Benjamin Isaac is here!

Ben is here!  We are going to continue blogging over at:


"The Straus House"
http://thestraushouse.blogspot.com/

Bookmark that site, like this one, you cannot search for it.

Love,
Sarah, Jake, Lily, and Ben

Ball Pit Slide

Tonight at gym class, they had a slide set up. Lily has a great time sliding into the ball pit and disappearing!

Sibling Tour at the Hospital

This morning, we took Lily to the hospital for a sibling tour. We got a tour of a hospital room and got to "change" baby dolls and read a story!

Gym Class Climbing Fun

Purim

Last night we took Lily to the megillah reading at synagogue for Purim.  She wore her Minnie Mouse costume and had a great time.

"But guys, Sarah and I aren't ready to leave yet!"

Today we went back to shul for the Purim Carnival.  Thank goodness there were no goldfish!  Lily was not really interested in the games but enjoyed the arts and crafts, face painting, and popcorn.  At the end, she did play (and enjoy) the mini golf.

Me and Daddy in line for face painting

"I would like a rainbow and a butterfly, please."

The finished product.

"Look at the pinwheel I won!"

An Indoor Swim

Last week we took Lily to the JCC indoor pool for a swim. We thought she'd be done in 15 min.... We actually had to drag her out of the pool!

Disney Princesses on Ice

Today we went with Grammy to see Disney Princesses on Ice, or as Lily calls it, "The Princess Show." Like the other little girls, Lily wore a princess dress on top of her clothes. She sat there mesmerized the entire time. Here are the only pictures she let me take of her, and I only go these ones because I told her I wanted to take Cinderella's picture.

"See my pretty Cinderella doll?"

"Ok, Mommy, I give in, I'll smile. But only for one picture."

Super Bowl and Cookie Making

It's hard to believe the Super Bowl was almost two weeks ago now. Even though our preferred team lost, we still had a good time making football cookies and dressing up for the big game.

"Twin Steelers Fans"

The National Building Musuem

Last Saturday we took Lily to the National Building Museum. She had a great time playing in the Lego exhibit and in the kid's room.

Lily and Mommy and a zillion Legos.

Lily and Daddy and a zillion Legos.

"Ok Daddy, you start the house, then I'll do a few more layers when I'm done taking apart Mommy's airplane."

"I like this house. It's just my size!"

Snow Day!

Lily and I stayed home from school today. This morning we went to Sadie's house to play so Jake could work from home in peace. After nap we played in the snow some more and even built a snow man!

"I can help you shovel, Daddy."


"Look at all this snow!!"

"Isn't my snowman so cute?"

Lily's First Power Outage

On Wednesday night, as Jake and Lily were playing in the basement and I was making turkey sloppy joes for Jake and I and turkey mini burgers for Lily (who won't eat sloppy joes) the power went out. As you know, Lily is NOT a fan of the dark. After we found about a dozen candles and three flash lights, we had a makeshift dinner and did some art at the table by candle light.

Thanks to the Quince Orchard HS PTA for their bean soup mix - it made a great art project!

Here is Lily's recap of the situation:

A Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's "House"

This weekend, we went to New Jersey to visit Grandma and Grandpa. While Sarah and I went to New York, Lily stayed in New Jersey. While we were gone, Grandma and Grandpa showed Lily their new "house." Lily loved coloring it and playing in it.

"Welcome to my new house!"

"Peek-a-boo"

Random December Pics

Here are some random December pictures:

"I love playing with my new dollhouse!"

Lily sees Nemo at the Baltimore Aquarium.

Taking Pictures

Grandma and Grandpa got Lily a Fisher Price digital kid-tough camera for her birthday. Lily likes taking pictures of everything Even though she really doesn't hold the camera still enough to get a clear picture, she loves that its a real camera with screen and everything. Here is a picture of me helping her take a picture of her "guys" and then some that she took.

All these she took by herself:
Monkey:
Cookie Monster:
Magnets on the refrigerator:
Grandma:
Cookie toy:

Ballet Class

One of the "perks" of being in the 3 year old room at school is that there is a new enrichment opportunity for Lily to experience. 3 year olds can take ballet! In ballet shoes! And tutus! (Well, leotards, but I got her one with a little skirt so she thinks its a tutu.) Lily is so excited about starting ballet that she... put on tights. I know, I was surprised too. Here is a little video of her dancing around after I had her try on her stuff. FYI - the shoes you see here are too small. We have since gotten bigger ones.

Lily's 3rd Birthday Party

Everyone had a blast at Lily's birthday party last weekend. Here are a few pictures.

"Welcome to my party!"

Circle time with Jaida and Ryan.

Mommy and Daddy help me blow out the candles.

"Thanks for bringing such yummy cake, Papa J!"

A ride on the zip line swing to finish out the party!

First Snow of the Season

Lily did not like the snow last year. Which is a shame, because we sure got a lot of it. Today we got about 3 inches and she was JAZZED to put on her pants, boots, etc. and get out there in it.

"I love sweeping the snow!"

And then we needed a hat change, because the cute hat kept sliding up her hair.

"See how I can throw the snow, Mommy?"

Old McDonald's Puppet Show

Lily has recently discovered a love of puppet shows. The following video is her interpretation of a puppet show she learned at her gym class.

Party Weekend

We had 3 Chanukah parties and 1 birthday party this weekend. Here are some pictures/videos of the cuteness:

"I am having so much fun at Sadie's Birthday Party in this moonbounce/obstacle course!"

Doing art at shul with the big girls.

Sitting very still while getting kitty-cat face painting.

Lily the kitty-cat watches Daddy light the candles (notice they are all orange tonight).

Lily sings Chanukah oh Chanukah:

Chanukah Candles

Lily feels that it is very important for all the candles to match.

"Okay Mommy, the first night we did all blue, the second all red, tonight is all yellow."

Lily knows the beginning of the blessings...



Lily also knows a lot of Chanukah songs: The Dreidel Song, Chanukah oh Chanukah, A song about maccabais, and 5 little latkes. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get her to sing them on camera. Here is most of the dreidel song in 2 parts.