May is already over?!?!

Here's what we've been up to this busy month...

This is our "new" 10 month old beagle from the animal shelter. The girls named him Charlie after the cartoon "Charlie and Lola," but Carrie calls him "Lola" quite a bit! He's REALLY sweet, great with the kids, and he has a great raspy, deep, howling bark. But he doesn't bark too much, so he's really perfect! Now, I don't want to talk too much about the dog, let's get to the cute pics of the kiddos!

a little dark here, but loved the smiles! 5.29.09

With lots of pushing, I got Alli up to the branch she wanted! Her feet are just as high as I can reach. 5.29.09

Hannah's preschool graduation! These are her teachers, Mrs. Karen Ray and Mrs. Nicole Caudill. She had a great year at preschool, she'll miss her teachers and her small class of 12. But she's excited about kindergarten. 5.22.09

Hannah and her best friend Makayla 5.22.09

Proud Daddy and Hannah 5.22.09

Cousin sleepover #i've lost count! Ben had his apendix taken out so the girls were able to come again!!! We had fun riding the golf cart around camp, listening to Uncle Wiggily stories, climbing trees, etc. Always fun and laughter when they're here. Why I don't have any pics of Grace driving the gold cart or of my kids LOVING these sleepovers...I don't know. The batteries must have died in the camera as usual. This is cousin Hope with a floaty ring around her waist. :) 5.18.09

Monkey-cousin Joy 5.18.09

Monkey-cousin Hope 5.18.09

Butterfly-bike riding-cheerleeder Alli! She has really started riding her bike everywhere! She can ride it barefooted on gravel roads--what a country girl! When she falls, she immediately says, "It's ok, the grass is soft." If she lands on the road, she's still tough and doesn't get upset, just gets back on! 5.18.09

Hannah's preschool went to the High school natatorium (that's the swimming pool to the rest of us) where each kid was paired up with a high school buddy and the swimming coach gave them an hour of swimming lessons. Hannah did pretty well, got upset when they asked her to put her head under the water and several other kids were upset too, but the coach/buddies were reassuring and helpful. By the end of the session she was having fun again. 5.11.09

5.11.09

Tortilla masks! Hannah and Alli 5.9.09

Our annual Mother's Day photo! There are always some irises blooming for a pretty background. What a great day! The girls made me foam flower neclaces in church, Mike made lunch, AND Hannah brought me breakfast in bed! She had been saying for a week or so, "Mother's Day is your day off. You need a break, you should just relax and we'll take care of it." She said that while shaking her finger at me...don't know if she heard that somewhere... Breakfast consisted of a bowl of dry Cheerios that she poured herself, then she climbed up in bed and ate them with me! :) 5.10.09

Hannah's preschool put on a Mother's day brunch. The kids in her class put together the decorations (she made this vase for me) and a gift (a lovely silk-flower and macaroni neclace), and they performed a little song for us moms. So fun and cute! 5.6.09

March, April pictures

Here are some of the latest pics...

Indanapolis zoo with some friends 3.28.09

The Burketts put on a circus for us 3.6.09

Gramma Kathy and Papa Gene came on the weekend of Hannah's first soccer game. 4.11.09

We met Julie and her girls for dinner 1/2 way between here and there to deliver my camera to me. I left my camera at her house on Easter...but wouldn't you know, I didn't take any Easter pictures! The girls had a wild time in the restaurant!

Hannah 4.26.09

Alli 4.26.09

Carrie 4.26.09

Carrie loved playing in the puddle...even dipped her hair in it! 4.29.09

I'm beginning to think the snail doesn't like his new home! He has "escaped" three times since he moved there from the dead-frog aquarium he used to live in. But I have to say, I'd rather have an escaped snail than an escaped lizard or frog or hamster. He's so easy to "catch" when he escapes. :)

We planted four trees on Sunday. One Shumard Oak, one Tulip Poplar, and two apple trees--one Fuji and one Yellow Delicious. We still need one more for the front yard as a shade tree, but not too big, maybe about 40-50 feet tall...any suggestions? I think I'll put in an Arbor Day order soon to get some cheap trees for the back/side yard.

We've been trying to get quotes on new windows. This time of the year, when the weather changes, we have essentially zero visibility out our windows because they're all fogged up. You have to get up really close to the window and look through the lines where a drip has gone down. There is such a range in prices, wish I knew which ones would really last.

Hannah was so funny yesterday. She was having a difficult time trying to draw a picture. She asked me for help, but we were trying to get ready to go to the dining hall for lunch, so I told her to bring her paper and pen, we would draw it when we got there. She stomped off to the other room and I could hear her saying (more like crying), "I asked you to help me and you didn't! (sob, sob) I don't understand why you won't help me. Just for that, I won't be an artist for you anymore, God! If you won't help me, I won't be an artist for you! (sob, sob)" Then she composed herself and came to the living room. I asked her if she got all her frustrations out to God. She started to cry again and told me what she said to Him. I told her that God doesn't always just give us whatever we want, sometimes we have to work at it. That's how we learn. I compared it to cleaning the house: God doesn't just make me clean the house, I have to work at it, as much as I would like to just have it done for me.

Carrie has been adding words everyday, I am amazed at how much she can say and comprehend. It's so funny to listen to her. She says "thing" or "one" at the end of everything. Like this: she will point to an apple and say, "Apple one. Yeah, apple one. Right." Or, "Puzzle thing. Right. Puzzle thing." (Thing sounds like "sing") And even better she says them together like, "I want thing one." What thing one? "Apple thing one." Hannah says it's like The Cat in the Hat with Thing One and Thing Two! Carrie's so cheerful! She comes running with a skip in her step. When she gets to where she's going she jumps once at the end. She likes to be the family clown. She says Hannah like this, "Heeenah" And she says Trafalgar like this, "Tfeelgor" And she LOVES to eat! The funny thing is she loves meat!...and Chocolate! She asks for "Choclit chips" several times a day. I usually trick her with sugar free gum or something. At supper she will eat all her "chickin" but leave the bread or veggies while the other girls do just the opposite. But she never stops moving for long, so she's using all the food she eats.

Alli can spell her name and count to 30! She recognizes most letters, all colors, shapes, and she loves to cook. She is such a sweetheart. She loves to help her sisters ("stisters")! Today at lunch, Hannah and I were playing. Hannah put her arm into her sleeve and ate one-handed, then she told me to, so I played along. Then she said to put both arms in. We were laughing about it, but Alli immediately thought to help out. She offered to feed me!

I love being home with the girls. I can say that today since I've had a good day so far, but it's true even on difficult days. I'm so glad I get to enjoy all those sweet/silly moments from Alli, all the funny words and clowning from Carrie, and all the preaching from Hannah. Thank you, God, for giving me this blessing.

Easter, Field trips, and Bunnies

EASTER
We were able to celebrate Jesus' resurrection with Papa Gene & Gramma Kathy and Mark & Julie's family in Plainfield! The week before saw lots of excitement in a not-so-good way with a hospital stay for one of M&J's kids, so when we were able to all be all together at M&J's house, it truly was a celebration! The kids of course enjoyed playing together, and I love having Julie show her pictures and tell all the great stories about her trip to China! G&K stayed with us Good Friday night and watched the kids so we could go on a date. I love Chinese food, so we took a friend's request and tried a new place...YUK!!! The food was cold, I'm sure it was just because they weren't busy on Good Friday, but either way, we got our money back and went to the food court in the mall for some good Chinese.

FIELD TRIPS
Hannah's preschool went on a tour of the elementary school where she'll be a kindergartener next year. We got to meet the principal and he led the kids around the entire building, answering all kinds of questions. He let the kids have a snack of chocolate milk and goldfish crackers before we left. Hannah loved it! She's so excited about kindergarten.

Then we had Kindergarten registration and screening. The lines were long, the entire process took about 1 1/2 hours, most of that time spent in lines. But it was so neat to meet some of the other kids her age and their parents!

Today we went to the Not Just Popcorn store in Edinburgh, IN. They took the kids into the back room where they pop 2 pounds of popcorn at a time and sort and flavor it. They make 273 different flavors of popcorn, and it's all grown a few miles away! The kids loved it, and it smelled wonderful! The kids got to taste-test kid's flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum, strawberry, and dill pickle (not my idea of a kid's flavor, but lots of the kids liked it). The adults got a grown-up taste-test with flavors like vanilla bean, key lime pie, and prailenes and creme. Each kid left with a sample packet of confetti flavored popcorn that tastes like fruit loops, and the adults got a sample pack of caramel corn.

BUNNIES
Our sweet neighbors, the Burketts, found a nest of baby bunnies and they gave us two of them to keep. We brought them home and fed them milk with a medicine dropper. It's so cute to watch their little mouths drink. They won't eat solid food, though. The girls love holding them gently, and it's so cute! I don't have any pics...I left my camera in Plainfield on Easter!

Updates and pics

It's been sooo long since I've updated this blog. So, I'll let some of the pictures do the talking...

Somewhere around January 30th we got 11 inches of snow, then another 4 inches a couple days later. It was so deep the girls only made it this far out the back door before getting tired out. I guess if I were trying to walk in snow as deep as my chest, I'd get tired too. When it melted down a little, we made great snowladies and Hannah and Mike made a really cool tunnel.

Annual George Link visit: February 18th our friend George came to visit us on his way through from Kentuky to Illinois. Not sure if we're exactly on the way, but we are so grateful to get to spend time with a good friend! He brought back souveniers from Haiti (where he does lots of mission work) for all of us. A wooden carving of the map of Haiti for me and Mike, and beautiful stone neclaces for the girls. Hannah and Alli were able to give George the money they had been saving up "to feed the kids in Haiti."

Cousin's Sleepover I: Julie went to Chicago to get her visa for her trip to China, so we were happy to get Grace, Hope, and Joy overnight and the next day (February19-20)! As you can see, what sleepover is complete without some princesses, some fairies, and some pajama girls? We made puppets, mostly just because I ran out of paper for them to draw on! :) We had fun!

Alli's 4th Birthday!!!! When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "A purple cake with yellow frosting in the shape of a butterfly...AND, pancakes with strawberries." She didn't even ask for any toys. So we took the girls to International House of Pancakes for lunch! She had fun making the cake with me, we used food coloring to make the inside purple. She got some cute books, a movie she loves, some screaming rocket balloons, and an aquarium with two frogs and a snail. She named them "Beauty, Celeste, and Charlie." (Update: one frog died after a few days, and the other wasn't lookin' so hot, so they went for a "swim" down the toilet. The snail is in a cup of water. We're going to plant a terrarrium in the aquarium. haha )

Look at this amazing tower Hannah built! It got knocked down and she rebuilt it just for this photo.

March is great kite-flying weather!

Carrie's 2nd birthday!! Since we celebrated Alli's just a few days before, it seemed like a week-long party! The girls and I made white cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Cousin's Sleepover II: Julie went to China to visit her sister and her niece, so Hope and Joy stayed here for 3 days (March 16-19)! We did every fun thing we could think of--painting birdhouses, picnic, tie-dye, walks to the playground, etc. We had a blast!

...and that's all for now!!! Whew, sorry to you dial-up people!

Signs of spring

Yesterday I heard a Red-winged blackbird, a sure sign of spring! And today we went for a nice muddy walk with my parents. They're in town for Hannah's preschool "grandparent's day." She has been excited about this for two weeks. In her class they have practiced songs and decorated their room for the grandparents. It is so nice to have the grandparents here! We're having so much fun just playing together with the kids.

A few days ago as we were eating, Hannah interpreted some scripture for us. She said, "Jesus doesn't like to eat alone. You know why? Because 'Man does not eat bread alone.'"

Carrie likes to say Grandma ("Ghee-ma") and Grandpa ("Kee-pa"). And when she laughs at something she says, "Huh, fffunnnyyy, Carrie."

Alli likes to show off that she can do the splits. Ouch!

It's been so long

Ok, so it's been so long that I hardly remember what I haven't written down. We've had Thanksgiving and Christmas. And right now I'm writing from the Smoky mountains while Mike and I are at Christian Camp Leaders conference. Let's start here and work our way back. Gene and Kathy are watching the kids at our house while we're here. I love the Smokies, I think they're prettier than the Rockies. We're staying at the Billy Graham Conference center, and we met Will Graham (Billy Graham's grandson) who works here. We miss the girls, can't wait to get home, but while we're here, we're enjoying the scenery and the friends.

Christmas: We drove and drove and drove this Christmas, but it was fun and the kids did well. First, we went to Joplin for the Proctor family Christmas at Katie's house. It was so much fun to have all the cousins together. We had a Pajama party with breakfast for supper one night, a Feliz Navidad mexican dinner another night. One day it was up in the 60s so we rode 4-wheelers and played outside. Fun stuff! We were able to spend an evening with my sister Rachel and Mark, too, and the kids had fun there too! Then we went to visit Great grandpa Proctor, then Great grandma Weede, and the next day on to La Harpe to see my sister Sarah and John and Mom and Dad. We had a fun evening that first day, Mom and Dad watched the girls while Sarah and John and Mike and I went to Macomb for some horseshoes. No, not the game! Horseshoes are an Illinois food, yum! The next day Rachel and Mark arrived and the house was full of kids ages 6,5,4,3,2, and 1! Running, screaming, laughing, and playing filled the house. We had fun being all together--the only time since last Christmas that we've been able to get all together.

Thanksgiving: Mark and Julie invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them again this year. Julie's parents and her brother and his family come, too, so we have a lot of fun! The kids played dress-up, and they danced and ran around while Mark played the piano. We are so thankful to have family nearby.

Other: Hannah has been saying some funny things lately. She's been making everything into a sermon. For example, the other day as she was washing her hands she said, "You know, the bubbles take away the dirt off our hands, just like God takes the dirt and sin off us us!" Alli is such a little helper, she loves her frilly apron that Grandma Humphrey made her and she wears it almost everyday. She will do anything--taking dirty laundry to the basket, little pieces of trash to the can, etc. and she comes back to see if there is anything else I need. Carrie has been saying all sorts of new words. She is funny when whe tries to stick up for herself against the other girls. She says, with a growl, "No Alli! No Hannah! Stop it!" then she curls her nose up and laughs!