Conversations from the weekend...

We spent the weekend at the lake with my mom and dad, who also brought our niece, Reiley. She’s the same age as Luke and they had a great time. The kids were full of funny conversations all weekend long. Here are a few of the funny things Luke said….

Driving to the Lake

Me….Wow, look at Mt. St. Helens. It’s covered in snow. Did you boys know that is actually a volcano?

Luke…WHAT? A REAL VOLCANO? Where’s the lava?

Me…No lava…it already blew up…when I was a little girl.

Luke…did you see the hot lava? Did you know that you should never ever ever touch hot lava?

Me…that’s a good rule to live by.

Luke…Will it blow up again?

Me….well, maybe, but not for a very long time.

Luke…Mom, will it blow up a long long time from now? You know about 677 years from now when our whole family is dead. That way the lava won’t burn us up…cause you know…you should never ever touch lava.

Bedtime Friday Night

Reiley….I miss my mom.

Bubby (that’s my mom)…it’s okay sweetie.

Luke…Reiley, are you sad because no one in your whole family is here? Because you’re here by yourself without your mom and dad? Because you came all by yourself and you are alone.

Reiley starts to cry a little.

Luke…okay, enough with the whining.

The wind up and the pitch....

Luke started Tee Ball...which of course brings a tear to his momma's eye!  Hurray for the greatest sport ever...sorry Aaron...but you did appoint me as content manager for our blog!   

Of course, the memory card was full when I wanted to take pictures at his practice, but I did manage to snap this picture of Luke's awesome wind up.  More pictures and annoying parental commentary in the near future.... 

I can do something new....

At 10 months, Natalie has started pulling herself up.  She is THRILLED!  It's a little scary to think of her on her feet, but I do love to find chubby little arms reaching for me over the rail of the crib after nap time!  

He is Risen Indeed...

What a great Easter!  Having two little boys around at Easter time is entertaining.  They seem particularly consumed with the fact that Jesus DIED and then rose again...a little more emphasis on the dying than the raising.  On Easter morning Luke said, "Jesus raised from the dead....well, that's great."  We agree.  Here are some pictures of our festivities surrounding Easter.  

Happy Easter!  I opted for this picture rather than the one that had 2 out of 3 with fingers in their noses....I won't name names...but you know who you are.

The bunny, the bee, and the monkey...

The giant magnifying glasses were a HUGE hit (and still are). Thanks Dollar Tree!

Thrilled with her Cheerios-filled eggs!  Is the Easter Bunny smart or cheap?  We'll leave that one up to you to decide!

Auntie Saza joined us for egg coloring.  It was a blast.  We ended up with colored, painted, glittery, sticker-covered eggs.  The boys definitely believe that the more you can put on an egg, the better. When we were done decorating, the only obvious thing to do was just to re-decorate each one even more.  

It's hard to imagine...

It's hard to imagine that all three of these little monkeys have, at one time, called this crib their own.  Seems like just yesterday we were trying to get Luke to stop chewing the paint off the rails, or trying to keep Peter from perching on top and crying for someone to save him.  Now, it's decked out in pink and poor Natalie can't keep these boys out of her bed!  

I love this picture because instead of smiling, yelling seemed to be the right response to the camera.    

Names in the Sand

In February, my friend Rachel gave birth to a precious little girl, Mina. After just six days, Mina was born into heaven.

Recently, (through some definite God-given circumstances) I discovered a gal in Australia, who is also a momma who lost a baby. This Australian mommy has a memorial site where she writes children's names in the sand and takes BEAUTIFUL pictures. The story of how she began serving grieving families is pretty amazing. Click here to see the Names in the Sand site. Rachel gave me the "ok" to share Mina's name picture on our blog...

So, here it is...

Mina Kathryn

Placed into her family's loving arms
February 18, 2009

Placed into the loving arms of her Heavenly Father
February 24, 2009

Boys will be boys...and sometimes you just can't stop them...

My mom reminded me of a story that happened a few months back. It's too funny not to share.

We were spending a weekend at the lake with the family. The kids (Isaac, Reiley, Luke and Peter) were downstairs playing pirates (or something like that.) It didn't take long before Reiley was crying because the boys weren't playing nice with her. They wouldn't even let her sit on the same couch with them. My mom went down and told the boys that they HAD to play with Reiley. She reminded them they are all cousins and love to play together, etc, etc, etc. As she turned around to leave, she heard the older boys say..."fine, you can play (pirates) with us, but you have to pretend to be dead." UGGHHHHH I think they missed the point! Poor Reiley!

Special Days

At preschool, each child has a Special Day celebration. The school does this so that even summer birthdays have a special day to shine! Luke and Peter's special days were just days apart this year...very fun!  It is so fun to watch them play and learn.  Here are some pictures.

Peter's Day...

A happy boy with his special crown

Peter and Aaron telling the class all about the pictures

Something is wrong with this glue...oh wait, wrong end...

The final product...so cute.

Luke's Day...

Luke's Special Day.  Check out the "special" necklace.  

Show-and-Tell...

Luke didn't need help telling his friends about his pictures.

Luke loved having Mommy and Daddy spend the whole class with him.  

Lining up

Natalie Kate is 9 months old...

Little Miss Natty-Pants  is 9 months old.  We went for her check-up and as we expected she is practically perfect in every way!  She weighs in at 17 pounds 11 ounces.  She is 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight...tall and thin.  I told her to soak it in while she can!  

The highlight of the check-up was when our pediatrician asked me if she had started clapping. Ummm, completely stunned I asked,  "is she suppose to be clapping???"  You may be thinking that this is our third baby and I should probably have pretty good knowledge of childhood milestones by now.  But, here's the truth.  It's not the milestones that I have knowledge of...it's the knowledge of how fast it all goes by that has been occupying my mind during these last 9 months.  This sweet girl that I still regard as my teeny tiny baby is really a busy little baby girl who is full of life, on the move, and learning new things everyday.   At nine months she is crawling all over the place, pulling up to her knees, just starting to eat Cheerios, and is a little bit shy.   

Baby Yoga at its finest...just for the record, her highchair is tilted back a bit.  But still....wow!

Here's Natalie with cousin Emmett (who will be 1 this month) and Auntie Shannon is holding them.  

Sweet girl

Proof that she is crawling all over. Here she was peeking out from under Bubby and Papa's table.  She was so proud that she crawled in there.