this could take all day

my girls on Easter

I wanted to get a picture of the family on Easter, what with how cute we were looking  (I'd actually changed into my outfit after church, since the musical I was participating in included "Biblical" costumes) and my goal of a family-photo-a-month. So after Easter lunch and before lollipops, we headed out to the backyard and I talked our friends into taking a couple of pictures for me.

I'm really happy with this one of the 5 (5!) of us.

And before I let the girls loose , I grabbed my camera back and told them they had to smile for me (well, at least the bigs, Leyla was a bit fussy).

A little hugging, a few of Papa's silly faces, and I am in love with these gems.

And with these girls.

Wordless Wednesday: green eyed girl

(I love when her Papa wears green as it brings out his green eyes even more. Turns out it is true of his progeny as well.)

 

Easter Egg Hunt #2

Our church was hosting a big Easter Bash which included a 5k run, booths, live music, lunch, bouncy houses, and a MASSIVE egg hunt. Pastor Shelly told us there were at least 12,000 eggs scattered throughout the property. Oh my.

Darin took Dani this time to her age group and this was the only photo he snapped.

Luckily we have a pretty photogenic kid and I was able to snag a couple of pictures someone posted to the church facebook page!

Darin did shoot a video of the event in which he proved just how easily distracted he is, and how just how scary of a soccer dad he could be.

I was over in Daisy's area with her. Here Pastor Shelly is giving out instructions (Another facebook steal, since I only had the mini flip camera.)

A lot of families came out to participate. A little help to spot Daisy.

And they're off!

By this time Darin and Dani had finished up her hunt and wandered over to find Daisy who had spotted a corner without kids and cleaned up.

See all those eggs? I think she had nearly 50.

Dani "cheering" on her sister.

After the hunt the girls were eager to play on the playground and it was such a nice day we hung out for a bit. Then headed home to indulge in all that candy! (I'm pretty sure we got way more on this holiday then we did on Halloween!)

Easter Egg Hunt #1

Our sweet little neighborhood hosts an annual Easter Egg Hunt the Saturday morning before Easter and we all were excited to participate again. (As it is with traditions, I read over last year's post and it is filled with some of the exact stories and wording as below. Good times...)

Just a few "blocks" through the greenbelt trail to the park for our hunt. Here's the girls. (I had to head back as soon as we arrived because *doh* the camera was out of batteries. Good thing we live so close!)

Daisy had spent the morning working on a picture to give to the Easter Bunny. She was pretty proud of it.

Dani, on the other hand, is not such a fan of the bunny. (As you can see her hiding here in this fuzzy picture and the video too.)

 

After the egg hunt announcements we split up with Darin heading to the 3-4 area with Daisy and me sticking with Dani in the 0-2 area.

I gave Darin the big camera since I was lugging around a happily snoozing Leyla and so my footage of the hunt is from the flip camera.

Here she is, ready to get some eggs!

And let the hunt begin! It totally cracked me up how she would run across perfectly good eggs to get to one farther away.

The one shot of Daisy from her hunt. Apparently Darin didn't get the memo that he was supposed to take pictures, because what he came up with was a really distracted video with some crazy moms yelling at their kids. Oh well, Daisy was a champ at the egg hunt.

 

This kid rocked it! Taking first place in her age category (it helps that she is at the older end of the span) and super proud of her hard work.

Joined with her sister, who took second place in her category (once again on the older side of her age group).  The girls each got to pick out a prize, in addition to all the treats in the eggs.

Before heading home we walked through Daisy's egg area and found another good 15-20 eggs. Turns out whoever hid them decided around a giant holly bush would be a great place. Poor Daisy during the hunt was dying "I can see them, but I can't reach them!" Thanks to her Papa, she was able to round up even more eggs!

And when we got home to feed the baby and pack up for our next adventure, the girls dumped out all the eggs. Daisy was cracking us up with her system so Darin took another video.

And then we were off to church for Egg Hunt #2!

 

Easter Egg Dying

I'm finally getting around to editing our Easter week pictures, so now time to blog! First up: egg dying.

