Easter 2016

Easter weekend brought beautiful weather this year, and we enjoyed every moment of it. After a special church service in a local historic theater, we came home to a ham dinner. Which, other than celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, is my favorite part of Easter.

They scattered in all directions to hunt for their Easter baskets. It's getting harder to keep up with them for pictures as they get older.

Waiting is definitely the hardest part about dyeing eggs. Except for keeping them from rolling off the table. Or eating them.

The weather was so warm that evening that they begged for a water gun fight. Gabriella had lain down her arms at this point, but the boys showed no mercy.

We hope you all enjoyed the holiday as well!

Volunteering

I help out every week in Chase's classroom, usually to play some sort of educational game with the kids. This week, we were studying compound words.

[Me showing card to Dalton with picture of snow and a man on it.]

Me: What would this compound word be?

Dalton: Snowboy.

Me: Um, have you heard of a "snowboy" before?

Dalton: No.

Me: What else could it be? See, he's wearing glasses.

Dalton: Snowglasses.

Me: No, I mean he's older. He's old.

Dalton: Snowold.

Me: Dalton, he's a man. It's a man.

Dalton: Oh! Snowman.

Deserted Science Center

When the kids had a day off school last month, we headed to the local science center and found it strangely un-busy. So deserted that all the kids were able to fly the simulators at once.

 There was no line at the diner, where they served up rubber eggs and pizza.

 

And we all enjoyed our first 3-D movie.

We wish Will could have joined us, but this is as close as we got.

Making Syrup

Sometimes when you are walking out the door for church and make a quick decision to eat lunch that day at the local arboretum, you get surprised by their annual maple syrup madness.

We were all surprised by the fact that real maple syrup doesn't taste very good. Give me my high fructose corn syrup and imitation maple flavoring any day. Actually, hold the syrup and give me Cool Whip instead. But keep the trees--they're nice.

8 years of Graham

Eight years ago, our lives were turned upside down with the arrival of Graham Vincent. We celebrated with another Lego party (hooray for reusing decorations!), lots of Nerf guns, slingshots, and his friends from school.

We were so glad that Grandma, Grandpap, and Aunt Kim got to join us for the weekend! After Krispy Kreme donuts at school, lunch with Mom at school, a birthday party, fish with Daddy & Grandpap, opening presents on Sunday, and a special dinner, I think he was fully celebrated and we are ready to get things back to normal.

Goal!

This spring, the boys' grades earned them both free hockey tickets from the local NHL team. Unfortunately, Will (the only person in our family who knows much about hockey) was traveling and couldn't make it. So... our friend Charlene gamely agreed to come along for a new experience.

Turns out, as in all major league events, a lot more than just hockey happens at one of these games. The kids had a blast, although Chase got tired of sitting. Graham watched the game and the zamboni machine. Gabriella decided she wants to be one of the girls in the cheerleading uniform who scrapes the snow off the ice (who needs college?). The cannon was too loud, and watching their first fight was a little unnerving (WHY ARE THEY HITTING EACH OTHER???). But overall, we had a wonderful time with Charlene, and they are looking forward to next year.

All she wants for Easter...

She pulled her two front teeth herself, one of which happened at school because she really wanted a little pink treasure chest to put them in.

Having an older brother who is extremely realistic (and imposes this on his siblings) means that she has already accepted the harsh reality of the tooth fairy's true identity. She wasn't too upset--just said, "Mom, can I have my money now?"

Chase's Birthday

Chase turned 7! He opened presents in the morning...

And played with them until it was time to catch the bus.

He celebrated that evening with a trip to the free Lego build (fun coincidence) at the Lego store and some ice cream.

 Then on Saturday, we had a houseful of kids over to celebrate his birthday with a Lego party.

The only things he requested for his party were a race track and a cardboard Emmet that he could put his face through. (So... wow.) When Graham saw the Emmet, he said, "You painted this? I thought you were the worst painter in the world!"

I think it's safe to say that Chase had a good time. (It's also safe to say that we were glad when it was over.) Happy Birthday, Chase!

Painting...

We don't usually take on home projects that can't be fixed if something gets messed up. Paint, curtains, etc. are all fix-able. But this time, we painted the brick. You can see for yourself... Luckily, we are pretty happy with the finished product, 'cause there's no going back.

Before:

After:

And sometimes these two act like they get along with each other:

Caution: Caffeine

As we were riding to church yesterday, Chase wanted to spell the word "volcano". Then, as they usually do, the kids took the conversation to another level.

Chase: Let's spell 100 words of things that are dangerous to walk past.

Graham: Volcano! Mount Rushmore! Mountain Dew!

Superstars

The kids have been throwing a lot of parties for us lately. Led by Gabriella, they usually include notes, glasses of water, gifts of coins and erasers in old purses, and concerts using homemade instruments. And a lot of loud singing.

Thanksgiving/Christmas

We headed out to my parents' house for Thanksgiving this year. For a full week prior to leaving, we passed around a nasty stomach bug. I caught it the night before we left, but we all powered through and had a wonderful time with my parents and my brother's family.

Opening presents with Madeline and Olivia. If you can see her, Rebecca is on Skype in the background.

Dad was trying to hide Caleb's present in his shirt...

Dad organized a crawlspace treasure hunt for the kids. He gave each of them a flashlight and hid a "treasure" box for each one down under the house. The kids had a blast... might have to repeat this someday.

Once we got back home, it was time to decorate our own tree. And everything's better in Batman underpants.

Looking forward to a fun holiday season with these three munchkins. We hope yours is just as wonderful!

Happy Birthday, Gabriella!

Gabriella turned 6 this year... Can't believe this sweet little baby with a mohawk has suddenly turned into a beautiful little girl with a crazy head of red curly hair. She is fiercely independent but has the most caring heart I've ever met in a little kid (she spends her recess playing with the handicapped girl on the playground). We can't wait to see how her life unfolds!

And yes, my mother-in-law and I made that Barbie cake. It was so bad that it was hilarious, but Gabriella didn't care. She celebrated with a quick party that night with her neighbor friends and a new big girl bed. (She is so small that she was still sleeping in a toddler bed.)

Fall Pictures

The kids have had fun playing outside this fall and doing all those things that you're supposed to do when the weather turns colder.

Graham tried rock climbing at the Fall Picnic. It's more convincing when the picture is vertical.

They even played in the leaves without hurting each other and had a fun Halloween.

I was able to chaperon field trips to the pumpkin patch for both Chase and Gabriella.

We made a quick trip in to see Will's family when the kids had a day off of school.

And Will's dad taught the kids how to make cider.

Uncle Rodney was nice enough to take the kids on a tractor ride, and Emily & Susan brought out Tina Marie for them. Our kids have the kindest relatives they could ever ask for.