A few more things

So the last post was all about pictures and our adventures, but I wanted to catch everyone up on what the kids are up to.  Ben is still his adorable self.  He never stops talking, and he says the funniest things.  For example, here is a fairly accurate transcript of one of our recent conversations:

Ben: You’re my mommy, Penny’s my sister, That’s my bug friend (pointing to a fly).  He teaches me tricks.

Me: What? Tricks?

Ben:  Yeah, tricks, that’s what bug friends do.  They teach big boys how to do tricks, like changing batteries in my new train toy.

What can I say, the kid has a thing for bugs.  Also, pretty much every living thing on the planet is his friend, except for spiders, he doesn’t like spiders.  Other than that, he’s a very friendly kid, including with bugs.  The other day, I tried to kill a really annoying fly in our kitchen and Ben got upset.  He told me very seriously that we do not hurt our friends.  When we went to the park last week, an older girl (than he is, she was probably about 8) that we have never met walked over from her house and he said, “Mommy, there’s my friend.  I’m going to go say hi.”  He proceeded to go and play with her until she left.

Penny is also very friendly.  She flirts with everyone.  She’s starting to say a lot of things.  She’s in that phase where she’ll say something perfectly clear and then doesn’t say it again, so you think you’re crazy.  Sometimes she even says complete sentences.  The other night I made homemade rolls and she wanted one.  Jon was making her say please, which she can say.  He had Ben show her how, and Ben asked nicely for a roll.  It took Penny a while to catch on but she eventually said “Daddy, ca I haa roll eeese”  She said it twice but hasn’t said it again, of course.  As far as words she says consistently, this is the most comprehensive list I can think of, though I’m sure I’m missing some:

Mama, Dada, baby, ball, bear, booboo, poopoo, dog, cat, meow, ow, no (also she says uh-uh), yes, yay, eat, apple, strawberry (although I can’t really even transcribe this one, I just know it in context), bubble, teeth/toothbrush, bottle (although this is said, “lah-ble”), water, diaper, she also says A,B, and I and she calls all of the letters one of these three.  She calls Ben “ba” or “boo”.  Boo is another word she says (you may notice that she says a lot of ‘b’ words.  That does seem to be the consonant she has down the best).  Shoe is probably her favorite word, as it means she gets to go outside.  That’s all I can think of now, although she seems to learn at least one word every day, so I’m sure I’m forgetting some.

And now that you suffered through all that here are some pictures.  First, Penny all ready to go outside.  She is super happy to put shows and a hat and hurries to the door as soon as she has them on:

And a picture of the kids all ready for church.  That is the dress Rachael made for Penny.  I always get compliments on it.  But seriously, these kids are so stinking cute.