The Big Apple

Yesterday morning I was preparing breakfast. Jackson asked for an apple. Mikey started squealing and pointing toward Jack- I assumed for an apple as well. I cut one up and placed it before him. He continued shrieking and pointing, and tried to brush the apple pieces away from him. Perplexed, I held up a whole apple. Yep, that's what he wanted! I didn't think he could eat it, but I figured I'd let him give it a whirl. Slurp, munch, crunch. He went to town on that piece of fruit. Here is what remained.

Valentines Day Treats

Dear Grandparents and Great Grandparents,

Thanks for the fun Valentine treats. We enjoyed the cards, candy, toys, and money.
We love you!

Kennedy, Jackson, Harrison & Michael

They used the three dollars each from GeGe and Great Grandpa to buy Cow Chip cookies and cocoa earlier in the week.

Kennedy had a little V-Day celebration at co-op yesterday with her friends.

It was a busy day with co-op and ballet right after. I picked up a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and headed home. I expected to return to a messy kitchen (I made George Washington sugar cookies in the morning before co-op and didn't have time to clean it up). Instead, I was floored when I walked into the house. Not only had Ken cleaned up my messy kitchen, but you can see the lovely display that was set up for us. Chilled champaign, a new red pepper grinder, spicy chocolates, a primrose, and a big box from Nordstrom. My precious hubby had gotten off work early to prepare the wonderful surprise. Actually, I am still surprised. It was so completely unexpected and such a sweet blessing...and the contents of the box? New workout clothes for triathlon season. A man after my own heart.

The heart-shaped pizza has become a Valentines Day tradion around here. Here's the gang with it before it was devoured.

More Babies!!

Two of my dear friends are mommies for the first time. It is so wonderful to cheer them on in this amazing new role in life. Congratulations Tamara and Stacy! I know you will do well with the help of our Lord and Savior. Levente (Levi) Samuel was born to Tamara and Attila on January 22.
Elizabeth Ann was born to Stacy and Andrew on February 3.

Being a mommy is hard, wonderful, challenging, amazing, and difficult.

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowlege Him and He will direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

We Love Visiting the Children's Museum...But Not On Sundays

Yesterday was my hubby's only day off for the week so we decided to make it a good one. After church we visited the Seattle Children's Museum. Parking is free in Seattle on Sundays and we already have a membership to the museum, so we figured it was a great place to go on a soggy winter day. The new Alice in Wonderland exhibit recently opened and we thought we would check it out.

We had never been to the Children's Museum on a Sunday...and never will we EVER again. It was incredibly crowded. In the sea of parents and children, I really needed our kiddos to be dressed in neon orange vests with flashing lights. Keeping track of them in such a crowd proved to be nearly impossible.

I thought my husband was watching Jackson and Harrison while I tried to keep Kennedy and Michael in view. He thought I had Jack...and you can imagine what happened next. It was a mad scramble to find our son. Luckily we was wearing a bright orange sweater, so my eyes knew what to look for. It was such a relief (and frustration) to find him in a totally different exhibit, playing with one of the displays; completely oblivious to his parents' concerns.

We spent the remainder of our time in the story room~ away from the noise and crowds. Kennedy read a silly book of poetry to Daddy while the boys worked on puzzles and played (relitively) quietly.

After leaving the museum, we had a nice drive along Alki beach. The tide was in and the waves were crashing against the bulkhead. It was beautiful and made me long for summer to come. Picnicking and playing at the beach, drinking bubble tea, and visiting my grandparents are some of my favorite things to do at Alki.

Anyway, despite the brief panic over the misplacement of our eldest son, we had a great time together as a family. It was a full day and a nice way to spend Daddy's only day off this week.

The Winter at Valley Forge

As mentioned before, the co-op that we are a part of has been studying the 18th century. Last week the students were able to experience a little of what Valley Forge was like for General George Washington and his men during the winter of 1777-1778.The students were encouraged to dress for the time period. Here Captain Kennedy is pictured with her friend, Brooke (Molly Pitcher?).

Several stations were set up for the new recruits to visit to help them truly experience Valley Forge. Here the students learned that many of the soldiers did not have shoes to wear. It was a harsh winter and they had to walk through the snow with bare, and often bloody feet. Thankfully none of these soldiers' hands and feet turned black from frostbite like those in the Continental Army!

Only a slim few were seemingly unaffected by the harsh winter.

After walking through the snow, they wrapped their feet in bandages, and headed off to the next station.
They learned about the scarcity of food and even got a taste of what stick and leaf soup might have been like.

I wish I had zoomed back a bit. Here they are around the camp fire and there is a boot in one of the cast iron kettles.


How many steps were there to load a musket? Here the students learned what had to be done before a shot could be fired.

Watch the clip to view the soldiers in training.

I am amazed at the way in which these ladies use their talents to bless the children. I know that the students will not soon forget Valley Forge and what the brave soldiers faced as they fought for liberty and freedom from Great Britian.

Okay, this last little clip is not from the Valley Forge experience. Later in the day the younger students made drums and marched to the beat of Yankee Doodle.

Did you know that the song was originally sung by the British soldiers to make fun of the Colonists? But the Americans liked the song. By the end of the war, they were singing it, too. After the final battle at Yorktown, Virginia, when the British were defeated, the American soldiers sang Yankee Doodle when they made the British Soldiers march past them and give up their guns.

I'm just very sorry that I was trying to sing along with the drummers as I recorded this clip. Unfortunately, you hear more of my tone-deaf notes than the sweet sounds from the children.

Happy Birthday

Yesterday my dear friend, Jaymsie, had a birthday. It was fun getting together to celebrate.

Jen and Jaymie are sisters. They are both recent mommies, too. I loved having a chance to hold their little munchkins. I just regret not taking any photos of the sweet little tykes to post here.

Kennedy and June attempted a sleep-over in Kennedy's bedroom. After several books and cd's, little Junie still wasn't tired. Kennedy, however, was pooped.

Club Red

Here's a photo from a playdate this week. Each of the kiddos from our family has a friend of equal age in the other family. We miss Michael. He is away for the week. He would have evened things out.