Pigtails

Gracie let me do her hair this morning! I had to snap these shots before she rearranged her 'do! Please pray for us today. We're driving down to Santa Rosa (about 2 hours away) for Phil's knee surgery scheduled for 1:15. Thanks.

Over and Out

Over the crib rail and out of the crib, that is! Last night Lily discovered how to escape from her crib. This picture was taken yesterday after nap time. I found her under her bed with all of the pacifiers she could find.

Grrrrr

I spent part of my morning on my hands and knees, growling and chasing the kids around the living room. Here are Grace and Caleb hiding from me under their slide.

Dessert Anyone?

Jared made dessert for us last night. He calls it "Icky Worms in the Dirt." Do I need to clarify this? He poked gummy worms into cups of chocolate pudding and sprinkled crushed Oreos on top. It's one of his favorite things to make. As you can see, Caleb, Grace and Lily thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Did I thoroughly enjoy myself? Well, I'll just say that I enjoyed watching my children enjoy their dessert.

Playing with Fire

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!

Haircuts

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!

Surgeries

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.

The Laser Limbo

Just having a little fun with the kids before bedtime.

My Cubbie

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.

Breakfast

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

Grampa's Van

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).

Little Buddies

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.

No Power!

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.

Family Photos

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.

Things I Love about Jared

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.