Chickens

Grandpa took us to his friend's house to see some bunnies, chickens, and ducks. Allie and Luke got to feed the chickens and hunt for duck and chicken eggs. Kate liked the chickens and kept pointing and talking gibberish to them.

Grandma and Grandpa's

We are enjoying our time at Grandma and Grandpa's for spring break. I'll post more pictures as we go, but so far the kids have enjoyed the swings that Grandpa hung for them, Grandma's cooking, a great backyard and an endless supply of ice cream bars and popsicles. Grandma even watched the kids so I could go to the gym with Grandpa. Today we spent time outside enjoying actual sunshine and playing games. We may never leave.

Best Friends

One of the best things about moving this summer was meeting Dallin. Actually we love his whole family. Luke made a best friend. Dallin is in Luke's class at church and they even got to play on the same soccer team. It's always a happy day when we get to see Dallin. I think Luke could play with him everyday and never get tired of him. He loves Dallin's mom too. She is so nice to him all of the time. The other day, Allie said that I was the nicest mom in the world. Luke said, "Well not really. Channing (Dallin's mom) is the nicest mom in the world." I would have to agree too. I don't mind coming in second place to Channing any day.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Today is Kim's birthday.  As we all know Kim is pretty much the most wonderful person ever.  She is my best friend, and we have known each other for almost 14 years.  We have a lot of memories together.  She is the best mom.  She loves her kids so much, and cares for them so well.  If she wasn't being the best stay-at-home mom in the world, she would definitely be the best teacher in the world.  During her teaching years her students just loved her.  She still keeps in contact with some of her old third graders.   She has a special twinkle in her eye that lights up the room, and draws people to her.  She's witty, amazingly smart, hardworking, and selfless.  I could go on and on.  I can't imagine my life without her.  

Like an animal?

Kate has a funny habit. When she gets tired of eating, she starts throwing her food off the side of her high chair. (Okay, that's not the funny part) Usually I wash her up and then put her in the living room to play while I clean up. This time, I didn't get it cleaned up right away and she crawled back in and started eating the food she had just thrown down. ( I had just cleaned the floor so I thought it was safe) She actually ate a lot better down there and since she is so little I don't mind when she gets extra food in. Allie thought it was reprehensible and said, "Mom, how could you feed her on the floor like an animal?" with all the distaste a 7yr old can muster. Anyway, it's sad to say that isn't the first time she's eaten half of her meal on the floor. She just really likes it.

Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner we were talking about seeing into the future. Allie mentioned that she wished she could see into the future so she could see what Kate would look like when she is older. Luke said he wanted to see into the future so he could know what his children's names would be. Then he said he would like 10 children. He would name them, Pikachu, Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Peach (the only girl) King Boo, Donkey Kong, Baby Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Mushroom. I'll have to remind him of that when he is all grown up. Allie said that she will not have more than three children and she will name them Lucas, Neil & Ruby. As for me, I don't want to think about them growing up. I like the ages they are at now.  

OMSI with Grandpa

Last friday I took Allie out of school early (like before lunch!) and we took Grandpa to OMSI. It's a science museum in Portland that has tons of hands on activities for the kids. It's usually pretty busy on days that there is no school so we decided to go on a day when everyone else would be in school. I didn't want her to tell her teacher why I was pulling her out since going to OMSI with Grandpa is not an excused absence. But I felt it was educationally beneficial as well as justified by the fact that we just don't see Grandpa enough. Her teacher did ask her where she was going and Allie told her. Hopefully we won't get in trouble! We got to see a neat exhibit about Leonardo DaVinci and his great inventions. We also spent a lot of time in an exhibit that showed real human fetuses from just weeks after conception to just before birth. I was amazed and Allie was fascinated. We talked a little bit about abortion and I mentioned about people not treating the fetus as a living human being. Allie looking at the babies said, "Well what else could they be?" Amen to that! It was a reverent moment to see these little babies and the miracle by which human life is created. It so made me appreciate my sweet little babies. All I could think about was an article I recently read by Russell M Nelson about abortion. Here's a link to "Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless." It is a very powerful article and one that I think everyone should read. Anyway, that's way off topic. We had a great time and even got to have Grandpa stay with us for dinner after we got back.
Here are some pictures from the day!

Luke was so excited!

Luke likes to be funny. I guess putting your finger in a skeleton's eye socket is funny.

Working the robotic arm

Allie giving the robotic arm a try.

NERD ALERT!

The wheel in the middle of the table spins around in a circle quickly. It's fun to put different things on it and then watch them fly.

Kate took a great nap.

Allie's favorite place is the chemistry lab. She spent an hour in there with Grandpa.