Aubrey's Spring Program

Last week Aubrey sang in her preschool spring program, and it was SO CUTE! We loved it--short, sweet, adorable, and fun. This music teacher knows preschool kids! Aubrey was more comfortable up there this time than she was for the Christmas program, but the hair flipping, the reluctant shy smiles, and lots of fidgeting showed she was still nervous. She liked the attention, though. :)

"Glasses"

"Ha-ha, this-a-way..."

"The Shark Family"

"Peanut, peanut butter, and Jelly"

 My dad videoed and helped Kari as she attempted some videography. He put together this video for us. The kids have already watched it a couple times. The tunes are catchy! Highlights:

•  "The Shark Song," especially at 5:20 with the "grandma shark" part and just after that when Aubrey's friend, Caleb, fell off the risers during "grandpa shark."
• Aubrey's smiles during "Peanut, peanut butter..." at 6:00
• "Dog Breath" at 14:00. "I wanna have DOG breath, [pant, pant]..." Hilarious!

 

Aubrey Moffat Program, April 23, 2013 from Barry Arnold on Vimeo.

A smattering of photos on the camera



 I looked out in the backyard last week and saw our neighbor-friend, Kate, and Joel (both 7 years old) just sitting and talking on the trampoline. I tried to snap a photo without them noticing, but they saw me. :) It's great to have friends right next door. Between siblings and neighborhood kids, our children are never lacking playmates.



Grant continues to fall asleep anytime (except when we want him to), anywhere when he's truly tired. He's given up naps, at least at the appropriate times, and won't fall asleep during the imposed afternoon "rest time" but a lot of days just can't quite make it until bedtime. If he sleeps, even just for 10 minutes during the day, he's up with us until 9pm or 10pm. Greg and I have been watching The West Wing on Netflix, and Grant will ask us in the evening, "You going to watch the Mommy/Daddy show?" He likes the opening music. :) We try our best to keep him awake during the day, but sometimes there's nothing we can do to avoid it.

Aubrey continues to love putting her own outfits together and comes out looking pretty crazy a lot of the time. She picked out an outfit this day that actually went together! She was excited to wear these "footless" tights she got for her birthday from Uncle Eric and Aunt Leah.

It was a preschool day, and she was very excited about her hair "crown." Although it feels like a lot of extra effort and work at times, I love dressing up my girls and doing their hair, making it pretty and making them feel pretty. We don't have time to do fancy hair every day, and it never stays long, especially on Aubrey, but it's fun when we do. Greg teases me on Sunday mornings that he's taken care of the boys' hair (put some gel in it), so how come I'm not done yet? :) There are many pluses to having boys, too. Thankful God gave us both!

Grant's first official finger-painting experience. He liked it a lot.

Christmas in March

A package came in the mail from SPAIN a couple weeks ago. Ane sent us all belated Christmas presents, wrapped in pretty paper and everything. What a fun surprise! It was so sweet of her, and we loved the letter that came along with it.


Grant singing in his microphone. He told us, "When Ane comes, I will sing to her." He was not even quite two years old when she was here, but he does remember her! When he saw me working on this post, he said, "Mommy, I love Ane." I know you do, little man, and she loves you. :)

 


Greg loving his watch and both of them working on Joel's model car. I didn't get a photo of me with my beautiful bracelet, but I love it--so pretty!

Kari working on her sketch pad

Aubrey creating with foamy craft stuff.

Ane, we all miss you and think of you often. We pray for you and look forward to seeing you again, whenever that may be. Happy 18th birthday! :) We love you!

Basketball

This was Joel's first year of YMCA basketball. Greg coached his team (and did a mighty fine job, I think), and they did well! Joel had a great time, improved his basketball skills, and enjoyed playing with his friends.















































Kari played again this year, too. It was more of a challenging season for her team. They were on the younger side of the 3rd/4th league, and only won one game, I believe.  She had a lot of fun, though, all the way up until the very last game. The season didn't end well--lots of angry, frustrated tears from Kari during that game. The team was pretty good, had some larger/older girls, and was extremely aggressive. The girl Kari was matched up with was a head taller than her and had at least 20 lbs on her. She was a big girl! Kari got so frustrated, she just snapped. She dissolved into tears, sat on the bench, and refused to go back into the game. After some prodding from her coach and words from both Greg and I, she did eventually go back in and finish the game, which was a relief, but, boy, life lessons sure can be rough! We'll see if she wants to play next year. Right now she's saying soccer is her favorite. :)

Eagle Crest

When the kids were on spring break, we spent two nights at a big house in Eagle Crest with some good friends, the Wilsons and the Millers. It was so much fun! We'd never vacationed with friends before. We decided we'll have to do it again! We walked, talked, rode bikes, played games, and just really enjoyed our friends and the time away. The kids all got along well, which was wonderful. They discovered pranks, how to pull them off and how to retaliate. We had them call a truce a couple of different times, so they could just enjoy being together without thinking about their next "move." :)

baby #4 (a niece) coming June 2nd(ish)!

On our way home from Eagle Crest, we stopped in to have lunch with Ryan and Michelle and kids at their new house in Sisters.  It was great to see them and how well they're settled in there and to catch up in person. (The nasty flu at Christmas got in the way of us catching up then.) We also got to watch Brennan open his birthday present from us. He sure is in love with his trucks! It always amazes me how the cousins jump right back in where they left off when they see each other. We walked in the door, and they were off, playing until it was time to go.

More Easter

dying eggs

captured this sweet moment of them snuggling on the stairs first thing Easter morning

hunting for eggs and Grandpa and Grandma's house



These two are quite a pair--so cute together. They weren't really up for posing for my camera, though. Too busy!

getting a Grandpa tractor ride



getting a bumpier Kari tractor ride

The best we could do on that bright, sunny day. It was such a beautiful day for Easter-such a treat, but not so good for un-squinty pictures. Got them documented, at least! :)