Cousin Time!

One thing that is great about being living close to family is being able to celebrate milestones together.  Local cousins are awesome.  It is even sweeter when other cousins are in town visiting.  For our niece's birthday, there were cousins galore.  They ran around, played, laughed, giggled, yelled and just about bursted with happiness.  I loved watching them all in their revelry.

Even though it wasn't Phinn's birthday, he got talked his way into helping open the birthday girl's presents.

I really wish these two lived closer together.  They were born about 6 weeks apart and are two peas in a pod whenever they get a chance to spend time together.  What sweet, sweet girls.

 And these impromptu pictures were so fun.  You can see how much they love each other.

Freya can be pretty shy in large groups, and she doesn't take to everyone.  She loves Uncle Ed though.  He makes her giggle until she is almost in tears.

 I sure love these kids.

Catching Up

Hilde and Enoch are back in school and loving it.  Next week Phineas starts pre-school 3 days a week.  I am starting to settle into our new schedule and I can actually see some rays of light.  There is some blogging time on the horizon.  There is so much to write about, and since this is primarily for me to be able to capture memories, I am going to blog about them.  Follow if you want, or wait until I am caught up to see up-to-date news on our family.  There will be tons of cute pictures, a few snippets of detail, and maybe some things that will make you laugh out loud.  I hope you too are getting back into the swing of things as we start to change seasons.  And I really hope that you get some rays of light pouring into your lives too, you deserve it.

I'm bored...

Here is my list for the kids to look through when they get bored. What is on yours? Also, I know that by tomorrow afternoon they will already be complaining about the list, but the rare moments it works will be awesome.

Looking for something to do?  LOOK HERE:

read a book * draw pictures * paint * take pictures * sidewalk chalk the driveway * do a science experiment * complete a DIY project * run through the sprinklers * stay bored * knit * sew * make a video * ride bikes * play catch * bake something * play soccer * catch bugs * play with bubbles * sword fight * play hide and seek * explore outside * mazes * puzzles * word searches * mad libs * play a board game * UNO * SkipBo * Phase 10 * jump rope * ride scooters * playdough * fly kites * play frisbee * complete something from the summer boy book * complete something from the Things for Boys/Girls to make and do books * make lemonade * play in the castle room * write a Smashing News article * write a story or poem * write in your summer journal * reorganize your room * squirt guns * water balloons * make snow cones * Jenga * complete worksheets for screen time * empty dishwasher * color in a coloring book * write a letter * build with blocks * call a grandparent * build a train track * make your bed * play baseball * play with a sibling * build a fort * make paper airplanes * do origami * have a musical parade * do chores * make a paper chain * play cafe * take a nap * do an exercise video * practice math * interview people and write a report * write a book review * draw a self-portrait * help someone * take a bath * watch the clouds * go on a picnic in the backyard * rest on the screen porch * make a music video * lay on a blanket and watch the clouds * make a card for someone * read through a joke book * sketch a flower or plant growing outside * make a friendship bracelet * make smoothies * make popsicles * make a treasure map * turn up the music and dance * make sock puppets * put on a puppet show * dress up * climb a tree * make a picture book * roast marshmallows * build something out of the recycling * plan your ultimate vacation * build something with toothpicks and marshmallows * play outside in the rain * catch fireflies * read a chapter book aloud * run races in the yard * climb a tree * draw a comic strip * pick blueberries or blackberries * blow bubbles for the baby to chase * take a shower * Battleship * draw something new from the How to Draw books * go birdwatching * Electronics kit * do an act of service * study the scriptures * nerf gun fight * look under a rotting log * driveway tennis practice * write a play * sing a song 

Frogs and Bluebells

 This Spring all sorts of things that we dreamed about when we bought this house have started to come through.  The boys have gone out to catch frogs, everyone is out bike riding, and we are being surprised daily by the beauty surrounding us.  Living in Virginia can be absolutely breathtaking as each day something new blooms.  Dave went outside to walk in our little woods one Sunday evening and came inside to get me.  He had discovered a field of bluebells just inside the woods behind our house.  It was magical.  I love it here.  I hope I can remember this feeling of love during CicadaFest 2013.

