Planting

Tom wants a garden really, really bad.  So when the announcement went out at church a few weeks back that they were going to do their Harvest for the Hungry garden again, Tom made sure our calendar was clear.  It was a fun to share in this experience with our girls.  I’m sure they won’t be as excited when we have to go and pull weeds, but it’s all worth it in the end.

Gloves were a must for this girl.Such a poser.  I think she was as excited as her daddy.  She got to play in dirt all morning and NOT get in trouble.  :)We planted 4 different types of lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots and potatoes.Happy Boy!Her and I feel the same way about dirt. Yuck.Planting potatoes.  Who knew that all you needed to grow potatoes was an old sprouting potato…certainly not this girl.  I felt a little silly, but hey I’ve never done this before. :)I let the girls go play with the other kids after they had helped out. I laughed when after I took my girls over to where they were playing, not 5 minutes later they were all headed back. 

I’m sure I’ll be posting more pictures as the garden grows. :)

Field Trip

Last week Hannah’s class went to The Farm at Swan’s Trail it was their first field trip.  The weather was perfect and most of the kids had a great time.  Tom was able to get Friday off and he went along as a chaperone.  It was a fun afternoon with Hannah and her class!

The first exciting moment…the second bus got stuck.  :)  It was a new bus too.  The kids all got to plant a pumpkin seed.  First they had to rub a little “love” on it.  and then they got to plant it in the ground, but not too deep.  :)  We’re hoping that we can find Hannah’s pumpkin when we go back in October.Then they all got to plant a marigold to take home.They got to tour the petting zoo…Aww…another aww…Tom loved the farmers dog, and the dog loved Tom back.  This was their special moment.Can’t wait to go back this fall and get apples from this tree!

The kids got to play with chalk for a bit.  The owners were nice and put out these “learn to draw” cards.  They all had fun learning to draw the farm animals.The class minus a few.  Love this class!It was a great end to a long week.  Only down side was that we all pretty much went home with sunburns.  :)  The first sunny day will do that to us Western Washingtonians.  ;)

Going out of order here…

but this was just too exciting not to share.

On our way to the Ocean yesterday, Hannah let us know that she was not impressed with the fact that we brought her bike and that we’d left the training wheels at home.  She made a bet with her Daddy that if she found the first deer then she wouldn’t have to ride her bike the entire time we were here.  She found the first deer, but we made her get on her bike and holy cow. I rode next to her and Tom ran beside her.  He ran until he couldn’t keep up. She just took off!  :) At first she wasn’t smiling but once we made it to our destination (the other house) she was full of smiles.  We even did the “you did it” dance, which is very similar to the “I skunked you” cribbage dance. :) We rode until it was time for dinner and then again as soon as I put my fork down we were out again.  I can’t even begin to tell you how proud her Daddy is of her.  He was beaming!

Here’s a link to the other house, in case anyone is interested in a second home in Ocean Shores. :)  House on Storm King

Two Wheels

Someone’s learning…

Hannah is very proud (and so are we) that she’s finally getting the balance for riding without training wheels.  I have to laugh because all the video clips have her doing pretty good until Tom says “watch out for..” and then she totally runs right into whatever he’s just warned her about..  She’s like a magnet.  She makes me laugh, but we are SO proud of her for getting over her two wheel fear.

DinoStars!

Hannah had her music concert last week and the girl could hardly contain herself.  The first graders and the all day kindergarten class put on quite a show!  She was so excited, up on a stage, in front of a crowd doing what she loves…singing!  I had to laugh when we got in the car to head to the high school, I looked in the backseat and she said to me “Mom, I don’t feel so well”.  :) 

I won’t make you sit through all the videos, but here are a few for your viewing pleasure.  My feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t watch them. :)

DinoStars

The Raptors Rap - I love how her nervous hair tuck is evident in this one, and it wasn’t even the first song.  :)

I do apologize for the shaky videos.  Next year, I’ll crack out the tripod.  :)

Mother’s Day

Quick Mother’s day recap…Tom and the girls started my morning off nice…coffee, flowers and a gigantic balloon, then they made me waffles with strawberries…we went to church, went to Monroe for “lunner”, came home and crashed! It was a great day!

Tom’s sous chef…Love this girl.  She carefully placed a strawberry in each square and then proceeded to not eat the waffle but to pick out the strawberries.  Trouble!Love these girls even though they have filled my head with more grey hair than one 34 year old should have.Emmie has a new friend.  Her name is Sally.  These two were wild!Lisa made a necklace like this for my mom for Christmas.  It was all I could do to not take it from my mom.  I love this picture of Grammy Na!  I was beyond happy when I opened one of my own.  Thank you Lisa!  Susie had to leave before we got around to taking pictures…

It was a wonderful day filled with with lots love, food and laughs.  A great combination if you ask me.  :)

Mother’s Day Tea

It was a last minute decision that I’m so glad we made.  It didn’t look like we would be able to make it up to the Mother’s day tea up at Grammy Jo’s place, but Tom’s schedule changed and we were able to get the car from him.  I pulled Hannah out of school early and up to Arlington we went.

Dad, Grammy Jo and Aunt Roberta –  Somehow my camera missed out on the other group pictures that were taken….Emmie was loving the accordion music.Heather, Aunt Joanne and Ethan.  This little guy cracks me up.  He definitely knows how to keep Emmie on her toes.  He may or may not have taken a little bite out of Emmie on a recent visit, but that doesn’t stop her from loving him.  The last two times we’ve seen him she’s insisted on us keeping him.  I don’t really blame her, he’s pretty darn cute!!Heather and Grammy Jo – love this picture!Emmie wasn’t sure she wanted her picture taken but she decided she would as long as I took a picture of her friend…  Love this one as well…too bad I caught Grammy in a blink.Emmie’s friend…The girls proudly showed Grammy Jo their accomplishment…the Bielser lip trick.  :)

It was a nice afternoon and I’m so glad we went.

Easter

This was our first Easter in Spokane since before we had Hannah.  I think this picture was our last Easter in Spokane…in 2003.  Oh my word.  :)

So, it was a little strange not being at home for a holiday but it was still fun.  The Easter bunny still found us, thanks to a note from Hannah and we still had a great day.  The girls got up and hunted for their baskets and Emmie had more than her fair share of Peeps.  Tom fixed brunch and we could have fed a small army.  Kellie, Mark and their kids were the only ones that came for brunch.  I think Tom thought that the whole family was coming but oh well. We quickly ate and then headed out for Easter service.  We couldn’t have ordered nicer weather. Such a beautiful morning!I’m in love with these shoes.  I wish they came in my size.  We played with chalk outside while we waited for the rest of the gang to arrive.The boys…Jakob, Parker, Brady, Logan and Little Kenny.Nana’s sidewalk was nicely decorated.  So festive and cute.The big hunt of 2011… 450 eggs were hidden AND all were found!Some of the bigger boys were picking up the eggs, taking the goodies and then tossing the empties on the ground for the little ones.  Jakob quickly picked up on this and was very selective on which eggs he put in his bag.  Can’t say I blame him.  Darn bigger boys.  :)As sassy as ever!Katie, Kendra, Nana and Diane (Nana’s friend) watching the fun.I know I’ve said this a thousand times, but seriously he is THE cutest thing!Alex is at such a fun age right now.And then there is Rich….playing Jakob’s DS.  :)Hannah showing off her loot!Kolten and Alex.  So sweet together!Emmie really wanted her nails painted, so badly that she even let Uncle Lenny paint them.  :)

I’ll leave with a picture of the whole gang and then one of my new all time favorite pictures.  I have yet to look at it without laughing!

Seriously love this family!!!  Peace out!