egg-stra clever

Hillary gets a little crafty on Sunday afternoon.

She's really cute.

She let Little help draw the faces.

With care, she strung them all together and hung them over the dining table.

This summer we grew pumpkins.
Here is our little harvest.
Maddi helps me cook and puree them so that we have a constant supply of frozen pumpkin to make all types of yummy pumpkin goodness.

We love you, Fall.

first day of school, and what is wrong with my camera?

This is Madgie-May.

She is in High School.

What?

How does this happen?

She is at my old high school,

and I am so proud of her.

She is taking harder classes than I ever did.

She is my hero. and she is stunning.

This is Tiny Bro-Bro.

She went off to junior high today.

She is blissfully content 99% of the time.

She has 9th graders in her math class, oh my!

She is stylish and full of spunk and moxie,

and her teachers already love her because she is the sister of Madgie-May.

Lucky girl!

and she is darling.



This is Smalls.
He is the tallest child in the 2nd grade.
(not even including his fauxhawk)
He is sort of a ladies' man.

His new school shoes were a little too tight today- help me.
Lunch is his favorite subject, and recess is never long enough.

I am certain he daydreamed about making duct tape wallets.
and he is adorable.



Here we are. The only two left at Knowlton.

I'm sure glad to still have a buddy at work.

I had the first-day jitters, too.

This is the lunch-maker.

He makes sure the lunches are in line with the food pyramid.

He walked Little to school today with some of the neighborhood kids.
He's a really good dad.



Yay for school and for the many things these three will learn this year!

good things come to those who wait

Thirty minutes of Jedi Academy Training, and then we leave Disneyland, right?

Not if you don't get chosen by the Jedi Master.

You wait for the next Jedi Academy Training that starts in exactly 45 minutes.

At least that's what Little says we do.

I say, "Buddy, what if we wait and you don't get picked to come up?"

Little says, "Please, Mom. I know he will choose me next time."

Could you ever say no to that?

I couldn't.

So we wait.

And his sweet big sisters wait.

And Daddy waits in the car in the parking lot.

And we all remain optimistic, because we know this means the absolute world to Little.

Jedi Master comes out for the second time, and Little raises his hand higher and more earnestly than any of the other little hopefuls.

It shows, and he is chosen.

This is the face of "I knew I could do it."

Training begins.

This is such serious business.

Totally in the groove, now.

Darth Vader emerges, through smoke. It is scary.

The young padawans are ready.

They will be selected to duel either Darth Vader,

or...

this really scary dude.

Henry took him on without even flinching.

Take that, Darth Maul.

Thank you Hillary for capturing all of these great photos.

It really might be the happiest place on earth.

Dale, not Chip

I knew we would own this hat the minute I saw it.

It is just "So Henry."No to Mickey ears, no to Jack Sparrow, no to Goofy and Donald.


And on the 3rd day,
Yes, to Dale!

It is not Chip, nor is there a Chip hat on Disneyland premises.

we looked.

Little's idea.. just play along girls, just play along.

Still having a good time reliving our fun adventure.

fearless herself, finds the tables turned

Hillary is our thrill-seeker.

Maddi is our safe-seeker.

My, how things can change.

This is Mickey's big wheel, found in California Adventure.

I purposely sat next to Maddi to help her cope with the anticipated fear factor of the ride.

She didn't need me this time.

However, Hillary nearly climbed out of the little gondola from pure terror.

It's a big ferris wheel, with each cage on its own separate coaster-thingy.

As the big wheel turns, each cage rolls around on its track-thingy.

(I know you've all been there, so you get it, right?)

Big Henry has never laughed so hard.

He and Little sat across from us, in complete hysterics over Hillary's unexpected reaction.


Not so scary for Mr. Casual.


You were a really good sport, Hillary.
So glad you got back on the horse and found your mojo.

looney tunes

First stop: toon town

so cute, shiny, and curvy

I loved it!

We got to meet Mickey.

I must say that I was totally star-struck

He is the real deal.

(until Madge told everyone that Mickey is always played by a girl)

we threw the ninny-muggins in the looney jail

it's pretty fun to play pretend... even at 40

Much more to come.

on a wing and a prayer

Here is a boy that sits in an airplane for the first time.

take off is moments away.

he is headed for Disneyland, and life is good.

Two rows ahead of us, Hillary is weaving a belt to pass the time.

In the row ahead of her, Maddi is window-seated next to a stranger.

a row ahead of her is Daddy.

crazy is the person who chooses to fly stand-by,

but we all made it on the same flight.. just barely.

Los Angeles is whizzing by in the background as we are taken to our rental car.
I'm not sure if this photo depicts the first or second attempt we made to procure our rental car. good times. they are cute.



It's a small world looks just the way I remember it did 26 years ago.