I have to say, this potentially messy and finger-staining activity is not high on my love list. So I made sure we attempted when Darin was home. The girls loved dying and painting the eggs, and I was happy to take pictures and minimally help.

After the eggs dried, and Darin left for work, the girls were allowed to decorate with another kit I had purchased last year that included stickers and glue and eyes and pom poms.

Daisy's favorite egg:

And Dani's: 

 And with that, I can cross another tradition off the list for this year!

Project 365 (+1) - March 2012

This month has been quite the eventful one, seeing our family grow from four to five. Our family picture was taken on the very last day of the month, in our Saturday afternoon finest. Good thing Darin's dad stopped by for a visit and was able to snap this one for us!

Now on to the rest of the month.

The baby's room is ready for a baby. And the equipment is sitting here, ready to be spread all over the house.

We were able to provide respite care (where you give a foster family a day/night off) for some friends of ours. Here our Miss Daisy is happily feeding Baby E.

We had so much fun at Xander's reptile birthday party and I was pretty proud of my girls for being brave and petting some cool reptiles.

Dani found a good use for some of the baby equipment hanging around! Here she is playing on my kindle curled up on the boppy pillow.

I am so thankful for this baby to love, and my husband who is right in the thick of it with me.

The girls spend some time in the morning reading to Baby L. They are so good with her.

Daisy would hold this little bundle of sweetness all day long and I am so thankful for her help. She will give her a bottle while I'm finishing our morning prep and will run for a pacifier whenever she is fussy.

Dani wanted to help with the laundry but she can't quite reach the top of the washer. So she chucks the items in one by one. It's pretty awesome.

Our neighbors brought over some amazing chocolates, and as you can see, my husband really loves me. I felt really special.

 

We had a free Saturday afternoon so Darin and I decided to take the girls on dates. Daisy was my date, with Miss L tagging along. Apparently the little Miss decided she needed a bottle RIGHT NOW so halfway to our destination (the toy store!) we pulled over in a parking lot and Daisy hopped out of her seat and fed Miss L her bottle. Love my little helper. (cell pic)

She looks so small in this swing. 

This kid loves to sleep. I layed her on a playmat for a little awake time, but it didn't take her long to doze off. And that's Daisy's special snowman next to  her. Daisy and Dani both love to share their toys and animals with their sister.

Daisy playing school and teaching us our letters.

Since the day she weaned off breastmilk this kid has hated cow's milk, prefering water instead. And on this humble day in March she declared out of the blue "I yike milk now!" and requested some with her lunch.

Bathing a baby is pretty darn fascinating.

So thankful for a sunny afternoon and a visit from family.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Uncle Madison and Aunt Dakota stopped by on their way home from a volleyball tournament in Port Angeles. We were lucky to have their company for dinner and stories, and they were happy to entertain all three girls.

 "Hey Mom, look what I can do!"

The Easter Bunny came to our house a little early to celebrate the first day of spring. Dani's basket on the left, then Leyla's, then Daisy's. And Daisy insisited on leaving a carrot for the bunny, so there are some remnants on the plate.

Here's a little article I wrote for the church newsletter where we attend Mops:

 

     We have some friends who's dad is a pilot for Alaska Airlines. Last year he was gone at Christmas, so they made special arrangements with Santa Claus to come to their house early. This was a win-win since it gave Santa one less house on Christmas Eve, and allowed the family to celebrate together early. So when I made the suggestion to our girls that I'd been in contact with the Easter Bunny and he wanted to bring a few gifts by to celebrate the first day of spring, the girls were totally on board.

     So last Monday night we dusted off the Easter baskets and set them out on the coffee table for the Easter Bunny to fill overnight. Daisy, my oldest, insisted that we also leave out a few carrots for Mr Bunny. They were thrilled the next morning to find books, a treat, and a small toy in each basket. I was able to include some books with the real Easter story and we've been enjoying reading them ever since. We also made a set of Resurrection Eggs last year at Mops, and open one egg each night leading up to Easter. This has been a sort of "holy week advent calendar" for us, and it is so great to tell the story over and over as we open the previous night's eggs first.

