Pedi's with Hadley

 Friday afternoon Aunt Pam & Nana took all the girls to get pedi's before they headed off to Hawaii for two weeks! It was so fun. Lauren of course acted like a total pro, like she does it every day. 

 I loved how Hadley watched so seriously while Lauren got her toes painted. She was up next (of course they couldn't go at the same time because neither would sit in the orange chair). 

 Group shot, minus Nana since she took the pic. 

 Fancy Lady Hadley getting her first pedicure! It was a huge success!

 Yay for pretty toes!

Lauren got disco glitter toes again and Hads got pretty pink. Both got fancy flowers, ooh la la! 

"I didn't know you could make Orange Juice," - Lauren Kok

We got tangelos in our Full Circle box and they were so juicy they were nearly impossible to eat. I suggested we use them to make orange juice and Lauren was amazed that I actually knew how to make orange juice. (I am pretty impressive:)) Lauren & Benny had so much fun making orange juice the good old fashioned way. Drinking it was even better. Yum!

Getting Ready for Palm Springs

Lauren & Ben got beach cover-ups, one step closer to being ready for two weeks in Cali! 

No Nap

Over the last month Ben has decided he no longer needs naps. Getting him down is more trouble than it's worth so we finally gave in and agreed to no more naps. Most of the time he really doesn't seem to need one, but some days we find him like this...maybe he still needs them sometimes:) 

Full Circle

We joined Full Circle and got our first shipment this week. We LOVE it so far! We pick up our box at a local farm just a few miles away and the kids had so much fun. There are horses and pigs to visit, which makes it pretty exciting! They even have 15 minute riding lessons for $15 so we might try a few out in the spring. The kids couldn't wait to get home and open the box, they totally acted like it was Christmas. We've had fun enjoying all the yummy organic fruits and veggies this week! 

I highly recommend joining, there are lots of options so you can totally personalize it to meet your families needs. Check them out here. If you do happen to sign up, mention my name (Valerie Kok) as the person who referred you, I'll get a discount on my next order and I'll be forever grateful:) 

Fire Fighters Lauren & Ben

 Kevin took the kids down to Lakewood to visit our friend Collin at his fire station. It was the COOLEST thing ever and it's ALL they have been talking about for the last 24 hours. 

 They got to have a ride in the fire truck, check out all the cool gear, and even see the fire fighters run through some drills. 

 Lauren felt pretty cool! Ben was a little nervous, but was taking it all in. 

Ever since they got home they've been wearing their hats and "rescue" packs around the house putting out all sorts of fires and rescuing everything in sight. Ben keeps saying, "Mama, my fire fighter now." 

Thanks Collin for making the day so special for them, you pretty much walk on water in Lauren & Ben's eyes (and ours too of course)!  

Builders

Ben always has to do whatever Kevin does. Kevin is currently making a bench for our entry way and a night stand for Lauren's room out of our old crib (it was recalled so it can't be used as a crib) and Ben is all about helping. He gets his tools out and copies everything Kevin does, it's pretty cute. 

She's too funny

 Ever since Lauren could crawl she's loved getting herself into small spaces. Not sure when she is going to finally be too big to crawl into her dolls pack and play! The girl cracks me up. 

My Helper

Ben continues to be obsessed with vacuums. He loves to "help" and gets super excited whenever I say it's time to vacuum! Can't wait till he can actually do a good job on his own...though something tells me by the time that is possible he'll have outgrown the obsession! But you never know! 

Thank You Shar!!!!

My fabulous friend Shar gave Ben & Lauren some toys that her kids have outgrown and they were THRILLED. Ben got lots of new Thomas trains and as you can see, he loves by them. He is into lining them all up right now, makes me laugh. I swear, every boy does this! 

Thanks for thinking of us Shar!

Hot Mama

Typical mom look. 

Sunny Day

We went to the zoo last Saturday and the sun came out! We were all thrilled to see the sun, even if it was freezing! That is what I love about us Seattlites, we appreciate the sun so much! 

Lego Mania

Kevin's parents brought down all Kevin's legos from when he was a kid. Kevin & the kids are having a great time building with them. Not sure who is having more fun though, Kevin or the kids:) 

What do you do on a rainy day with two sick and cranky kids?

Swim Party in the bath tub! 

Glad I'm not Santa...because putting toys together is HARD!

