So much going on with three kids that I had to drop the blogging world. Here's a catch-up in pictures.
Maddie loves her little brother so much it kills her. She's learning to be gentle.
My creative kids. Maddie loves building complexes for her Little People. They also love it when Daddy comes into their room to hang out with them. Look at Frankie growing out of his pajamas. (The bottoms still fit fine. He's just long torso-ed like his Papa!)
Maddie's View
Another wonderful creation by Daddy! (oh, no, not Ben...him too...this time I was referring to the cake.) This is basically like a Hostess cupcake in cake format. Now for Ben. Do you see him trying to suck on both fists?! He really likes his hands in his mouth. And he's my biggest drooler so far. It's really funny to see this cake as our diet has significantly changed this month. We trying to eat less meat, less butter, and less dairy. No, we're not vegan but after seeing some videos about whole food diets and following a few promptings and rereading DyC 89 this is something we're embracing. We trying to work TONS more vegetables into our diet and cutting meat drastically. (like once a week...or so) We're not saying everyone has to change for us and we definitely enjoyed the filet mignon that we found in the freezer. So when we come to your house we'll enjoy a bit BUT I personally have seen a huge difference in how my body feels and on the days I do eat meat I can tell the difference. (Ok, enough about that.)
We had some gorgeous spring days. I thought it was going to be too hot already but we've been blessed with cool days too. We've enjoyed playing outside for Joy School and even met some friends at the park. These are some cute pictures of Frankie. He and his buddy, Conner, had a blast on the merry-go-round. He planted a seed in his "class" at church and it's been growing. He's gotten to wear his cool winter coat from Grandma Crawford. AND the picture in the bathtub is one day when he decided to join Maddie's bath. He thought it looked so fun that he didn't bother to change but just got in!
The very loving Maddie with her cutest baby brother, Ben. Helper Maddie playing spot detective. And the evidence of her love for me. One day the kitchen was a mess and I was feeding Ben. All of a sudden I hear clinking of dishes. And lots of water. Then I hear plates being put on the kitchen table. She'd washed and dried these dishes to help me. (Evidence that reading the Boxcar children series can inspire your children to work.)
Our friends meet Ben. And Maddie enjoys their Wii.
Spring has sprung. Ben in his great tuba jammies. And my awesome double stroller. We (Frank and I) like taking walks. This stroller has helped. Frankie tends to like to run. See the bunting (the material over Ben's legs). I LOVE this. It's made Ben's experience much warmer and better.
Many fun faces of Ben. The sticker is from the kids visit to the Temple Visitor's Center with Aunt Nina while Mommy & Daddy did sealings. The sticker was supposed to be Frankie's but he really doesn't like stickers so the sister missionary put it on Ben.
I love this outfit of Maddie's. And my big boy.
Maddie had dance class for two months. This was part of her birthday present. It was a lot of fun. Her best friend, Linnea, was in the class with her and another little girl from Primary was in the class before them so we got to see her too. Frankie and Conner ran amok in the hallway playing with cars and pretending to buy thing on the vending machine.
General Conference weekend - Maddie's started drawing. This is her artwork of general conference. And look! She's actually watching...although, I think this was during the World Report between sessions.
We discovered a beach near our house. Evidently, they charge during the summer (I'm not sure for what) but off season it's free. We've gone twice now taking a picnic once. It's really nice to sit on the log feeding Ben while the kids splash in the water. Frankie loves to throw things in the water. Maddie loves looking for fossilized sharks' teeth. We've started a jar to collect them in. So far our collection is a grand total of one.
This is just me right now. Love the Vitamix and the smoothies it makes (by the way, the red comes from grated beets). I really like this bright skirt my sister made and the picture is courtesy our newest photographer, Frankie.
Speaking of Frankie, here he is hamming it up. His excellent winter Sunday coat that Grandma C found. It was awesome. And then he new summer haircut. This was the first haircut he sat for and didn't have to be persuaded to do. Inspired by his friend Conner's new haircut and with a cape, he made it through. Evidently, he's hated the itchy-ness of haircuts in the past and the cape's helped a lot!
