Lovin' That Sprinkler!

We belong to a pool and visit it often. But there really is nothing like setting up the sprinkler on a hot summer afternoon, is there?

Linus was a bit timid, but giggled an awful lot when that cold water got him.

Violet was a bit intimidated, but had fun running through, when it was at knee-height.

Amelie, on the other hand, couldn't quite get enough.

Here inner-performer shone though.

She even brought Polly out for some fun.

And tried out some dance moves.

Here's to the five-year old who put her face all the way in the water for the first time yesterday at swimming lessons!

Kindergarten, here we come!

Alternative Napping

Our poor Vi Vi. This whole giving-up-the-nap thing is so hard. Sometimes, she doesn't even have enough energy to climb all the way up onto the couch! Or maybe it was that she didn't have enough energy to move her notebook and pen out of the way.

Either way, Vi Vi, so stinkin' cute.

That's what you are, our little thumb-sucker.

A Wedding Day

Yesterday, Amelie and Violet got to experience a childhood dream of mine. They were flower girls in a wedding! Oh yeah, and Linus was a ring(less) bearer too. But that was never a dream 0f mine.

Here's a shot of our three cuties a few minutes before they did their thing--perfectly, I might add!

And on the way to the reception, Linus took a little snooze...

Violet did too...

And Amelie? Well, she was just too excited to close her eyes!

They thoroughly enjoyed the festivities!

Congratulations to Melissa and Cory! It was an honor to be included in your special day!

Wordless Wednesday: Fat Lip

Apres Pool

Arriving home from vacation....
Hitting the pool for a few hours...
Checking out some Schoolhouse Rock while Daddy grilled some steak, potatoes, and corn...
Wearing some super cute bathrobes.

Now that's the life.

With Summering Friends

My friend, Chelsea, was able to see a dream realized. She and her children are "summering" at the beach. And the best part for us? We were invited to summer with them! Well, for a few days at least. We are so grateful for their generosity in including us in their adventure. Chelsea's girls are pretty close in age to my three. So you can imagine what fun was had.

Linus and Lily enjoyed loving on one another.

Here are the oldest five watching tv the first morning we were there.

Amelie tried out Claire's training-wheeled bike and had loads more success than on her new, much bigger bike at home. She had so much success, that Daddy bought her another new (and smaller) bike while we were gone!

Four girls on the boardwalk. My favorite picture of our time there, I think. There's nothing like a bunch of little girls holding hands!

Linus enjoyed some white chocolate-covered pretzels. Gotta love the Candy Kitchen.

Amelie and Addie had fun with one another.

Claire and Violet did too.

What a sweet, sweet time.

Many thanks to our summering friends!

Contrasts

For months after Linus was born, people asked me if it was different to have a little boy after having had two girls. And I could honestly say that it wasn't! All three of my babies were different from one another in various aspects and they were all similar to one another in certain ways, as well. Since Linus was a relatively late walker (nearly 16 months), the differences didn't start to stand out until the last six months or so.

He is nutso!

Into everything.
All over the place.
Rarely still.
Craziness!

At this point, I can honestly say that I see a definite difference between my beautiful ballerinas-- here pictured on the way to their very first ballet class:

and my messy muddy mischievous monkey--pictured here exactly three minutes after we got home from church.

I need to buy some stock in OxiClean and Zout, I guess. I should suggest that you do the same. I'm thinking it'll pay off.

3,2,1

three peas in a pod
stair steps
a handful
three-ring circus
a lot of work

No matter what you call 'em, I'm so thankful they're mine.

Fishing on Father's Day

The worms?
They grossed her out.

But seeing her sit next to her Daddy fishing on Findley Lake couldn't have been cuter.

What was that? Did she catch anything, you asked?

What a silly question.

Of course she did!

But...surprise, surprise...take a close look at her face...

It grossed her out!

Favorite

Nine years ago today on June 17, 2000, at 9:30 in the morning (yes, 9:30 in the morning) Duncan and I met at the church where I grew up and were married. It was a hot, sticky morning complete with a lot of sunshine. The inevitable June afternoon thunderstorm held off until we were all safely in the reception hall, fortunately.

It was a beautiful day. A beautiful wedding. And more importantly, it's been a beautiful marriage. A beautiful life together.

