Penny put on her own shoes

Without any help from anyone. She's quite proud of herself and consented to pose for a picture. It took about 10 minutes, but she'll get faster and this is a valuable skill.

Cooking with water

One of their favorite warm weather activities is to take their dishes outside and play with water. For added fun I gave them some spices and loose leaf tea to mix in. They had a great time.

Camilla : 3 months

Can you believe she's three months old already? It seems like she was just born. Spring is a busy season and time goes quickly.

 She's still a sweet baby and full of smiles.

She coos and laughs, especially at her older siblings. She'd suck on her fingers if they would cooperate and hold still.

She weighs almost 12 and a half pounds.

Roller skating

Nora's friend Jill had a skating party for her birthday and Nora was so excited to go. It was her first time on roller skates. She did a great job. There were a few laps of hanging on the wall, but by the end she was moving without support. She did fall, but she got up each time to try again.

Successful skaters.

Best of all, she got to share this "first" with Grace.

Bee tree

Our across-the-street neighbor knocked on our door just after dinner and told us to keep the kids inside because there were a bunch of bees in one of our trees. A swarm!

We learned a little about bees and their habits last year from our bee-keeping neighbors and were very excited to be close to the action. We reassured the neighbors that the bees were full of honey and very mellow right now and not dangerous.

 I let the bee-keepers know about the bees and one came to check on the situation.

After a look she labeled them "very considerate" for picking such an easy place to land. She went home to get a bee box and we took the children out to admire the swarm while we waited.

The box was placed under the tree, she gave the branch a quick shake, and the whole mess of them just went splat.

They landed about half in and half out of the box so we weren't sure for a moment if the capture had worked, but in just a little bit it was easy to see that the bees were moving into the box so the queen landed in the right place.

Watching the bees move in to their new home.

The carpet of bees on the grass moved slowly toward the box and up its sides until all the bees were in. It was amazing. Once it got dark our neighbors came back, put the lid on the box, put it in their little car, and took the bees home.

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit

We had fun.

The kids made a list of things to do with the grandparents when they came and we crossed off most of it. We didn't make it to the demonstration gardens because the weather was cold.

 They got to meet Millie and hold her,

 read books to the kids,

 and play in the park.
 Come again soon!

 We're already making plans for next time!

Nora's 8th birthday

 It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here on her birthday.

 

She opened presents after breakfast, including a camera that she's been hoping for. She had fun playing with that for the rest of the day.

Mimmu and Iso joined us for dinner. We ate BBQ pork on rolls, coleslaw, roasted asparagus, and Nora's favorite pasta salad.

Nora asked for a rectangular chocolate cake that said "Happy Birthday." We had salted caramel ice cream to go with it.

 Now she's eight!

Tooth number three falls out

Henry lost his third tooth on Saturday while he was eating lunch.

The shoe basket

Sometimes Penny empties the shoe basket when she is looking for a pair of her shoes.

And sometimes she empties it so that she can have a place to sit.

Birthday week treats

It was our turn to bring lunch to playgroup so Nora chose the menu and we brought cupcakes.

It's fun to celebrate with friends.

Two down, eighteen to go

 Henry lost another tooth!

Balloon Stampede

I woke the kids up at 5 and Anja and I drove to Walla Walla with them. The morning was clear and perfect for hot-air balloons.

The first balloons left before the scheduled launch time so we missed a bit of the action while we were parking.

 There were some balloons that were familiar from Prosser as well as new ones.

 This was my favorite. I think.

As the last balloon prepared to leave we headed to downtown to have breakfast at the same restaurant we ate at last year.

We picked up coffee on our way home. So much excitement and still most of the day ahead of us.

 Penny took a little nap as we drove back.

Nora's pre-birthday celebrations

Anja came to visit this weekend so we had an early birthday celebration for Nora. We had chili for dinner and a chocolate layer cake with salted caramel ice cream. Enough dessert for two nights.

She got a watch from Anja. It has three bands that you can swap. She was really pleased with it.

Math circus

 They look so focused.

I wish I had taken a video instead of pictures, because you really need sound to get the full effect of math time here. Nora and Henry work on their fact sheets while I try to keep an eye on both of them and answer questions. Penny and Helena get to play with the extra manipulatives and are not quiet. Millie watches the operation from the living room.

 It feels a little chaotic, but they seem to be learning!

Shaking the coleslaw dressing

 Everybody loves this job, but it is especially good for a toddler. There is little chance of mess, but with curious Penny we do have to make sure that she doesn't try to take off the cap.

Fishing

Nora and Henry went to the annual fishing day again, this time with Mark. This year we didn't catch any fish in our allotted time. But we had fun trying.

We saw some baby geese on our way to pick a spot.

The shore was pretty crowded, hard for kids to cast without getting tangled up. Mark took the three big kids back in the afternoon and each one caught a fish! We baked them in the oven for dinner.

Helena's fish is in the middle. She didn't want to touch it again.