We went to Kentucky!

I took the boys to Louisville to spend some time with my dear Emma and her fantastic family. Ben had the time of life...how could he not with Raphael and Olivia as constant companions. It really was a wonderful visit and it was sad to have to go. The boys were good on the many planes we had to take to get there and home again, I was anticipating the worst, and got the best! We only had to run for one flight, no one threw up or bled, and I think our plane seat neighbors would agree that these are some well behaved kids!!

A Trip to the Circus

The boys had their first trip to the Big Apple Circus a few weeks ago. Daniel loved the show, Ben was in it for the cotton candy.

A Kiss for Mimi!

T-Ball!

Ben has begun playing team sports! He's on the "Mini-Brewers" t-ball team at our local YMCA. He's only had one practice/game so far, but loves it and didn't want to take his uniform off for several days. Here he is practicing his throwing and getting his first hit. He stretched a single into a triple with some heads-up base running.

Big Ben

Daniel Driving

Daniel taking a turn driving the car!

And Ben got a fish

Chris isn't allergic to fish.
First his name was Ben. Then a few hours later, Jack. Finally, Peter, and that has stuck. So Peter is our newest family member.

We also celebrated at my parent's house

We had a delicious bday dinner at my parents with Aunt Noni, Becky, Jake, Ruby,Mike and Summer, Aunt Sophia...

Ben turned 4!!

We had a fantastic party with 10 4 year olds, plus Ruby, Daniel and lots of parents all in our little apartment. Ben had a blast and the kids were terrific. Our friend Julie dazzled them with her musical genius and particular skill with pre-schoolers, it was adorable.

Happy Holidays!

Well, we're sad to report that we did not manage to get out a holiday card this year. December ended up being pretty busy...blah, blah, excuses, excuses.

But if we had done one, who knows? It might have been one of these pictures right here. Imagine that one of these arrived in your mailbox, about three weeks ago, accompanied by the message "Happy Holidays from Chris, Rachel, Benjamin and Daniel." Seriously, happy holidays and new year to you all.

We did have a great holiday season. Ben loved lighting the menorah each night of Hanukah, especially because this year we let him hold the shammas and light the other candles himself. We had a family filled Hanukah party at Rachel's parents house...actually only Rachel attended since Ben and Daniel had recently been barfy. Somehow we are all healthy at the same time right now...

Christmas in NY was wonderful. Lots of time with Chris' parents, Mike and Summer, and visits from lots of people made the days fun and very special for Ben!

Drum set!

Seemed like a good idea at the time: Ben got a drum set for Hanukah! If you listen carefully, you can probably hear him.

Ben and Daniel in front of the tree

Posing in front of the tree.

Daniel has turned into quite a cheerful kid. He's also getting his first teeth, so this seems to be his favorite expression: Big smile with tongue sticking out.

Daniel in front of tree

life here

So here are some recent pictures of the boys. None of the Halloween pictures were all that awesome, though halloween itself was really fun. Since then we have just been enjoying the boys and their growing affection for each other. We had a fun and family filled Thanksgiving and are gearing up for the rest of the holiday season!

I love my wallpaper paste, I mean rice cereal!!

Increasingly fascinated with each other...

yummy

Daniel did not want to sit still for his mohawk haircut, but we managed to get it eventually...just kidding, it really grows that way.