The Bartoy Adventures

I Would Bow For That

2011-12-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

Talking about Thanksgiving Ben: What does "thankful" mean? Me: You feel thankful for the things in your life that are good. For example... I'm thankful for Babbo who is a wonderful husband and a good person and a great dad. And... I'm thankful for you and Henry, you're my beautiful boys and I love you so much. And... I'm thankful that we live in Seattle which is an awesome city with so many

Henry is ONE!

2011-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby turned ONE!!! We had a lovely little birthday celebration for him. Ben and I made blueberry lemon cupcakes which were delicious, using some of the blueberries we picked last summer (which have slowly been rationed out of the freezer). Henry had a great time eating his treat and opening and playing with his presents! (Birthday boy did NOT like the flash. He was much

A Mellow Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, we baked cookies, Ben colored little Thanksgiving cards, and we delivered "thankful" treats to our neighbors and friends. This was a fun way to spread some love before the holidays. We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving this year. Just the 4 of us, along with Oma and Opa (Kevin's dad and stepmom) who came to visit us for the day. We signed up with an

Henry at 11 Months

2011-11-13T10:28:00.001-08:00

{As I write this, Henry is about to turn 14 months. Eek! I am quite behind on the updates. Good thing I take notes as the boys grow so I know what was going on at that time. The photos were actually taken when Henry was about 10.5 months old, so a bit earlier than what this update describes.} At 11 months, Henry got his 2 top front teeth! 4 teeth total now! Henry has a lots of new words:

You'll Never Know Dear, If Skies Are Blue

2011-11-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

{I posted some of these on Facebook. Apologies if you've read them already! But there are many more funny Ben-isms in here!} We're having lunch and Ben wants to make conversation. Ben: Let's talk about hot dogs, fairs and donuts. All right? Let's think about hot dogs first. I like my hotdog with ketchup on it. And you and Babbo like your hot dogs with ketchup and mustard. Is that right?

Halloween

2011-11-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was even more fun than previous years since we had a big kiddo who was really into it, and a small kiddo to tag along! We did a few Halloween crafts in the week leading up to the big day. Here's a jack-o-lantern garland that Ben made. On the weekend of Halloween, we spent a day at the zoo with friends and also carved pumpkins. I unfortunately lost all the photos from

Rainbow Lizard

2011-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

About a month before Halloween, I asked Ben what he wanted his costume to be. He replied he wanted to be a Rainbow Lizard. Just to clarify, that is a creature from his imagination. I asked him to draw his vision for me, and he drew up his "dee-zign", which I then sketched for his approval. He and I then got to work on the costume: buying fabric, cutting and assembling the pieces,

Soccer Game

2011-10-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

{I know it's been AGES since I've posted an update. I have about 20 posts started for various events and topics, and about a million photos to edit. The holidays and starting a business just took away any free time I had. I'm going to try my best to get into a groove where I can update this space regularly... Stay tuned.} In October, Ben got to attend his first soccer game with his dad and

Super Mega Bowing

2011-10-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ben at 4 years old has been quite a challenge. He is inquisitive, interesting and hilarious, but also increasingly opinionated and rebellious. But the rebellious side sometimes is hilarious too... Ben and I are walking in the main street of our neighborhood, running errands. Ben: You know what I see?? I see my favorite thing in the whole world! Frozen yogurt! Me: No honey, we're not getting

Henry at 10 Months

2011-10-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Henry at 10 months continues to be a sweetheart. He is such an adorable little guy with quite a personality. At 10 months, Henry got his second tooth on the bottom. Teething made him quite miserable at times (and his parents quite sleep-deprived). But little by little, these teeth are coming out! Henry likes to hum and sing a lot. After hearing his brother singing "Take me out to the ball

Brothers

2011-10-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Trying to get a photo of the brothers together that is NOT BLURRY is quite a challenge. I tried and here are a few cute ones (out of 10 times as many on the memory card!).

