best time of the year

Our current routine is to drop Asher at preschool in Bethesda and then park at bethesda row and jog down the Capitol Crescent Trail. It is really pretty this time of year. Today we stopped at a little park and played for a while.

asher and ruth in diving helmet

the upcoming show

A few cute stories

In case you are not aware, Ruthie is a daddy's girl. Definitely. She cries almost anytime Matthew leaves the room and she loves to be on him, near him, held by him, etc. just about all the time. The other day I got home from work and Ruthie was crying about something (doing a very pathetic little whimper, really), so I picked her up and tried to comfort her - to no avail. Then Matthew walked in the room. She practically leapt into his arms, and at the same time, her face lit up with a smile and she said "Dadddy!" Hmpf. What am I, chopped liver?

The other day, when we were playing dress-up with Ruthie's pink coat and hat (see pictures below), Asher saw her and said "Mom, is Ruthie a queen?" I said "um, sure..." (not quite sure what he meant). After a pause, he said "Mom, can we be a queen too?" Cute.

Last one. This morning when I was leaving for work, Asher was playing with his matchbox cars. He gave one to Ruthie, one to daddy, and one to me. (He is getting much better at sharing.) I said, "oh, thanks, Asher! Can I take this to work with me?" He said, "um (thought about it a minute), no." A few minutes later, he brought me a different car and said "you can take this to work." I thanked him and finished getting ready to leave. When I was walking out the door, I said goodbye to Matthew and the kids, and Asher said "Bye, mom! Have a fun at work. Have a fun at work with your car." So cute. (Its kind of funny to think that his concept of work is me playing with a matchbox car at my desk. I will have "a fun" at work today just thinking about it.)

I love my cute kiddos. Can't wait to see what the next one will be like.

this is why crayola markers are washable and non-toxic

cute kids

Mom, I am posting these for you because I wanted you to see how cute Ruthie looks in her coat. We are so excited that she is finally big enough to wear it! It will be perfect for this winter.

we have purchased a minivan

The kids love it, and we are happy to have the extra room.

Asher has started preschool

siblings and cousins

Its a boy!

- cute little foot

-Cute little er...ok, this one is just creepy.

- He is a little rocker!

fishy

Asher and Ruthie have their first pet - a beta fish! Very exciting, lets hope it survives a few more weeks.

also working on this

Asher cha cha

Tonight we went to downtown Silver Spring to play in the water. Asher crashed the fountain waters with great zeal then rocked the dance floor.

on the easel...

Well, I guess this is shown on a wall not an easel, but it is still a work in progress. I met a really cool guy at Eastern Market in DC this past weekend who collects and sells old celing tiles and scraps from old churches etc. His stuff is really cool. He was open to a kind of partnership where he preps and gives me panels to paint then buys them back and resells them in his shop. I'll keep you posted on how this works out.

His website is www.ogtstore.com where you can see the other guy who paints panels

Asher funnies vol. 2

This morning when I woke up, I went to the bathroom to blow my nose.
Asher: What you doing, mom?
Me: I'm blowing my nose, Asher.
Asher: Are you an elephant, mom?
Me: No. I'm not an---ok, yeah. Sure. I'm an elephant.

The other day, Asher and I were in the bathtub (which I think is significant to the story). Asher looked at me and said, "mom, are you Barbie?" Then he waited a few seconds and answered his own question, "No, you are mom." But one can understand his confusion, right?

Last night we had a conversation that went something like this:
A: I don't like you, mom. I like dad.
M: But I love you, Asher. Why don't you like me?
A: I don't like you, mom. I like dad. I want dad.
M: [pretended to cry]
A: Are you sad mom?
M: Yeah, I'm sad.
A: Just calm down, mom. Just calm down. No crying, mom. Its no big deal. Its no big DEAL!

I stopped crying, but he repeated the last part about 50 more times before I could convince him that I was calm and I wasn't crying anymore.

I love my Asher-dasher.

Asher funnies

So, Asher is getting to that age where he says funny stuff. Here are some from the last couple of weeks.

One morning when I woke up with the kids, we were playing on the couch and Asher kept crashing into my belly. I said "Asher, you need to be soft, there's a baby in there." He looked at my belly, lifted up my shirt, then made a gesture like he was grabbing something and putting it in his mouth. "I ate the baby." Problem solved.

Asher was playing in the laundry hamper and managed to get his Mr. Incredible figure stuck in the hole on the side. He asked Matthew to help get him out. Matthew fiddled with it for a while (it was really stuck) and Asher said "OK...lets get a hammer." Matthew laughed and Asher said "Yeah, we'll hit him hard and get him out." Luckily, Matthew was able to pop "Mr. Crebble"out before it came to that. About 2 minutes later, he shoved poor Mr Crebble back in the hole again. Oh well.

Asher has gotten into the habit of announcing his emotions lately. The other day, he was in the middle of playing with his cars and I told him he needed to go potty. He started to cry and reluctantly followed me to the bathroom. Just before sitting down to do his business, he looked at me and said "Mom, Asher is so sad!" I think it is cute that he is able to recognize and express his feelings, and that he tends to do it in the third person. Later that day, completely out of the blue he looked at me and Matthew and announced "Dad, Asher is so happy!" Cute.

A couple of weeks ago, we took Asher and Ruthie to see Toy Story 3. We had a great time - amazingly, the kids behaved and we were able to watch the whole movie. (Asher even managed not to pee himself after drinking the better part of a large soda!) After the movie was over, Asher was very excited about Buzz and Woody (he says Wu-dee), and he kept talking about various scenes that he remembered. Like any good (albeit overindulgent) parent would do, we took him to Target and bought him a couple of small action figures. He loved them! For about 3 days straight, he carried them everywhere he went, including to the potty, to the playground, and to bed. One afternoon, I caught him play acting with the figures, and the conversation went something like this:

(Buzz crashes into Woody)
Woody: "That's naughty, Buzz, you hit Woody. You need a time out. You need to count to twenty."
Buzz: "One, two, three, four, five, six, twenty."
Woody: "Ok, now say sorry to Woody."
Buzz: "Sorry Woody"
Woody: "Give him a kiss"
(Buzz gives Woody a kiss)

Funny boy.

Asher singing