You've gotta love this

Joel, I pray that as you grow up, you will continue to strive to be "just like Daddy." He's a great example of how your Heavenly Father wants a man to live. If you keep walking in his footsteps, you'll be on the right path.

Backyard practice

Today we're back to cold, pouring down rain,and I'm wearing a sweater, BUT earlier this week on one of the three non-rainy days we've had in the last month (we went swimming on of those, too), Greg got in some soccer practice with the kids. They're already looking forward to soccer in the fall and have been waiting for the grass to be dry enough to go out and play. Turns out our 2-year-old has some mad soccer skills already. She was dribbling all around the yard! She's got another 2 years before she can be on the team, but we won't tell her that. Joel had to watch from the sidelines last year but will get to be part of the action this year. Greg's planning to coach again. We'll have some exciting times around here, as I believe the soccer season coincides with my due date. We're hoping for another early baby, for a number of reasons!
It was fun to watch them "practice" with Daddy. They LOVED it.

Soaking in the rays

After our record-setting rainfall this May/June, it's been very nice to finally see the sun come out this weekend! Aubrey and Joel went out and sat in the sun before church this morning.

Kari joined them after a few minutes. It was a little too bright, though. Their eyes are not used to that big bright thing in the sky. It's been too long.











After working in the yard and garden all morning we went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house in the afternoon and enjoyed some pool time--the first pool time of the season.
Kari didn't waste any time. She went down the slide within minutes of being there. We are reaping the benefits of swim lessons, as she no longer needs water wings to get around and be safe.






















Aubrey was a little unsure at first but ventured in with Grandma and had a good time. We're going to have to keep a close eye on her near the pool this year.

Joel was way more comfortable in the pool this year, too, thanks to another year under his belt and those swim lessons. Last year he pretty much camped out in the shallow end and on the steps. Yesterday he was all over the pool and very independent with his water wings.

No photos of big and pregnant me in the pool in my big and pregnant swim suit, but I have to say, the water felt great! We may be spending more time than usual at the pool this year. I'm sure the kids won't complain.

Baby Birds

 The nest on our back deck now has 4 baby robins in it! They grow so quickly. We found birds rather than eggs three weeks after we saw the eggs (second photo on the top), and now, a week later, the birds are bigger and don't look squished anymore. They even flew over the kids' heads. It's been so much fun to go out with the kids and check on our nest. The mama bird must have laid another egg at some point, because there are definitely four babies, not three.

A working vacation?

Well, it's official. Plane tickets have been bought, so now we know it's really happening. In a couple weeks Greg will be hopping on a plane and taking a 12 day trip to Ireland  (for work and hopefully, some play, too). It will be quite the experience, I think, for him over there, as well as for us back here at home. :)

Wedding kids

Over Memorial Day weekend we drove to Sisters, OR for a family wedding. There were 20-some kids in the wedding (brave bride and groom), and ours were able to be a part of it. They were so cute all dressed up and had a lot of fun. This was the only photo I took right when we got there (didn't want to have to tote our camera along with all the other snacks and kid items we had with us), but Uncle Brian kindly shared photos he took. The wedding was in an old theater and everything had a "vintage" feel. The girls' dresses were perfect. It was the first time Joel had ever worn a tie. He was such a handsome little guy.

Such a serious little man

Kari reminded me of a flapper here.

Cute kiddos all dressed and ready to blow bubbles and throw petals down the aisle.

Swim Lessons

Today the kids had their last swim lessons (enrolled them the first of May) , and once again, I'm so glad we did it. They were in different classes this time and both get to "graduate" to the next level. Kari has become quite the little swimmer, a fish in the water, and Joel didn't have ANY tears this time around (quite a different experience from last year) and actually had fun in his lessons. He doesn't love the water like Kari, so swim lessons are simply to get him ready for pool season and acclimated to the water. It was an added bonus that he actually learned how to float on his back and had a good time. :)

Hezekiah no more

We have a name. No turning back. We're committed. This is it.
Grant Robert Moffat

*Hezekiah, or Hezi, is what Grandpa M has been calling him, since we didn't have a name.

