choo! choo!

Not to make anyone gag...because I'm really not into talking about my "parent of the year" status on this blog (I'm losing...by the way), but I have been intentional lately about turning off the t.v. and "making" KJ and Carter play. I want them to imagine and explore more...and it is so clear to me how much they zone out in front of the t.v. (*editor's note: should I feel the same way about Dora?? My daughter and son can regularly speak Spanish words now and count in Spanish?? hmmm....)

Anyway...back to the point. Carter got this train set for Christmas (his special present from Eric) and even though the packaging said that it was a little bit too old for him, Eric convinced me that it would be an awesome toy for Carter and that he would love it. He was absolutely right. Carter needs a little help getting started, but I love watching his little fingers manipulate the pieces, and put the parts of the track together. He will set up little "towns" and sometimes just make the track twirl all over his room. He insisted last week that he sit down to lunch with me before we picked up Katie from preschool, with his trains...ALL of them. After a little give and take, he settled for two. Hey, it's the small victories.

Just checking out his new toy...he had no idea how much fun it would be outside of the box!

Sitting right in the middle of his creation...so cute in his "Dino" shirt

Carter always needs to make sure that ALL of the pieces are within arms reach.... (there are a lot of pieces...)

I came in to play...and bubby decided he wanted some mommy time, and for me to show him how magnets work (the trains connect magnetically)...it took him a second to figure out the right ends...but he did it.

Having fun with my kids.

And because no post would be complete without a picture with my little girl and little boy...

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.

Jean de la Bruyere