     Resurrection Sunday is an amazing and central part of our Christian story, and now when that day arrives, we won't have to share it with that darn bunny!

 

 

All the daffodils outside Daisy's school are starting to bloom! (cell pic)

Daisy spotted this snack when I was scrolling through my Pinterest kids board the other day and insisted we make it for her next class snack day. So this afternoon the girls were busy painting clothespins.

Darin took the girls to the park when he got home from work and I sent the camera with him. I love seeing what he comes home with, and this one is absolutely perfect in my opinion.

A sunny afternoon = time for a bike ride. Daisy isn't so thrilled about learning to ride her two (four) wheeler so we have to strongly encourage her to make it to the stop sign and back. Dani is pretty happy about the whole Papa steers and pushes arrangment though.

My friend Natalie and I had planned to take our older daughters to a local production of the Sleeping Beauty Ballet but Natalie woke up this morning with a horrible stomach flu (so bad that later this evening I would take her to the ER for some fluids). So I ventured to the ballet with the girls by myself and it was a lovely afternoon. They were so well behaved and enjoyed watching the dancing tremendously. Here they are at intermission gobbling up a few cookies and some delicious red punch. (cell pic)

Early morning, feeding the babies.

Last fall we moved our weekly library visits to the downtown Bremerton branch since it is the branch with Tuesday storytimes (our only free morning during the week). Last month after storytime we ventured a few blocks away to a nearby office to pick up some baby blankets a friend had sent to work with her husband for us. The girls loved all the cool statues about town and every week since they ask to go see them. This time it wasn't raining and we didn't have anywhere to be so I said yes. Here they are with the "umbrella girl". (cell pic)

About every third naptime this girls asks to sleep on the floor. Not sure what the appeal is, but as long as she still naps I'm happy. 

I cannot seem to stop taking pictures of this cutie pie when she is sleeping!

A little display for Easter.

More signs of spring! Tulips and Hyacinth are blooming in my front yard. 

making music

These pictures are all blurry and the color is wrong and I am too tired to edit. But they make my heart soar.

There is a piano in my house!!!!

After asking and asking and asking since we moved into this house, Darin finally found just the right one. And he roped a couple of budies into helping (they actually CARRIED the thing into my house!). It needs tuning but is wonderful.

Now maybe to get a piano bench so they don't fight over the chair?

 

a lovely day for a visit

A few weeks ago we had some wonderful visitors who wanted to come and play and meet Baby Leyla: Gran and her beau Jeff, along with Darin's sister Sierra and her son Caleb. Darin was able to take the afternoon off and we all enjoyed spending time together.

Jeff is a pretty serious baby lover, and was happy as a clam to snuggle Miss L.

(I think both these ladies might like him?!)

Lucky for us the afternoon weather was brilliant so we decided to take Isha to the local dog park and then take all of us on a stroll through some nearby trails.

Darin ran ahead to take some shots of the group, which prompted Sierra to comment on how people walk slower when their picture is being taken, which prompted me to walk in slow motion like a goob. Ah...good times...

This way, Mama?

Too bright! Too bright!

This trail system has two giant wooden animals which was a great motivator to get the kids to walk a bit further. They were nervous about the elephant at first, but we decided to traipse through the rather wet grass to say hello and they were happy to discover they were just made of wood. But pretty impressively painted I might say.

Checking out the giraffe too.

And then we made our way back out of the jungle!

We walked a bit further before heading home to play a bit more, eat dinner, and snuggle one super sweet baby. Thanks for making the trek out here guys. You are welcome back anytime!

Xander's Reptile Man Party

Earlier this month we were invited to the coolest 6th birthday party when our buddy Xander had "Reptile Man" bring his creatures into the living room for quite an amazing show. Darin was roped into helping carry the boxes of critter into the house, and remarked as he picked up a box "I didn't expect it to move." 

"Don't worry," replied Reptile Man, "that's only the cobra."

Ha!

(Some of the following pictures are ours, some were stolen from facebook.)

Thanks for the fun times and Happy Birthday Xander!

