May Happenings

Here's a little update from the month, I have more pictures on my camera, but don't want to download them right now (so you may never see them).

I spent my birthday* money on a window. Yes, it's totally worth it. Our laundry area was super dark, so I hired a window guy to come cut a hole in the wall and install a window. All the extra natural light is so awesome! (Thank you to my mom, mother-in-law, and Aunt Carroll for funding this project). But, as you can see, Plan A didn't work out (due to some electrical cords in the wall), so we centered the window, instead of putting it over the washer or dryer and having a larger space for a cabinet. The window looks great, but we still need to tape, texture, and paint the new drywall that we installed to cover up Plan A. When it's done, you'll get a picture.

David's parents came to visit last week. They were here a few days and we spent all day just enjoying having Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Laura with us. It was like Christmas for the kids. Rachel and I got sick and spent a lot of time sleeping, so I was grateful to have the extra help.

This was their first time meeting Rachel. We saw them 6 months ago before Thanksgiving and baby David was really shy around them the whole time. This time, he was much more outgoing and loved spending time with his "Papa" especially. 

This is a dress we got at a yard sale for Kathryn. She wants to wear a dress almost every day right now.

Rachel is 4 months old! She is very active now trying to roll over and reaching for toys. She's not content to sit and play in her swing anymore...though she does occasionally nap there still.

                                     

Her face lights up with a huge smile whenever she sees a familiar face (or anyone who gives her a big smile a little attention). She gets really excited whenever Mom comes around. She likes to coo and babble and "tell stories".

This weekend David starting working on our deck. It's rotted and decayed very badly in most areas. A while ago David actually fell through one of the boards. Today he and a friend ripped the whole thing out. We're only going to rebuild part of it, the section around the right side of the house where the door is. I'll keep you updated on that.

*I celebrated my 30th birthday this month, but let's not talk about that.

Sarah's Big Day

Sarah celebrated her 6th birthday on March 17th. For breakfast, David took her (and only her) out to eat at a local breakfast restaurant. She LOVED it! She ate tons of waffles, eggs, and sausage and enjoyed getting lots of attention from all the people there.

Then she opened her presents.

And modeled her new dance stuff...

She talked to all her grandparents and lots aunts and uncles.

In the afternoon, she went shopping with Mom to get new shoes, a toy, and pick out an Easter dress. She checked out books from the library and played soccer with Joseph.

She had St. Patrick's day green cupcakes for dessert and enjoyed watching a basketball game later.

She claims it was the "best birthday ever!"

Since her birthday was on Saturday, she got to celebrate it on Friday at school. In Montessori the children take a photograph from each year of their life. They walk around the circle of children one time for each year  of their life while carrying a globe of the earth. The children sing "The earth goes around the sun, tra la la...etc." Every time they make a full revolution, they show the picture for the next year. Here are Sarah's pictures - one for each year.

Born March 17, 2006. She weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 21 inches long.

8ish? weeks old. She looks so cute, I had to include it.

March 2007 - one year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

Things she loves....

1. Singing - all day, every day. We live in a musical.

2. Playing outside - swinging, playing soccer, playing tag, chasing the cats, and most especially digging in the dirt/mud and planting her own garden.

3. Helping Mom or Dad make dinner.

4. Reading - she surprises us almost every day with new words that she can read.

5. Holding her baby sister, whenever possible.

Happy Birthday Sarah Elizabeth - we love you!!

Hooray for Baby! Happy Valentine's Day

This week our sweet baby David learned how to clap! He looks so cute and happy when he does it. The other kids like to encourage him by saying "Yay!!" and clapping too. He watched his first episodes of Baby Signing Time, so I'm hoping that he'll start using a little sign language soon. At dinner he signed "milk" when I gave Kathryn a cup of juice. It's a start. =)

Kathryn didn't do anything new this week. She is feeling well again and with the weather warming up, I'm thinking about starting potty training with her. We've talked about it a lot and she can tell me all about what she is supposed to do. She says "If I go poo in the potty, then I'll get a treat!" and "No poo-poo in my diaper, just in the potty." However, she has never really liked or wanted to sit on the toilet. Any ideas?

Joseph is really excited about Valentine's day coming up. At school they made little mailboxes out of half-gallon square milk containers. At home he made valentines for each classmate and is working on a map of Africa to give to his teacher. He wanted to stay up late tonight to finish the map because he's worried he won't have enough time in the morning to finish. He gets his work ethic from his dad, I guess.

Sarah is also very excited about the Valentine's day party that she will have at school. She has been talking about all the candy she might get, but then she tells me that she doesn't want to eat any sugar because it "makes her sick". She has been going to bed on time and sleeping so well at night. She has been really very pleasant recently - happy and helpful, and much more obedient. She has matured a lot recently and I can't believe she is almost 5 years old!

This week we made some cute cards to send to our grandparents. We haven't mailed them yet, but we will tomorrow. Better late than never, right? The kids sure love all their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sarah and Joseph always want to mail their little projects to one or another of them. Sarah wants to move to Utah so she can see her cousins everyday. She is such a social butterfly! Joseph says he wants to live at this house forever, because this is "where our swing set is", and I don't think he likes to move.

We love all of our wonderful family and friends and hope you have a fun Valentine's day!