Two of my favorite things

This is the photo Michael and I both have as our background on our phone. Every day, those sweet little faces cuddled up all warm and happy makes us feel all warm and happy inside.

A recent tale regarding Jed:
Before he falls asleep, Jed loves me to tell him a "made up story". These stories generally involve an anthropomorphized object or animal who faces an ethical dilemma and chooses the right and feels the rewards of his right decision. Yes, I am the modern Aesop. Last night, though, we were doing a quick one, since it was so late. I told Jed a story about Snoot the Snowflake who fell from his soft fluffy cloud and landed right on a little boy's nose. As Snoot and his friends squealed "Wheeeee!" while falling, Jed reached out of his blanket and his soft, moist little boy hand wrapped itself around mine. He snuggled into his pillow and his eyes closed, and gentle smile on his lips.

And Zoe:
Marshmallows are a big hit around here of late, seeing as how we had so many campfires in the fall, and now that the weather has turned blisteringly cold, hot cocoa is a daily affair. A couple weeks ago we were over at the grandparents' house and I was wiping Zoe down after a particularly messy dinner. After I got her rosy cheeks and hands scrubbed down, I let her go (she's at a dead run before she hits the ground). "Wait," Jan said. "Is there something under her chin?" Michael grabbed her and tilted her chin up. She screamed and squealed in protest as he revealed, yes, an entire large marshmallow shoved beneath her chin. Stickily stored for later consumption, it had melted into the folds of her ample double chin and cemented itself into a gooey white cement blob. Prying that sucker off all that soft pink skin was no easy task, and she was generally displeased with us all the rest of the evening.