Summer Buzz

Before

After... sad to see the dark brown locks disappear, but no more bed head!

 I sure love my David!

Beach Day

Don't know what got into me today, but we joined all of so cal at the beach for Memorial Day.  Due to parking, it took us 20 minutes to walk, but once we got settled, the setting was gorgeous!  I even spotted a dolphin!  James used to be the boy who would scream if his feel touched the water.  Now you can see that he's much more daring.  

Sandy, wet, greasy baby

Ruth won't touch the water, but she's finally decided that playing in the sand is better than sitting in my lap!

A trunk with no limbs

Piano Man

Now that he's 5, I've started to teach James a few basic things on the piano.  He gets a practice sheet and prizes for keeping up with his practicing.  This past week, Ruth caught on that she's been missing out.  We are still in a power struggle phase so her pleas to begin piano were quite fruitless.  That's where James comes in.  "I'll teach you piano Ruth!  I don't have prizes but if you practice three days I'll help you build a fort!"  Depicted below is an eager student with an eager teacher at days 1 and 2 of piano practice.  These moments are rare in motherhood, and priceless!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Emmy is getting really good at all her new tricks these days.  She has also become a mama's girl!  If she had her way, she'd be in my arms all day long!  Now that she's crawling I can no longer prop her up with toys and leave the room.  Wherever I am is where she wants to be, and now she has the means to get there!

Emmy is quite the kissy face.  She's figured out how to do fish lips and regularly smacks her lips as if trying to kiss us.  The other night, I was kissing the boys goodnight and I heard her in her crib smacking away.  I couldn't resist... she got a goodnight kiss also (for the second time).

I have to admit, it's quite useful to have others share the task of feeding the baby.  Good training for future dads, too.

Finishing touch!

Mother's Day

I am happily surprised at what a wonderful weekend we had.  James and David almost daily brought homemade surprises to me.  One day, James presented me with this crown and said, "You are the queen if the house and I am your guard!  Now, what do you want me to do?!"  I think he has figured out the way to a woman's heart!

Joseph and the kids are in process of painting and assembling a picnic table for me.  I'm not sure if James and Ruth got more paint on themselves or the table! At church the next day, they still had splotches of paint all over their legs.  Ruth was quite worried and kept asking for band aids.

The other day, Ruth said to me, "When I grow up, I'm going to be YOUR mother."

May Funnies

Distressed David: "Mom, James says that if I don't share with him, I can't be a cubscout!"  

James, on explaining the potty talk that he hears at school, explains his solution: "I just cover my ears and walk away"

Ruth overhears our conversation and declares, "at preschool, the kids potty talk!"  

Oh really?

"They say 'it's potty time, it's potty time', so I just cover my ears and walk away."

(that sure explains things...)