The Fair

2011-10-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

We try to go to The Fair in Puyallup every year. This year, we made it on the very last day. We got free tickets (thank you Oma and Opa!) and didn't want to waste them despite awful weather that weekend. We lucked out. It rained as we arrived, and while we ate lunch indoors. The rest of the time, we stayed dry and even enjoyed some sunshine! It turned out to be a really fun day for our

Ben Art

2011-10-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ben continues to be quite the prolific artist and his drawings include an increasing amount of details. They're so fun to look at. It's been a while since I've done a "Ben Art" update so there is a lot here (though it is nothing compared to the amount he produces on a weekly basis...). First off are a few things from months ago that I photographed but never posted. A dinosaur "collage", a

Fall Festival

2011-10-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

The Fishermen's Terminal in Seattle is our favorite place to buy fish. You literally can't get any fresher, it's where the fishermen sell their catch as they dock into the harbor. Every year, they hold a Fall Festival, mostly geared toward kiddos. There are tons of free arts and crafts and other activities. This year, the locally famous clown PJ Patches was doing his final performance before

Body Art

2011-10-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Back in early September, when school hadn't yet started and Ben was finding himself in need of entertainment, perhaps, he drew on himself a couple of times with markers (mostly washable, thank goodness). First, there were the "leg tattoos": Then came the "cheetah eyes": Yaya came to the rescue and sent us some wonderful face pencils. Ben was overjoyed! He is quite the face painter

My Goodness, Migration

2011-10-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ben comes up to me while I'm working on the computer. Ben: Mommy, I want to be magic. I'm going to disappear myself. Me: Okey-dokey. How are you going to do that? Ben: When I spin, pwetend you don't see me anymore. And when I spin again, pwetend you can see me again. That's how it works. Dinner time: Henry: Ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba. Me: Do you see that Ben? He's calling you ba-ba. Ben: He's starting

Back to School for Ben

2011-09-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Ben returned to preschool after the summer break. He was soooo excited to go back and see his teachers and friends. It's amazing what 3 months can change in a little dude's life. He seems so much more mature and social at school, and the teachers have commented on how well he's doing.

A Visit to the Barbershop

2011-09-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Before school started a few weeks ago, Ben needed a haircut. He kept requesting a visit to the barbershop, so we decided to go for it! I let him choose whether he wanted to ask the barber for his hair to be cut "really short" or "just a little bit short". He asked for "really short". We love his new hair!! Despite the fact that it's aging him about 5 years!! (I didn't bring my camera, so

Henry at 9 Months

2011-09-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

At 9 months old, Henry had his latest well-check doctor appointment. He measured 29 inches and weighed in at 21lbs 7oz. Still very long and slender. The doctor found him to be doing just great, right on track for development and as healthy as can be. The big news for 9 months is that we have a first tooth!! Yay, finally! It relieved sleep issues for a little while, but we went right back

Blueberries!

2011-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

The day after we went blackberry picking, we headed to Bellevue to pick blueberries at a U-Pick farm. We didn't get there until almost 12-noon and it was pretty damn hot. Poor Henry was miserable on my back and everyone aside from Kevin ended up taking a break in the shade of the blueberry trees. Seriously, huge! While we were hanging out, Ben made me a "blueberry lollipop" while Henry

Blackberry Season

2011-09-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

In early September, we headed to Discovery Park with Uncle Steve to pick some blackberries. They were everywhere! In the photos below, you can see a wall of blackberry bushes behind the tall grass. Blackberries further and higher than the eye could see! We had a great time foraging and picking a whole bunch of them. Ben had a blast hiding in the tall grass too.

Playdoh Taste

2011-09-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ben is asking me to play an episode of Dora The Explorer for him on Netflix. Me: Do you want this one, it's Dora's Halloween? Ben: No, I just want a plain common Dora. We're walking home from buying a few groceries at Trader Joe's. Ben is eating a piece of Taffy he got from the cashier, a special treat for finding the stuffed monkey they hide in the store. Kevin: How's your candy, buddy? Ben:

Gone Fishing!

2011-09-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we spent a weekend in Eatonville with Opa and Oma (Kevin's dad and stepmom). Kevin and his dad took Ben fishing for the very first time. Early in the morning (not that early since the boat rental place didn't open until 9AM or something), they headed out with their bait and poles. It was a gorgeous day and Ben was SO excited! Here are a few pics from that big first experience

Splashing in the Pool

2011-09-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

On a hot and sunny day a few weeks ago (I almost wrote "very hot" but I knew all you Texans and Tennesseans would just laugh at me), we filled up the kiddie pool in the backyard. Our neighbors happened to be moving that day, hence the mountain of boxes and random crap in the background. In any case, the boys had a great time! Ben handled the camera for a bit and I got some lovely random

More Friends Visit, Yay!

2011-09-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Kristina, her husband Jeremy and their two sons Simeon and Francis came to visit us in Seattle in mid-August. We had so much fun showing them around town. Here are a few pictures of our whirlwind weekend with visits to the Aquarium, Pike Place Market, and Golden Gardens Beach among many other things. More photos on Flickr.