Once a fireman, always a fireman, I suppose! Phil designed and built this bunk bed for Jared and Caleb; now he's burning the wood to give it a rustic look. It's beautiful! Both of the beds are about 5 feet off the ground with a carpeted platform between them. One thing is for sure--when we move up to Washington, we'll take down the ceiling fan in their new room!
Lily before her bangs were trimmed
Lily after her haircut
Thursday night was haircut night. Jared, Caleb and Phil had their hair cut after dinner out on the patio. While I was putting away the clippers, I noticed that Lily had climbed up into the chair and had wrapped the towel around her neck all by herself. She was just sitting there waiting for her turn, smiling and kicking her legs back and forth in the chair. I took this opportunity to cut her bangs. As you can see from the "before" picture taken earlier this week, it was much needed!
No picture today, sorry. Phil and I were gone today for his weekly doctor appointment. The kids must have played pretty hard at Gramma's house, because all 4 of them were asleep before 7:00 tonight! Next Friday, May 4, Phil will have surgery on his right knee, and then on May 25, he will have surgery on his left elbow and wrist. We'll wait until August for surgery on his right wrist. Please keep him in your prayers...thank you.
Jared finished his first year of Cubbies! We attended the award ceremony at church last night. We cleared our memory stick, but left it at home in the computer! A friend of ours took pictures for us, so I'll post those later. I took a picture of him this morning in his Cubbie vest and jammies to share with all of you. He's very proud of the little stuffed Cubbie bear that is pinned to his uniform. This is his award for finishing his first year and his first book.
Apple Puff Pancake with Vanilla Syrup and a Cappuccino
I wanted to share a yummy recipe that I use to substitute maple syrup. Can you see little fingers in the bottom left side of this picture? I just noticed them! HA!
Vanilla Syrup
Mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Bring to boil; remove from heat
Add 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp vanilla (not imitation vanilla--the good stuff!)
Serve warm
I wanted to clear my memory stick, and realized that I hadn't posted this picture of the cousins taken 2 weeks ago. The kids bathed at Gramma's house, so to help them avoid the mud puddles on the way over to our house, Grampa chauffeured the 6 of them in his van (those puddles are always a little more tempting after a bath, for some reason).
Sometimes Caleb sneaks into Jared's bed at night. This is how I found the boys when I checked on them last night before going to bed. I'm so thankful that they're little buddies.
Our power went out today while I was steaming milk for my Cinnamon Dolce Latte. To my surprise, the machine kept right on working! Phew! I was quite impressed.
Many of you have emailed asking why there aren't many pictures of Phil and me with the kids. These pictures should answer that question! First of all, I'm usually the one taking the pictures. Second, most of the pictures we take do not require sitting still or posing for the camera. These pictures of Jared were taken before our family portrait was taken by Olan Mills for the church directory. We also thought it would be nice to have a picture of Daddy and his girls sitting on his lap with the beautiful ocean in the background.
The boys in the tepee we made last Spring
Jared working on his last AWANA section--if you click on this picture, you'll see his coloring close up. We were supposed to draw 3 things that will be in Heaven. The first one is a happy boy. The other two are things that won't be in Heaven: no timers (for sitting on his bed), and no baths.
Things I love about Jared:
1. He loves Jesus--Last night he told me that he wants to be a missionary. He enjoyed hearing the story of Hudson Taylor in AWANA this year. Yesterday, he peeled back the Band-aid on his knee to see if his cut was better. When he saw that it was, he asked if we could pray and thank Jesus.
2. He loves to learn--He asks lots of questions and loves to be read to. This morning when he came in to snuggle with me in bed, he wanted to play "I spy." When it was his turn, he said, "I spy a rhombus." This probably wasn't from something that I read to him! A few minutes ago, I heard him tell Caleb to run allegro and not adagio.
3. He's polite--Last night we gave Aunt Corinne a ride to AWANA, and he opened the car door for her.
4. He's a thoughtful brother--Just now, he came in with 2 fruit snacks for me to open--one for him and one for his brother.
The girls at Gramma's house eating their chocolate bunnies
When I went to sneak a bite from the kids' chocolate Easter bunnies today, I was surprised to see how each bunny revealed something about their personalities. First of all, Jared's was gone. He does everything with gusto...never half-way! Then there was Caleb's. He had the most left over--he's my cautious one. Grace's was the only one with the wrapper still in tact. It was peeled back neatly, only so far to take a nice bite. She's actually very organized. She puts her dishes away after snack time and mealtimes. Then I had to laugh when I pulled Lily's out of her box (which had chocolate smeared all over it). Hers was a strange consistency...like she had drooled all over the chocolate and then it dried. There were also fingerprints all over hers.
So which one did I sample? Well, I thought it would only be fair if I took a bite from each one...yes, even Lily's.
I remember the night well--the night I wrestled with God. It was two years ago today. We found out that we were having twins on April 14, and it took only two days for my excitement to turn into extreme panic! Jared had just turned 2 in January, and Caleb was only 9 months old. What would I do with twins? Did God really plan this? With Phil working his overnight shift and family out of town, I spent the night alone with my boys. I couldn't sleep, because I was anxious about the future, questioning God's purposes, even His goodness.
At 2:00 a.m. I went in to soothe my fussy Caleb who was teething. We sat and rocked in the dark listening to his lullaby CD. As I sat there singing to Caleb, I thought about the words I was singing to him..."My Redeemer is faithful and true; Every morning His mercies are new"..."Give thanks with a grateful heart"..."Let me never forget...God is the Ruler yet." It was then that I realized that God was soothing me, His restless child, while I was soothing mine! I bowed my head and thanked God for what He had brought into my life, even though I didn't understand it.
