Playmobil addition

So, I've been holding onto this story for a while, because I've worried that it might be sacrilegious, but I think I'm going to go ahead and record it anyway.
I have a stash of Playmobil toys that I keep on a high shelf to be pulled out occasionally during quiet time. Emily loves to play with them, especially the nativity set. One day she was playing so happily, but then became unhappy that Jesus was only a baby so couldn't do anything.

Here is the solution that she came up with:

This is grown up Jesus - a permanent addition to our Playmobil set. I personally like the goatee... and the tuft of hair right on top... and the big foot hairiness... ah, who am I kidding. He's a great character all around, isn't he? She even made a little stand for Him (should that be capitalized?). Go ahead and zoom in so you can appreciate all the fine detail. Everything down to the green eyes was purposeful.

I do love my little artist.

Singing Time

For the past several months, I've lead singing time in primary. It's a lot more work than leading the congregation's choir used to be. Maybe I would have had better choir attendance if I had stood on my head once in a while, but coasting along is not an option with the kids. Despite the increased workload, I've had a lot of fun with it. One of my favorite times was when we filled cups with different amounts of water and played the songs with spoons. I had to use our largest glass completely empty and smallest baby food jar completely full to get the range I wanted, but it was pretty cool.

There are tons of singing time idea blogs out there. I use their ideas all the time and I'm incredibly grateful for them. I don't intend to turn our blog into another one, but I thought it'd be fun to share from time to time.

We're learning Jesus Once was a Little Child this month. The kids had the first verse down pretty well, but needed some help on the second.  I wrote it on the white board I got at Saver's for a buck.  I used different colors because my intent was to have them draw Uno cards and we'd erase the words in corresponding colors.  At the last minute, however, I decided to use the Nerf guns my sister got us for Christmas.  It was awesome.  My diligent and reverent singers got a chance to take a few shots at the whiteboard from behind the line of chairs.  We erased the words that got hit.  The boys have never sung so well.  They were on the edge of their seats quivering with musical intensity.   I think it went along with the theme of "playing as little children play, the innocent games of youth."

We have a pretty small senior primary; so we can do some creative things and still stay under control.  I looked through the handbook and I didn't see anything that said I couldn't use guns in primary... But it did just so happen that the stake primary sent representatives today.  They didn't jump up to congratulate me on my innovation; still, it got the boys to sing. 

We also used the April Showers theme that has been passed around the LDS singing time blogosphere to pick additional songs to sing.  Rather than put songs on paper raindrops, I just stuffed them into Easter eggs.  We've got bunches of those.  They sort of look like raindrops if you squint.

Of course it's hilarious to nest one egg six layers deep.  At least I think it's funny.  The kids chuckle politely.  That wacky Brother Cooper.  They're good kids.

Passe

I know nothing of ballet, but the teacher says this stance is called a passe. Aren't they cute, all dressed in pink? Em might need to add a little formality to her stance, but she's working on it!

Picture heavy

We were excited to dye eggs with the kids this year.

Caleb was excited too.

Emily loves anything creative.

Elinor only dropped one. Out of one.

 We headed to San Antonio to visit Jared and Sue right after Emily's ballet class.

The kids had fun with the little Easter egg hunt Jared and Sue set up.

Joseph was thrilled to give Caleb a Frankenstein egg basket.
What better way to celebrate resurrection?

Elinor was sort of sick and drugged up.

Easter morning brought all kinds of surprises for the kids.

Elinor was (and is) still fighting off her sickness, but she liked her new doll.

I love Emily's face here as she realizes the bike is red and not blue.

Blue means Caleb's and red means new bike!

We are generally not so extravagant as to give bikes for Easter, but we had been holding on to this red bike for a while and Easter seemed like a good occasion to give it to her. Plus she was really good about going without while Caleb owned a bike.

Those three kids and their loot.

Caleb's new shoes. He wears shoes about 10% of the time he's outside, but when he's shod, he looks good.

Joseph and the kids worked on finishing the eggs up on Sunday morning.

I have to say, I love the little hats.

And I love the little hands.

Happy Easter!

Blue Bonnets

So, I just don't normally post twice in a night, but I thought that last announcement deserved its own space. I am so happy with the symmetry of our family. I can't help but wonder, will this next boy be dark like the girls or light like Caleb? Or will he really surprise us and be a girl? I suppose I'll have to wait, but I wish I knew right now!

Moving on, a friend of ours, who is a great photographer (took Caleb's awesome profile picture), took us out to a nearby patch of bluebonnets the other day and we were able to sit for some pictures. I was excited about this because it is probably (hopefully) our last spring here in Austin and the bluebonnet pictures will be such a fun reminder of our time in Texas. Elinor is sort of a serious baby, so she was hard to catch smiling, but we do have a few gems in with the lot. I am so excited to share these pictures! I really like them.

