No too sure about this...

Little Brother: "Hey. Are you sure this is a good idea? I'm not too sure about this."

"Never mind. This is actually pretty great!"

Working...

This girl can't get enough of writing, drawing, reading, creating, coloring, etc. She takes her work very seriously.

Bouncing...

You might have noticed lately, but I love comparing these three... especially when I find nearly identical pictures. They are all about the same age - between 4-5 months old - and all seem equally as happy about the Johnny jump-up. 

Every time I look at Isaac I see a lot of Grace in him, but as he is getting fatter I'm noticing more of Claire's features. It will be fun to see what he looks like in a year from now. 

Olaf...

Claire (and Grace) loves the movie "Frozen." She has seen it twice and has every song and scene memorized. One of the songs we laugh about the most is when Olaf, the snowman, sings about summer and how much he'd love to be in summer - "doing whatever snow does in summer!" 

Last night she colored a picture of Olaf dreaming of summertime. (I'm not sure why there is an "H" before Olaf, but she did the whole project herself so I wasn't going to correct her.)

For a comparison, here's the "real" Olaf. I didn't show her this picture first, she drew her picture from memory... I'd say she did a pretty good job.

Rise and shine...

Thankful for another beautiful sunrise this morning. Thankful for Merrick making lunches and breakfast so I could have a few minutes to snuggle my baby before getting out of bed. Thankful for a stress-free morning at home. Thankful for three happy kids in the car. Thankful for a safe trip to school. Thankful for a smooth drop off. Thankful for Grace's sweet friends who greeted her at the car. Thankful for a quick chat with a friend. Thankful that my parents live close. Thankful for Daniel Tiger on Netflix. Thankful for a hot cup of black coffee. It's 8:58 am, and I've had a pretty good day.

Peek-a-boo...

Snapshots {week 3}...

Our week in random pictures.

I love the sticker on the back of this car. "0.0." Not a runner and proud of it. 

Tummy time is almost enjoyable these days. In fact, now that he can roll I often find him on his tummy by choice.

My boys - sound asleep on the couch.

She is getting big so fast, and changing so much right now. I secretly love every opportunity I get to snuggle this munchkin while she is so still and peaceful.

He grabs on to everything right now. Sweatshirt strings might just be his favorite.

Puzzles. I love puzzles. I used to be able to start and finish puzzles. Now when I start one, and spend a little time getting the outer edge put together, it ends up under a pile of homework, coloring books and markers. Needless to say, I packed this back up and didn't finish. I'll try again when I'm 70.

Sunny morning walks.

Impromptu coffee dates with friends.

And later lunch dates with the same friends.

Friday afternoons are spent at the school in a few different meetings. Claire is always a trooper when she tags along.

Nursing a baby in the warm car has some perks. He's a big fan of one-on-one mama time.

Claire is looking so much older to me lately. Please, please slow down.

First time in a real swing. He was indifferent, but the girls were thrilled.

 Another lost tooth... we are now up to four!

He loves his tongue.

My running buddy - three miles for me = a good nap for him.

 The girls love the skate park.

Claire insisted on wearing her new ski helmet on her ride today. Silly girl.

We are loving the board game library at our local toy store.

Claire got to help a very special buddy celebrate his fifth birthday today.

Grace also had a birthday party to attend tonight. Amalie turned 7 and they celebrated at Children of the Sea. Sadly I was too distracted by my friends to get any good pictures of the whole group.

Blue skies...

Today the park was calling our names... and so we went. Nothing can beat the cold, clear days of January. Sure we get more than our fair share of rain, but when the clouds part and the sun shines, Oregon just can't be beat.

Daddy, the ogre...

This is a new favorite game in our house. Merrick puts a beloved stuffed animal on the couch - this time it was the bunny, Princess Odelia - and the girls have to run to rescue her before the giant ogre attacks. As you can imagine this game fills the house with squeals and giggles (and is a great wind-down-before-bed-game).
*No stuffed animals or small children were injured in the taking of these pictures.

