Sabbath in the Spring at the Park.

She was so proud of herself, climbing up on the ducky all by herself.

She looks like she's playing the diva.

Taking a spin.

Ohhh, the anticipation of the slide. But the reassurance of Daddy's hand.

What a fun big brother.

Pure joy!

Such the boy. Conquering the bars. Making it all the way across.

Then off on a walk to canal by Bennington Lake.

Scaling the wall.

King of the mountain.

Whoosh! Back down the the bottom... safely.

Sweet sisters.

Those pokey weeds and rocks...

"Fishing" with snake grass. Abrianna was hoping to bring home a fish to keep in the pool as a pet.

Cousins in crime ... Or what 4 year olds do when left unattended.

Growing up, Sabbath afternoon at the Anderson's almost always entailed great food and good company. My family did not disappoint during our recent visit to California.

I was so busy visiting that I lost track of my little red head. My mom was stressed so I took her hand and pulled her out the door for a walk. She decided to go back and get her dog and his leash and I headed to Kyle's house for the back pack to carry Abigayle. 

Through the sliding glass door I saw Abrianna and Kirsten. Walking through the door I was stopped in my tracks. What in the world???

Kirsten quickly and  very quietly made a beeline out the door and away as fast as her little legs could carry her.

I gulped deciding not to yell at the sight that met my eyes. I sent Abrianna in to sit on her bed while I cleaned up and thought about how do deal with the situation.

Kyle's rabbit was cowering in the corner of his cage. Mounded in his cage was 2/3 of a bag of saturated cat food, spoons, knives, and nut clusters.

The smell of essential oils permeated above and beyond the stench of wet cat food. Our little darlings had emptied three of my bottles ( each costing from $15-$35 per bottle) all over themselves.

Cat food floated in his water dish. Rabbit bedding was strewn throughout the carpet. Ughhh...

Kyle ( my little brother) walked in the door and helped empty out the poor rabbit's cage and cat's water dish.

Mom grabbed a broom and swept the mess on the kitchen floor.

I waited until sundown to finish cleaning up the mess of rabbit bedding out of the carpet. What a bear that was. I don't think I've ever had such a hard time vacuuming such a mess up before. 

I still don't know why they did it. Maybe cause they're 4 and without supervision?

Flies! Flies! everywhere!

Her cries pulled me from my sleep. Thoughts of "Did she have a nightmare? What was she crying about? Why can't she and I just sleep?" ran through my mind.
She ran into my room and scrambled onto my bed. "What's wrong Abrianna?" I asked. "The flying things are gonna get me!" she wailed. So, it must be a nightmare right? I thought. "Why don't you sleep on the floor in here?" That didn't work. She still cried about flying things that were gonna get her.
Dragging my very pregnant body out of bed, taking her by the hand, we stumbled to her room where I tucked her back into bed. I turned on a Bible story and sat down next to her, stroking her cheek. Her eyes slid shut. Only to pop back open and she burst into tears about those flying things that were gonna get her.
Honestly I was starting to get a little uneasy about those flying things by now. We prayed together and tried to go to sleep again.  I lay next to her. Her eyes flew open and she burst into panicking tears as she declared that those flies ( whew, not bats) were now crawling on me.
Ok, now this still wasn't working so we went back to my room and tried to lay down in my bed -again. The panicking and tears about those flies crawling on her continued. No sleep for either of us and she was disturbing Daddy and Abigayle.
I thought we might try rocking in my chair. No go. This didn't work either. An hour had passed. Rick came stumbling out of our room carrying Abigayle who'd woken up wanting mommy. Oh boy, I was at the point of tears now too.
We all trooped back into my bedroom. I encouraged Abrianna to cuddle up to daddy cause he would protect her. That worked for a few minutes. But daddy can't sleep with anybody touching him. So back she came to me.
I told her I'd protect her and wrapped both arms firmly around her. Amazingly, thankfully, it worked. The flies disappeared and we slept.
I'm completely mystified as to what even caused that episode. No fever. And she remembered it this morning. Any ideas?

We can see her!

When we were in CA last week my sister-in-law and I decided to go have peek a baby ultrasounds done. She wanted to confirm only 1 baby and I wanted to confirm the sex of mine.
Genni's having 1 little boy. This will be her 4th boy. I found out for sure that I'm having my third girl! Here's a 4-D ultrasound of her sweet little face. My sister-in-law Jenilyn told me that it looks like she has my nose. She also has ears like her brother and Abigayle.

Abrianna's fourth birthday.

Concentration of mastering the slide.

Almost there.

And she's off!

Picking flowers.

A special picnic in the back yard for Abrianna.

One of her favorite things to do is have a picnic. Happy fourth birthday little orange head!

Wearing her princess dress from mommy and daddy.

CA trip.

Couldn't resist taking some photos at my mom's house. She's got the perfect windows for it.

Abigayle enjoyed the windows too.

Peek a Boo!

Cousin Toby wanted in on the action. All we were missing was Annalena to have all the blue eyed grandkids in the picture.

We had 5 or 6 days of rain. I wanted some puddle pictures. This is what happens when a little girl splashes muddy water on her dress.

With Aunty Lyssa.

