party and presents

lily had a birthday party with her friends this past saturday. her very talented nanna brought tree frogs, gerbil and chameleon as well as her singing puppets. she had the kids totally engrossed for an hour. it was lots of fun and we greatly appreciate nanna sharing her talents with everyone.

unfortunately, the memory card on my camera filled up right before lily blew out her candles. i only took video of her the night that we celebrated as a family on her birthday. alas, i have no pictures of her blowing out her candles to post (which is what she was most excited about). she did a good job and blew all three candles out with one blow (both times).

lily got some clothes from grandparents (which she loves and keeps wearing), a skirt that plays music when you dance in it (also well used at this point) and a fish from us. she named her fish blue and she is already a well-loved addition to the family. the girls love to feed and gracie even sings to her.

bugaboo birthday bash

lily turned 3 last wednesday. we took evan and her to bugaboo creek (restaurant) for lunch. this restaurant has a moose that talks every 10-15 minutes as well as other "animatronic" animals (a fish that moves & a beaver that pops up from a barrel). it's amazing how mesmorizing these animals are for my children. they actually stay happily seated throughout the whole meal! i tried to capture on film how mesmorized they are when the animals start to do something. all my pictures are a little blurry - not sure if the lens was dirty or something. lily was shy when the big moose puppet came out and sang "happy birthday." it made for a cute picture though.

the joys of family life

it's been a good week. after gray and gloomy weather, the sun finally came out last thursday and it's been beautiful ever since. i've find myself quite cheery ever since too!

i've often said that kids are the best form of entertainment. here are some comments from the last week that illustrate it:

*lily came down from upstairs with pat's shaving cream can and told me: "mom, i have hair on my legs and toes!"

*when i tried to tease grace the other day, she replied: "mom, you have to remember i'm almost eight. i have knowledge now!"

*on a family walk, when i got ahead of lily, she proclaimed: "mom, that's my seat."

*evan giggles everytime i read to him. i'd love to think that he's developing some inner love for reading. the more likely reason is that he makes it a game by constantly trying to close the book while you read.

*jake once again giggled when they drew some blood last week. he's quite a change for them at the blood lab at CCMC.

*a favorite oldie from my niece (that also breaks your heart): "mom, how come Jesus gave you a sister and not me?"

books i liked

here are a couple of books that i liked from the bookstore. the first one was especially charming and the second one just seemed to fit our family and i liked the illustrations.

eric carle musuem

we just got back from a trip to the eric carle museum. we had a blast! i highly recommend it (even lily and evan loved it). we loved everything from the art project, to the bookstore (i could have spent hours in there), to the tiles and small toilet in the bathroom (that lily thought was made just for her). there was a guest illustrator today who had illustrated books about horses. we had previously read a few of her books and we bought a signed copy for gracie's birthday. may will bring a new exhibit of leo lionni's works as well as more eric carle. we got a membership and hope to go back often.

more evan tricks

here's one of evan's most recent tricks. i always wipe his tray with a paper towel before i take him out of his high chair. well now, he will take the paper towel (i usually get one for him and me now) and wipe his own tray. he actually gets things up. he also will try and comb his hair if you give him a comb. i guess he's starting to imitate us already (always scary what your kids will imitate - hopefully we've got a couple of years before the embarassing forms of imitation starts). evan also likes to wrestle his siblings, snuggle into blankets, pull hair and growl. he is still so patient and persistent. he just sat patiently in his car seat while jake got his teeth cleaned today. he's a fun boy.

last week, we told lily that her birthday was coming up. i wasn't sure if she even knew what a birthday was, but she got all excited and proclaimed: "i get to blow candles out!" now she notices birthday cards at stores and tells me which ones are her favorites. she now knows how old she is going to be, but the second time we asked her this question, she took a moment and thought about it, and then proclaimed: "six!" which makes me think of another favorite A.A. Milne poem entitled: "The End." The poem says something like "now i am six, i'm as clever as clever, so i think that i'll be six forever and ever." i always wanted to do a "Now I am Six" themed birthday party with Winnie the Pooh characters. we took gracie to a play for her sixth birthday and jake tends to just have family parties. so i'm glad i have two more chances with lily and evan.

well, it's late and i'm rambling. sorry for the delay in writing. i looked at my planner to try and come up with some great excuse for the delay, but i have none to offer. we've been trying to catch up on dentist appointments, but that doesn't seem all that time-consuming. so i'll try and do better next time! it's not like my kids don't provide excellent fodder.

happy easter

The Hunt

The Decor

Consumption of the nests. (the nests were made from bran cereal which I must admit is a great appetizer for a big meal!)

belated easter greetings! we had a wonderful easter weekend. it started with a double date on friday night with some good friends. we had a BLAST!! then an egg hunt and nice dinner with family on saturday and another nice dinner with good friends on sunday. i had the girls (my niece included) make centerpiece flower arrangements and birds nest for each plate (see enclosed pictures). i forgot to get my camera out on sunday - so no pictures of that meal or anyone in their easter clothes. the girls just wore their flower girl dresses and the boys were in matching yellow sweater vests.

we also spent some time as a family on sunday reflecting on our blessings and the humble assurance that comes from knowing Christ lives. this continued to monday night where we had a nice discussion with gracie who is preparing to be baptized in a month. tonight, gracie asked me: "don't you just love your life, mom?" i must say that yes, i do. i have a good husband, wonderful children, home, an education, supportive extended family and amazing friends. i am blessed.