Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Tractor!  This bunch sure adores you. 

Need New Pictures!

I'm getting pretty sick of the same pictures on my blog--but no one else is coming in here and changing them up.  So I guess I'd better take matters into my own hands.  Oh right....

Over spring break we lazed around and enjoyed the time off.  I can't remember a whole lot of what we did.  The kids and I went and visited my parents.  We went and saw the Pompeii Exhibit before it left the Pacific Science Center--and the United States.  I highly recommend seeing it if you can.  You have a week or so left to get to Seattle.  Then it's back to Italy. 
Then at the end of the week we were visited with some incredible weather.  So we jumped on our chance to get out into the great out of doors on bike and on foot.  Not on the same day, of course. We are not bi-athletes.  There we are--all lined up and off to the races.  It's not quite the same exhilarating yet peaceful time as a mountain biking experience--but it's what we can do as a family right now. 

 Plus, we can stop along the way at parks to play and have a picnic.

 The next day we headed up to Wallace Falls for a hike.  Henry had not been at all happy on our bike ride the previous day--he cried for several hours straight.  I heard no fewer than three different dads ( I assume they were dads) comment as they raced by on their bikes "I've been there before!!!" as I pulled my trailer full of lunch and blankets and screaming baby.  Anyhow, after that particular experience, I was not expecting a happy boy in my backpack.  And a backpack is a lot closer to my ears than a bike trailer.  However--I was pleasantly surprised with a model child for the whole hike.  Praise the Lord!

 The others did pretty well.  We only went to the lower-falls--which is the shortest hike--but that's okay.  We thought about pushing it but decided to be realistic.  Everyone leaves happier that way.  We have the rest of our lives to be aggressive.

 Lollipops along the way help with happiness too.

 I can't help but think he's cute :)   He's my precious baby.  And each day he sheds some of that babyhood.  It breaks my heart in half.  I adore hearing him talk and seeing him develop.  But I miss that tiny bundle.  He runs and jumps and throws EVERYTHING.  He laughs and chatters and can hear a motorcycle from a mile away.  He shoots sparks of mischief out of both eyes 100% of the time.  He keeps me awake all night--but last night at 1:38 AM he said "mommy, pretty" and about made me cry (albeit I'm pretty tired, so tears would not be shocking).  He followed it up with "daddy, pretty" lest his favorite person get his feelings hurt.  He is head over heels in love with each one of his siblings and has a special relationship with them all.  They would each lay down their life for him, I am convinced.  AND--Henry is already trying to ride a bike.  It's purple with training wheels.  But we made it a bit more manly by getting his helmet done in orange and green camo.  It all balances out.  But I digress from talking about the hike.  I couldn't help myself when I saw this picture of my precious little man.

 These two beauties asked me about dating the other night on our way to Ezra's baseball game.  Not as in "when can we date" etc.  But more like "what is dating?"  They wanted to know how it works and how Tadd and I knew we wanted to "date".  It would have been so easy to say something about how that's a topic for a (much) later day.  But I took a deep breath and thought what a wonderful opportunity to plant good seeds in their minds.  We discussed the point of dating in brief (finding a mate).  We discussed the most important thing to find out (if he is the Lord's and if he lives that way).  And we discussed how Daddy and I got to know each other :)   They listened so closely.  I don't think they'll do that when they are 16.  It made me really happy for the opportunity to have this chat today--even if it seemed a bit premature.  We also discussed how when a girl is dating she should always tell her mother everything--hehe.  And if she doesn't tell her mom, she should tell her sister.  And then her sister can tell her mom.  Indoctrination! 

 Tadd always brings along an extra pair of pink sunglasses for an emergency.

 Thank you Lord for the beauty you have created! 

And that's a wrap.  Now I have new pictures staring at me on the blog page!