New Exercise Regimen

So, I picked up this quilting magazine off the free racks at the library. I might not be ready to join the ranks of serious quilters yet.
Here is my favorite article:

If you take nothing else away from this, remember, "Fabric is better than chocolate. Fabric is better than chocolate."
I might never go for another run. :)

Also, today the kids did some pretty awesome artwork. Emily picked some beautiful flowers and some leaves that looked like wings.

The older kids and I recently finished reading a book together (Ivy + Bean) and I asked them to narrate a summary and draw a picture. Emily's picture was great too, but here's Caleb's. His worms are really slimy.

Sisters

Emily's take:

July 2008

El prefers a more edgy, goth look.

June 2012

Also, we went to the Children's Day Art Park today. It had potential to be awesome, but I have to say, even arriving at 9 am, the Austin heat sort of made it hard to enjoy.

We liked what we did, but maybe we'll stay longer next time.

Family Reunion

Our excuse for visiting Utah this summer was a family reunion held at This Is the Place park in Salt Lake City. There were lots of organized games for the kids, which Emily was really into.

This was all Caleb would do.

 Oh, and the ring toss too.

But mostly this kind of brooding:

There were these cool handcarts that we liked.

Joseph would have been a good pioneer daddy.

Caleb snapped out of his funk long enough to help out little sister.

Ellie did her part too.

Some other silly pictures:

It was a perfect day to spend outside. We miss Utah grass.

Riding a Bike

So, we got Emily and Caleb these Strider balance bikes a while ago. Caleb has put in many hours, enjoying the freedom and the wind in his hair. Emily rode hers a couple of times before setting it aside and announcing that she was ready for a bike with two wheels and pedals. "I think I know how to ride it, Mom. I just need to get one."

Grandma had a couple of little bikes waiting when we went to visit. One had 12" wheels, just what Emily and Caleb have been practicing on. Emily sat down, pushed off, and rode around the house.
Huh?!

That is not to say she didn't have to concentrate. Because she did.

But she had the confidence and she really did it.

She also tells me she's pretty sure she knows how to drive a car... should we give her the chance to surprise us there too?

Caleb was a little more shaky, so stuck with the 50's trike.

It was hard work in the hot  sun.
But really, Utahans are spoiled when it comes to hot sun. The high for most of the time we were there was mid 70's to 80's. Emily did ask me a couple of times why we couldn't just stay. I had to do some soul searching before coming up with an answer to convince the both of us.


Ellie loved the push trike. Why pedal when you can ride under someone else's power (sweat)?

We always have fun at Grandma's.

Trip's beginning

Long road trips with young children are always so much more interesting than long road trips with just boring old adults. These guys sure kept us on our toes throughout the 20 hour drive to Utah. What did people ever do without portable DVD players?

Elinor's favorite game lately is to pretend to sleep in the car. She thinks it's hilarious.

Ah, those peaceful moments when all three are sleeping.
I think this might have happened once. For about 15 minutes.

Outside a Maverik in Moab. Gotta love that Utah grass.
It sure is something we miss in Austin!

Since our bad experience stranded without a hotel room with roads closing all around us due to bad conditions, we have always booked a hotel room ahead of time for this trip. Those kids love hotels! It is getting tricky to figure out sleeping accommodations for everyone in a single room though.

This is how we started the night.

Those big kids listened to our instructions to go to sleep. That little one didn't.

She ended up on a cot by herself.

We made sure to spend plenty of time outside running around, stretching our legs and enjoying the beautiful weather once we arrived in Utah.

As much as Emily loves her princesses and tea parties, there's no hiding the rugged little outdoorswoman that she really is.

Silly kids. Em was trying to cheer El up. Still at Bridal Veil Falls here.

Beautiful weather, beautiful Utah.

Today

You know when you're a mom when this is what you dump out of your purse at the end of the day:

a wallet, some fruit snacks, a Superman cape, a chapstick, BandAids and Neosporin, and ballet shoes. I am ready for anything.