Ride 'em Cowgirl

This is Aubrey's first time with braided hair. She wanted to be like Kari, so she managed to sit still enough for me to do it.

A beautiful reminder of God's promises

The good thing about this crazy Oregon weather is that sometimes you get to see these. It was much more brilliant in person, as you can imagine. Kari is especially into rainbows right now (aren't all 6-year-old girls in love with rainbows?), and it was fun see her so excited.

Kids will be kids

Two large bags of freshly shredded paper proved too strong a temptation for these two small children. We left the room for, literally, one minute, and this is what transpired. Quite the clean-up with this one. Had a nice paper fiber dust cloud going, too.
(I organized and purged my filing cabinet a while ago, but we missed shredding day at Greg's work.)

Switcharoo

Today was the big kid-room re-org. I've been putting it off, but Greg decided this was the weekend to do it. We have had a VERY long day of furniture moving (read: Greg moving furniture and me asking him to move it again), making up beds, and moving kid stuff around. Kari's old twin bed has been at my parents' since we got the bunks, but with number four coming in less than 3 months, we needed to bring it back over and somehow squeeze it into our already crowded house. We put it in the same room as the crib, and for a couple months Kari gets to have her own room, something she's pretty excited about. Trying to figure out how to configure the room was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but I think we finally have an arrangement that will work. (Big "thanks" to the Wilsons for taking our kids for the morning so we could work uninterrupted!) There's still quite a bit of work to do, but at least the children all have a place to lay their heads. Two of the three are snug in their beds, fast asleep, but Aubrey has had a more difficult time adjusting to the new arrangemennts and her new bed this evening and is hanging out with us on the couch. It's our bedtime, so hopefully she'll go to sleep soon. During the hour+ we tried to keep her in her bed, she managed to get a major goose egg on her forehead. She had a run-in with Kari's door (natural consequence?). It'll be a real pretty bruise at church tomorrow. Here she is hanging out with Daddy and making us smile while the other kids sleep.

Take-your-dad-to-school Day

Greg took a vacation day today to go with Kari on her class field trip to Old McDonald's Farm. Kari was SO excited to have her dad come to school with her. From the report I heard when they got home, it sounds like they had a really good time.

He was assigned a group of seven girls. Here's his crew.


















Kari's teacher holding a pygmy goat for them to pet.


















Brushing the cow.

Signs of Spring

It hasn't really felt much like spring yet, but we have evidence right outside our door that spring is indeed here. A robin decided to make her nest on our house, and yesterday Greg peeked inside and saw these. The bird's first choice for nest location was on top of our light fixture right next to the sliding door in the back. I didn't like that location much (afraid she might attack my children when they tried to go out--not sure if robins do that, but we didn't want to take any chances), so we kept taking down the twigs and debris she kept bringing. She finally gave up after a few days. We weren't outside much that next week because of the rain, and by the time we noticed her new location, she had already built a full fledged nest. Aubrey will get to awaken to the sound of baby birds one of these days, as it's right outside her window.

Ride, Kari, Ride!

At the end of last summer, after many, many attempts at teaching Kari to ride a bike, I was pretty convinced that she would be riding with training wheels until she was 12. However, on Saturday afternoon Kari surprised us by asking Greg to take her training wheels off. She was ready. Here's the exciting progression:
Greg awkwardly trying to run alongside, holding on to help balance
freely running alongside, no contact
Kari feeling confident enough to go it alone, and Greg happy to be done running up and down our street.












proud, training-wheel-free Kari
















While not completely in control, she's got it down. We went over to the local middle school track this afternoon, and she rode fast and furious, hair streaming behind her in the wind. Only had one major wipe-out. She ran into Joel on his bike and took a tumble with legs flying over her head. Joel somehow escaped unharmed. After a band-aid application, Kari got right back on and rode some more. She loves that she can go "so, so fast!"