Swingin'!

Yesterday, we had our community group (from church) out at a lovely home in Snoqualmie. There were 9 kids under the age of 4 there, and it was a great place for them to play! The family had a huge tree swing out in their yard, and all the kiddos took turns on it-and some adults! Altogether, it was a lovely afternoon!

Dandelion fun!

Funny kids.

Boy on the potty.:)
Smiley girl in the tub!

Madeline's 'second' 2nd birthday!

For Madeline's birthday today, we went to the coffee/cupcake shop where Jordan works, in West Seattle. Madeline got her birthday cupcake, Hobbes got a chocolate cupcake, and we all got coffee! Jill came and met all of us, and then we headed down to Alki Beach to walk along the water. Although it was chilly and a little rainy, it was still pretty, and allowed the kids time to run off the sugar. Afterwards, we got lunch at a fabulous little Mexican place, and then headed home for naps. This evening, we had our friends Lily and Jonathan and baby Ryle (and their parents!) over for cake and presents, and the kids were sooo excited! Hobbes kept going to the door to see if they had come to knock on it yet, and Madeline kept singing, "birthhhdayyy, Me! Jonafan, birfday..." and when they finally came, the kids were literally bouncing up and down-and they hadn't even had cake and ice cream yet! Altogether, I would say it was a great birthday, and we hope to have many many more with our darling girl!

Cupcake face!
Jill came and had birthday coffee (well, juice for Madeline!) with us, and we all went down to Alki beach!
Madeline loves playing with her Uncle Jordan!
The crazy parents.:)

The cake was Madeline's hat from the Madeline book series. I thought it fitting, as that is where I found her name!Had to throw in some polka dots to continue the French theme!
Eating a HUGE glob of ice cream...
opening Lily & Jonathan's present-a purse with pretend makeup and phone!! She loves it!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Madeline!

Happy Birthday to my crazy, tender-hearted, sweet, boisterous, fun, beautiful, little girl!! We love you!!

3-D Date

Although I enjoy posting all the pics and stories about our adorable, crazy children, once in awhile, I like to throw in a little 'parent-fun time,' too. On Saturday, we picked up my sister, Carolyn (on her way back from spring break in England!) and had her stay the night at our place before heading back Sunday. Carolyn was kind enough to let us go out after the kiddos were in bed, for our 1st 'real' date in well, years! We decided to go downtown, get a drink and then see a movie. The movie we really wanted to see (State of Play) was showing really late, so Bray thought we should go see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D. I agreed, as I had never seen a 3-D movie before, and hey, kid-movies are what I usually watch, so why veer off the beaten path? :)
We found a fun little bar/cafe right near the theatre where we grabbed a drink before the movie. The 3-D glasses they gave us for the movie were not the cheapo little paper kind, but actual plastic glasses! We decided to have some fun (we had a little time to kill before the movie began) and this is what resulted:

right before the movie started, in the theater-I am sure everyone else was not thrilled about the flash from the camera!
My delicious Seattle Starbucks martini!
contents: Starbucks coffee liqueur, Godiva White Chocolate, and Absolut Vanilla.
The James Bond, 3-D glasses.
3-D changes the colors! well, not really, but it's still fun!
Bray's turn to have a 'creative' pose...
My 3-D James Bond.:)

Daddy's home!

Bray got home from Yakima on Wednesday-and since it was such a gorgeous, sunny day, we decided to head down to Pike St Market and the Piers-one of our favorite activities!
Jumping around the fish fountain at Pier 66.
Taking turns poking the mini fountain...
Me and my girl.:)
Going down the ramp to the piers-swinging a very happy boy!
Looking out over the water.

Future Conductor!

Sorry for the fuzziness of these pictures, but we were in a very dark hall! When we dropped Bray back off in Yakima, he wanted to show us the Capitol Theatre, where they were performing. I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but it is a beautiful old theatre! High ceilings, gorgeous moldings, old-fashioned seating-the works! The stage manager was working on the lighting for the evening, and they let the kids run around on the stage-Hobbes was fascinated by the conductor's box, and the colors on the back screen! He would raise his arms, say a color and the very nice tech workers changed it to what he said-so fun!

For Uncle Caleb.

Not my best shot, she was in 'busy mode,' but this was Uncle Caleb's Christmas present to Madeline...he is the president of this community college, and she loves her new shirt! Thanks Uncle Caleb!! We love you!

Sweet moments.

On the way to Yakima to drop Bray off...we stopped at this park for lunch, and ran around the WWII jet.Fun!
They were pretty cranky on the way back (all the Easter candy still in their systems!), but it got quiet, and when I turned around, this is what was going on. I love my sweet kiddos!

Madeline's first '2nd' birthday!

Since there were chicks, I had to add a Peep! hehe.
Because we celebrated with my family on Easter, I decided to save her actual cake till the 22nd. Instead, I made Easter chick cupcakes-a recipe I found several years ago, but had never tried! They were pretty cute, and really yummy!
Looking so mature and pleased about her cupcake...
New baby and a bottle-soo happy!
Amara, enjoying the party from her bouncy seat.
Hobbes managed to steal the camera for awhile...
She made this face each time she opened a present!
Trying on her new necklace...


At the end of the party, playing by herself with her new dishes from Gege.:)

Easter Sunday!

Easter baskets, before the kiddos got to them!


Posing for a pic-soo cute!Just hanging out with Amara.
Trying to get a good pic of all the grandkids! (there's a better one on Kathryn's blog- www.mandkchurch.blogspot.com)
New Mommy in yellow!
Happy Easter hugs-they love each other!
Love love love this picture!
After church bubbles!
The newly expanded Church family!
Trying to get a good family pic...you get the idea!