You cannot go to Disneyland and not get this shot.

It is necessary.

Stay tuned for more chapters of our family vacation.

fifteen

My pretty Madgie is 15 today.

She is warm, kind, lovely, and good.

And she came to us.

We get to watch her bloom. It has been a blessing beyond measure to be her mother.

How lucky for me that Mother's Day should share such a wonderful day as Maddi's day.

Happy birthday, Maddi!

We love you!

Little, getting bigger

Happy Birthday Henry!

today you are lucky number 7

you requested bacon, pancakes, and orange juice for breakfast

you even opened some presents before school!

you performed in the school spring chorus performance today, and

you sang in this new shirt, which reminded Maddi of.....

this shirt.

so, we sat you on that very same step to see how much you've grown.

it's a lot!

(those blue sneakers are killing me. I want them back.)

this was your 2nd birthday party, and we will never forget your crazed-happy reaction to your new motorcycle. we have it on video, too.


*****

fast forward to a subdued little 7 year old guy.
he is easy to please, and quick to thank the gift-giver.

after a trip to Iggy's, we returned home for cake.


you really loved the new yellow bike that Daddy picked out for you, but over dinner, you mentioned that you wished for an ipad II.

Always dream big, Little!


We love you to the moon and back.

Mommy, Daddy, Maddi, Hillary

applesauce

Today is day 2 of my spring break. Yesterday, on day 1, I took the kids to Krispy Kreme to get a half a dozen donuts each for their awesome grades. Little enjoyed showing us all of the workings of the donut assembly line, as he had just recently been there on a field trip with his first grade class. It is a fantastic sight! Very Willy-Wonka-ish. I'm pretty sure that I would be the ticket holder who would fall into the vat of glaze, while trying to run my tounge under the waterfall of frosting.

Next, we drove to Boondocks to redeem game tokens for their awesome grades. Even Maddi pitched in her grades and gave the tokens to Little. It has recently taken me aback to watch Maddi become less interested in doing the little kid things, and more interested in increasing the fun for the little kids. It was quite a treat for me to go to Boondocks and not even shell out one red cent for all the fun. Delightful. On Little's last game, he managed to drop the ball into the 250 slot and the 250 tickets came shooting out. Little's joy cannot be contained. He shouts, "That was awesome!"

Now, back to day 2 of spring break. I decided to finally tackle my kitchen floor. I love my kitchen floor, but I also hate it. Together, Henry and I installed all 180 square feet of the tile by ourselves, so for that reason, I love it. I will always remember setting tile at 4 am (on repeated nights) while my babies slept at Grandma's house. I hate it because it's slate, and must be cleaned while on one's hands and knees. So for that reason, I vacuum it more than scrub it. Anywho, as I was traveling around the island on my hands and knees I got a little nostalgic. Looking up, I saw the finger painting under the counter top that had happened unbeknownst to me, and irked me at the time, but now just warms my heart. Rounding another corner, I could see it; a three inch circle of dried applesauce. It was in an odd location. Not under a bar stool or by the sink, but over by the door, under the window. Right under the window is where the high chair sat for several years. My babies went through a lot of applesauce, and I have cleaned up many a crusted over applesauce spills. So to see that new little spill, right in the very spot that it used to be made me smile, and wish for a little applesauce flinger to be sitting right in that little space meant for a small one.

Day 3: something less emotional.

you didn't say how

After church today, Big asked Little to go hang up his sweater. We discovered his honest effort later this evening.

100 Years Old

A while back, Little celebrated the 100th day of school.

His teacher asked the children to draw themselves as a 100 year old.

This is his prediction of himself in the year 2104.

I absolutely love it.

What a sweet little old man he will be.

Merry Christmas 2010

I don't ever want to forget these images... ever.My babies, all snugly on Christmas morning,

minutes before descending the staircase to see what Santa brought.

Little, seeking out all of the gifts that might have his name on them.
( think: "Ralphie searching for his red rider BB gun" on this one.)
Henry and I felt like there was something that Little was hoping for, but didn't get. Little never articulated what it was, but Henry and I both sensed it.

and lo and behold, this is what it was.

a pillow pet!

It came hours later, when we went to grandma's house.

Thank you, cousin Emily!

Little has been asking for one of these for ages.
It's as if he was exclaiming on the inside,

"Someone finally heard me!"

All the single ladies received a handmade quilt from Aunt Connie.

They are gorgeous, cozy, and exquisite!

Connie designed them with love and care in the girls' favorite colors.

And the cherry on top:

The entire collection of cousins.

Hillary, Sarah, Maddi, Johnathan*, Megan, Emily,

Madi*, Clark, Henry, Chase, Chloe*.

*darling, and possibly married to a cousin in the future.

That's it.

It was a perfect Christmas.