Elinor might be obsessed with potato head arms lately. It is not unusual for us to see her walking around holding as many arms as she can carry. She was pretty proud of this creation:

And one more thing... I am reading this book, "Bringing Up Bebe," and it is totally engrossing! It has really made me think about a lot of things I took for granted about parenting and what I wanted for my kids. Read it!

Aquarena Adventure

I blog this while baby boy hiccups happily in my belly.
Today the kids and I drove to the Aquarena Center in San Marcos for a glass-bottom boat tour. I got the idea from the Texas Nature Challenge, and thought it looked fun. We even drove straight there, more or less.
This was the first attraction of the park: a tree. I think the kids were just excited to be out of the car.

Caleb doesn't really like trees. He just wanted to be in the picture.
.
We purchased our tickets and headed out to the boat. Here is an excited Emily:

Boarding the boat:

Can you tell by this overdocumentation that I was proud of myself for doing this without Joseph? I have to admit, I was nervous.

And finally, inside the boat.

Em spent most of her time looking through the boat floor.

Caleb spent most of his time hanging out the windows. He liked that there was no glass.

El spent most of her time sitting and being curious.

 

 Right when the kids started asking when the boat ride would be over we got back to the dock. We spent some time in the museum answering our Nature Challenge questions.

I tell Emily to smile for pictures and she says she is. To me, she does not look excited here. She is the only child that would stand still long enough for a picture though, so she gets points for that.

When we got home we filled out Emily and Caleb's Adventure journals. Emily is such a sweet, earnest girl. I love the effort she puts in to projects like these. She was distraught when she realized her turtle picture was upside-down. The green, she explained, is not scribble-scrabble; it is all of the green plants that grew under the water.

 Caleb was super grumpy when we sat down to do his. He insisted he went on the boat ride by himself and that it was snowing. He also was sure he had seen a hippopotamus and heard octopus noises.

All in all, a satisfying day. 

Summer time

It is officially summer. We are falling into a new routine having Miss Emily at home with us and learning to cope with the rising temperatures. One of the first things that happened was putting the three kids in one bedroom so we would have the other open as a playroom. And so we wouldn't have to pay to keep it cool at night.
They love it - it's a party every night - but I do feel like they are pretty well packed in there like sardines.

My sneaky middle-of-the-night picture of them sleeping.

We have been spending a lot of time at various pools and splash pads.

This pose was all Emily's idea, I promise. I love Elinor peeking out around Caleb.

We are excited for our first summer trip to Utah.

Emily has Utah pegged as a very cold place and is preparing accordingly...

and dragging the siblings in with her.

Does summer seem like a casual time to anyone else? My kids have definitely been feeling that vibe.

The traditional Living Scriptures viewing on Sunday morning.
These guys built a nest. I love Emily's scarf and ankle adornments.

Caleb's usual after-church getup. I'm sad his t-shirt is covering the half-tucked-in-edness of his white shirt.

And here are a couple of randoms.

I loved this play dough Garden of Eden Joseph and the kids put together for FHE tonight. He's definitely the creative one in our marriage!

Elinor loves her babies. Here is the whole family (minus El) gathered for a picture.

So, yeah, we've been taking it easy, but every one has been having fun.
I am working trying to step up home instruction of letters and math for the kids which has been so fulfilling for me and I think enjoyable for them. I have been surprised by how much difference a little bit of one-on-one time makes for them every day. Piano lessons have been going well. I have been learning about how vastly different Emily and Caleb are, both in development and in learning styles. I feel lucky to be able to teach them myself at this point, since a hired teacher would not understand their personalities as well or be able to coach them throughout the week. Joseph is working extra hours on conference and journal submissions, which we hope will help him get a good postdoc position after he defends. I can't believe how quickly the kids are growing and things are changing! For now, all is calm, but I expect some big changes will come to our family in the near future.