Soup love

How do you thank a friend that just seems to know when you need a big pot of soup to save you from another night of cereal or toaster waffles for dinner?

How do you explain to her what is does to a tired heart to see her sick, feverish, little baby eating up all those healthy veggies. Even though she just couldn't seem to scrape together the energy or the time or the ingredients to make it herself.

It's like love and kindness and comfort all in a big soup pot. 

Thank you, Julia.

And then there were three

It occurred to me that Anna is now old enough for gymnastics. 

So we decided to give it a try.

She joined Laney in the Tumblebugs class in her little purple leotard that we inherited who knows how long ago and have been using it in the dress up box. 

Megan works on her splits....

Sisters on the beam. Not sure why, but this photo makes me get teary....

Laney did her best to show her the ropes.

If she wasn't able to get her legs up, Laney would grab them and put them up there for her.

I think she's going to be okay.

And all for a few minutes of peace and quite for crying out loud!

The girls adore playing with the beans. They will play for hours, meticulously filling up cups, bowls and pans....effortlessly spreading beans into every nook and cranny of the house. 

It is horrifying and totally worth it. 

End of an era

Our very last Pinewood Derby.

Last year Mat won the whole shebang. That was the one year I wasn't there...of course. 

These year it is possible he came in dead last. It's hard to tell, because they don't exactly figure that one out and announce it. 

But he had a good time and he not only didn't cry when he lost a race, he laughed and cheered on the other boys.

Then he won the award for best sportsmanship.

And THAT is worth every minute we spent sanding and painting little cars, my friends.

Everly turns 1, and then we party

Everly turned 1 on January 14th, 2014!!

We went to the bank and got a sucker.

Then we went to Sunnyside after school and taught a class on cupcake decorating.

We ate a quick dinner and then we were off to Mathew's 5th grade band/choir concert.

Then we went to bed.

And I said a prayer of thanks that she is too little to realize that we just bumped her birthday.

But as these things go, January 15th turned out to be a great day to celebrate!

We made a lovely low-fat pineapple mandarin orange cake. It was very delicious and made me question why I haven't tried this kind of thing before.

We were so glad that Grandma Kathleen was in town to enjoy the party with us.

Mathew read us jokes from his latest library check-out.

And, as is only right, she received many toys that moo and oink and make lots of sounds.

We love our Ever so much and and forever thankful that she is here and healthy and growing!

Happy 1st Birthday + 1 day!!

A new plan

I have to laugh when people come in to our house and see our entry way mirror covered in sticky notes.

And they assume that this is a chore list or a new system for the kids to get their jobs done. 

They don't know that it's for me. Because I have a bit of a problem with trying to complete 4 jobs all at once and getting them all about 70% done...which means none of them are actually finished. Ever.

So I use my little system and it works like a charm. 

I do one job at a time and I slowly uncover the mirror as my house gets cleaner and cleaner. 

And when I sit down at the end of the day....I actually could tell you what I got done.

In sticky-note detail.

Dad

He is the best and cutest of all the swings.

Cuteness

High up on my list of cute things toddlers do: 

Lay on their round tummies and color. 

Little kids, big kids and regrets

We usually go to Union Station when we have a day to kill and want to get out of the house. But I came across a Groupon for a place called Wonderscope and we thought we'd give it a try.

At first sight, it seemed to be a converted old elementary school...think long dark hallway.

But when we went into the rooms, we were pleasantly surprised. They were created by someone who really seemed to "get" how kids play, 

The farm/garden/grocery store room was definitely my favorite. How fun was the raised beds with slots where you could "plant" carrots, potatoes, beets, onions and strawberries? 

SO FUN!!

Mathew love the hay baler and silo.

Another favorite was the vet/doctor room. Even Ethan forgot about being a cool big kid and pretended to be an animal dentist.

Unfortunately, he let loose a little too much in the art/face painting room.

And lived to regret it when we went through the drive thru for burgers on the way home.

Hee hee hee.

Hope that comes off with soap and water.

Happy New Years!

We spent New Years at the Flynns again. I was feeling...hopeful for the future. 

Not the coming year, no. 

But for the possibility that the baby girls might sleep through the chaos. There was a lot going on. 

They even had other babies join them in their room after I had put them down to sleep...these babies were not yet sleeping.  I found that infinitely stressful.  If you knew how many ridiculous hoops I jump through to get them to sleep in the first place, you would understand why I want to karate chop anyone that even walks by their door. And yet! The other parents put their kids down without much fuss (these are obviously better parents than I am, maybe I could take lessons?).

Happy New Year!

Adults left to right: Natalie Horspool, Paul Horspool, Jeremiah Clarke

Crystal Peterson, Todd Flynn, Courtney Flynn

Another year older...and still sleep deprived.

We celebrated New Years Day with the Griner Family. Andrew and Mark are guitar buddies and the kids were happy to dance!

Also, they make excellent homemade pizza.