For those of you who haven't seen a recent pic of me for awhile and have been torturing me to take one, here I am at 5am on the plane. It was tough to smile so early in the morning, (especially while getting a picture taken), but I did it!

Schroeder and Lucy?

Our music lovers

Jackson's Purple Party!

Due to my return to work and various last minute vacations, I haven't posted for awhile.  Here's the first chapter of what we've been up to this summer.

The other day our little neighbor Jackson turned three.  To celebrate we were all invited to his Purple birthday party.  The girls were so excited, they adore Jackson and couldn't wait to spend time with him (and the cake).

The kids were all decked out in the party's theme color of purple (Allie is even sporting some purple icing left on her mouth...built in sneak detector for little girls who steal licks off the cake!). 

 By the way, it's really hard to find a boyish outfit in purple.  Fortunately, I'm from Minnesota!  I just had to pull out one of my favorite baby presents for Ryan.  Just one more reason that Minnesota rules!

The kids played in the backyard for a bit before presents. 

Ryan loved Jackson's Radio Flyer wagon.  Typical male, he couldn't sit still and have someone else drive, he had to get out and show them how it's done!

Ryan's on his way!

"...and I'm not stopping for directions!"

Allie loved the licking the purple icing on the cupcakes.

I think the sugar's kicking in!

  

Although, this is a post about a birthday party, you'll notice there are no pictures of presents, a cake, or even of a birthday boy.  Unfortunately, as I was waiting to take the main pictures of the kids and party, the sugar took hold of the kids, and picture taking became impossible.  Maybe we'll get some pictures of all that stuff next year.  Next time, I'll try to remember to snap before they do.

Early Fireworks

We had a treat while visiting Virginia.  Scot and Kathleen smuggled in fireworks!  

We dressed the kids in cozy PJs and brought them outside to watch.  Emily who still remembers last Fourth of July, was excited to see the show.  Allie naively followed the big kid's lead and was looking forward to seeing the pretty fireworks.  However, we forgot to tell her about the noise.

Ryan waiting with Daddy wondering what's going on.

and then...BOOM!!!

  "Whoa!  What was that???!!!"

"I don't know!  But, let's never do it again."

"That was awesome!  Can we do it again?"

Courageous Allie giving  

fireworks one more try.

Big Mistake!

Allie scrambling for safety with Poppy.

Ahh, safe at last.

Great idea Allie, move over!

Everything is better with Poppy nearby.

Next Sparklers!  These were the biggest sparklers I had ever seen.  They like their pyrotechnics huge down south.  

Allie was still a little scared (and deaf) from her recent experience with the fireworks.  It didn't help that one of the kids also singed the top of her head with a sparkler.  She's going to be so traumatized by our patriotism she'll probably defect. 

Big kid Emily's not scared...as she keeps a close and wary eye on that stinging fire creeping towards her.

Kristin the Brave.  She'll teach her cousins how things are done!

Finally, rest for the weary...as soon as he's done reading the kids a book.

Anyone who likes to cook, or wants to cook, there is a monthly recipe swap hosted by "I Have to Say".  It's a pretty cool idea.  

My MOPS group has a recipe club which is genius.  The club meets every month and each person brings a dish according to a theme, such as, freezable meals, favorite dishes, or vegetarian dishes.  In addition, one person is assigned to bring a meal for the kids like mac & cheese.  Often, we meet in the church nursery.  There, we can set the kids up at a kiddie table with their meals.  Once they're occupied, we can sit down, chat, and try a plate of samplings from each other's dishes.  It's a great way to socialize while expanding one's recipe box.  

Happy Cooking Everybody!

Here They Come!

Ryan is 8 months old and FINALLY getting his teeth.  The two bottom ones are already cut and showing more each day.  I can see he's working on his top ones too.  Poor baby, all of his teeth at once.  He must be miserable!  

The upside, is that I was kind of sad to be forced to wean him, because I'm returning to work.  But now, with sharp incisors making an appearance, that's suddenly over, and I'm making a bottle every time a flicker of hunger crosses his face!  He's like a lion in a zoo, feed him well and he won't attack his usual prey!

He was devilish when he nursed though.  The girls used to accidently clamp down too hard and as soon as I yelped they jumped off and cried in sympathy.  I responded to a hard nip by Ryan the same way the other day, and this was his response...

You should have heard the laugh...

Whistle while you work, eat, sleep, play, bathe...

Ok, I am really proud of Emily.  She can speak a little Spanish, a little Chinese, she knows geography, addition and subtraction.  But by far, her proudest accomplishment to date is the fact that she can whistle...a lot.  Some girl at church taught her one day, and Emily has not stopped whistling since.  I'm not kidding, she whistles ALL of the time. What's more is that she whistles only one note.  No tunes. It's always the same, breathe in one note, breathe out the same one long monotonous note. 

However, in the stores, she never gets lost, I can hear her hiding in the clothes rack a mile away.  But, I get afraid of other things, because she's constantly running up to strange people reciting, "Hi, I'm Emily. I'm four and I can whistle."  Stranger Danger, Em!  

I'm getting a leash.  Think it comes with a MUZZLE?!