Holy Saturday fun

No Saturday is complete without hunting for loads of Easter eggs,

designing the perfect egg,

sampling one or two,

hugging the Easter Bunny,

smiling with friends,

oogling baby chicks,

taking a lawn mower test drive,

learning to ride without training wheels,

seeing how we've grown,

&, of course, tree twirling. ; )

Wednesday Weirdness

All aboard!

To my Mamasita...

a (blog-belated) Happy Birthday to you!

You've taught me about generously caring for others... especially those easily forgotten,

giving of time & self without hesitation,

loving through misunderstandings & hurts,

being the first to apologize regardless of fault,

& knowing that the first one we should turn to... in good times or bad... is God.

Thank you for giving me life & being my Mom!

Happy Birthday!

Love always,

=] your Robyn

Don Quixote?

"You see all my wind burbines, Mom?

I build them out of Tinkerlogs."

Mmm...

mushy banana. Teresa is enjoying her "real food" adventures so far. The big kids are both helpful & amused at how she whisks toys off of her tray onto the floor & blurps back out half the spoonful you feed her.
I love the mesh feeders. We've only tried bananas so far... which are a big hit but aren't very fun to clean up. Avocados & grapes will be on the menu soon! Any first food faves at your house?

Holy Thursday

Rebecca: Daddy! We're having the Last Supper downstairs!

Thai, anyone?

Bible Study Girls' Night Out at the Blue Orchid was a big hit! All of these lovely ladies plus Jenn, Jody, & myself enjoyed a fun evening with some yummy food. It was my first excursion into the world of Thai food & I really liked it. I guess I raved about it enough, so now Darren & I are planning on taking our next date night there!

Thanks for the fun time, everyone!

Salad, anyone?

Thirty four!!!

Happy Birthday, Darren!

We love you forever. =]

I had no idea how much of a labor of love this fun little idea Megan gave me would be! Okay, the letters R & B are kind of a stretch, but the rest are pretty good right?

Hope it made you smile.

Stepping Away

Just a note to say I'll be stepping away from blogging & e-mail for Holy Week. I'll catch up after Easter. (Let's see if I can do it! ; P )

May your Holy Week be prayerful, penitential, & peaceful. Let's pray for each other!

In Him,
=] robyn

Clara

Clara, Clara, bo-bara, banana-nana, fo-fara, me, mi, mo-mara, Clara!
Happy Birthday, beautiful. =]

Million Mountain

Andrew: Can you buy the dressing

Million Mountain

at the store next time?

***

Can you guess what he meant? =]

Becca, will you tell me a story?

Sure! ... I think so. Ummm...
Once upon a time there was a Becca at Church & a Fr. Jon at Church. It was pretty nice. Then there was a big storm coming!!! They had to hide from the storm. Ev'ybody were safe.
That's it!
***
This was Rebecca's most impressive tale yet. When I asked her to tell me a story, I never expected this! I love that she starts with "Once upon a time". It's interesting because so few stories anymore even start that way. The grand finale of "That's it!" had me giggling all morning.

40 bags update

Since I last updated, I've cleaned out a few more random areas AND the kids' closet... lots of bags there!

6 to trash
3 to donate
2 to friends
=11 + 14 earlier

= 25 BAGS total!!!

Over half way with just a couple weeks to go.

Babymania

I was honored to throw a double baby shower for Darren's little sisters this weekend. They are both due this summer with their first. They really do EVERYTHING together. ; )

They were showered with great gifts to welcome their little boys! Check out the homemade growth charts & even-cuter-'cause-I-didn't-have-to-make-them diaper cakes. Love it.

The girls' friend Holley made this cute cake. My favorite part was little blue booties made out of marshmallows.

Hi, Abigail!Two wonderfully helpful relatives cut the cake & poured the drinks, both things it is rather tricky to do with Teresa in arm. Knife wielding with baby... not such a good idea. Thank you so much Karen & Lori!We had a pretty good turnout & a fun time. It was so nice to have everyone together.

The Girls

Grandma, Mom, me & Teresa, Christine & baby, Katie & baby, Alaina, Andrea & Abby

Green goodies

We enjoyed some green fare in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.
Our green pancakes were just green enough to look edible. Andrew's the only one who went for the green orange juice, though.

Lunch was tasty non-green reubens, green pickles, green & white popcorn, green cucumbers & dip, green lime jello, & water in green cups. Sense a theme here?

Backseat driving

with Grandma & Grandpa!We enjoyed a lovely dinner out with Darren's parents last Sunday to Wilderness Ridge. It's so beautiful there! The food was delicious, (mounted) wildlife was intriguing, company was pleasant, & kids' behavior was good. Couldn't ask for better.

I enjoyed a delectable prime rib. Yum! I always have this strong desire when we eat out to order something that I would never or rarely ever make. So worth it.Grandma & Grandpa are always up for a story.

Grandpa kept trying to convince the kids that the mountain lion mounted above the bar was alive. "I saw it's paw move!" Andrew played along & Rebecca was completely in awe at the "big kitty sleeping". What a great evening!

From the kitchen

Rebecca has been cooking up a storm lately... with both real & pretend foods. I love to have her help in the kitchen.
Last week Teresa ventured into the world of solids. Mmm... mushy bland rice goo.
Andrew has already become an expert baby feeder! She eats it pretty well though doesn't seem thrilled by any means. Her biggest issue is just sitting up. She tends to list to the right & down towards her favorite snack... her toes.

Z-O-O

Andrew: That spells zoo, Mom! We were lucky to venture out last Tuesday with Uncle Fr. Jon, Aunt Cara, & baby Jonathan to "the big zoo"!
After receiving a scuba diver Playmobil set for Christmas, Andrew has been extra fascinated with marine life. I think he would have sat in the aquarium tunnel all day! A big highlight was seeing scuba divers in the tank cleaning off the big sea turtle.
Teresa spent the afternoon making noises as crazy as the animals! Rebecca was having an extremely big girl day. She refused to ride in the stroller most of the time... which is always her preference. She wasn't frightened by all of the sharks, stingrays, snakes... in fact she was delighted! At one point she even had her hand up next to the glass as if a huge crab had it within his claws. Who is that big girl?

The rainforest, desert dome, & aquarium are all inside, so even though it was rather "brisk" walking between, we could still enjoy the zoo during our less-than-springy weather. Those three are big enough to be their own adventure without the need of the outdoor animals anyway. ; )

All the monkeys.

I like this one because even Teresa is waving good-bye!

Thanks for a fun time Cara & Fr. Jon!