The rest of our Easter

On our way to church this morning, Hank posed with his new mini Toy Story toys that he "won" :) for sitting for photos with his sisters.  Thanks Pearce and Luke! 

Hank with Jessie.  Very glad to have a Jessie.  We had a larger Jessie a couple of months ago but her head came off and ever since then he has asked if he could get a new one and not take her head off.

 (As a side note, I can't remember the last time I got to sit up front when we all went somewhere together including Brett.  Hank asks me to sit next to him every time.  Brett gets to shuttle all of us around in the minivan!!)

The girls participated in their first egg hunt ever!  Pretty amusing for Brett and me.  The girls walked all of three feet.  They just squatted and started eating all of the goldfish that had fallen out of random eggs all over the ground. It was kind of gross but I didn't really want to stop them and have them get all upset.  They both looooove goldfish.  They do not get them very often, usually only in their class at church or if they bum some off of our friends, so when they see them they lose their pretty little heads and gobble them up.

 

Ruby enjoying her single egg haul.

 
Ruby and Charlotte getting down to business.  It's all about eating the loot ASAP.

Charlotte trying to pick out the few goldfish that she actually picked up off the ground and put into the bag.

Hank lined up for the preschool set's egg hunt.  He surprised me.  I thought he'd be gung ho and start scooping up eggs right away.  Instead he ran with a few other kids all the way to the end of the egg hunt area and started working the back first.  He was also very selective.  He only got four or five eggs even though the limit was higher than that.  He was shaking them before putting them in his bag and really only wanted ones with candy.  Stickers weren't going to do it for him I guess.  He did a little hunt at preschool on Friday so I think he was expecting to find big ones like he found on Friday.  I pretty much had to convince him to pick up the ones he even did pick up.  I really was so surprised.  I guess he wants what he wants!

Comparing loot with Ruby.  She didn't have anything in her bag and she was so interested in looking in his bag.  (Oh our kids used bags because I forgot their baskets at home.  They weren't the only ones there with lunch sacks so I didn't feel too bad!)

While we waited to have some family pictures done (they had a photographer set up - very nice!) Hank started in on the eggs.  I loved watching him sit there and pick up each jelly bean one at a time and inspect it then eat it.  I am pretty sure he got this skill from my sister Courtney.

After we piled up some plates with pancakes and the fixings we found a little place to sit out on the lawn and start to chow down.  Hank wanted me to see that one of his eggs had goldfish and this would be good for his sissies.  Hank took one bite of his pancakes and focused solely on candy after that.

Over the last two months, Ruby has been wishy-washy on pancakes.  It has been killing me.  How can a child of mine not love the wonderful creation that is the pancake?  Today she was in favor of them and at one point decided to just take the plate right off of my lap and start tearing her own pieces of pancake to eat.  (Charlotte took pieces from me but didn't try to steal the plate.)
Then she realized she could just eat off the entire pancake and not tear pieces.

Charlotte wanted in on that big pancake action.

Girrrrrrl get off my pancake.  Ask me before you grab it.  I share everything with you!

She shared and they were both happy.

He ate every single jelly bean.  Then took off with his friends.

We've been going to the Easter breakfasts at our church for years and it is very fun to now have children that can participate and enjoy it too!  And we love to see Hank run around with all of the other little kiddos.  It's so so so much fun!
-a

Easter family picture - you know I tried it

As always, I get all crazy in the head on special occasions and think that I can actually get a picture of all three of my kids together.  It never turns out well.  A couple of them were crying by the time this was over.  Hank only sat there because he was promised  to be given "two amazing super special awesome toys that have to do with toy story" if he sat still with his sisters nicely and waited for mommy to take pictures.  Luckily we had some little toys on hand (thanks to cousins Luke and Pearce for sending them to us) that just arrived in the mail on Friday.

This is Hank smiling.  Really.  It's his latest thing.  It's kind of like a roar.  Only it's silent.  Charlotte was the first to start getting annoyed.  Ruby was actually amused for about 30 seconds then she wanted to just run all over the couch.

 
I made the girls skirts instead of dresses this year.  They reused their head bands from their first birthday and Hank reused his tie from his first birthday.  They all looked pretty stinkin' cute! 

-a

He is Risen

Hank made this at preschool on Friday.

Today we have the love of our Savior to celebrate.  He is risen indeed!  Happy Easter!

At church this morning, we sang a song that I felt was so powerful and the words were so clear.  I just have to share it here.  The song is called True Love.  I abbreviated the lyrics here to cut out the repeated verses.

Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Fathers Broken Heart
Tears were filling Heaven's Eyes
The day that True Love died

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died

Search your heart you know you can't deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

It is my prayer that all of my family and friends know of Jesus' True Love.  He is not dead.  He is risen! 


-a

Labor Day 2012

We had a picnic at a great park in Los Altos. This was the girls' first time to eat real food at a picnic. Look at them sharing food below. They were so dainty and picking little pieces of food up. They loved eating so much they hardly crawled around on the big blanket I spread out for us. Hank had tons of fun playing in the little water feature that soaks the sand area. He got soaking wet and Brett had to strip him down at the park so he could get all of the sand off of him. Luckily it was warm out and Hank didn't mind hanging out without clothes on. We wrapped up the long weekend by grilling out and taking our dinner outdoors. The kids LOVED eating on our back patio. It was a fun way to cap off the summer!

 

Ruby

 

Charlotte

 

Ruby and Charlotte - looking at this picture I can't tell them apart.  I have to look at what they were wearing and compare it to the other photos.  I think they look very different from each other but when I can't see their entire face, I have a hard time telling them apart sometimes!

