soccer

Charlie gets it.
He's been playing very well this year.

Jane is improving.

In baby steps

Maggie? Well she is her own special something.

One thing is for sure, she shows major signs of a girl who misses her Dad each week. Today she wouldn't let go of the coaches hand. He didn't seem to mind.

Demanding

My youngest angel daughter is a bit demanding and stubborn. I'm certain it comes from the other side of the family since I am nothing like her. We have been trying to instill good manners. I saw a glimpse of hope while she yelled from the table this morning.

"MOM, May you please get me more pancakes NOW!"

Now the positive that I take from this is that she did sort of use "please" and "May I".

Perfecto

Meet Peter.

It is quite possible that you will never meet a sweeter boy in your life.

Charlie karate kicked his face and he was hurt and crying. When I talked to Charlie his only response was "I accidentally did a perfect karate kick to his face".

Notice how he complimented himself?

As if that isn't embarrassing enough, Peter calls me back over to tell me what a great job Charlie did. I immediately stopped him and got out my camera.

As we left the party Peter's mom ran over to tell us that as she was putting her kids in the car Peter said "I'm so proud of Charlie".

Me too Peter. A mother couldn't be prouder.

jEenYUs

you can click on this picture to make it bigger.

if you can read this story than you might be a complete genius.

for all of the rest of you... let me interpret it.

Jane and Maggie

were walking

down the street

from the market

they got lots

of food. A little

girl walked by

she was

very poor. Jane and Maggie

gave her

some food.

I can't believe you couldn't figure that out, guess you're not a genius.

Easter Festivities

Charlie Sunday morning

These were even cuter in person. Pillsbury crescent rolls filled with egg salad and topped with leafy green lettuce. Oh and painted with food coloring.

Paisley, Dayton, Jane and Maggie

Mike and Maggie at the annual Easter egg hunt our friends put on. I forgot my camera and used the trusty phone to come through for me. This egg hunt is a highlight for us each year because these friends have a nice big grassy backyard for the 5 and under kids and then everyone else has to go booking through the woods and stream for their eggs. The kids love it and so do we.

prayer

janes prayer tonight at the dinner table went something like this.....

.....and bless Corbin and Nate to be safe on their missions and bless that grandpa won't die and bless that Charlie will stop always teasing the girls, and bless that Dad won't get mad and bless that Bernie will stop barking at the people walking by outside (about this time was when I started rubbing my forehead) and bless that Mom won't get a headache and bless that Charlie will close his eyes and be reverent and bless that Maggie will stop getting on every one's nerves and bless that she will put her fork down and fold her arms and bless that she will stop eating until after the prayer is finished and bless that she will listen to me right now (this is when Mike intervened and said "don't forget to bless the food")

At this point we were able to move forward and finish the prayer. Can you tell she had her eyes open?

Her prayers are always long and entertaining

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration

puffy cheeks

My sister told me to tell my children that I know when they are lying because their cheeks puff out. So now when they begin to tell a big fib they try to hold their cheeks or suck them in or just become very self conscious of their cheeks. She's a genius.

You can watch this old video of Jane. She is trying to convince me that her teacher wants me to buy her new play dough. It really doesn't matter what she is saying, just watch her struggle to get it out.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

St. Patty

Word

peace

All dressed up for school on Friday. Worth a picture

mean mom

This happens to be a crowd favorite so I thought I would share it with all of you. The story begins when Maggie was not being kind and I scolded her and put her on time out. She didn't walk to time out. She walked to the front room and started playing the piano. It took me a while to hear what she was saying and grab the camera. I really did miss most of the mean scolding she was giving me. She sang a lot of "my mom is so mean" phrases. I think the song ended because she noticed I was there. Turn up your computer to hear the ending. This is a typical Maggie moment.

Enjoy!