The Elf on the Shelf

Have you heard of this? It's BRILLIANT!! We named our Elf Fred and just one quick reminder to Ben when he's not listening that Fred is watching and he quickly snaps back into shape. Truly. Brilliant!

WYP Family Camping Trip

The program Wilderness Youth Project that we enrolled Ben in does a Family Camp on a beautiful preserve up north on the Coast for the families involved in the program. I had a baby shower in LA this last weekend, so Ben and Steve joined the Family Camp. They had so much fun, met new families/friends and become ONE with nature (guy time!) :) If the amount of dirt, mud and twigs I found in their clothing was any indication of how much fun they had then it must have been off the charts!

9.5 months.

Zack had his 9.5 month checkup yesterday and he passed with flying colors!

The first pic below is of Ben at his 9.5 month checkup. Pretty comparable, right?

Zack: 28.75 inches long
Ben: 29 inches long

Zack: 21.6#
Ben: 21.13#

Dinner Club Goes Greek!

Once a month, our dinner club (the Allens and Wessels and Caputos) gets together and chows down. We swap houses, bring the kids and have a great time catching up and staying in contact. This month it was our turn and we decided to shake things up a bit. We had our friend and culinary mentor, Maria Schonder, owner of Harmony Nutrition come and cook for us/teach us about her culture of Greece. She combined cooking skills, Greek culture, food ettiquette and amazingly yummy food that we all prepared together and then chowed down while Maria cleaned up!

SO DELICIOUS ON EVERY LEVEL!!!

The pictures say it all... oh, and Steve showed up in a toga half way through. Only Steve-o could have pulled that one off... we all ended up laughing so hard that Greek wine was coming out of our noses... he also set up the kids outside with a movie.... again, only Steve-o could pull that one off!

Such a fantastic night of Greek... OPA!

Wilderness Youth Project

We enrolled Ben in something called The Wilderness Youth Project a few weeks ago. Here's their mission statement: WYP is an organization that promotes meaningful social change through an innovative, nature-based curriculum and mentoring program. Our programs return children to the traditions of childhood: outdoor time, child-centered exploration, skill/self-esteem.
We call it "Outdoor School" and Ben loves it. We decided to take him out of preschool for a day because he is such a curious and active kid and is frankly getting a bit bored from time-to-time. Even though his preschool is amazing - I am a strong believer in nature as teacher and since I basically grew up in nature, I know all it has to offer as kids develop. This is an excellent place for him to be on a weekly basis.


He got a new backpack, new cool camel back water bottle and new hiking shoes (although they actually encourage going barefoot). He seems more balanced and it's a good sign that on most mornings when I'm taking him to school, he asks if we are going to Outdoor School or Sea Turtle school. Seems to really get that he's there to stay, which he is. When they get a bit older, they start going out further into the back country and doing overnights. Cannot wait!


They make acorn pancakes, climb trees, build forts, go rock hopping, make nature figures/necklaces (he came home with his "acorn necklace" last week and I've had to fight him to get it off). Kelly and Dan the Barefoot man are his teachers and they are priceless and he gets to interact with other kids, learn from new teachers and see new things. I got an email from Kelly last week that melted my heart... she said that Ben is helpful to the littler kids, curious, sweet and kind.

Heart... melting.

The Ankerbergs

We had another fabulous weekend in LA with our cousins/auntie Arlie & uncle Bill... love our time with them. The kids are creating such great memories... dance parties, swimming, movies, running around, superheros and lots of giggles and energy! After this crazy weekend, we jetted over to Santa Monica where Steve FINALLY got a new car. Only 9 months after Zack arrived... now he can transport 2 kids too! Pictures to come...

9 months.

Zack turned 9 months on 9.30.11 and we are still so in awe of this precious creature... he is polar opposite than Ben on almost every level, which is so interesting as a parent b/c you expect them to be the same. HA!

Likes:
his brother
his fingers when sleeping
food of any kind (I cannot believe how much he eats)
furniture that he can pull himself up on
stairs that he can climb
being outside
daycare
being hung upside down (see picture)