Jammin' J-boy

We were at K's school for the Spring Carnival, eating dinner in the cafeteria with music blaring on a stereo.  J-boy just couldn't contain himself -- he just HAD to move. :)

BIG & little

The past few months have brought us several transformations - some big, and some little.  

I made my first solo batch of freezer jam.  There's just something wonderful about freezer jam...  It's probably that there's just as much sugar as there is fruit.  The berries here didn't come from the raspberry patch by the shop (ah, Washington!  My home!), but they did make tasty jam.
Ms. K lost her first tooth!  It was quickly followed by baby tooth #2, and the dentist in the family (more about him later) was pleased to see the permanent teeth sliding into place.
Goodbye, Lafonda (our voluptuous black beauty), hello Sadie (our new-to-us silver sienna).  Lafonda served us well, and squished 3 carseats in the back with great economy, but, alas, it was time to move on.  It is official, I've traded in my youthfulness for practicality, and I am a mini-van mom.  
Baby A's fauxhawk had to go.  
I LOVE SPRING!  The midwest seems to have a knack for dramatic seasonal changes - these pictures were taken just a few weeks apart.  I love watching the trees come back to life.

Ms. K's Recital

 

The 1st of May Ms. K graduated from Let's Play Music.  Her past three years of music class culminated with a recital where she played her original composition.  She decided to write a lullaby (because she loves to sing to Baby A).  At one point Ms. K made up words to it, too, but I don't think they were ever the same words twice.  In the video you'll actually hear Baby A singing along at times.  :)

I have to add in a little story -- a few weeks ago, K was singing to Baby A in the car on the way to school.  When we got to school I turned around to help K hop out of the car, and was surprised to see tears on her cheeks.  I asked her what was wrong, and she quickly replied, "Oh, momma, these are happy tears -- I just love to sing to my sister."

K is such a sweet and loving big sister.  And I'm so proud of her for finishing Let's Play Music -- it wasn't always fun to practice every day, and it wasn't always fun to have her mom for her teacher, but K kept going (probably because she didn't have a choice... sometimes agency is overrated), and it almost makes me cry 'happy tears' to watch her.   :)

Tara Runs Into a Tree

Because I promised and Dave asked for it.  

I'm wearing the camera on my goggles, following my sister in law (in the blue coat).  

Silly Tara.  Stick to the courderoy.

March to May....

(This is for you, Katie -- I LOVE the socks!!! And so does everyone else - the compliments are inevitable!) :)

Vail was a blast -- we stayed in a beautiful home just minutes from the resort and skiied half days for three days straight (the snow wasn't fantastic, but the weather was gorgeous). We doubled up with Joseph's twin's family - always a good match. The kids played nicely with one set of parents while the others' skiied, then we swapped.
The funny thing about this trip was that it was an accident. The 3-day 2-night stay in the 'condo' was up for bid in a fundraising auction last year at Joseph's school. He jumped in at the minimum bid, never thinking he'd win it, and DID! THEN he called me, and explained what a great deal this is, what a fun time we'd have, how we'd never be able to take a similar trip for this modest amount, and shouldn't he bid on it? Once he'd talked me into it, I heard his buddy laughing in the background - I asked him what was so funny, and he told me it was actually a done deal, he'd already bid and won (albeit 'by accident'), and he was really glad that I wasn't going to be mad at him. :) What a charmed life he leads!! :)

Shameless Plug...

I'm way behind on blogging (as is my custom after a vacation or holiday...), but Joseph and I just did something that I had to share.  We made a website for a wonderful dentist in the area!!!  I did the photo and image editing and Joseph did the html code stuff, and we actually had something to do TOGETHER that didn't have to do with the children or the finances (or lack thereof).  Hurray!  We just might have a hobby in common!  Anyway, we just finished up the flash part last night, and I think it looks awesome.  So here's my shameless plug -- if you're in the area and need a good dentist, head on over to Summit Dental!  :)  

www.summitdentalonline.com

And I promise to do a proper post full of our exciting adventures soon -- I actually demoed a helmet camera while skiing in Vail -- I'll be sure to post the footage from when I ran into the tree...  :)

J-Boy turns FOUR!

Since he survived the first four years of his life, I decided J-boy had earned a party. This was my first time ever throwing a BOY party, and BOY are they DIFFERENT than GIRL parties! We went with a Pirate Party, though J-boy had an identity crisis after opening gifts as seen above -- pirate turned cowboy (with his new beloved rifle), and then pirate turned PINK DINO (I've managed to hide that gift successfully so it doesn't go to the grocery store with us!).
We had a really fun time -- I get a little carried away with the party planning, but I do enjoy it - at least, the fun of it is worth the work of it. We played a few little games, but mostly the boys just wanted to run wild. No careful coloring of Fairy Wings with this bunch! I did make them all say silly pirate things like "shiver me timbers," and "ahoy, matey" to earn their eye patch and pirate hat. :) But I think my favorite part was turning the hot dogs into schooners. :) SO CUTE!

J-boy is a riot - he is always giving us something to laugh about. I love how he'll do just about anything for a sippy cup of "warm hot chocolate." I love how he and K play together - he pulls her into crazy childhood capers, and she tries oh so hard to make sure they still follow the rules. I love that in his letter to Santa this year he was certain to tell Santa he quickly obeys and eats all his dinner (our santa always forgives 3 year olds of their white lies....). I love that he still likes to snuggle with me, though I'm a little worried that he's STILL OBSSESSED WITH MY HAIR! I laughed out loud when he opened up the rifle gift, immediately winked one eye shut and took aim - where did he learn that? He made me laugh today when he told me the new shoes we bought fit just right -- they were his age! I love that he's excited about the cup holders in our new car. I love that he invited K and I to his birthday party (he listed off his little neighbor buddies, and even though he didn't get to go to K's party, he still invited her to his, and then said, "I want you to come, too, mom!"). I love that he came in my room just after I got dressed for church last week and said, "Mom, you look beautiful!" Who doesn't like to be adored??

He does have a hearing problem -- but it's selective -- he can only NOT hear those who are in authority. And he gets the 'gimmees' really badly every time I take him shopping. I told my mom that I've decided J-boy is noise, dirt and violence. But he's a sweet little noise/dirt/violence, and we love him!