Love this.

A little awkward, but really captures the essence of our family right now.
We'll worry about getting good family pictures when the kids are older.

Love.

Those boys.

Probably my favorite picture of Caleb. Ever.

A morning well spent. Katie was so fun and efficient and even brought treats for the kids. We love her!

It's a...

BOY!!!!

we are so excited for more of this...

and this...

No, really, we are.
We couldn't be happier!

Nursery

Today was Elinor's first day of nursery and she did great!!!* It helps that we have awesome nursery leaders who even recruited an extra person just for Elinor today.
I can't even believe I get 4-1/2 more months of this before the next baby! (usually it's a week)

*minus minor mishap involving poopiness in a cloth diaper while Joseph was in the middle of singing time and I was teaching.

SuperDad

going and going

Today was an adventure!
The first thing I did was sew a patch onto Emily's well-worn pants.

 
Next we headed out to a lovely patch of bluebonnets where a friend took some family pictures for us. I am so excited to see them and kind of sad we didn't take any candid shots on our own camera. I guess that's a future post.
After bluebonnets we rewarded the kids with a trip to a local candy store, Big Top Candy Shop. It is a funky local shop, so it was really fun to look through.

Sorry the picture is so blurry - I could not get Emily to hold still and I didn't even try with Caleb.

The kids each got to choose a piece of candy. Emily chose a Strawberry Shortcake monstrosity of a marshmallow-pop, Caleb chose a battery-operated boxing glove candy contraption, and Elinor chose a Tootsie Pop. It was comically difficult to get Caleb to open his eyes and choose an unusual candy. When we told them they could each choose something, he picked up a single Tootsie Roll and announced that that was what he wanted. It would have been a lot cheaper!

After the candy shop we wandered along South Congress for a while and it was a lot of fun. Joseph and the kids made friends with the firefighters and got a brief tour of the truck and station while I slipped into a yarn shop. Hill Country Weavers was amazing! Every wall covered in shelves, stuffed full of yarn. I am absolutely returning in a week or two when I start my next knitting project.
We walked past at least a dozen food trailers and some really fun flea-market type stands. It was a fun morning to have Joseph with us for.

After returning home for lunch, I made some bread,

 some dishwasher soap, and some laundry soap.
With all the bread and soap making and the patch sewing going on today, I felt like quite the frontierswoman.

 By this point the kids were about ready to die so we headed outside for some fun.

Emily and Caleb have been working on a giant hole for a little while, and today they decided to fill it with water from a nearby leaky spigot. A bunch of the neighborhood kids decided it was a worthwhile project and joined them. It was pretty funny to see a line of children carrying buckets, cups, and shovels full of water across the playground. Then they all took some time to cool their feet. I love the muddy handprints on the stucco that will probably be there all summer.

We had some filthy kids on our hands!

I had to hose them off before allowing them back inside.

It has been lovely weather lately and we are grateful.

Projects

I think I am in love with Oliver + S. I just made their playdate dress and it was such an enjoyable experience! Great directions, and it came together so nicely. Next time I will use a plainer fabric so the little details are more noticeable.

I couldn't decide which picture to use so I added all three. Isn't Austin looking nice and green? We've been getting a lot of rain lately. I love the first picture where El is crouching because I was. She's such a fun little girl! This is the Nancy Mims fabric that I used on my friend's baby pants. I was motivated to make this dress because I wanted something made out of that fabric too! It fits great and will get a lot of use.

I also made this pirate bag today.

It is so Caleb-esque it makes me smile. He chose that fabric at Jo-Ann's a while ago and chose it again yesterday when I asked what he wanted on his bag.

 

 It looks especially manly next to Emily's girly bag.

This is definitely a scraps project - made from a pair of Caleb's old pants, my old jeans for the strap, and leftover interfacing from Emily's bag. I've gotta remember to make that strap longer next time.
Tutorial found here.

Finally, here's a project I finished last year, just in time for Christmas.

Caleb's long overdue baby quilt! I love the bright colors and textures in this one. The stars are fuzzy or shiny, the sails have batting underneath, and the flags are 3-d. I hand quilted it and was happy with how that turned out, but I wish I could have had a little more time to quilt it more densely. I wanted it wrapped up for Christmas though. I suppose I could add to it later but I know I probably won't.
 

 Caleb approves of the backing. Pirates are one of his favorite things right now, so he calls this his pirate blanket and sleeps with it every night.
So, Emily's is done (remember this?) and Caleb's is done. I wonder if I can start Elinor's before baby #4 joins us?