Morning bed head at Uncle Kyle's.

Think this is my favorite. On the last and most beautiful day Grandma and Toby sat in the open doorway soaking it in.

She fell down the steps at Aunt Genni's house. Only picture of baking baby.

I barely saw my boy all week as is evidenced that this is the only picture I got of him bouncing on a not so warm day with water on the trampoline with his cousins.

Bravery... Or Not...

The monthly Sabbath School socials are a great way to socialize. March's was at the YMCA for a swim party followed by a potluck lunch.
My kids were jazzed about swimming. with daddy ( I acquiesced to avoid trying to squeeze my 6 month pregnant belly into my non- pregnant swim suit).
The older two relished the water. Abrianna attached herself to Celina and Lucas paddled around in his life jacket. Abigayle? Well, Abigayle my previous water baby, came unglued. The noise? The water? Those may have been contributing factors but the clincher was Daddy disappearing under the water for undetermined amounts of time.
The crying was almost non-stop for the whole hour the pool was rented. A few times she sorta calmed down. The ladies looked safer than Daddy after he dunked big sister under the water against her protests.
My girl MUST need more exposure to the pool atmosphere and water. This will be difficult. Planning swimming lessons for the older two in the end of June beginning of July. But I'm not thrilled with the thought of a mom and tot class at 9 months pregnant. Guess we'll see how it all shakes down.

EasterHi

Hiding "Jesus" in the "tomb." Wrap a marshmallow in a crescent roll. Bake 10 min. The marshmallow disappears just like Jesus did from the tomb.

Abigayle's treasures.

Abrianna piling up her stuff.

Lucas' loot.

The Best of Intentions.

After almost 2 weeks, our bathroom remodel was drawing to a close. I needed to buy a couple of light fixtures from Home Depot. But I also wanted to make sure I got a walk in before we went shopping, which we did.
Arriving back at the house, I loaded the girls directly in the van. I turned to head into the house and Lucas brightly handed me my keys and told me he'd locked the house.
My stomach sank and I asked with fear and trepidation, " Did you lock the door handle?" "Uh huh!" he replied.  "Did you really???" I begged hoping against hope that he hadn't. "Yes!" he insisted a bit uncertainly.
I walked to the door and tried the knob. It didn't turn. We walked around the house, trying doors and windows. All locked tight. We tried to jimmy a few open. Didn't work.
I called my ever faithful next door neighbor, Elizabeth to ask to borrow her phone book to call a lock smith. Nobody could come very soon. It was cold. Our food and my purse were inside the house.
The only course of action that made sense for me was to load everybody into the van and drive to Rick's office to get the one and only key that fit the knob.
Walking next door to return the phone book,  Elizabeth came to the rescue again. She loaded us up with pretzels, apples, oranges, and peanut butter for our lunch.
At Energy Solutions, the older two kids got to see daddy's office and use the restroom while I waited for them in the van as Abigayle took a much needed nap.
Then back home. 2 1/2 hour trip round trip and we were back IN the house.
 I flopped on the couch for a couple of hours to muster together enough energy to take my little ones to Home Depot for those light fixtures. We found a wonderful one that fit the bill.
I never did yell at Lucas. He meant to be helpful. But whew! What a day.

Myrtle Spurge...

Yes, the skin was peeling off. It got worse too.

Her blisters remained intact.

The culprit: Myrtle Spurge.

Isolating the rash. Benedryl made one tired little. So tired she took a rare nap.

Thursday afternoon the kids and I went for a walk. We have frequently admired a unique looking plant, Myrtle Spurge. This walk Lucas plucked a couple of plants, stuffing them in the handle of the stroller, taking them home. Oh, the weather was too nice to go into the house. So we walked into the backyard, Lucas carrying his prize plants with him. A few minutes later, he happily told me that he was smearing the plants on his sisters face. Was it make up? Paint? Whatever the idea was I asked him to stop. 

We played a couple of rounds of croquet, then went into the make and eat supper. Fast forward to the next morning.

Abigayle wiggled around in the bed next to me. I glanced at her face, why was it her face was dirty? How did that happen? I was sure it was clean when I put her to bed last night.

I flipped on my light for a better look. What I saw startled me. Her face was a blistered oozing mess. I turned her head to see the other cheek. Not only was it worse it was swollen. About that time Lucas climbed up on my bed.,  vertical red streaks decorating his face. What in the world??? The pieces fell together in my mind as I saw the plant sap episode.  I struggled out of bed to my kids room to look at my still sleeping Abrianna. Yep, she had blisters on her face too.

Not really sure what to do about it, I called my mom who suggested baking soda paste. 

Next I tried aloe vera next. But oddly these rashes were looking worse after treatment instead of better.  I posted some photos of the offending plant on fb. I also started to research. University of WA had a neat sight that helped me match the plants characteristics. Low and behold it was second on the list. Very poisonous, Myrtle Spurge, can cause these awful reactions. The only treatment being cortizone cream and benedryl. Then cover the area. Each blister that popped spread the rash worse. I covered them in big gauze bandages. 

Today they are much improved. Maybe I can take the bandaids off tomorrow. Guess we'll wait and see. Would be nice if the Easter pictures were "normal."