Memorial Day Weekend!

So, it's Memorial Day weekend. What better way to spend it than outside, camping, right? Right. We apparently weren't the only ones with that bright idea. My Aunt Danise was saying that in the last 20 years in Washington, only 4 or 5 of them have had nice weather. And since we lucked out weather-wise, we weren't able to find a campsite to camp in. 

The solution? My parents' 5 acres in Seabeck. They have an upper area that's cleared and fairly flat- perfect for tenting it up. So, we set up camp in my Mom and Dad's backyard. The tent was put up, the trailer unpacked, a fire pit built, etc. The boys were even able to ride their bikes a bit (I hadn't realized how big the property was!).

We went to visit my Aunt Danise and Uncle Tom on their "ranch" a couple of miles away. They recently acquired two horse- Missy and Riley. Those aren't their real names but I can't remember what they are... Anyway, Alyssa loved seeing them and feeding them. Karli, unfortunately, slept through the entire visit.

Back at camp, the girls roasted their own hotdogs for dinner and then later, marshmallows for s'mores. It was a short camping trip, as we only stayed one night, but it was fun. Even if it wasn't "real" camping according to Adam! 

Alyssa trying to imitate Barton!

Karli and Auntie Charity snuggling at the campfire.

Going for a ride with Uncle Barton. (I know they should've been wearing helmets... but he went extremely slow.)

 Riley.

Missy.

We spent Monday at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. We hadn't been since... well, I can't remember when. I'm not entirely sure Karli had ever been there before. Sad, isn't it? 

We were, once again, blessed with beautiful weather. We got to see some of the new exhibits at the zoo; the new kids' play place, the meerkats, and the budgies (which we only got to see from the outside since they were napping). 

I think Karli's favorite part was the aquarium. She kept yelling "Fish, fish, fish!" She even tried touching the sea creatures in the education area. 

All in all, we had a great weekend! 

Adam and the girls.

Eaten alive by a shark!

Polar bears are tall!

Barton, Karli and Alyssa on the slide!

Karli and Alyssa as snails.

Randomness in the Backyard

We went to Viking Fest this last weekend (more to come on that) and took the camera with us. I uploaded the pictures and noticed some pictures that I didn't remember taking... at least, not at first.

The weekend before last, we had a friend's son, Matthew, over for a sleep-over (he packs his own bag every once in a while because "Ms. Kristin won't mind, Mom. Just call her and ask."). The kids spent quite some time in the backyard.

I'd grabbed the camera because... well, because I have incredibly cute kids. I snapped a few pictures of the kids running around playing. That excited them so they started asking me to take pictures of incredibly random things- like the dog's bone. 

Matthew and the dog's bone?

The girls playing on the swings.

Matthew, Alyssa and Abby.

Adam being all manly doing yardwork!

The next day was Sunday, Mother's Day. My brother and I made brunch for our Mom. Kurt was in charge of the biscuits and gravy while I made a couple of quiches and crepes with strawberries and fresh whipped cream (sooo yummy!). After I made the crepes, there was some leftover whipped cream. I put some on a spoon and topped it with a strawberry slice. I gave a spoon to each of the kids.

Alyssa took it eagerly.

Karli knows what's going on!

Matthew just kind of looked at it. 

It took him a second to figure out whether he wanted to eat it or not. He ate it. And liked it!

Homeschooling: The First Year!

The Bible says that children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3). Our children are our most precious possessions. And because of this, we want to make sure to protect them. To monitor what enters their eyes, ears, hearts and minds (of course, we fail at times). So, we made the decision to homeschool our children. This allows us to be in charge of their education. (And regardless of what I may sometimes say, I truly enjoy being with my babies. I love having them with me all day and not having to worry about what might be happening while they're away from me.)

We are reaching the home stretch of our first year. Alyssa began Kindergarten back in October and has done really well (I'm, of course, flaunting my incredible teaching abilities here... ahem!) over the last several months. Her favorite subject is math (I asked- this is what she said) and then she loves to be read to. She's also really enjoyed science. Reading has been a teensy bit of a

 struggle for us- who knew you actually had to look at the words? (She tries to guess words based on the pictures- which is good but doesn't really help with the reading part.)

She also participates in HomeBase, a homeschooling enrichment program that allows her to get away from Mom for a bit and interact with kids her age. Today was the last day of class for them and they put on a bit of a show for all of us parents. Alyssa's class sang two songs; one about the continents of the world and then the other about the oceans. 

I liked the other song better (only because it had hand motions) but the file was too big. This one's still cute!

Afterwards, Grandma took us to Chuck E. Cheese. We had some super yummy pizza and played tons of games!

Don't you love how she plays?

Art?

I'm not really sure how we came to this. We have always encouraged the girls to only color/paint/glue/sticker/etc on paper. However, 

one day boredom got the best of us and a new can

vas emerged.

My legs.

I know, I'm probably going to regret it later but at the moment, it's kind of fun... or at least funny. Here are a couple of pictures of our leg art.

This is Alyssa's angel.

 Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob Squarepants! 

 This is Karli's masterpiece.

They went a little crazy.

-Kristin

The Beginning.

I never thought that I would be a blogger but here I am. With a blog. Interesting, isn't it? I just spent about half an hour pouring over a friend's ("friend" here is a loose interpretation- we are friends for about an hour a week while our daughters take dance- still, for that hour, I really enjoy spending time with her. She's a wise woman.) blog; loving that I was getting to see a side of her family that I don't normally see.

So, why am I doing this? I guess I like the idea of giving others that same inside look at my family. That and I can spill all my stories out in this blog as opposed to calling up my friends/family and making them listen to me as I

 blab about what adorable thing Alyssa/Karli just did. 

Like this one: Karli has recently learned how to turn door knobs. So, while I was making dinner last night, she tells me "bye-bye" and turns the knob on the pantry door. She gets in there and closes the door. Then she opens it, notices her Easter basket (the girls still have TONS of candy leftover) and grabs a piece of chocolate. She wasn't feeling well so I kind of let it slide. Dinner was served. Alyssa gobbled hers up while Karli took only a few bites of applesauce and then climbed down. She tells me "bye-bye" again and I play along. She goes into the kitchen, into the pantry, and comes back out with another piece of chocolate. I'm cracking up so she gets to eat it... A minute or two later, she starts telling me "bye

-bye" again. I'm laughing as I tell her, "No!" And she starts getting upset, stomping her foot and saying "bye-bye" over and over again. Needless to say, I had to move the Easter Basket.

So I hope you enjoy reading this blog- keeeping up to date with my wonderful (and sometimes crazy) family. And I hope you get a good laugh o

ut of it once in a while. 

-Kristin

The girls at the Fresno Zoo-March 2009