finger painting

 We attempted painting again.  Awesome fun. And clean up was just as good!

market day

One of the things we loved about living in Holland, MI was the weekly farmers market. Here they have such markets all year round. BUT, we are now coming into prime fruit season for the summer...cheap strawberries and apricots...and much more to come! This is the treasure I hauled up the hill yesterday with my two kiddos. My back is killing me, but my tastebuds are satisfied!  Plus, I can say I have now had the pleasure of de-pea-ing my first kilo of pea pods. If anyone knows the proper term for that, let me know.

playground

 Ivy does nursery rhyme time with the kids on the playground. She is amazing. Instantly 4 little kids running around are playing together - swinging arms, jumping up and down, etc.

The boys.

perspective

I used to think it was really gross when other people's kids drooled or spit up in public.

Yesterday, after doing chores, I realized I was still wearing a shirt with baby poop on it that Lydia had graced me with over an hour earlier. Yuck.

Super Sundays

 We love Sundays. Everybody is home and we get to do all sorts of fun stuff together. Micah is really into family time now. It's fun when Mom is home with him during the week, but it's best when Dad comes home at the end of the day and we can have family hugs, family sticker time, family drive cars time, etc. These are a few of our favorite moments from this weekend...starting with Micah's new sticker location (as suggested by Grandma Jane (now referred to as "Ku" (the word Micah has given to anything that flies, which now includes Grandma)). We are working on trying to get those grandparent names down before we come home this summer. We'll see how we do.

 Micah is winning the skinniest member of our family contest, but he's also winning the wildest adventurer contest...so I guess I need to start baking more...and somehow quit eating all the batter. (PS - at this stage of mommiehood, I have now rated pre-baking yummies in this order: cornbread batter, cake batter, cookie dough, pancake batter. Really, pancake batter is not that good at all, even when you add fresh strawberries. It is much better as a final product.)

 And...somebody told me you take less photos of your second child. I must be out to prove them wrong, as our photo snapping seems to have increased since Lydia's arrival!

Wahoo! A successful toothbrushing activity! Thanks for the singing toothbrush Grandma Ginny!

time to brush teeth??

no way!!

rides home

how to make it home without letting hugo fall asleep

smiling in action

Preschooler food success!

Mom brought a genius cookbook: Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I made peanut butter, banana muffins with carrots hidden inside....and Micah & Rick had to be cut off so that they would last two days!  This is the first dinner in a long time that Micah didn't mind eating with his hands and eating crumb after crumb off the table!

buddies

These are some shots from our play date today.  We are quite sad that all of these friends are moving away in June. :(  

 Hugo can push Micah around, but Micah can't do the reverse.  We need to buff him up.  :)

 Planes, trains, and automobiles with Hugo & Luca.

Girl time with Eloise!  Eloise is 2 1/2 months older, but Lydia's determined to catch her in height.

bro-sis

I discovered yesterday that I could prop Lydia up between the couch cushions and she would stay for about 30 seconds. I think she likes the different viewpoint of the living room. Micah decided to crawl up next to her and on request, even hold her hand! A kodak moment not to be missed.

 

This was earlier in the day when Micah thought he would calm (the sleeping) Lydia with her two loveys.

Today I came back in the room to discover him trying to shove a pacifier in her mouth (even though she wasn't crying). He will be a big help as soon as we teach him which moments he needs to be helpful. :)

fun times

Micah has decided that hiding under blankets, birds, & whatever else he can find is way fun...especially if he can convince others to do it too. It never translates into naptime though. :(

bad parenting??

We sometimes have to make tough choices as parents... what to let our kids drink...  what to let them wear... who to let them play with... enough said. --

Mother's Day

How delightful!  This Mom's day, I was treated to home cooked breakfast...spiced by Micah. And a lovely opportunity to sleep in! Hooray!

 Grandma V got a pancake with her name on it for dinner. :) Such skill from her daughter.

getting to know you

 Micah is interacting more and more with his little sister. He makes sure she is included in prayer time at dinner as well as night kisses before bed. If she is crying, he looks at me and says, "uh oh" or he brings her one of her loveys to snuggle. If I ask him to get the ergo or diapers for her when we go out, he knows right where to go. Such a great helper! Maybe we'll get to keep her after all. :)

loveys

 Sleep dog has now also added "hat" to his list of many tricks.

Sleep elephant (?) is getting introduced. We'll need a shorter name for this one I think. Pinky? We'll see what emerges.