Wordless Wednesday: Darin playing hide and seek

 

(Can you spot him?!)

 

for the first day of Lent

A prayer:

source

And an adventure:

Join us?

my sweet Daisy

The other night when Darin was shooting the picture of me and Dani coloring on the floor (found in the January photos) he also shot some really sweet ones of Miss Daisy. I just thought I'd share.

 

 

(Do you see the portrait of Dani hanging on the wall? Darin's dad painted that for us.)

 

meeting Baby Ethan

We have a new neighbor here in Parkwood East! And his name is Ethan. And he is delicious.

Our sweet neighbors welcomed their firstborn mid-January and invited our crazy crew into their hospital room to say hello.

Daisy got the first hold.

Dani was a little too wiggly and excited for a hold, but decided to climb up and check out the baby while Papa was holding him.

Is there anything better than a sweet newborn? As we were visiting, our neighbors reminded us that we might be bringing one of these home any day now. Kind of crazy. We have no idea what God has in store for us, but we are just a couple weeks away from being a licenced foster home!

They even let me have a turn!

Welcome to the neighborhood little man!

Snow!

(Major issues with typepad recently. Here I am trying again. I miss you guys!)

We had so much fun during the recent snowstorm. We kept hearing about impending snow, but waking  up to nothing. Daisy prayed for snow ("for lots of snow AND for it to stick) for three straight days before we got any. But we did get some, and it was great. And it kept us home for three days to play in it. So I think Daisy got her prayers answered for sure.

Here is a fun smattering of our pictures in the snow.

First time out in it.

 

Snow angel.

It's always a bit of a challenge to get up without destroying your art.

 

 We wandered over to the park where the normall mild slide had taken on some new characteristics with the addition of ice.

We were invited over to our friends house for more snow fun, including lots of sledding.

 

 

 

Daisy found a neighbor friend to have a snowball fight with.

 

 

And it was all a grand ole time until this happened. No one likes getting snow in the face, especially not a sensitive 4-year-old.

 

 

And what is it about snow that makes you want to throw your loved ones down in it?

 

 

I had just bought this purple snowsuit on sale for Daisy to wear next year (I love my bins in the garage that allow me to purchase off-season and sale items in bigger sizes!) Lucky for us it fit our snowsuit-less friend just fine.

 

 

A couple more of my cute snow girls.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we ventured out to the backyard where the girls were really enjoying munching on the snow.

 

 

 

Darin decided it would be fun to bury Daisy in the snow. She was pretty down with that idea too and laughed her way though it. (See what I mean about typepad? I have no idea why its now decided to give me this space for a text box.)

We also enjoyed a bit of a snow day treat, with the recipe I saw on my friend Sasha's blog. Darin said it tasted like vanilla ice cream. It was yummy.

The girls decided to eat their snack in the playhouse (aka: the giant doghouse that came with our house, Darin cut out the door a bit bigger and added windows.)

I ditched the party then to head inside, but Darin and the girls went to work on the snow fort. It was a pretty awesome cave I think.

On the last day of snow fun before it melted I headed out of town, but Darin and the girls finally got to create a "frosty". Daisy had been wanting to for a while, but her patience with waiting for the snow to be packable sure paid off. 

And what snow day would be complete without hot chocolate afterwards?

Hope y'all had snow days that were as fun as ours!

 

 

my two dads

I'm putting the finishing touches on my second Christmas post tonight, but typepad is acting all weird and having issues with my photos and text. So I thought I'd write up a quick post to tell you a funny story that happened on Saturday night. Actually, I'll let Darin tell you. He's funnier than I am anyway.

Hello everyone. Long time. Did you do something different with your hair? It looks amazing. Well anyway, Deanna wanted me to tell you about a conversation that I had with my good friend and the godfather of our little girls, Tyler Ray. 

To set the stage, we all were going out to thank Tyler and Stacey (his wife, girls' godmother, etc.) for watching the girls as we took a CPR/1st Aid class for our foster care license. We wanted good food and since we were in Silverdale, the only real option was Silver City. This being Saturday night, the place was packed and with our table of 6, the wait was stated to be 30 minutes (it was more like 55). After a short rock-paper-scissors match between Deanna and I (she always wins) it was determined that Stacey and Deanna would stay and chat while Tyler and I took the girls across the parking lot to the mall to play for a few minutes while we waited for our table. I know, Deanna promised this would be funny, stick with me...

So we're walking through the mall parking lot, each of us is holding a little girl's hand, and the conversation goes like this:

Me: ...yeah, and in the mall is Hales, but we've heard that the food isn't as good as Silver City. 

Daisy (singing in the background to herself): The sun will come out, tomorrow...

Tyler: Hmm, that's too bad, their beer is good.

Me: Yeah. Oh well. (Pause) You know, I bet to some people we look like the gay couple that adopted two cute little blond girls. 

Tyler: Yeah, I was kinda worried about that perception too.

Me, along with Daisy (This is where the part of my brain that lives with girls all day, every day, kicked in): TOMORROW, TOMORROW, I LOVE YA, TOMORROW, YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAY. TOMORROW--

Tyler, interrupting: Um...the show tunes probably don't help.

Yeah, probably not. It also occurs to me that earlier I told you your hair looks amazing. What I meant to say is, "Grunt, hack, spit, belch. Yo!"

Have a FABULOUS day!!!

November 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Weekday lunch. Trying to make things a little fun.

I left some socks outside the girls' room while they were sleeping, so I could put them away in the morning. This is what I found in the morning. I love it when my girls are creative!

Dani was playing with toilet paper tubes. Made me laugh so hard when she put them on her arms. I thought she looked like Kristen Wiig's character on the Lawrence Welk sketches.

On Thanksgiving Dani was really excited about the jumping off the ledge game. She recruited everyone to join her too. (This was my first time capturing a picture from a video I shot, and I think it's pretty ok.)

Crafting it up with Gran.

Christmas Morning 2011

I didn't take too many photos on Christmas morning, I was busy soaking it all up and reveling in the joy. But here are a few, along with a few memories I don't want to forget.

Darin and I woke up at about 7:30, looked at each other, and wondered aloud when our girls would be awaking. Didn't take long for Daisy to stumble in our room, and then quickly to the bathroom. Turned out she'd had to go for a while, but was worried about the whole getting-up-with-Santa-around thing. Too sweet.

Growing up I was always allowed to open my stocking first, and didn't have to wait for anyone to be around to open it, and I am happy to pass along this tradition to my kids. So Daisy dug into her stocking while Gran walked the dog and Darin brewed coffee and made breakfast rolls. Me? I sat and watched her open. I love finding little things all year long to inlude in stockings, and had fun watching her open it all. Little toys and socks and bows and toothbrushes and bandaids and a new hat. 

I finally gave in and let Darin wake up Miss Dani at 8:30. She was kind of out-of-it for a bit, so we settled in for morning rolls and she was pretty happy about that. Then it was time to let her attack her stocking. Similar things to Daisy, except that Dani also received some Yo Gabba Gabba underpants that she is very excited to start using. Here's to hoping that potty training in the new year goes well!

On Christmas Eve we moved TJ's box (he lives in front of the fireplace that we never use) and left some arrows on the floor so Santa would know where to find the stockings and his treats. Daisy had looked up in the chimney and was concerned that there was something in the way. I told her not to worry and mentioned to Darin that his bag of rags that kept the air flow down was worrysome to Daisy. So the great guy pulled out the bag and hid it away.

Here they are the next morning doing an inspection.

Santa even left a bootprint or two.

Gran gave the girls several new dress up outfits and they were happy to try them on right away.

We had planned to go to church on Christmas morning, but with Dani sleeping in and us taking our time, I looked at the clock at about 9:45 and realized there was no way we were going to make the 11:00 service. So we settled in and enjoyed even more time together at home.

After the presents had been opened we had our morning "brunch" of eggs and hashbrowns and toast and oranges. Daisy was really confused about why we were having breakfast so late, and it was fun to explain the concept of "brunch" to her. 

