James and Oliver at the beach:




Oliver is eager to learn to feed himself:





He's growing up so quickly:





He loves sitting in chairs:



He's learning to use sign language. So far he knows and uses the signs for "milk," "food," "more," "hot," and is learning "water."


Playing at Sasha's school:



We went camping several weeks ago with some of Sasha's school friends. We had a wonderful time going on hikes and swimming in the lake (in spite of the "Beware of Alligator" signs!)
The kids were going to sleep in a separate tent and were very excited about it. As soon as nightfall came though, they lasted about ten minutes!









They love the piano!





Whenever we host the Baha'i Feast at our house, we try to make it as kid-friendly as possible. For example, we aim at holding it in the morning or afternoon, and we also have started inviting the kids to sit and color at the center of the room during the administrative portion. Sasha helped us prepare the readings, and handed them out. She also gave a very warm welcome to everyone: "Welcome to the Feast of Nur!"



Pablo Picasso said "All children are born artists."
We want to provide Sasha with as many artistic and creative opportunities as possible. When she paints, she seems to be limited by the size and quality of the paper. So we decided to let her paint on canvas. We let her go wild with it, without having to worry about adding too much paint or getting herself or her surroundings dirty. She loved it. And her work was beautiful, and now decorates our walls. Now the challenge is to find cheap canvas in bulk!





Playing with friends:










We found a great new game called Kanoodle. It's like a 3D tetris. I highly recommend it for kids of any age (and adults)!

We went camping to a beautiful forest and set up our tent right next to a lake.
It was Oliver's first camping trip!



On our hike Sasha wanted to try carrying Oliver for a little while:



Asleep in the tent:



We'll be going camping again with Sasha's classmates. She's extremely excited about the idea of swimming in a lake during the day, roasting marshmallows at night, and then sleeping in a tent with her friends!



We're grateful for having a backyard, and Sasha and Oliver thoroughly enjoy it.

They love climbing on the play structure:



Going for wagon rides:



Swinging and reading in the hammock:





And now they have a sandbox that their daddy built!

James, Sasha, and one of our neighbors, Tahn, helping shovel the sand off the truck:



James built the frame and poured the sand:



And voila!



Oliver enjoyed it too!




James' aunt Adrienne gave us their piano! We're very grateful for it. We've put it in the children's class room, along with our ever-growing collection of instruments. We love when our home is filled with music, especially during the class.
Sasha and Oliver play it every chance they get - Our neighbors and other friends as well. Here's Sasha's friend, Jander sharing one of her songs:






Sasha's Waldorf school has the kids doing unique things at school. One of them is working with fresh wool and going through the steps necessary to convert it into yarn. Her teacher gave us a bag full of wool fresh off a sheep, so we could work with it from home. Our goal was to make a marionette, which is one of Sasha's favorite toys at school.

Sasha holding some wool:



Next step is to wash the wool:



Then card it:



We cut a piece of cloth, wrapped it around some wool and sewed around it to make the head. Later we dyed wool with kool-aid and sewed it on for hair.

Her marionette without the hair: one of her favorite toys




We removed all the hedges in our front yard, including these azalea bushes:



and replaced them with a flower garden:



Sasha preparing the soil for wild flower seeds in a separate part of the yard:




We also planted some Bougainvillea along the the fence. Haven't gotten a picture of it planted yet. We're hoping it'll take over the whole fence!



Cutie Oliver: