goober.

I was trying to take a picture of this little man when this goober couldn't help herself:

Birthday number 8

This year's birthday started in the Wallowas with french toast and whip cream.

And her big present to kick off the day:
Kirsten!

Then we had a long drive home so she kept herself busy writing in her new diary:
"Dear diary,
Today I am eight, I will never be seven again."

We stopped for lunch at Costco, this was actually a big treat for her! I usually do Costco when she's at school so she was super excited to wander the aisles and try the samples like she did in the good ol' days.
This girl always finds the joy in the mundane!

We got home in time for the littles to nap and Ava got ready for her birthday dinner with her cousins Madison and Kayte. She wanted to make the dinner (rosemary chicken ravioli with parmesan sauce) and the cake (confetti in the easy-bake). She picked the dishes and napkins and set it just so:

Then we picked up the movie (Parent Trap...the old school version) and the girls had ourselves a party.
Which I am sick to say got somehow erased from my camera. You have to push at least five different buttons to delete all the pictures on my camera and some little person did just that. So you'll just have to imagine the shot I got of the three little girls in their pjs snuggled on the couch, Ava in the middle with her arm around them both, watching my favorite movie from elementary school.

***********************
The next night we went to Ed's parents' for party number 2.
This one was another casualty of the deleting fiasco. However! The deleting must have happened before I took this one as we were leaving:

(yes, that's Jack in camo shorts and snow boots, his eight year old sister, and one tired baby)

**********************

And finally, a party with her cousins:


Whew!

So much to blog

so little time.

It's Spring (although you wouldn't know it to look outside!) which means the local lovebirds are getting engaged. Which means I've been busy with wedding stuff. And I've been subbing at the kids' school quite a bit. (I like subbing...all the fun, a tenth of the work, and I get to see my monkeys who still love it when I teach them).

So we're here, we're living it up, and eventually I'll post the pictures to prove it.

Jack.

Will invited to Jack to his birthday dinner (big stuff!) and this morning I asked him how it went.

And my Jack says, "Oh mom! There was a party pooper!"

"A party pooper? Who was it?"

"No mom...a party pooper! Waiting for us by our plate!"

Party favor, perhaps?

We spent the weekend in....

Narnia. (at least that's what Jack calls it)

I have a whole post to do about our winter paradise but I don't have time to sort through the hundred pictures yet, so for now the short version is that we did a whole lot of:

sitting by the fire

shoveling ourselves out the door

sketching

playing on the furniture

and hanging out nice and cozy.

Today

Today a certain someone turns eight. eight.

She is beautiful, she is thoughtful,

she is interesting and interested,

and most of all, she has a kind heart.

Right now she is soaking in a bubble bath, chatting to herself, getting ready to celebrate tonight.

Right now, eight years ago, I was working so hard to get her here and I thought she was never going to make it. I was seriously ready to call it a day and go home. But after one more (long) hour, she arrived. And made us parents. And we've been unbelievably blessed every day since.

Happy Birthday Ava Blythe!

Five months old!

And so darn cute!

Hey, who's behind the camera?

Oh, it's my mom!

Jemma.

I posted a few weeks ago with some of Jemma's favorite sayings but I forgot the very best one! The one she says 20 times a day...."I cuddle you." This can be a question, a statement, or a demand. In fact she's gotten in trouble several times already this week for yelling it at some one (usually Jack). Hah, she's actually saying it right now!

The party begins...

Ava's birthday is in the middle of a 4-day weekend so she brought her treats to school today. This year she chose flower cookies (just like kindergarten). I used Sarah's awesome sugar cookie recipe--it was easy peasy which was a good thing because, thanks to some croup, I had two sad babies all night. Poor Ava and Jack want to her room to read while I rolled, baked, and frosted and Jemma and Henry cried their little pink eyes out!

The sort of night that makes me glad I enforce strict bedtimes around here, you know?

Ahhh, she is growing up.

Don't even get me started.

1st grade.

kindergarten.

Jack.

Ed's out of town (thus the outbreak of pink eye and some nasty, scary croup) so Jack's pitching in. I caught him unloading the dishwasher...nice but not too safe!

And speaking of Jack, last night he says, "Mom, I'm going to explore the world....can I get you anything while I'm out?"

Let me preface this

by saying that my kids love medicine. So when I told Jemma she had pink eye after days of watching Jack get his medicine, she clapped her hands and said, "pink eye! eye drops for Jemma!" She was in for quite the disappointment when she realized eye drops are a whole different ballgame then some cherry flavored tylenol!

This was the night before these two woke up with pink eye. Any wonder how we pass these germs back and forth?

Some sad tulips

The sun came out and my tulips keeled over. A little extra loving from the girl probably didn't help.

Big boy!

Tried out the exersaucer. Not really a fan.

I heart these two.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jemma says, "FUN!"

I like this holiday...lots of fun and happiness for very little work.

Give these kids some markers and a heart cookie and it's like the.best.day.ever.