Eventually we decided to get dressed and brush our teeth and generally prepare to leave the house and head out on another Christmas adventure. More to come... 

 

November 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

We have this japanese maple in the front yard. Darin loves it. I don't. I think it blocks too much light from my front window. But right now, this red color is pretty stunning. 

Darin took the girls and met up with Papa Ty & Mama Stace at Latin's Cider mill. This is one of our favorite fall traditions and I was sad to miss it but enjoyed my 4-H weekend in Cathlamet.

One sneaky girl decided to nap in her sister's bed today. Oh well, at least she's sleeping!

Getting my ponytail all ready to donate.

She asks to paint every day.

November 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Happy Birthday to me! Darin made me my birthday crepes a day late, and the sweet guy got me special candles.

Time to vote!

Christen/Sapo is here to babysit for us each evening as we take our foster parent classes. The girls love her. I do too. 

We brought home a big box of apples from Eastern Washington, so it was timet to get to work making crisp. One for the oven and one for the freezer. Yummy.

First red cup of the year!

a homemade holiday

This year I decided to make as many Christmas presents as possible. I'd been inspired by so many amazing tutorials online and with the help of pinterest had started gathering them all in one place. It was so much fun to choose and create presents for people I love and I thought I'd share them here with you.

Our Mops theme this year is all about board games, so when it came time for Christmas gifts, I thought this little ornament would be perfect for our amazing and hard-working steering team. Thanks to Darin for his help on this little project too!

My sister-in-law had a scarf on her wish-list, and this little no-knit scarf had been in my bookmarks for a while. Darin actually did this one too. He was an awesome helper on my handmade holiday quest for sure.

My niece, Macey, received this friendship bracelet kit, which with several hours of TV watching was really easy to put together. I even included a bracelet for her on the front too.

3 young boys in our family received fort kits. I followed the directions and sewed strips of old t-shirt around sheets from the goodwill. We also included clamps, glow-sticks, flashlights, battery-powered candle and a rope. Darin designed the tag for the outside, so if you want to make one of your own let me know and I can share the tag with you.

We hung out with our almost-three-year-old nephew Caleb this weekend and he demanded we open up the kit and build the fort right away. All three kids (Daisy and Dani included) loved playing in the fort, especially when we turned off the lights and used the flashlight and glow sticks to light their way.

 

My high-school niece, Molly, received this ear bud pouch. Just don't look at it too closely. Even after my second attempt, it is a bit lopsided.

I enjoyed this easy project (used stickers instead of vinyl for the letters) of making "santa-tizer" for Daisy's preschool teachers. They loved them.

Three little ladies we love received crayon rolls (and coloring books). I had so much fun choosing the right fabric for each girl, and there was lots of sewing involved. I'm glad these were easy to make as I was battling a serious case of strep throat as I worked to get them finished and in the mail on time!

My sister requested a camera strap, which I was so excited to make. I combined this tutorial with this tutorial, and the ruffle from this tutorial to make what I think is one super cute strap cover. 

My sister also sent me a link to this ruffled flower scarf when I asked for her requests for homemade presents, and since the camera cover was so affordable I decided to give a go at this one too. It's not perfect (don't look at those edges too closely, please) but I think it turned out really sweet. I'd wear it!

And while not quite homemade by me, I ordered a jewelry kit from this etsy shop for my neice Maya, so she could make jewelry and hair accessories of her own. (I ordered the bright colored one, and loved that it included a mini bottle of glue too. The deal I used to purchase it is back, if you want one for yourself, click here.)

Our neighbors received bins of homemade carmel corn (Darin makes this too) but I don't have a picture of that.

Oh, and Darin made my teenage nephew a duct tape wallet, but no picture of that either. It turned out really cool though.

I was also inspired to do a little fun wrapping too.

source

source

source

Yup, I think I like me some kraft paper!

How about some free tags?

source

You can follow along my pinterest "gift" board as I gather more ideas for birthdays throughout the year, and Christmas next year of course. And if you need an invite to pinterest, let me know.

What about you? Did you make or receive any handmade gifts this year? What do you think of handmade gifts?