flowers flowers

The Dallas Arboretum hosts their Dallas Blooms event every March. The whole botanical garden is decked out in tulips and the "springiest" of flowers. My sister, Wendy, and I gathered our cuties and headed out to enjoy the flowers. She has a 6 y/o and 4 y/o twins - all girls. Then we had our two boys and miss ma'am. It was a gorgeous day and everyone slipped on a fresh, shiny, good mood for this outing! Praise the Lord! I put B' and J' in the stroller and let N' try walking for an entire outing for the first time. He did a really great job on foot - what a big boy! We had a fabulous time.


This year's theme is "Storybook Houses." Different design firms in the city volunteered to create a concept house based on a child's story book. They are constructed throughout the grounds. Our kiddos haven't read or heard some of the stories they had houses for, but they still had a blast in each structure. N's favorite was the Peter Pan House which was a full-out pirate ship with masts and everything. We haven't let them see or read Peter Pan, but he was thrilled about "driving" the ship!




J' loved the Alice in Wonderland House the best. We haven't read or seen that one either, but she was intrigued because it had several doorways in various sizes. We spent a WHILE at that house, letting the kids try out all the different doorways. B' mostly enjoyed the grass :0)




Naturally, we all loved the flowers best. We saw several varieties of spring-blooming flowers, countless colors, and even met a couple of friendly lady bugs and a leaf crawler :0)




(If you want to see any of the pics larger, just click on them and you'll get a full screen view!)

playtime

Here are some pics of our little arrows at play! I never do seem to manage a really good shot of all three of them together, but here are a few good attempts! :0)

N. and J. love playing in the tent in the living room. It was sunny but cold outside that day, so the closest they could get to a run in the sun was to open the blinds nice and wide and bring out the play-tent for some extra fun. B. was on the floor, just in front of their feet, but he wouldn't cooperate for the shot (kept turning his bottom toward the camera to watch "the bigs" say "cheese").




Here we are outside on a warmer day in February. We had just come in from church and the kiddos were playing in the backyard while I finished getting some lunch together. They like the "crunchy" winter grass just as much as the soft summer grass... mostly because it flies through the air so well! :0) B. likes to eat it.

B. has three teeth already and a fourth one coming in now. That's a blessing for him since he is all about eating!
Grass, paper, leaves, crayons, anything he can get his hands on when I'm not looking will be happily munched until mommy comes along to do the finger swipe and take it away :0) Oh - food too! J. loves to give him things from her plate, so we have to keep a close eye when they're eating, lest she share something that he can't handle just yet. She frequently reports that, "Benjamin wants some too."


Ah sweet Judah! What a cutie she is! I love this super loud outfit! In the summer, we'll roll those pant legs into capris and wear a tee under the pinafore-style top. :0) J. is ALL personality with really great diction and enunciation! Yesterday she said "No, I don't want that one either." Who knew she could use the word "either?" YAY little miss ma'am!

This is mommy and Judah on her 2nd b-day. I made a blueberry muffin cake (muffin recipe baked in a loaf pan) and we sang happy birthday over lunch at home. It was a sweet time; just the 5 of us. I put this pic in here for those who say they never get to see me when I email photos - I'm usually doing all the picture snapping!

oatmeal and chicken???

Normally, PT gets up with the kids, gets them to the table and makes their breakfast while I finish my ever- interrupted attempt at a full night's sleep. But today's schedule was a little different and I made their breakfast - our usual fare - oatmeal "seasoned" with a little Brown Cow Yogurt! Super yummy. Now, we had lime and herb baked chicken last night and much to my surprise, N. was very aware that there were leftovers. So, he asked if we could have chicken with our oatmeal and proceeded to take the leftover chicken out of the fridge and set it on the table for me.

I started to explain that we don't eat baked chicken for breakfast, but stopped when I couldn't think of a compelling reason why not. So, N. and J. clapped their hands as I pulled out two saucers, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, and served baked chicken along with bowls of oatmeal for breakfast today! Are we rule breakers or what!??? :0) hee hee!

(No, the chicken isn't in the picture...this is actually a pic from a couple of months ago, but it was so cute and she is eating oatmeal. Besides, it went with today's story!)

getting started

Call me a "joiner" if you will, but it's a great idea so I'm joining the ranks of bloggers out there. We have lots of out-of-town family who would be blessed by hearing regular updates and seeing some of the zillion pictures we snap of the kids. I don't know how well it will work for me, but my goal is just to update at least weekly so that everyone can watch our little wonders grow!

So what's the latest funny around here? The cicadas have started chirping. Not surprising for spring in Texas, but they are especially LOUD this year. They are soooo loud that N. and J. keep asking us at twilight, "what's that sound?" I explained and explained about the cicadas making sounds like crickets, but N. wasn't satisfied 'til I told him that cicadas love to get together and go out at night; so when the sun starts going down they start making their plans for the evening. I know, totally made up... but he went for it and now he's satisfied that the incredibly shrill din they're making is all about dinner and party plans for the evening - cicada style!