Painful Realism

We have a friend in our church who recently broke his arm. The girls wanted to draw him pictures to cheer him up, and the following is Adeline's work.

Adeline's picture, as you can tell, is quite literal; he has both tears and a broken arm!
Jennalee colored a picture of a turtle - a bit more appropriate but a little less poignant.

Surprise Behind Door #1

This is a funny little video clip - it is only 30 seconds but well worth it. It really needs no introduction, just make sure you watch it till the very end... that is the pay-off. We rarely get moments like this on camera so we had to share it with you when we finally did. Enjoy!

Frogger

Hope you weren't eating breakfast while reading our blog!

Apparently, this frog was in need of some kind of rectal examination.

Sister Love

We still find ourselves amazed at how God has knit the hearts of our girls together. Tarik such an important part of our family unit; and the girls feel so too. Here Tarik is watching one of her videos and, as she sits in Jennalee's lap, her big sister is helping her by naming the animals on the screen.

Big Day for Jennalee

Today was a bit of history in the making. Jennalee rode her bike for the first time without training wheels. For some time now, she had been scooting around the patio, but on this day we went to the alley and she worked her magic. Except for when she was headed up a slight hill, she could even get going by herself. We are really proud of her - especially her. Physical accomplishments are a big deal for her and she faced this without the least bit of fear. Congratulations Jennalee!

Worms, Mulch and Pea Gravel

We finished Stage 1 of our gardening project (or yarding as Adeline calls it). We will post more pictures as the flowers bloom.

Here is the BEFORE picture (Easter 2008)... Here is the AFTER.
We are really proud! Stage 2 will be to plant tall ornamental grasses, lavender, etc in the area between the brick walkway and the path. We will also put two chairs and a small table in the large section of gravel to the right.

The surpise has been how little it has all cost. All the bricks for both sides of path were in various places around our house and our friend (Jackie) gave us any kind of flower that we wanted - she has a wonderful garden. All the mulch and compost came from the city's recycling center and the redbud tree has been growing wild over the last year! It was really just a matter of getting inspired and getting dirty. It has been a wonderful family project.

Playing Catch-up

We didn't intend to take a month-long hiatus. We have been either running a hundred miles an hour with wonderful trips to grandparents' houses and a trip to the Master's, or we have been stuck in the slow lane, literally sitting in front of the potty trying to call Tarik's bluff. We have realized that the car and the potty do not foster blogging. Sorry. Here are some of the few pictures we have taken this last month.

Here are the girls in their Easter dresses....

This has been our other time-consumer - we have started a flower garden in our backyard. We hope to make it a nice little oasis. The time as a family - outside - has been spectacular. The girls hunt for (and pick up!) slugs, while Lee Ann and I get to talk, work, and dream together. It has been a wonderful way to spend the pretty evenings. We will probably do it in stages over a year or two, but pictures of the finished first stage will be coming soon.


Shopping for roses...