Today I was holding a small paper bag from CVS and Beka said "what's that?" and I took what I needed out of the bag and handed her the empty bag and said it's for you. She took the bag and looked inside and with great disappointment said "there's no donuts in it." She is SO my little girl! She knows that when we go to Dunkin Donuts that we get our donuts in small paper bags too. (Don't worry Sal we only go about once a month!)

We went on board the "pirate ship" called the Peacemaker, to the aquarium, to the Children's museum and the circus over the last month. In the photos the blond boys are Jacob and Josiah Gillespie and the little girl is our niece Audrey.

March for the Reynolds

BEKA

My sweet and sassy two year old is more and more verbal every week. She can't say the "c" or "t" sounds so she says so many things that make us giggle all the time like "tar fuming" instead of "car coming" and "fiua fok" instead of "fire truck". I haven't started potty training her yet, but she has decided she "want go pee pee on potty". She tells me 20 times a day and every now and then she'll look down and poke herself and say "it's not working mommy". She helped me make cookies for the first time and I thought she'd get bored quickly but she loved every minute of it. She is a super picky eater. The only thing I can get her to eat for lunch is hummus, which is what she eats every day. She still loves to be outside more than anything.

DANE

Dane's favorite subject is geography. We finished learning about the 7 continents. Dane asked to learn about the Leaning tower of Pisa, so we spent a day learning about Pisa and Italy. We also learned about India, Ireland, Thailand and China this month. Each time we learn about a new place we enjoy the cuisine of that place for dinner and sometimes get to eat on the floor (like for India) which the kids get the biggest thrill from. Dane and I did a gardening seminar a couple of weeks ago and learned how to plant container gardens. He is quite the gardener. Daddy took his training wheels off a week ago and after much complaining, to our amazement, he was ridding within two days!

Last few months

Since it's been so long since I've updated I thought that I'd include a few photos from the last couple of months. Things have been very busy, but wonderful. My family visited for almost a month over Christmas. We had the joy and surprise of snow twice this winter. In January we embarked on the adventure of homeschooling. Tonii got a part in a show called "Army Wives" that shoots in Charleston, SC so he and I got to take an unexpected free trip this week that was such a blessing. God's abundant goodness and mercy never cease to amaze me.

Beka turns 2!

Yes our little princess just turned two! How fast it has flown! She has huge personality and a very distinct point of view. We celebrated the morning of her b-day with a little party with just the Gillespie's, then a larger family party in the evening with her cousins and another small, girl only party, on Saturday morning complete with tiaras.

Our favorite local getaway

Bald Head Island is to us here what Santa Barbara was to us in LA. It takes about an hour to drive to the ferry and then about 20mins on the ferry and you arrive in paradise. A beautiful, quaint little island with no cars allowed (only golf carts and bikes) and yet so classically Southern coastal elegance in every way. Come to visit and we'll take you there. It is truly something you need to experience to understand. We have some dear friends that live on the island and so we go over even more often now.

The photos are from the kids 2nd Halloween which took place on the island on Nov. 1st.

It's snowing!

Ok, so it is only snow flurries, but it is still SNOW and we are thrilled!! Dane is so excited that he can hardly contain himself and his excitement is contagious to Beka even though she has no clue why she is so worked up! Mommy loves it too!

This week in Dane's world

Here is a glimpse into Dane's week. He helped mommy make pumpkin bread as part of our school work. We measured and mixed and tasted of course. He got his very own cool camo apron for his birthday. He built a castle all by himself without any grown-up input or help for the first time. We collected leaves on a nature walk in our neighborhood and made a Thanksgiving turkey for our cork board. We worked on subtraction from 13-1 down to 2-1. The boy loves math, especially when it involves Skittles and M&M's being subtracted from the plate into the belly!!! Oh, what fun it is to live in Dane's world.