Shortly after I met Duncan on June 8, 1995, I knew that if he wasn't the man I married, that he'd be just like him. I pined away for him (truth be told) until the Fall of 1997 when we started dating. I struggled through nearly two years of dating a very indecisive man. He broke up with me in mid-June 1999 and proposed just 13 days later. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. We're living proof! We were married just under a year after that proposal and the rest is a wonderful history.

It's been a wild and crazy ride and I'm thankful for (nearly) every minute of it.

And for your viewing pleasure, I've scanned my very favorite picture of my Favorite and I from that marvelous day. I love our wedding photos but this is the only one that's ever been on prominent display. It's also the one that went into the newspaper. I just love it. It shows how truly happy we are! But I love that man in it exponentially more!

Happy 9th Anniversary, My Favorite! Here's to 99 more!

Love,

Many Hands Make Light Work

Really?
Whoever said that wasn't dealing with the five and under set!
However, is including the kids in the housework really worth it? Absolutely! This particular post involves including the kids in kitchen work. And I don't mean those special kid-centered cooking projects, although there's nothing wrong with those. We do plenty of those as well. But I'm talking about including kids in daily food preparation. While there are things that aren't safe for my kids yet (using sharp knives, handling raw meat, using the oven, etc.) there are PLENTY of things they CAN do! Once Linus caught the cooking bug, we've been off and running!

So examples of jobs appropriate for pre-schoolers:
1. stirring
2. kneading
3. whisking
4. greasing the pan
5. cracking eggs (Amelie learned at 4)
6. pouring ingredients out of measuring cups and spoons
7. counting the number of above
8. stirring a pot on the stove (Amelie started at 5)
9. arranging chopped fruits and veggies in a dish

Here's is a non-exhaustive list of suggestions regarding this matter:
1. Don't include kids if you care how a particular dish looks, if you're in a big hurry, or if you don't have time for clean-up after the food is prepared. It will not look like how you would do it, it will take more time than if you did it yourself, and there will be a huge mess to clean up!
2. Lower your expectations of the amount that "stays in the bowl." There will be spillage! I continually, albeit gently, remind everyone to stir gently. However, spillage happens! If the counter was clean to begin with, just scoop it up and put it back in!
3. If you have more than one child, use a combination of "taking turns"(pouring in ingredients, using the rolling pin) and "all hands" (stirring, kneading). Everyone is excited to help and patience will NOT abound!
4. Begin a collection of smaller kitchen tools. We've acquired mini whisks, a mini rolling pin, and even some small baking pans. These double as toys for the play kitchen and are used with play-doh. But as long as they're clean, they can be used in actual cooking as well.


Here is the evidence of our kitchen adventures.

Making pizza:

And cornbread:

And baked oatmeal:
[photo removed: we'll just have to get another baked oatmeal picture sometime=)]

And the ultimate cooking experience: making bread with Daddy!

Linus LOVES to play with the flour! Remember what I said about the mess?

Let me finish by saying that I am by no means perfect in this area. We've had some excellent cooking experiences. However I've failed and lost my patience while cooking with kiddos more than I'd like to admit. We just keep plugging along and they keep getting better and better. I know that one day they'll all be genuinely helpful while cooking.

I've reminded myself of the words of encouragement that Duncan's boss gave him when he heard we were expecting Amelie:

They just want to be with you.

It is oh-so true. And it is why we try, even though not always successfully, to incorporate our children in as many aspects of our daily lives as possible. That being said, I'd better stop putting off the kids and go and be with them already!

Ocean City Vacay: Day 3

So, I know my day three riddle is lame. What I was trying to get at was that we went to the beach at the boardwalk on the third day! They have some jungle gyms in the shape of castles and pirate ships and the kids were dying to play on them each time we went to the boardwalk. They were always really crowded, so Duncan's idea was to bring all of our digging stuff to the boardwalk early in the morning (these photos were taken starting at 9:27am) and hang out on the beach by one of the climbing thingies. It was great fun!

Linus enjoyed the slide.

Violet tried her hand at sliding WITH her bucket. It turned out quite well!

Amelie enjoyed the overall experience!

Duncan was a little tall for the castle, but he managed to police Linus on the ladder just fine.

We has such a great time on this little mini vacation. Our trip home, on rainy day four, took twice as long as it should have, thanks to the traffic from Cruisin' Ocean City. The kids couldn't have cared less! When we pulled into the driveway, the girls climbed into the front seats, Violet driving and Amelie riding shotgun, and pretended that they were returning to Ocean City.
It was that good!
We're thankful that have had this opportunity and look forward to our next trip to the beach.