A Dollar Store Quest

When you have three kids and no car during the day, any outing is quite an ordeal. But we can't just stay home all the time! Especially when the weather is as gorgeous as it has been the last few days. 

Today, Sarah and James each took a dollar from their piggy banks (OK, so I took two from James' bank because Sarah didn't quite have a dollar in hers...shh! Don't tell him!), and we walked to the dollar store.

They loved being able to pick whatever they wanted and then they especially loved paying for their choices all by themselves.

I'd say it was a successful quest.

James is getting better at walking longer distances. This one was 1.4 miles round trip, not including walking the aisles at the store. And he only traded places with Sarah in the stroller for a couple minutes on the way back. Hooray for getting outside!

Paul Faces His Fear

Until last week, Paul had never been to an eye doctor. Having had perfect vision his whole life, he never needed to. After much urging and encouraging from me and Natalie, Paul finally reluctantly agreed to let Natalie take a look.

And guess what? It wasn't bad at all! Natalie is a great doctor, and Paul still has 20/20 vision!

I can't believe Natalie's third year of Optometry School is coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday she was getting settled in and starting out. We have loved having her nearby. I knew from the beginning it was only temporary, but now that the end has come...well, I don't want to think about it!

Oh, to have the confidence of a two year old!

The other day Sarah came running up to me bursting with excitement.

Sarah: "Mommy! Mommy! I figured it out!"

Me: (After taking a moment to realize what she was talking about) "Your headband?"

Sarah: "YES! I put it on and I looked in the mirror and it looked good!!"

It sure does, Sarah. :)

(Thank you to Diana for the adorable headband. Sarah absolutely loves it!)

We should change the title of the blog to "My Kids' Artwork"

I can't help it. I'm a proud mom. It also doesn't help that every time I resolve to wait a while before posting another picture of artwork, James draws something ridiculously awesome. 

Yesterday in church, James had Angry Birds on his mind. He said, "Hey mom, wouldn't it be cool if I could have an Angry Birds coloring book?" I said, "Yep, but you know, you could just draw some Angry Birds." "Oh, I couldn't do that unless I looked at a picture." So then his Aunty Diana came to the rescue with her iPhone and looked up some pictures for him to look at.

Are you all ready for this?

First was the basic red one:

Then, he drew the black one:

And then the yellow one:

And finally, the best one of all...the pig:

I mean, seriously. I just have no words.

I sure love this creative and talented little boy!

A Colorado Wedding

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend a quick weekend in Colorado with my parents and attend the wedding of a good friend from high school.

I was sad that it had to be such a short trip, but so happy that I got to go! Sam was a great travel buddy. My parents were wonderful hosts (as always!). And the wedding was beautiful!

I'm so terrible at picture taking (I didn't even take my camera out of my backpack), but my dad took some great pictures on his phone:

The wedding was at Red Rocks, and the whole thing was gorgeous and a lot of fun. Thank you to Cat and her family for having us!

In spite of it being such a short trip, we did squeeze in an amazing breakfast of my dad's should-be-world-famous waffles before I had to head to the airport. Thanks to some high winds in Denver, my flight was two hours delayed, but Sam was a trooper, and we eventually made it home in one piece.

Meanwhile, back in Oregon, Sarah and James had a blast with their Daddy. He took them to Krispy Kreme for breakfast on Saturday and then to a Little League baseball game.

On Sunday, I came home to a clean house (thanks to Paul!) and a tasty home cooked dinner (thanks to Natalie!). It was a nice welcome after spending too long at the airport.

It should be noted that the weather in Colorado over the weekend was wonderful, and that by Monday afternoon (after I left) it looked like this:

Silly, Colorado!

Sam Laughs!

It's hard to get a good video of a baby laughing. Either they stop as soon as they see the camera, or you can't keep up whatever shenanigans you were having to perform to make the baby laugh while simultaneously manning the camera. Yesterday afternoon, I enlisted the help of my little five year old camera man to capture this wonderful clip:

Ah, there's not much better in this world than baby laughs! They are a good reminder that we can still be happy even when terrible things happen in the world.

Cookie Monster

...according to James.

I've probably been posting too many pictures of my kids' artwork lately, but I couldn't pass this one up.

Things I love about this picture:
1. Both Sarah and James decide for themselves when something merits being put on the fridge and then put it there.
2. James figured out all on his own that he couldn't really cut out the middle of something without cutting through the side of it, so he goes ahead and cuts it and then tapes over the opening he made.
3. Those eyes.
4. The fingers and stubby little legs.
5. That joyfully huge grin!