Wow – the boys got some cool presents for their second birthday! All sorts of things that I’m tempted to play with after they go to bed - woo-hoo!

From Nana and Papa, some washable crayons – perfect for my graffiti artist Jonah. After seeing the wall where Jonah had scribbled profusely, my friend Samantha had mentioned this clever little invention to me, and then a few days later – voila – they arrive in a birthday box – yeah!

Along with a LeapFrog toy that, among other features, plays a short tune each time you press a letter of the alphabet. Jonah thought this was super cool and did 26 little dances as we went through the alphabet. Benjamin’s favorite part of the toy was the lever on the side that moved up and down.

The highlight was definitely the bathtub crayons, though, and our bathroom looked like a Jackson Pollock painting after half an hour.

Jonah pleaded to “hold crayons” even as he was getting out of the bath. He held them tightly to his chest, lowered his chin, and said “snuggle!”

From their three-year-old friend Josiah, a tasty worm treat he made from marshmallows, vanilla wafers, peanut butter with two little raisin eyes!

The boys talked about the worm (“gusano”) all the way home and that’s basically what they ate for lunch: worm! gusano! more worm! mas gusano!

And the cutest cards from Heidi and Bob.... mono! fox!..... 

....along with the beautifully illustrated Jesus StoryBook Bible. A brief excerpt from the introduction: "The Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done." And later "No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story... There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."

My own personal favorite from Abuela was this beautiful Curious George puzzle – I love the images!