Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sabbath at Bennington Lake

"Are they gonna eat those fish or just catch them for fun?"

Waiting up for mom and dad.

Building dust castles.

He conquered the wall and made it to the top by himself.

She's trying to climb up too.

Well... maybe I'll just watch.

Scaling it once again.

Back down he goes..

Meanwhile Abrianna found a little friend.

The conquering hero.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Firsts...

First time climbing... into and out of the dishwasher and up and down some friend's stairs.

Tongue works better than the spoon...

First time trying to feed myself with a spoon...

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Every woman loves.... CHOCOLATE!


What is this metallic shiny thing?
It's brown and hard...
Chocolate, so yummy!

Easter

Look what was laying the grass.

Isn't the gold one pretty?


There's something in this hole.

checking out their loot.

It's makes such nice rattly noises.
Kill it!

Swingin'

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter Sabbath

Scooter in the sunshine.

Serious about the ride and sucker.

"Look, mom! It's a lady bug."

Ever patient Eliab.

Can I get out now?

Descending

Longingly looking on...

Lucas'  lady bug.

Abrianna's  lady bug.

Abrianna's sense of fashion.

The view under the tree.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Trying out the new camera...

 Posing among the grape hyacinths...
 Cuddling with dad.
 Two peas in a pod...
And baby girl!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Second honeymoon and pitchin' in.


A whirlwind weekend away for a second honeymoon to celebrate our 10th anniversary had left me scrambling to catch up in my daily tasks.
Trying to swipe a drink from my water bottle.
 My wonderful mother-in-law had come to care for our oldest two, while baby escaped with us to Newport OR. Ahhh, rest!
Being attacked by a plastic fish.

The jaw of an extinct shark. Supposed to have measured 50 feet long.

Hiding within the ocean trash jelly fish.


 We took in the aquarium, walking through shark infested waters. No really! We walked right through them- in a tunnel.



 Spent some time on the beach where Abigayle discovered serious drawing in the sand.


 But mostly what we did was talk... uninterrupted.


 We arrived home Sunday evening to a picked up house and a nicely prepared dinner of corn chowder and raw food cheesecake, compliments of my thoughtful mother-in-law.
As any momma of little ones knows, being gone on a trip leaves one breathless in the effort to catch up through unpacking, grocery shopping, and CLEANING.
Did I say cleaning? My kitchen floor was a sorry sight marked by myriads of spills. It has not been at the top of my to do list this week, until today. Today was the day to whip everything into shape.
First the insurmountable Mount St. Laundry was successfully vanquished. Then came the sticky floor. Doing it in sections seemed most logical, being I'm often interrupted in process. The first section was swept and I began to mop. Little miss Abigayle began protesting me spending time on something other than her. So I settled into the rocking chair, nestling her to my breast.
Abrianna saw that there was a job to do and nobody else had the mop. She quickly donned shoes as she knows the floor is very slick when wet as evidenced by her many bumps and bruises. ( notice they don't match). She now had traction. What she didn't take into account was the mud embedded within the tread. For some strange reason, that floor simply was getting dirtier, not cleaner. Lucas( in big brotherly fashion) came to the rescue. Yelling at her that she was tracking mud on the floor, barging in with towel in hand to help clean up the double mess.  Then he took over the mop. By the time they had tired of mopping and I was able to resume, the mop was damaged beyond repair. No, they aren't quite that rough. The mop was on it's way out. Consequently my floor was mopped on my hands and knees. It's very clean my knees continue to remind me.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Zookeeper.

 The garden was beckoning with the weather promising spring as the girls and I ventured out to hide beet, parsnip,and carrots seeds in the soil in hopes of a rich harvest in a few months. The reckless strawberries had burst forth from their beds, needing to be tucked back in to their place. Every hole dug, abounded with worms.My bug leery little red-head, picked up one, declaring it a girl worm and christening it 'Abrianna.' - after herself.
'Abrianna worm's' first home was a little discarded plastic lid discovered in the yard. This was soon abandoned for half a walnut shell.
Meanwhile the chicken pecked in the dirt searching for a stray worm or bug. " Abrianna you need to cover your worm with dirt before she dries out." I cautioned. A few minutes later, " You can't leave your worm there. The chicken will eat it." This sent Abrianna scurrying to the dog cage, worm shell in hand. Carefully deposting it in the wire mesh cage she closed the door. "Now the chicken can't get it." She declared.
Heading into the house about a half an hour later, she hurried to collect her precious 'Abrianna worm'. Bursting into tears, she wailed, " She's GONE!" 'Abrianna worm' had made her successful escape, wriggling away into the layers of cardboard or maybe the near by flower bed, never to be seen again.
Trying to ease her broken heart, I promised we'd find another worm the next time we gardened.  To this she declared she would then be a, "zookeeper of worms."

Friday, April 1, 2011

Doin' Dishes

Momma, can I help you? Doin' dishes the best way when you're not quite tall enough.