Hilde and Soccer

I cannot explain it, but there is something magical about watching my girl play soccer, the sport I loved and played for so long.  She is just learning, and she often gets frustrated when she makes mistakes, but I think she is doing awesome.  She may never play again, but I find that I love going to the games.  I love to sit on the sidelines and watch the chaotic action.  I love that joy I saw on her face when she scored her first goal.  I love seeing her cheeks redden as she plays all out, running faster than I thought she could go, pushing her athletic limits and growing better every day.  Go Hilde!

The Greatest Show on Earth

This year we decided to take our kids to the Circus.  Ringling Brothers was doing a show called Dragons.  Add to that a comment from Enoch to Dave that he wants to grow up to be a clown and we just HAD to go.  We got there early so that Enoch could participate in the clown school, which he really enjoyed.  There was also a huge moon bounce obstacle course that both boys loved.  Overall, I was amazed again at how much they fit into the show.  It was almost 3 hours long and when we left there was a torrential downpour, but it was worth it.  I think I spent most of the time with my mouth wide open in shock at all of the daring stunts.

With the plethora of horses and the promise of a dragon, Phinn was beyond excited.  He barely stayed awake long enough to see the dragon at the end. He was drooping so much it was almost comical.

 I think I liked the dog show the best, it was just so darn cute.

I didn't get any good pictures of all the horse stunts because they were just moving way too fast, but I have to tell you, it was amazing and very scary.  I was sure someone was going to be trampled.

 The motorcycle on a high wire with two women dangling from it, were right above our heads.  CRAZY stuff.

 As always, the lion taming act was cool.  The picture we got is great too, look at the crazy eyes of the lion!

 Hilde's favorite thing was these girls that were in these large plastic balls suspended up way high.  The balls opened and closed and they did all sorts of tricks.

 And really, who wants to hang from their hair!  These ladies were probably 100 feet in the air spinning and spinning while hanging by their hair. Headache anyone?

 The boys loved the Shaolin warrior portion.  Enoch had joined them in their pre-show class and was enthralled watching all of their tricks.  It was pretty cool, but some tricks were pretty hard to watch.

 Dave caught the warrior jumping through a ring of knives and fire perfectly.  

The acrobats were a little off that night.  They did some amazing things, but there were a lot of drops and misses as well.

 The final act was the metal ball with motorcycles riding around inside it.  It was AWESOME.  I can't explain it to you, but they got up to 8 cyclists in there.  It was ridiculous.

All in all it was a wonderful night!

All About Phinn

Preschool sent home a handmade book all about Phinn last week.  It included self-portraits and other things.  My favorite part was the mad-libs style interview they did with him.  His answers are in bold blue.

My name is Phineas and I am 3 years old.  I have yellow hair and blue eyes.  My favorite color is green and mac and cheese is my favorite food.

My mom's name is Mom and she is 5 years old.  She has brown hair and brown eyes.  My mom looks pretty when she wears her feet.  The food mom cooks the best is bacon and I really like to go to the beach with my mom.  When mom is working, she doesn't work anymore.

My dad's name is Daddy and he is 5 years old.  When daddy goes to work, he doesn't do things and he looks handsome when he wears a sweater.  Daddy likes to cook too and the food he cooks the best is when he cooks outside.  Daddy likes me to do stuff and I like to help do things like planting blueberries with him!

I go to Preschool and my friends at school are Josh, Owen and Sabrina.  My favorite thing to do at school is painting.  At home, I like to cook stuff and my favorite T.V. show is Batman.  When I grow up, I want to be Batman!

I love the little window into this guys' mind at that very moment.  This is why I love being a mom.  These kids are fun, inquisitive, smart, and pretty darn cute.

Happy Mother's Day!