A Little Reader

LB loves to read, which makes me very happy.  You don't exactly hear about little boys who love to sit around reading books very often.  This is what we read the other afternoon:

He doesn't always look at the whole book while I read it, but he always listens to the story, even when he is looking at another book.  So fun:)

Play-Doh

We made play-doh today, which the girls loved!

Pnut said the best part was that we made it!

Pilly had fun with it, but I think she wishes it were colored.  You can color it with Kool Aid, but we don't have any of that so ours is just white.

And this is his teary, but I really want to eat it face.  He kept sneaking bites and would get so upset when I said no!  Silly little boy.

A Normal Day!

We had a normal (!) day today, and we were even able to go to the playground in the beautiful sunshine!  LB walked all the way there and back, which was quite fun, and I think it really wore him out before nap!  He said "car" for what felt like every parked car and kept saying "go, go, go."  He was very excited to be walking.  We were all excited to be out of the house!

Pnut thought that the girls could just where their long-sleeved shirts and be fine without jackets.  After she got there, she changed her mind so she spent most of her time sitting in the sun.

Pilly was all over the place and enjoying herself quite a bit!  She was just disappointed that her sis didn't want to play more!

On the way home, another girl pointed out this caterpillar-type-thing to us.  We think he was dying.

He writhed all over the place and had some blood coming out of his head and some ants on his.  The girls were fascinated. 

So all this to say, we are so glad to feel good again! 

Tenatively Hopeful

We had a very slow day, Pilly threw up once more and Pnut was very tired, and then around supper time they both perked up.  So I am hoping they are feeling well and tomorrow we can try to get back to normal!  We haven't done school in a week, and everything needs cleaned.  We'll take it one step at a time and pray that Joel doesn't get sick!  He said he felt sick last night but then it went away. 

LB has been a very happy little boy these past few days.  He has been walking around laughing all the time and just being very silly.  I am so thankful that he has been happy while the girls have required some extra attention.

Still not very exciting posting material, but hopefully exciting news for us!

And it continues...

We are still battling this stomach bug so there isn't much to post.  Everyone has gotten it except Joel, and the girls are still getting over it.  Needless to say, our lives have not been very exciting lately.  I am wanting to sew some things again, and I am hoping to go to JoAnn's Saturday as I have several good coupons that I could use all at once.  I'd like to make a new softball bag, and I also would like to sew Pnut some clothes out of this crazy book I bought a while ago.  We'll have to see about that second one though.  It's always fun to dream:) 

We haven't had school since last Wednesday because of sickness.  Even thought it is putting us farther behind, I'm very thankful that Pnut is at home and not in school as she would be missing quite a bit from stomach bugs.  This is the fifth time she has gotten it this year.  I think her system is a little worn out and having a harder time fighting off things plus we haven't been able to be in the sun because we were trying to stay inside because of her allergies.  It is raining a lot this week so hopefully that will help with the allergens in the air and then we can get some vitamin D!  Everyone is getting tired of the boredom and being cooped up and watching shows to pass the time.  We like to go outside!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Sick

I've been quite sick today so I am not going to post anything til next week!

Sick Baby:(

Today I have been taking care of a sick little boy.  Besides school this morning, we didn't get much done!  That is okay, I did get to cuddle my sweet boy a lot and rock him.  I hope he feels better tomorrow, but judging from how he is now, I am not holding out hope!  Anyways, here is a picture of Pnut with some fake fingernails.  They all fell off within 24 hours, and she was very sad, but they were fun while they lasted!

Also, could someone explain to me what would possess a 4-year-old to ride her bike off the edge of the porch on purpose?  Thanks!

85 in April?

Whew, we had a busy day.  I got up and made pumpkin muffins for breakfast this morning, which each child ate three.  We went to the nursing home and then to a new playground with friends for a picnic and to play.  These are the only pictures I got from there:

Joel's first softball game was tonight too, which the kids enjoyed very much.  They are now sleeping in a state of complete exhaustion!  I'm ready for bed now too!

Ugh, Allergies!

Tomorrow is the last day of our week inside, and I am hoping that some of the tree pollen will be dying down soon!  I did let Pnut and Pilly go outside at my parents' today for about 20 minutes, and Pnut's face and eyes got puffy quite quickly.  I'll have to keep checking the pollen reports. 

Today was a very busy day with cleaning and running to Target and to get our milk.  We didn't eat until 6:00, which is very late for us, and the kids went to bed almost as soon as the dishes were done and Peter Pan read.  Did you know that fairies came from the first laugh of the first baby?  See the things we are learning!

I'm tired now so I think I will go.  I'll try to have more profound thoughts next week!

Wordless Wednesday-Something Cute

Bike Ride

On Monday, we took a bike ride:

The girls were funny, and their personalities come out quite a big!  Pilly is reckless, races down the sidewalk and careens around corners like a maniac.  I'm just thankful she hasn't run over anyone.  Pnut is very cautious as her main thought during bike riding is "don't fall over."  Thus she puts on her brakes every two seconds.  It's great.