This is the reason I love Zephaniah 3:17 (posted to the right). Mommies love to soothe their children--to sing over them, to quiet them with love--and so does our Heavenly Father. For two hours I sang to Caleb; he fell asleep right away, but I needed to sit there and spend this precious time with God. When I look at my girls, I can't thank God enough for the blessings and the joys of having twins. He gave to me what He knew was best for me.
On a lighter note, escrow closed today so the house in Spokane is officially ours!
Doesn't this look like FUN? It's always good to have a rainy day once in a while! The kids enjoyed playing outside in the mud at Gramma's house while Phil and I went to his doctor appointment on Friday.
I like to drink tea every night. When I drink Good Earth tea, I enjoy the little quote attached to the string of my teabag. Here's last night's quote:
"Our patience will achieve more than our force."
-Edmund Burke
I was trying to take a picture of my girls in their new little Summer outfits, but as you can see, they were too busy discussing who should hold the shovel. It's hard to imagine that a quiet, "Girls, please obey Mommy and look at the camera" would achieve better results than a louder "Girls, look at the camera NOW!" Patience won out (this time), and here's the picture.
"A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare." -Proverbs 15:1
Lily went to Gramma's house today and played video games with her cousin Morgan. Should I be concerned that she looks like a natural and enjoys this so much? She handles the controls with such dexterity! Hmmm, maybe this isn't her first time playing video games over there!
This picture was taken a while back. Jared won this cake at the Deep Valley Christian School carnival cake walk. When we got home that night, he asked for a slice, but we told him that he had to wait until tomorrow. This is what we woke up to the next morning. I guess 7:00 a.m. counts as tomorrow!
Morgan and Lindsay are visiting from So. California! They're on their Spring break this week. On their first day here, they managed to squeeze in an Easter egg hunt, a lunch date with friends from the area, a tractor ride and a sleepover with movies. What is left to do for tomorrow and the rest of the week? I'll have to be very creative! What can top Easter egg hunts and tractor rides?
Lily among the lilies (she's actually eating them!)
My silly boys with chocolate
Grace and Lily on their way to church
The story of Jesus' Death and Resurrection becomes sweeter to me every year. I can't fathom the love that He has for me--that He would die for me.
"What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend, for this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?"
Hallelujah to my Risen Savior!
It didn't start out as the paint shirt. It was the shirt that Jared wore the day he discovered the bucket of paint under my mom's back steps. Unfortunately, she didn't use Crayola Washable Paint for her steps, thus, the paint shirt. When I put it on Caleb this morning, he was very excited about it for some reason. I now realize that to a two year old boy, paint shirt means shirt on which you paint, and not the shirt worn while painting. My mistake!
We baked yummy chocolate chip cookies this morning! My friend Emily gave me a great recipe. These are less "cake-like" than most. If you're interested, here's the recipe:
Mix together:
1 cup shortening (I use Butter Crisco)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
In a separate bowl mix together the following, then add to mixture above:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Mix in 1 cup chocolate chips
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min.
Hope you like them. The kids sure do. Before I go, here's one quick story...Jared was crawling on the floor this morning, so I asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was "getting a different perspective." He was looking for his juice cup, and couldn't find it standing up!
My friend Sandi told me to try sprinkling grits around my kitchen to get rid of ants. We tried it two days ago, and it works! I guess they got too full, because I certainly didn't poison them. This morning I removed crayon from a surface by heating it with my hair dryer, and then rubbing the crayon markings off with a piece of bread that I squished into a ball. It worked like an eraser! I read about this in a magazine. Clearly, I don't get out much if killing ants and squishing bread amuse me! Phil and I did go on a date yesterday. Grandpa came over and sat with the kids so we could go to the bank to sign loan papers for the new house. That was probably our most expensive date yet! When we got home they were reading together in the backyard.
Jared loves his zip cord, as you can see from the look on his face. The girls do fairly well on it, too, with a little assistance, of course.
"Hosanna, loud hosanna! The little children sang...The children sang their praises, the simplest and the best."
After lunch today the girls played with their Sunday School papers from Palm Sunday. I heard Grace repeatedly say, "aya, aya, aya." When I turned to look, I noticed that she was waving her little paper palm branches. She was singing, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!" Can you imagine God's delight when little children praise Him?
"All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King, to Whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring!"
Lily is taking Stuart Little for a ride.
Caleb loves The Little Einsteins!
Grace and Lily only wanted to look at Princess toys.
The boys played the Reactrix game for over a half an hour.
You know you're from the country when you bring your camera with you to the mall! We went to Marin today for Phil's doctor appointment. We found a great park for the kids and ate a picnic lunch there. Then we headed to the mall to look around in the Disney Store and to enjoy a snack in the food court. The boys enjoyed the Little Einstein toys, and the girls loved the Princess toys. I was surprised when I saw the Easter Bunny come out of the elevator, but my kids were not at all impressed. It embarrassed me a bit, because he didn't get a reaction from any of them when he waved. We decided that he must have gone upstairs to use the restroom. I thought I had it tough in the restroom with the interruptions of four young children. At least I don't have to maneuver out of a huge bunny costume!
God's goodness overwhelms me at times...especially when I think about how He spared Phil's life last year. I am thankful for such a wonderful husband who loves God and his family as he does. Phil is very patient and wise. He is extremely giving. He is not easily angered. He loves his children, and he is a very capable father (he gives baths and changes diapers!). No matter what trials come our way, his faith remains in tact, unshaken. He is confident in the sovereign hand of God. Sometimes I'm tempted to think of the "what ifs." What if I would have lost him last year? These are sobering thoughts for me. I'm thankful that God has allowed me to share more time with the man I love...time I pray will not be taken for granted.
Phil with Grace and Lily
Phil with Caleb and me
Phil with Jared
