book review

Since Josh has had his nose in the books these past four years I thought I would give you faithful readers a little book review of my own. We aren't into very heavy reading these days but books are very important to my two little thinkers.

Hallel's love for books mean that we often read the same stories over and over. And it is apparent why Curious George, anything Dr. Seuss, and so many others remain classics. There is a whimsical harmony of concise yet descriptive words married with delightful pictures that capture the imagination. So without further ado, I come back to this book over and over again: The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown.
It is a simple story that describes the animals on a farm, but my favorite part is that the day starts out with the sun coming up and then takes the reader through the sequence of daylight, dusk, and then night. I can't help but lowering my voice as the pages turn darker to the night. I think it has a soothing effect every time I read it.

A few other favorites are The ABC Bible Verse Book by Deedra Scherm.
It is a great way to learn the ABC's and simple verses that start with the letter. What I love is that the pictures are great and as we read Hallel tells me what the pictures mean and in turn learns the meaning of that verse. Most verses are hard to explain to a 2 year old and this book is a wonderful tool.

Another Bible story book that Hallel is enjoying is The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. We read one each day before nap time and she is so excited that she runs into her room for nap. Going to sleep is another story but i'm excited that she loves to read the "Bible" at this age. The pictures are sometimes funny to me but she absolutely loves them. The writer conveys the message of Christ through the eyes of a child. I think that the book appeals to different age levels too. Even though Hallel doesn't understand a lot she still gets "it" at some level and loves the stories.

Simeon is just starting to babel as he "reads" and actually look at the pictures rather than just be fascinated with turning pages. That's my boy!

There are so many amazing kids books out and I love that most kids love to be read to so let me know what is one of your favs and we'll try to find it.

changes

The most recent change is that Simeon is standing all of the time right now and we just can't wait for him to take his first step! Maybe by his first birthday. He is so determined to stand that he practiced for about 15min the other night standing straight up from a pillow and then falling on it. So funny.

Since the purpose of this blog is mostly to keep our family and friends updated on our life here in San Fran i will limit my wandering thoughts to a minimum.

We are entering a season of change in every sense of the word. A few weeks ago Hallel was standing outside in front of the newborn pink blossoms on the tree next to our house giving us premature thoughts of Spring. While last week we were bombarded with nights of winds and rain storms of such extravagance that Mt Tamalpias has snow at the top. Mt Tam, as we call it, has not had snow for some time.
We again enjoyed sunshine today and will be reminded of winter this week as more rain is on its way.
Besides the high and low changing emotions of our weather our dear friends are finding new homes. We are so excited with them and have witnessed God's faithfulness as they are trusting  Him to lead the way. And simultaneously seeing our little block of companions become empty houses.

It definitely leads to reflection and thankfulness of heart to have met, bonded with, and grown up in many ways with these dear friends. I love the fact that we can walk out the door and down a few houses and find sweet little playmates for our kids. Five families, 7 little amigos, and 2 buns in the oven have relocated since January. Some moved closer than others so we will just have to drive further now.

its been a while

so how about a hodge podge of pictures to make up for lost time. i apologize to the grandparents who love to see their grandkids in action.

I'll start with a reminder of the amazing place that we live. 

A yummy cup of coffee from downtown San Fran in Jan (i honestly didn't meant to cheesy rhyme) 

 I made this gross Fallafel and none of us liked it. We felt bad to make Hallel eat it but she's a good sport.

 Hallel, Simeon, and Josh have a nightly routine of wrestling when we finish dinner. I am not sure which of the three has the most fun!

 The kids playing with their sweet friend while the dads were watching the game on Super Bowl Sunday.

These are the cutest cupcakes that my friend Hannah made for her son Salem's 2nd birthday!

 This was the best shot i could get of the kids wearing their party hats they made at the birthday party. Hallel would not smile and Sim would not sit still. oh well.

buddies

These two little buddies just love to play together. Hallel sticks up for her brother and tells people that his name is "Big Boy Sim" if they try and call him just Simeon.

And Simeon is now a proficient waver. If he is about to touch something that he is not supposed to and you tell him "no, no" he will look up with a grin and start waving. The other night Josh went in to check on the kids in bed and   Simeon still laying down, almost asleep put his hand in the air to say hello with a wave.

I tried to capture the wave on video but it is much better when he does it spontaneously.

We are on our party marathon right now as all of our brithdays and anniversary fall within 11 weeks of each other. It's kinda fun to just have one celebration after another.

This past weekend Josh found a great deal with Red Robin online (our favorite burger place). You can sign up for a free burger for your birthday. Then he read the fine print and it said that you can use two coupons if your birthday's are within two weeks of the other. So thank you Red Robin for burger's and fries on the house!

football fever

Go Seahawks and Ducks!

big boy

Just a couple of short videos to show Simeon's little budding personality. He actually crawled for the first time yesterday and then a couple of times today. But he still prefers the army crawl or just cruising around on furniture. He is working on tooth #4 and eating a few solid foods. He is almost never without a smile and is so affectionately called "big boy Sim" by his sister.

I love watching these two play together and make each other laugh. It is so awesome to see them bond and hopefully they will always be good friends. In this video Simeon was laughing so hard at Hallel and of course when i started filming he kept getting distracted by the camera. But it is still super cute!

festivities!

Josh and I are both suckers for the Christmas festivities. We love singing carols, reading advent, drinking peppermint mochas, family traditions, and anticipating opening presents!

This weekend we went to Sausalito and looked at gingerbread houses on display in the local businesses and then watched the parade of lighted boats and fireworks. Hallel loved it and especially the fireworks (in her words the lights that make noise).

Today we went to the Depot in Mill Valley to go down the man made snow hill but it broke a few minutes before we arrived. Kinda glad we weren't sledding when it collapsed. So we walked around the town and enjoyed the Christmas singers. 

One of my favorite memories growing up was when our friends would bring over a plate of Christmas treats and we would carefully pick out our favorites cookies and savor the peanut butter balls till the next year!

Well now it is my turn to try my hand at Christmas delectibles and share the moment. So for those of you whom we cannot deliver to this is our best try.

Enjoy the season...only 13 more days...