Cemetery Picnic

 The second Saturday in April is the annual cemetery association picnic/meeting/work day.  There was beautiful weather for it this year.  The cemetery looked beautiful - freshly mowed, new & old graves mingled together, with bluebonnets left to flower, iris and rose bushes starting to bloom.

 I enjoy the old stones and rusty, old fences.  The kids enjoyed the picnic and running around in the cemetery.  And no, it's not weird to picnic at the cemetery once a year!

All Aboard the Birthday Train!

 Rebekah really loves trains, so we decided that riding the Forest Park Miniature Railroad might be a good way to celebrate. 

Waiting for the train...

Here it comes!!!

 Getting ready to roll.

 I think I'm pretty good at arm's length photography,

except when I'm holding a baby.

I always cut off the baby at the bottom.

I'm slowly getting better, though...

I think...

 Sarah doesn't like wind blowing on her head.

 Rocked to sleep!

 Rebekah enjoyed every bit of it!

What a fun time!

Then we came home for a late nap, birthday cake made by Grana,

playing outside before heading to bed very sleepy.

 Will she remember this day?

Maybe if I say, 

"Remember the time we rode the mini train for your 2nd birthday?"

Happy Birthday, Rebekah!

My sweet Bekah Boo is TWO today!

You are a handful, always getting in to the pantry or the markers or the cat food or the butter.  You are also a joy, full of life and energy.  You have the best belly laugh and the sweetest songs and the cutest expressions to entertain me.  You are full of love and very loved in return.  Happy Birthday, Rebekah!

Tiny Talk Tuesday: Gurgles & Coos

For no apparent reason, I am reminded of the last time we were at Walmart.  On the way out, David said of the older, bearded, greeter, "I just saw a man with the face of Santa Claus!"

These kids are always saying something that makes me think, "I need to remember that for Tiny Talk Tuesday."  And if I don't write it down immediately, it is lost forever.

Elizabeth was trying to convince cousin Curt to come outside and watch her swing on her tummy.  He said he knew how to do that.  She walked away saying, "He's a smart one..."

Isn't that the most beautiful sound?  aahhhh....  She's gonna have to increase her decibels, though, to be heard around here!  I bet my kids are louder than Smokey, the World's Loudest Cat...

April ONE (almost)

Oops!  I forgot to post a picture yesterday!  But that's ok, because today we went over to fish beside the bluebonnets!

 Elizabeth was so proud that she got to hold Baby Sarah for some pictures!

 And my beautiful #3 is going to turn 2 years old this week!  Wow!

Elizabeth is all over fishing with her Daddy.  But I can hardly wait for her to catch her first fish!

This is an extremely poor example of baby wearing... but I had a good hold of her with one arm... and I caught a small bass at the same time!

David Building & Learning

Here are some more of David's recent creations.  For a while he was constantly making angels.  Now this...

 He says this is Grandma in heaven driving an Angel Prius.

 And this is Great in heaven.

Funny thing is that he's too young to remember that Great loved hats and big mugs!

 Obviously, Galileo for studying Jupiter.

I had to turn our recent trip to the Arboretum into a learning experience, so we made a folder for it.  Blogger is not accepting my cover photo right now, but on the cover, David chose his favorite photos of the tulips.  It's really pretty.  Here's the inside:

Here's the recent folder we did for Jupiter:

 Can you name this Looney Tunes character?

Hint: He's drinking a root beer.

 (ok, that's not really a hint)

 This was a really cool demonstration of the storm on Jupiter.

I previously thought Saturn was the coolest planet, but David seems to think it's moons are cooler than the planet, especially the one named Titan.  We ended up with not as much to fill our folder on this one, so we added a second illustration, looking from above Saturn.  You can see in David's view from above (illustration on the right) that he included two of the shepherd moons, as well as some sort of alien attack on the planet.

 My illustration is under David's.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

David at the Arboretum yesterday

I didn't pay attention this week, so I don't remember the things I know were said.  Last night, David said, "I'm gonna need you to sew me a green nightcap."  That's interesting...

Rebekah is talking a lot.  She's fast.  She's a climber and an explorer.  This week she has eaten raw oatmeal, licked peanut butter off a large (and dangerous) knife, sucked the fresh-from-the-barn dust & poo off the eggs, and eaten a half a box of curiously strong Altoids.  She's growing healthy and strong in spite of herself.

 "Leave the money in there!"

and I wasn't the only Mom I heard say it yesterday!

The Arboretum: The Family Pictures

Today Grandpa took us to Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum.  We have a super fun time!  I didn't really try to pose the kids too much - just took pictures where they were with a "look at mom" thrown in.  We did see plenty of kids dressed in their Sunday finest with parents trying to pose them.  We saw them and we chuckled...  In other posts, I'll show the amazing flowers and the educational opportunity.

 Elizabeth was running around chanting, "It's pink, it's pink..."

 Looking at the giant goldfish.

 Um... I don't think that's a path...

 Yeah... Dad made Rebekah cry with that one.

 Oh, look, I was there too!