And they like to ride really close together and make me really nervous.  They have run into each other but thankfully haven't gotten too hurt!

And we saw this beauty:

I do love spring!

Easter!

We celebrated Easter twice this weekend, and it was quite fun!  We went up to my grandparents on Saturday, and then the girls went home with Randa and Eric for the night, which was a fun surprise for all of us!  Here are some pictures from that:

LB collected 3 eggs before the hunt started, and then while he was supposed to be collecting eggs, he picked up pine cones, mulch, and some leaves.  Whatever works.  Because of that, we didn't wait for him to hunt eggs Sunday:)

What's that?  You noticed a giant white egg in the yard?  Here is a closer look:

Some people apparently aren't aware of what is supposed to happen during egg hunts.

Then we had the annual picture that we keep adding children to:

Fun times:)

Pnut's Concert

I forgot to post about Pnut's concert from last Friday.  We went to the concert at Christmas, and it was nice, but this one was even neater.  The kids were also allowed to do talent things.  It was amazing. 

Pnut was so cute up on stage.  She is in the back row because she is one of the tallest.  This is a kindergarten and 1st grade choir!  And we don't think of her as tall so I was surprised.

This is the full choir.  There are some very talented mothers in our co-op who direct this!

Interspersed throughout the choir's selections were the talent portions.  I, being the think-ahead person I am, didn't take pictures except of the last four performers.

Many of the children played instruments.  There were just a few piano players and lots of violinists, which was amazing.  Several of them got up and played without any music and just knocked my socks off!

This little girl played the ukulele and was really cute. 

There were also recitations.  It brought back too many memories of speech class and made my heart race and the fear of throwing up.

This was a group of four young men who played piano, violin, guitar, drums, and they sang.  They did a great job! 

I was just so impressed with the kids and also so thankful for the families in our co-op.  It has been a fun year!

First Picnic of 2012!

We had our first picnic today.  We went without coats because while I was hanging out the clothes the sun was shining and very warm and there wasn't too much of a breeze.  By the time we got to the playground, the sun was behind a bunch of clouds and there was a brisk wind.  So we were quite chilly while we ate but warmed up as we moved around afterwards.  Then the sun came back out. 

(Aren't these pink trees gorgeous?)  The girls were quite excited to have a picnic as they have been asking for a while.

I have learned not to pack too much food as everyone is easily distracted and has a hard time eating all of lunch.

Especially her.

LB did quite well just sitting and eating.  He, of course, didn't eat his sandwich, but he ate his banana and fishies and drank his water.  I think he is boycotting PB&J as he will eat bread with butter.  Does he belong to me?  My children eat PB&J every day without fuss.

We ended up spending two hours at the playground and came home to some excellent naps.  Especially LB, I got him right before 5:00.

The girls each made a friend while they were at the playground.  Pnut knew her friend's name.  Pilly referred to her's as the red girl as she had on red pants and shirt.  So polite.  And LB was a maniac and in and out of everything and ate some mulch.  Yum.

Rambles

Did you every notice how squeaky clean the new spring grass is?  It is so thick and fresh; it has not yet been withered by the summer sun.  I love spring!  We went along to Joel's softball practice tonight and walked across a few fields to get to playground.  LB was swishing and squeaking through the grass.  His poor short little legs don't go very fast, but they are darling! 

After some math trouble today, I am again reminded to relax and remember that Pnut is only 5.  She was adding two to two digit numbers and having a bit of a hard time doing just mental math instead of using the abacus.  After emailing RightStart, I was advised that she can continue to use the abacus if she still needs and given some tips for transitioning her to more mental math.  I've never contacted them for support before, but their reply was so quick, helpful, and reassuring!  I am very pleased with this program.

LB was picking on another 15-month-old at the playground today.  Every time the other boy would come up to him, LB would scream and run away.  His poor mother.  She didn't know what to think.  What to do with these kids?!

Hopefully tomorrow I will remember to take some pictures!  The sky has been such a beautiful blue against the emerald green of the grass.  Again, I love spring!

Speech and Hearts

We took a walk downtown with some good friends today and went to a store that sells craft stuff for super cheap because it is donated and then to a little cafe where we can get authentic croissants.  I thought they made them there, but they actually get them shipped in from France.  Isn't that crazy?  They are really good!  It was fun, the kids had a ball! 

In Sunday School, we have been going through a book about relationships, and yesterday we were talking about the power of words.  Words reflect what it is in your heart.  I think the verse that says "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" gives such a great word picture.  It is like a stream spilling over, showing exactly what is inside of you.  It is extremely convicting.  Every careless or thoughtless word has weight.  I've been praying about being humble and it seems that the way the Lord is going to do it (which is good) is by continually revealing areas in my life that are just full of sin.  And this is a major one!  The one leader really put it well when he said it is a continual cycle, the things we see and hear affect our hearts which affect our speech which then affect the things we see and hear.  (That, of course, is not as well put.)  It's a lot to think about.

So now I am going to go think about it some more.  Have a great night!