And we're off....

Hadey's crawling....here we go....video soon

Nothing New...

My mom was asking about the picture drought.  I'm not sure why there has been a lack.  I have learned that I can't seem to take any pictures unless Parks is with me or I only have one or two of the kids.  Because most of my days are spent just myself with the three of them I don't have many pictures of daily life.  It's not that it's always a zoo around here I just equate picture taking with leisure and there isn't much of that :) 

My great friend Kaci got married this past month and I directed her wedding & reception.  It was a wonderful evening in her family's yard.  The kids danced and ate a ton.  Kate shadowed me most of the night.  That girl is a wedding director in the making.  Really, an anything-director.  She has more of an eye for detail and a sharper memory than I do.  And I'm not too shabby.  

 Here is a happy moment before bed.  Bible time & story time is usually chaotic, so this moment is picture worthy in my opinion.  As a side note, when I was ten I was Pinocchio in a play and I wore these red felt "cheeks" held on by spirit gum and at the end of every weekend my cheeks would look just like Hadley's do in this picture.  Couldn't help it, I think of it every time I see this picture.  She is rosy cheeked and chunky.  

 And, in other news, we (mostly Parks) made a bird mask for Kate for preschool homework.  I think it looks a little like something I imagine them men from Papua New Guinea (where Parks grew up) wearing.  

Not much else is going on.  The weather is warmer and Sunday evenings at the beach are starting up again around here.  Parks is mole hunting and we are attempting to garden.  Hadley wants to crawl so badly.  She is very close.  I went in to her bedroom this morning and she was standing in her crib, so we'll see if that was a fluke or if there is more of that to come.  She consistently says "da da' when she see Parks (her clear favorite family member) but she also says it other times so the verdict is still out on whether or not she knows that's his name.  That's all we have, folks.  Going to try to take more pictures.  

We also bought a fun table on Craigs List that we are redoing so I'll do another one of my favorite before and after pics, this time of the breakfast room, in the next month.  

Table Love

Our friend, Carrie Furr, has a furniture line called The Southern Mermaid.  She sells furniture locally and through her Etsy shop.  She and Parks have been dreaming about making this table for some time.  Carrie brought him the barn wood and these awesome hairpin legs.  Parks finally holed away in the garage for the last 4 days and cranked this beauty out.  Don't you love the chevron/herringbone pattern? Carrie is going to seal it and sell it in her line.  Who wants it?  I do!

Easter Weekend

We had a great, fun-filled family weekend.  Friday afternoon Myers, Laura, and Lillian pulled into town and 10 minutes later the men left to pick Henry up from the airport.  We lingered over a porch dinner and the little girls giggled and made leaf soup and other fancy make believe concoctions in the yard. Saturday morning we picked strawberries.  

 the "big girls" being goofy

 It seems that all the nieces (even Hadley) adore Henry.  We keep reminding him that he's allowed to stop playing with them if he wants to.  If it were up to them he would never leave. 

 Some freshly made strawberry ice cream

 ... the cone for Hadley.  Can you tell she ate a few berries?

 When the left the strawberry farm we headed to the park for some tree climbing.

 ... and some picnic-ing

* Can you see 2 tiny front teeth?

 This morning we woke up to Easter baskets filled by the bunny and a pajama egg hunt.  

 Lillian checking out her spoils

 Man, I love this face.  It is authentic excitement about whatever candy is in that egg.  Simple pleasures, right?

 We got dressed and attempted some family pictures.  

 How about this moment?  Precious.

 Brothers.  We missed you, Will!

 Then off to church for a great sermon, a potluck lunch, and an egg hunt.  Are you feeling a little exhausted? (I was!) The girls were feeling a little silly.

We had such a great weekend.  Lily Kate is going to go through withdrawal without Lillian.  I kept telling the kids we had Spring Break, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and now tomorrow is Pre-school Monday.  It's not as meaningful as Easter Sunday, but I have to say I'm pretty excited about Pre-school Monday ;)

Sweet Hadley

Our little precious is just now getting interested in crawling.  She goes after some of her toys and books.  Food really motivates her too.  She just can't do it yet.  It is so cute to see her lift up on her arms and wiggle her legs franticly.  Her little wiggle just seems to send her backward and confuse her.  She tries 3 or 4 times and then starts to wimper in frustration.  Such a sweet little lady.

Children's Museum Easter Celebration

Because it is Good Friday Parks is off work today.  We had a family morning at the children's museum.  The girls decorated glitter eggs and hunted for eggs.  Then they just played there for an hour and we went out to lunch.  Some of our family is here now.  The girls are loving life with their cousin, Lillian and uncle Henry.  More pictures to come.  

Palm Sunday

Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, our church remembered the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  I learned recently that in Jesus' day a donkey was an animal that symbolized peace and a horse was an animal that symbolized war.  When a king rode into a town on a horse he was waging war.  Jesus, our king, entered into town in peace.  He knew what the end of the week would bring for him and yet, he came at peace with the price he would pay for us.  His life for ours.  It was the plan from the beginning. It was precious to see the kiddos wave the palm branches and sing Hosanna.  Look at Kate singing her heart out :) and don't miss precious June and Caroline with their little paper palms.

Oh the things they come up with....

I keep saying I'm going to post regularly with some of the things my kids say and think I'm going to start. Some of them are funny, some are hilarious, some are just sweet and leave me wanting to remember them at this age forever.....

• Charlotte: Mom, what are we doing tonight?  Me: We are going to church Charlotte: Oh, I love church.  I love church and I love Sleeping Beauty.  Those are my two favorite things. 
• (This one's for you, Margaret Lee, wish you still lived here!) Lily Kate: Mom, I picked this flower for you, but it's not from your garden where the purple flowers grow.  It's a weed from the place where Margaret Lee and I used to play stick fight.  You know where that is?  Me:  Of course you played stick fight with Margaret Lee  Lily Kate: What? Me: No, I don't know where that is.
• Lily Kate made a new friend today in our gym's kids care then we saw her directly after we left at the park and they played together the whole time.  As we were leaving the park.... Lily Kate: Bye, Rebecca Rebecca: Bye Rachel.  I quickly looked at Kate and she had a sheepish grin on her face.  If you know her you know that "Rachel" is her favorite name.  It's the name of one of her dolls and the name she begged me to name Hadley.  I have witnessed her tell a neighbor that her name was Lily Kate, but that she could just call her Rachel.  I made her go and tell her new little friend that her name was Lily Kate.  We are going to see this kid on a regular basis.  The kid was confused but, like all 5 year olds, mentally moved on in 1 minute and ran off to play.  

That's today, we'll see what next week brings.