Spinners

Here's the other side of Amy's spinner.  I have been trying to update this thing for weeks, I promise, but I couldn't get the pictures to upload.  Looks like it works when I just do one at a time.  I'll try some more.

Project

The kids are on Spring break and have been reluctant to go outside.  I tried to help them make these spinning things.  It was fun, but was over too soon.  They couldn't spin them fast enough for the camera to catch both pictures, but it does work.  I guess it was really for me, I've been wanting to try one for a while.

Elli's Sick Day

I thought we might be able to make it through the season with no one getting sick.  Elli woke up one Sunday morning and said she didn't feel well.  I tried to bribe her and told her she could wear her new skirt if she went to church.  She got dressed and then threw up.  I thought she was tricking, but I guess not.  Riley had to be at church, so I got to stay home too.  Luckily it only lasted one day and she was back to school on Monday.  

The Letter A

This is the day we talked about the letter A.  The plan is to make a book of the whole alphabet with Amy holding things for each letter.  "A" is as far as we have gotten.  At least she doesn't write it upside down anymore!  

Cookie Time

I kind of started doing a little homeschool with Amy.  Here we are doing a little activity.  I guess I feel bad that she isn't going to real preschool, so anything we do during the day where she has fun, I call it preschool.  Yea!  She has a whole year plus until she starts kindergarden. 

Dance

Amy decided to switch from gymnastics to dance.  Here she is the week before class.  She was so excited to start that she would stand in front of the fireplace where she could see herself and do her best moves.  She gets to do tap and ballet and I think she likes it.

Hu!?

Hi, it has been a while, hasn't it Jessica.  I finally got the pictures off my camera and now they won't upload.  I've been waiting an hour.  So... I guess I'll try again later.  We are going to retro movie night on base tonight.  They are showing Mary Poppins.  We have 3 weeks of trying to figure out fun things to do and the movie is free, so we're going!  The kids have a big break from school and are already bored.  Hmm.  Wish the pictures would work, but those are the breaks.   Check back later.  Sorry.

Amy Just Turned Four!

Every birthday we measure the kids on the board. Amy grew about 3.5 inches since last year! She still seems little though.

She blew out all the candles. She kept saying that it wasn't her real birthday because all the people weren't here. With all the excitement of Riley coming home, I didn't plan a party yet. Maybe this weekend? That just means more cake and ice cream for us, right?

Sunday Walk

We went for a little walk in the woods on Sunday. The kids didn't want to go, but once we got out and about, they all had fun.

Colonial Games

This Saturday, Tryon Palace had a free day. It is the home of the Governor of North Carolina in the late 1700's. They had old games and activities for the kids and tours of the house. It was pretty cool and a good day to get outside.

Finally! He's Here!

This is the bus he came in on. There were two of them and they were honking as they turned the corner. It felt like we were waiting forever.

Riley looked right at us and didn't see us, so Adam had to chase him down.

It was so good to see him, but we were ready to get home and warm. It was about 3:30 by time we got home. Riley is still a little off with his sleep, but we're slowly getting used to having him here. The kids follow him everywhere and want to climb and wrestle and play. He looks pretty good, hu! (elli's picture was blurry and didn't work out)

Getting Ready for Dad

This is the sign we made for Riley. There's a long fence along the road where everyone hangs up their welcome banners. Too bad it fell off before Riley could see it. I think the fabric ripped in the corners from the wind.

I woke up the kids about 1 o'clock in the morning. Here we are waiting for the buses. It was cold and Elli and I were getting pretty grumpy.

Sunday

The Primary President took these pictures a few Sundays ago for the Primary bulletin board. They turned out really well, so she sent them to me. Good thing I did their hair that day!

Who's Kids Are These?

I couldn't believe it when I saw it either! Good thing I have proof! They CAN be nice!

It's just me and Amy again since Adam and Elli went back to school. She plays and watches her show. We shop and visit friends. So nice.

Aquarium with Grandma

My mom came to visit for Christmas and one of the things we did was go to the Aquarium. Getting her to get in a picture is like pulling teeth, but she agreed to this one. Amy was CRANKY and wouldn't cooperate. She ran away. We had such a nice time having my mom here. I forgot how lonely it is until she left.

Cookies for Santa

Amy got to get the plate ready. We gave him two cookies and some milk.

Adam got to pour the milk.

Amy decided the milk looked good. Elli was off singing and forgot to speak up that she wanted to help. Oops.

Gingerbread House

The kids have been so excited to make this house. Now that it's done they just want to eat it.

They all did a really good job decorating. There were only a few little disagreements about where the candy should go or who was eating too much of it. It was pretty fun.

Elli's face is so funny to me! Some of you will get this one in your Christmas card.

Decorate the Tree

Here's our little tree again. It's been a good tree. Amy was the only one who would act natural, so she's the only one I would take a picture of.

Pet?

One afternoon Adam spotted a lizard in a corner of our family room. It quickly became a situation. I called my mom and Steve said they are harmless and promised it wouldn't bite our toes or come after us. I told the kids it would eat the bugs that got in. We were almost ready to consider it a pet and let it be. We thought maybe it had been around for a while and we just didn't know it. But later that night, we changed our minds as it started it's way toward the bedrooms. Luckily we caught it on the wall in the biggest tupperware we have. It really was cute and Amy wanted to be the one to let it go outside. I used to be brave like that. She's the one we call when we find a bug in the house.

Park

Luckily we've had some pretty warm days so we can play outside a little.

Adam likes to jump out of the swing and see how far he can go. He just can't swing very long or he gets sick.