when?

Is there a certain time at which I can...
....tell baby E that she's supposed to be a baby still. she's not supposed to be scooting/crawling across the floor. she's not supposed to be clapping and waving. she certainly does look adorable while she does all of the above, though.

...tell my girls "no, you can't watch Tinkerbell.....again....and not break their hearts?" They've been (starting to) watch it at least 3 times a week while I try to work, or do school, or cook or clean. I think they've only watching the whole movie maybe two times, total. We know the beginning very well, though.

7:30am

It's 7:30 on a Wednesday morning. i'm up. all three kids are sleeping. hallelujah!

Last night was my sister's wedding. it was beautiful. the flower girls (B, K and 3 other little girls cousins) were adorable running up the aisle barefoot yelling "the bride is coming!" as soon as K hit the runner on the way up, it looked like she was going to stop and pick up the flower petals that had already been dropped, but then off she went. k was the youngest by more than a year, so was obviously the last to get done. she got back to me with two handfuls of flower petal in hand and was very concerned about it. i was able to coax her to throw them on the floor right there in front of Rebekah without holding up the works too much. it was a definite highlight of the wedding. very sweet.

there was a scorching 'first kiss' which was quite unexpected from the groom. yummy food made by my parents, with some help from hubby. absolutely fantasticly wonderful wedding cake--almond sour cream. YUUUM! almonds left on all the tables as favors since the groom is an a-mond farmer. (those native to the region in cali apparently drop the 'l' in almond.) the happy couple exited under a shower of bubbles. we were all surprised as he hit the gas to make a hasty exit. his family says that they'd never seen him do that. he's quite reserved and thoughtful in all he does apparently. guess he was ready to get on with it. ;) it was a beautiful wedding. they're headed for a week-long trip back to california to start their life together as a-mond farmers.

b lost her first tooth during the reception last night. we wrapped it carefully and put it under her bed for the tooth fairy. the tooth fairy showed up last night and left her with a sweet little note and some quarters, which i'm sure she'll be absolutely thrilled to discover.

we've been sleeping in our new house for almost 2 weeks now. 95% of our stuff is still packed up. we finished getting everything moved in last sunday. we were home getting a bit settled for a couple days then headed up to church camp on wednesday. decided to come home a bit early from that on saturday, celebrated father's day with both dads, one on sat and one on sunday. then had rehearsal/dinner on monday and wedding on tuesday. it's been a busy couple weeks. i'm looking forward to getting settled and start living a 'normal' life again.

i've got truckloads of pictures. i just have to find the cord to load them onto the computer.

One load down

There's a reason for the long, drawn-out absence here.

We're moving.

We took the first load over tonight. Many more to come.

Crazy how an empty house makes the girls turn wild. They were dancing and wrestling, rolling on the floor and 'exercising.' Then, pretty soon someone is crying because the ran into the wall, or fell down or some other earth-shattering horribleness. All in good fun, I guess.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get the bulk of the 'necessities' moved over: pots and pans, dishes and the rest of the things we can't live without while we unpack the garage full of boxes that will come over on Friday with the furniture.

I'm looking forward to getting settled.
To be done living with the move looming over us.
To be able to reassure my children that everything is OK.
To go bask in the sunshine by the community pool.

Oh, did I mention that we'll have access to the community pool? Absolute heaven! We're all excited about that.

Must go feed baby.

More later.

from the mouth of a two year old

K said today, "puke in toilet, not in sink."

You better believe it.


*we've got a bug around here. Can you tell?*

To brighten his day.

Daddy's at school and we're all missing him. So we sent him a little picture to let him know we were thinking of hm.

And he really is a rock star.

springtime

Ah....sunshine.


















It's a beautiful thing.

5 months old

Time has flown. We've been sick, and busy, and growing, and living. You know how it goes. ;)

Yesterday marked 5 months that my precious baby E has been here. Seems almost like last week. Except that I'm *really* tired. ;)

E is a happy, happy little girl. Most of the time, all it takes to get a smile from her is a smile of your own. She laughs easily and is content to snuggle with any of us. B usually holds her first thing in the morning while I'm finishing up breakfast. They both seem to enjoy it.

My bigger girls each got their first tooth right about 4 months. E's not far behind. She's got a lovely little bump there and we're just waiting for the tooth to actually pop through. I've enjoyed her toothless grin, especially this last month, knowing that it soon will be no more.

Having mastered rolling from tummy to back at some ridiculously young age, about 5 weeks, we've grown accustomed to her flipping over pretty quickly. She's SO close to getting from back to tummy now, too. We're not ready for her to be mobile yet, though, so hopefully we have a bit longer before that happens.














I'm so glad that you are here, E! You bring so much joy and countless smiles to our family!

Love you!


*Many thanks to my friend Jill for salvaging my pictures from the depths of underexposure!*

Heard at our house

Trying to get out the door.

Both big girls had been repeatedly asked to get shoes and socks on (as I rushed past trying to gather everything up.)

We were late. Like usual.

I finally sat down in front of K to help her get her shoes on.

"Mommy, " she asks, " you fasting up?"

You bet, kiddo, mommy is fasting up. :)

Utter Yumminess!

Hubby and I have been working hard at eating a *tad* more healthfully. (Is that even a word??) Due to this, I've been craving sugar NON-STOP! It's crazy! Ah, the forbidden fruit.

So, I broke down.

I baked cupcakes.

Full-fat, extra chocolate chips, complete and utter deliciousness.


In my defense (or possibly justification) I chose cupcakes instead of a cake in order help control portions. This cake is sooooo yummy and gooey right out of the oven, it doesn't even need frosting. It's just as good from the freezer. And that is where more than 1/2 the cupcakes are already.

Go me! Kind of.

Oh, and so that you can enjoy such deliciousness, here is the recipe:

Super Yummy Chocolate Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 (6 oz) pkg dark fudge pudding
1/2 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
4 eggs
1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. oil (I sometimes sub applesauce here)
1 c. plain yogurt or sour cream

*Mix batter and bake in bundt pan at 350 for 45-55 min. May be topped with powdered sugar.*

oddly pleased and proud

Last night, I got a wild hair and got out my ironing board. For anyone who knows me, they'll know what an odd occurence this is. I spent a bit of time overseeing the girls picking up toys while I ironed. Then a few more minutes while watching TV last night. I'm quite oddly pleased with myself for turning out this nice stack of 20 nicely ironed cloth napkins (among other things.) Quite pleased.