 

 

Hank getting soaked and sandy

Brett taking Hank to get washed off.  Hank didn't mind that he had no clothes on.

 

 

Char.  The picture I have of Ruby is nuts.  She kept flailing around when I tried to take pics of her.  My passionate one.  :)

-a

Trick-or-treating

Practicing trick-or-treating before we head out into the neighborhood.

In action at his first house.

Pit stop to adjust his shoes and lion feet.

This is the only photo I could get of him in action tonight.  He was lightening fast.

We had so much fun trick-or-treating tonight.  We started off with Hank going to houses by himself.  We then worked our way one street over and connected up with a group that we knew and continued on with them.  Hank was the youngest of the bunch.  It was crazy.  Those grade schoolers can trick-or-treat for real!!  One of the moms looked at Brett and I and said "this will be you in a few years".

Hank kicked it into high gear with the big kids and learned very quickly how to trick-or-treat like a pro.  He was running up to every door just like them and squeezing himself in there and sticking his bag out for candy.  In general he kept his manners, took only one piece of candy and said thank you, but sometimes he would get so excited like the others and once the candy hit his bag he would take off running like a wild man.

The other parents we were with were very impressed with his speed and ability to hang with the bigger kids.  (I think he must be extremely fast for his age - all bragging aside - because many parents say that to us when they see him running and playing out at the park).  He was so fast and nimble as he ran down the sidewalks, scurried across lawns, skipped over plants, leaped over steps, and hurdled uneven terrain.  I was sure he was going to wipe out a dozen times but he again put his night vision to work and never once faltered. 

He fit right in with the big kids and it was a treat for us to watch him.  He is growing up and I have to remember he's not a baby.  It got kinda old with me telling him to "watch his step" over and over so I gave it a rest and just let him be.  Our little guy is growing up and I need to let him have at it and if he falls, he falls.  Besides, usually when he falls he doesn't want me to do anything about it anyway!  He's a very strong and tough little lion.

Funny stuff that happened tonight included:

1.  Right when Hank would get candy he would turn and declare he needed to hurry up to get to the next house.

 2.  He "roared" at people all night.

3.  When we went up to a few houses that looked creepy and spooky he would tell some of the other kids "it's not scary."  One of the dads put on a mask and tried to scare the kids and Hank went up to him and said "it's not scary."  Then he walked off.

4.  He did NOT want me to touch his candy bag when we were out.  I offered to hold it for him since it was getting really full but he said he NEEDED it.  (I made his bag using a glue gun and felt so I wasn't sure it was up to the heavy burden he was placing on it by dragging it through the bushes and slinging it in the air.  To my surprise it stood up to the abuse and even fit a remarkable amount of candy.  I grossly underestimated the amount of candy he was going to bring home.  Wow.)

When we got home he asked for some milk and a piece of candy.  He put on a little show for us:

 

 

 

He drank his milk and ate his piece of chocolate with his eyes closed.  He told us he was pretty tired.  Of course he was tired, he ran for almost two hours without stopping!!!  The only down side to tonight was that when trick-or-treating was done and Hank declared it was time to go home he said he was too tired to walk.  I carried him on my back with Ruby in the baby carrier on my front for the 10 minute walk home.  Charlotte slept soundly on Brett on the way home.  Hank is getting heavy so it was a little rough there but we made it and Ruby laughed her head off the entire time at seeing Hank's little lion head peeking at her over my shoulder. 

Another successful night out celebrating.  Despite all the action, all of our kids were in bed again by 8pm!  Tomorrow we get back to normal and bed time at 7pm.  Yay!

-a

Charlotte and Ruby the ladybugs!

Charlotte

Ruby

 Charlotte and Ruby were ladybugs for Halloween this year!  Granted, they only wore their costumes for about 10 minutes today, but that still qualifies.  Although, I am not sure why I bothered to make them costumes if I wasn't going to even put them in them!!  They wore their jammies when we went trick-or-treating with Hank.  Brett and I wore them in baby carriers so we took off their costumes when it was time to leave so they could be comfy and cozy.

 

 

I figured I might as well post another picture of Ruby losing it.  The grass was really cold and both girls DID NOT LIKE IT one bit.

-a

Hank the lion!

Hank was a lion for Halloween this year!  He has been wanting to dress up as a lion for about two months now.  Obviously he had no idea what "Halloween" meant but we told him this summer that he could wear a costume soon and asked what he wanted to be.  He said he wanted to be a lion and we asked him every couple of days since then and he never wavered.  He has also been practicing his roar for a long time as well.  He was excited to go to school so he could frighten his teacher, Miss Premala.  So funny.  

Much to my surprise, he let me take a bunch of pictures of him on our porch before we got in the van to head to preschool this morning!!  But maybe it had something to do with the candy I bribed him with.  Not sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got to preschool this morning, he wore his costume for approximately two minutes then started taking it off.  Miss Premala said he never would put it back on after I left!

 

At school, they do an art project right when they walk in the door as they wait for all of the students to arrive.  He sat right down and got to work.  He gave me a look that said I should leave so I stopped taking pictures and headed out with his sisters.

Hank was very excited about his face paint aka mom's makeup that he thought was real face paint.  The nose and whiskers made him look so cute.  He was a great little lion!

I put the girls back in the van. When I opened the back door to load in the stroller Charlotte and Ruby were just laughing and smiling at me.  Ruby even gave me a shout out with her foot.  Both girls started flashing HUGE grins behind their pacis.

Ruby

Charlotte

 -a