 Lauren & Ben and I went to Target today to get chap-stick, a birthday card, and conditioner. We left with this "Baby Care Center" (and a bunch of other random stuff that we couldn't live without of course). They had all their toys marked down and this one was marked down from $99.99 to $24.98! Lauren had a gift card from Christmas and we really couldn't pass this steal of a deal up. Problem is, mom had to put it together. I get home with both kids BEGGING me to get started on it asap. I open it, see the 30+ pieces and the 29 step directions and take a deep breath. Lauren looked at it and said, "You should probably wait until Daddy gets home, I don't think you can do this." So now of course, I HAVE to do it. 

 2 hours and a few timeouts (for me and the kids) later, the "Baby Care Center" is complete. But one problem, there is this random rod left over that Ben seems to think is a sword.

Oops, it was supposed to go in during step 12 as a hanging bar for doll clothes. Somehow between Ben shining a light in my face to "help" me see better, Lauren making me wear the hard helmet, and both of them taking every single one of the 30+ pieces out of my nice little pile I missed this step! And the only way to fix it would be to go backwards from step 29 to 12. So guess who is not going to be hanging her doll clothes up? I still give myself an A for tackling this fun task today. 

When it was completed Lauren looked at me and said, "Wow mom, I'm really impressed. I didn't think you could do it." And that right there, is exactly why I did it! 

My Princesses

 Ben has decided dressing up is too fun to pass up. These will look lovely framed at his wedding. 

Fancy Nancy

 The other night Lauren asked if we could have a "Fancy Nancy" dinner. Of course I was planning on making taquitos from a box (so not fancy) but we figured we'd give it a shot anyway. Lauren helped set the table, we put fake flowers in the center piece, used party napkins and place mats, and drank from coffee mugs so we could stick our pinkies out. Of course we had to look fancy as well so Lauren set bows out for each of to wear. I think Kevin looked the fanciest:)

 Pinkies out, so fancy. 

 Crying is not fancy Ben. 

We made our fruit fancy by putting it on toothpicks, anything on toothpicks is fancy, right? 

 Beer in coffee mugs is fancy:) 

 Lauren got us all prizes for being so fancy- leis! 

 Then she did a post dinner outfit change and really got her fancy on. 

Ooh la la! 

Cancel

I have started tutoring on Thursday nights and Lauren does not love me leaving after dinner. Last Thursday this note was on the door when I went to leave. She said to me, "Mom, they called and said it was canceled so I put a note on the door for you." She wrote CESL (her s's need some work). Kevin & I got a kick out of it. The girl is too funny, but we give her credit for trying! 

Her "baby"

Lauren often likes to pretend Benny is her baby and he usually goes along with it. Well the other day she convinced him to sit on her lap while they ate and she spoon fed him. I went upstairs for a minute and when I came back they were sitting on the couch, Lauren had her shirt pulled up and she was breastfeeding Ben. I wanted to grab the camera so bad but figured I should probably be a parent instead of the paparazzi, so I didn't. Oh this girl and her obsession with breastfeeding, I swear one day she will be leading a La Leche group! 

Happy New Year!

 We went up to the cabin with Ryan & Megan and Bob & B-Z for New Years Eve. There was so much snow and we had a great time playing in it! Lauren LOVES anything snow and would've played out in it all day. Ben wants to go out in it but can only last a few minutes before getting cold. 

 Sledding with Uncle Ryan!

 Uncle Ryan goes a little too fast for Benny so he had to hang with mom the rest of the time. I'm go more his speed, some things never change (Ryan's always been the dare devil, me the worry wort). 

 Lauren got her exercise pulling the sled up the hill! She looked so cute out there!

 Lauren practiced skiing again with Hadley's skis. She had a great time and now wants to hit the real slopes! 

 When not out in the 17 degree weather, the kids had a blast playing inside. 

 Happy New Year! (at like 6:45pm!) 

He's a Prentice for sure- look at that hair line! 

 We walked down to the lake this morning- breathtaking! 

 We could've all stayed and played awhile it was so beautiful and fun down by the lake. But Benny was not having it, he was freezing (it was even colder down there, had to be in the low teens) and his cheeks were frozen so he & I headed back. Mama got her workout in this weekend carrying Ben around in the snow! 

 Lauren thought the frozen water was so cool, she had fun trying to break it all with Uncle Ryan. 

So fun! 

Happy 2011 Everyone!