Cement and faces do not mix...

Last night we went for a walk. It was late (and dark) but we all needed a little fresh air. As they often do, the girls took off running for home when we turned onto our street. Claire made it to the house right before ours and then crashed and burned. She didn't get her hands out in time, and her face hit the sidewalk. It wasn't a very happy (or quiet) meeting. She was banged up, a little bloody, and pretty swollen. Being tired didn't really help the situation, but she did fall asleep quickly. 

This morning she woke up pretty sore, but seems much better. A little whiny... but that is pretty typical for her these days.

Rolling with his big girl...

Guess who started rolling today...at the doctors office no less. Grace was pretty thrilled to watch his new tricks when she got home from school this afternoon. I tried to get some video, but this kid won't perform for the camera. I'm sure I'll capture it at some point, but for now a still shot will have to do.

Cousin slumber party...

We have enjoyed having Ella with us for the day/night. She is such a sweet girl, and my girls adore her (and are WAY better behaved when she is here). I think we'll just keep her. 

We picked Ella up from church, and then started our adventure having Thai food for lunch. We let Ella pick. It was a first for her, and I think it was a hit. Well, she had seconds, so I'm guessing it was a hit. 

 We spent the afternoon at home - coloring, playing board games, and watching a little football - before we packed up and headed to home group. When we got home we made popcorn and smoothies, played some more games and watched a short movie before heading to bed.

 
No, we didn't actually make let Isaac sleep with the girls, but he snuggled in with all of them for story time.

Everyone went right to sleep - which was good because the three of them woke up super early. I'm sure we'll have tired kids tonight, but it was well worth it... and we are all looking forward to the next time Ella can come stay!

This week in history...

Sometimes when I am bored I like to google "what happened today in history?" You learn fascinating tidbits - some useful, some not. When I have time, I like to do the same with my family. Though my blog isn't always up-to-date, my pictures are. They sit on my hard drive - all 20,000 of them - in chronological order. I can't say that there is a specific day that I have taken a picture every year, but I did collect all of these pictures from a one week range. 

2005 - a day spent at Mary's Peak with Forrest and Amy. We were living in Corvallis, going to school, working a little bit, and playing Super Monkey Ball with friends into the wee hours of the morning. Life was uncomplicated and pretty easy back then.

2006 - The beginning of our last year in Corvallis. Merrick was wrapping up his time at OSU. I was teaching at Santiam Christian and working a lot. This was one of those random days that the Diefs came down to visit so we headed to a local park to entertain the kids.


2007 - We had just bought a house and were living in Lake Oswego with my parents while we waited to move in. I was pregnant with Grace, and very, very sick. We had no idea all of the fun that this year would bring.

2008 - We were now living in Hillsboro and Grace was 7 months old. Life was and it is hard for me to remember what filled our days.

2009 - This year brought another slew of babies to our little group of friends. Elijah was one of the first. Claire would be joining us later this year - though at this point we still had no idea. We traveled a lot this year as well - California three times, Texas, Hawaii and a few trips to the Seattle area. 2009 was a really great year.

2010 - So much of this year was about Claire. Many of her firsts - smiling, eating, walking, talking. Our day-to-day life was much the same as before, just with one extra person in the mix.

2011 - So, so much to be thankful for this year. This picture hardly scratches the surface of the emotional roller coaster we had been on and would continue to ride throughout the year.

2012 - So many adventures lay waiting for my little family, and a mini-snow day was just the beginning. This year would bring Hood to Coast, kindergarten, a solo trip to So Cal for me, an anniversary trip in the San Juan Islands, much time with friends, and so much to be thankful for.

2013 - Another year of growth for our family this year, and even though I was pregnant when this picture was taken, we wouldn't find out for a few more weeks. Grace would start full-day school. I tried to cut back on my time commitments. Merrick's company would be sold, but his job wouldn't change. Another good year... and Isaac's arrival was the icing on the cake.

2014 - Though I'm not sure what is coming, based on history, it's going to be good.