corn kernels ... it was chilly and breezy but they did not care and were there for about 20 minutes or more



Bella ended up taking a break before we went into the store to buy some apples and gourds

Once we were home we set up some gourds on the counter and of course Bella needed to have one and because Bella needed to have one, Jack also needed to have one. Bella loved it and played with it well, bringing it with her where she went. Jack on the other hand tried to eat it...

All in all we had a great day!

Just a big hello from Calla :)

Butterfly Calla that is

Woooodie

Jack loves Woodie from Toy Story. He got these a doll of both Woodie and Buzz for his birthday and he liked them at first but now he loves them. Not as much as his Puppy but they are up there. According to Jack his name is not just "Woody" it is a long "Woooo" and a quick "die", hence "Woodie". Mom and I were at Target the other day and we were looking at the kid's clothes and Jack saw some Toy Story shirts, he about jumped at them. Mom, being the good grandmother she is, promptly picked out two for Jack to have. Keep in mind that neither Jack or Bella like to have clothes on and try to take them off as much as possible. Now if Jack has one of his shirts on he fights me to take it off. I think I am going to have to get a full wardrobe of Woody and Buzz pajamas and tee shirts so I can bribe him to get him both undressed and dressed again.
Here is Jack with one of the tees.... it is a Woodie body so that Jack face looks likes he is Woodie... get it?? He is also hold Woodie (the cowboy) and Buzz (the "Space Ranger")



And for Grandmom..... 15 days until we see you !!! We love you and can not wait to see you

They love each other....

I know I have said this before but I am amazed at how much Bella and Jack love each other and how much they look out for each other. Of course they have their moments where they scream at the other one but that is few and far between (they basically just like to scream at me).
If Jack see Bella's baby doll on the floor he will pick it up and run it to her. Bella does the same with Jack's puppy. They still share (for the most part). And they hug! I so love it when they hug each other. One night we got them ready for bed and this is how they watched "Dora the Explorer"




There are so many things that they do now that make me so thankful that I have twins. Don't get me wrong, raising twins is by far the hardest thing I have ever done (I am awe of triplets mamas) but it is amazing to see them grow together