Smorgasbord...

I haven't been posting much lately--our computer has been acting up, we've had some beautiful warm days, garage sale season has started up again...and well, excuses, excuses. Anyway, here is a random sampling of photos of what we've been up to lately.

Have a fabulous Mother's Day weekend! Garrett loves to feed Grant.
This is where Grant has spent a good portion of his life--peeking out of his car-seat cover.
Always has a finger in his mouth, and usually a big smile, too.
Grant loves feeding himself--especially macaroni and cheese.
Ty's a pretty daring guy on the playground. This was taken after his 1st grade music concert. Notice the huge ketchup stain on his shirt--Ty has a pretty close relationship with his food :) Ty is working on HoneyBee. I've been teaching him, sporadically, for the past little while. He really enjoys playing--it's just the practicing that is a problem :)
Shayla loves gymnastics. The bar and beam are her favorites.
Her teacher, Aun, is Korean. When Shayla didn't understand Aun's accent, she said, "I don't understand my teacher--she was speaking Spanish."
So we have cold cereal 99% of the time, but one morning I got up early to make a favorite breakfast. While the kids waited for breakfast, I could hear them sneaking around, whispering in the other room. Then they ran in and surprised me with these lovely pictures they had colored for me. What a way to start the day!
Crepes, strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate pudding. Yum!

Wacky Hair Day at school--Ty had to have a mohawk. This baby was stiff as a board (gel, mouse, hairspray, blowdryer, more hairspray, etc.) Ty got many "cool mohawk" comments, and was quite proud of his 'do.
The next day he requested I give him a buzz. Talk about going from one extreme to the next!
So Garrett got a much-needed haircut, too.
This is the after-picture. He is thrilled because he is done, and now gets a sucker.
Shayla observing the haircuts--she has crazy hair like me--you don't want to see us first thing in the morning or late at night.

Comments are back on..

Thanks to some feedback from Ang, I found out I had accidentally disabled the comment feature. Yeah, still trying to figure out this whole blogging world. But I love your comments and feeling a bit more connected to the people I love--comments are back--keep 'em coming.

Grateful

The kitchen is clean, the kids are all asleep, Tyler should be home from church soon, and I am grateful. Why?

• We made it to church, only 2 minutes late--not too shabby with 4 kids in tow.
• Although it snowed yesterday and was a bit frigid, the sun is shining today, making me think spring might come after all.
• All the kids are healthy--no bottles of medicine in the fridge (okay, just one, but it's old and needs to be thrown out. Shayla had her last dose on Thursday--hurray!)
• I have the best family and friends imaginable. Just thinking about the examples I have helps me want to be better, and while it is hard to live so far away from most, I have great friends who are always there when I need them. Like at church when I'm wrestling with Grant, trying to get him to stop exercising his vocal chords (he's not mad--just yelling for fun because he can), and trying to contain Garrett and keep Shayla and Ty quiet, there is a nice grandma who has adopted us, and will come and sit by me, or one of the young women comes over and helps. It makes all the difference knowing that we are all here to help take care of each other and love and serve each other the best we can.
• And best of all, I'm about to take a Sunday afternoon nap--could life be any better?
  

Garrett-isms...

So Garrett is three, and what a fun age that is! Tonight at dinner everyone was telling stories, so he said, "I have a story. Once upon a time there was a boy walking down the street. And then he met a chicken. The end."
Hilarious little guy, isn't he? I guess when you are three, you can say anything and it is funny.
Here are some of my favorite things he has said lately:

• After receiving the pink cup, instead of the blue cup he wanted he said, "You get what you get, and then you trade!" (the real saying is "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.")
• After helping me make dinner, while eating together he announced, "You guys need to tell me, 'thanks for dinner, Garret.'" (I think he's heard that one from me before :)
  
• I turned on the microwave, and Garrett looked around for the source of the noise. "What was that?!! Oh, it was just the microphone." (Later I told Tyler what Garrett had said, he overheard me, laughed sheepishly and said, "Yeah, I should have said micro...whatever it is."

Summer Sausage

What a project! Our neighbor is a big deer hunter and makes summer sausage with the venison, so Tyler decided to try it out. Let's just say that the sausage turned out delicious but I'm not sure it was worth repeating the process. You'll have to ask Tyler about it sometime--I was gone for the grinding of the meat and came home to deer blood splattered all over the wall, bloody towels and chunks of ground deer meat everywhere. Trauma! I'm still recovering from the whole experience...maybe by next year I'll be ready for more summer sausage.

Stuffing the sausage
Male bonding time...
Cooking the sausage...the boys love it!
Come and visit and you can decide for yourself if it was worth the effort :)

discoveries...

I love seeing the world through a baby's eyes. Grant was discovering that you can't grab a stream of water.
This photo needs no explanation--you all know that face. I figured I needed some black mail for Grant's teen years, so i couldn't resist snapping this shot.

Slacker Easter Bunny...

So I don't know about your Easter Bunny, but ours was a slacker this year. Traditionally, he comes on Saturday, so on Sunday we can focus on the real meaning of Easter, but this year Saturday came and went, and no Easter Bunny. And then Sunday came and went, and still no Easter Bunny. The kids were so sad. We reassured them that they had not been forgotten, just delayed. Monday morning the kids awoke to eggs scattered around the house and an Easter surprise on the table. Phew! Hopefully the Easter Bunny is forgiven, and can get his act together for next year :)