climbing

This is my little climber. Someday soon I fully expect to find her on top of the refrigerator.

choo choo

Huntleigh thinks that all things that remotely look like trains go "choo! choo!". I love that she likes cars and things. It keeps her from being too girly.

big pig

I got Huntleigh these Sandra Boynton stuffed animals for her Easter basket and they have proven to be a very fun purchase. They are super-soft and she likes to say, "Hug!" and then shove her face into them. If you haven't read Sandra Boynton's books, you should. She is a witty children's author/illustrator who writes in a syncopated fashion. Her writing is very rhythmical and whimsical and she uses animal characters in fresh and fun ways. You can check her out here.

....to our deck

This is the deck we had built in January.



We didn't have a door to our deck until just last week. So that's 10 weeks of using this window to access our deck. We love our new door.

it was time for a new door

Dora behind bars.

Julianne is one of those moms with whom I just truly connect. The below pictures captivate just one of those reasons why. Here, we have actually trapped our children behind a gate in the kids' room and they are standing watching Dora while we parents sit upstairs and enjoy some quiet time. What is it about kids and Dora?! It's a phenomenon.

the disappearing eggs

We spent Easter with our good friends, the Halvorsons. Last year they were in Indiana and this year, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They just keep getting more and more mid-western. We love it. Now, we're all just "fly-overs," as our friends in Hong Kong like to call us. So we stayed in their awesome log cabin and had roaring fires and good fellowship while our kids played so nicely together. It was a very relaxing weekend and just so good to be together. On Sunday, we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and stuffed their eggs with animal crackers and teddy grahams. Karsten and Huntleigh filled their baskets quite easily while Katelyn was content to have just one egg! Here are the little cookie monsters, discovering all the cookies in their eggs.




Katelyn, Karsten, and Huntleigh.

pre-Easter egg hunt

Since we went out of town for Easter, we went to see both sets of grandparents on Good Friday. Debbie gave Huntleigh several beautiful Lilly Pulitzer dresses in her Easter basket and I dressed her in my favorite and we drove out to Eureka for a fun lunch at Steak n' Shake with the Hagers and then an Easter egg hunt at the Bakers. Huntleigh truly understood the idea of searching for the eggs and putting them in her basket.

17 months old

baseball with blankets

Our first tickets for baseball season this year fell on an evening when it was just below 30 degrees. It was so worth it just to get two Kosher dogs with grilled onions. We took our friends from Seattle who were really good sports to sit in weather so freezing cold for way too long. Oh yeah...the Cardinals lost 0-10 to the Mets that night.


with my friend, Shannon.

"c" is for cookie.

Here, Huntleigh is feeding her grandpa, the cookie monster. If anyone knows anything about my dad, it is that his weakness is snacking. Cookies are the way to his heart!

reading with Pop