What our kids do for fun...

Over the long holiday weekend the kids have been having fun playing outside with friends and in their new sandbox. But here are a couple of pictures of what happens when they have to much time on their hands or it is raining outside.

Here is a picture of a Boy and his dog



and here is a picture of a Cute little girl who just turned 19 months old




and here is the aftermath when they come together.









Each morning the kids have room time. Some times we let them go in the same room and play because they have so much fun together. This morning they were having their room time and it was very quiet. All of the sudden Amy says "Oh no, I can smell it out here!" When she opened the door to Ellie's room it was all hazy from the baby powder that had been dumped out. This is one of those moments where you want to teach your kids a lesson about how we don't make messes... but it is rather hard to do effectively when you cannot stop laughing.

Lazarus

This week during our family devotional time we read the story about Lazarus and then we acted it out. The kids loved it and I think really understood the story by making it interactive. Here are pics of AJ and Micah playing the role of Lazarus.

Micah's prayer

Here is Micah's new mealtime prayer. He learned it at preschool this year and says it almost every time we eat. It's pretty precious. We try to make him change up his prayer every now and then so he doesn't get into just a pattern of saying the same thing over and over as his prayer.

Garden?

OK, let the games begin. I'm taking bets on whether or not I will actually get any produce from the garden I just planted today. I have more of a brown thumb than a green one, but I really like the idea of having a garden. It's kind of a running joke that I'm really just planting it for the rabbits. The transplanted rhubarb from last year came back (yea!) and the transplanted raspberries from two years ago are doing alright. It's the rest of the veggies that are quite iffy. I planted zucchini squash, pumpkins, carrots, peas, tomatoes, cilantro, parsley and some sunflowers just for fun. I also planted onions around the edge of the garden. I read online (so it must be true) that rabbits don't like the smell of onions and so they won't cross over them to get to the other veggies. Any and all prayer is much appreciated!

Daddy's shoes

One of Ellie's favorite games is to try on EVERYONE'S shoes. Yesterday I cleaned up shoes about 4 times. Here are some pics of her in daddy's shoes. And a pic of AJ and Micah that I thought was cute!

Trip to Como Zoo

Praise the Lord for beautiful mornings at the zoo! Micah's preschool had a field trip to Como Zoo this week and AJ, Ellie, and I met the bus there and tagged along. It was such a nice, sunny morning and it was a fun time. Micah loved it all, from the bus ride (through the tunnel!) to all the animals and then the flowers and gardens. In hindsight we should have packed a picnic lunch and stayed longer, but we enjoyed the short time that we were there. Ellie rode along great in the stroller and didn't really get to see too many animals...we were moving too fast and there were too many kids in front of her! She didn't seem to mind. Micah told us that his favorite part was watching the monkeys. They are always quite entertaining. For AJ and I , the funniest part of the day was how Micah wouldn't leave one of his little friend's mom. She was an official chaperon for the trip, and he would not let go of her hand. She had her own son on one side and Micah on the other all morning. AJ kept asking him if he wanted to hang out with us, but he would just shake his head and stick with her. It was so funny! We were just glad that he was enjoying the time at the zoo. The kids were exhausted and took great naps when we got home. We plan to go back in July with our group from church.

Ellie at 18mths

Elliana has turned 18mths old and she is going on about 4! She is into everything and tries to do everything that big brother does. Her favorite new trick right now is climbing up into chairs. We often find her at the kitchen table drinking out of someone's glass or at the computer trying to type. Also, she loves the phone. The play phones don't quite cut it anymore and she is always after my cell phone or the cordless phone. We are going to end up paying for a phone call to China one of these days.
She recently got over a week long episode of being sick with some sort of nasty bug. It was a week of many baths and many loads of laundry. Fortunately she has recovered quite well.
Here are her stats from her 18mth doctor appt: Height 32.5in (75%) and weight 24lb 11oz (60%). She had only gained 4oz since her 1yr visit, but no one seemed concerned about it.
She's a bit of a picky eater, although she is a great snacker! She eats a lot of fruits, but no veggies. Her favorite foods are jelly sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, yogurt, applesauce, Cheerios, goldfish, and granola bars. We keep trying new things and sometimes are surprised...the other day she downed 2 small pieces of peanut butter toast!
She is generally pretty happy, and still likes to snuggle with mom a lot. She loves to be outside and swinging is her favorite activity. She loves being in the stroller and going for walks and pushing her little scooter around. She could read all day and is continually bringing out books for us to read over and over again. She also likes to color and draw. She loves to take her shoes and socks off and then 10 minutes later ask us to put them back on.
She is a joy and we are loving every minute with her. We are starting to learn that girls definitely have a higher pitch to their scream when she starts to throw a mini-temper tantrum! She is also much more sensitive than her brother was and much more determined. Hopefully she will adjust well to the role of big sister in a few months. We love you, Ells!