Chalk Pens!!!

Where have you been all of my life?!?!

A New Favorite

Thanks, Aunt Annie and Uncle Drew!

MORE March Birthdays!!!

Kai Guy had a LEGO birthday party the day after Joshy's party.  The whole house was filled with LEGO decorations...and the big sisters planned all of these fun Lego-themed games for the event!

 And then it was off to Cousin Lauren's party at 5-Mile Pizza.  She was so excited!

Joshy's Paw Patrol Birthday

Birthday S'mores

We have this awesome fire pit for our backyard, and we are embarrassed to say that after 3 or so years of owning it, we've only used it once or twice.  I think it has to do with our kids' ages (and how busy we seem to be) and how exhausted we are once it's dark enough to light this thing up--but now that our kids are a little bit bigger, we've decided to make birthday s'mores a family tradition.  At least for the kids--March 26, May 27, and Nov 22 seem like great times of the year to roast.  Dec 17 and Feb 27?  We'll have to see about that...

We had a few wet wood issues, but after we got it going, we realized that THIS WAS THE STUFF.  The stuff that makes life fun.  Meaningful time together.  Stars, crackles, marshmallows.  And the chatter that comes with it.  We may get good use out of this thing yet!

We have a five year old, people!

 A bike was waiting for Joshua on the morning of his 5th birthday.  He was so VERY excited.  Daddy had taken the day off of work to have a special day with him, so he was pumped!

 A birthday selfie with Mom before she had to go to work...

Okay, maybe TWO selfies.

 Daddy took the biggers to Frank's Diner for breakfast before school/preschool--Joshy's pick!

And after Joshy's selected dinner of Annie's Macaroni and Cheese, we celebrated some more at Froyo.

Happy birthday, to our very enthusiastic, NOW 5-year-old son!

Odie & Nels Day

 We got to have Oden and Nels come over on one morning in March--and BOY was that fun!  I was so excited to take this picture of FIVE Lochhead children in my van.  We needed to drop of Grace at school and Josh at preschool...and I had just gotten everyone in and buckled when Gracie bolted back into the house because she'd forgotten something.  She came out with her baby doll.  Because we didn't have enough babies in the car?

And after drop-off it was play time.  Oden had our car bin to explore while Nels sat up so straight and watched Micah get into everything.

I love these cheeky profiles!

Big guy in a little chair...

...turn that around.  Flip it.

Micah loves to CLIMB INTO CHAIRS.  His favorite being Auntie Heidi's rocking chair.

March Birthdays at the Farm

Cousins Abby, Josh, and Millie all have March birthdays.  In fact, they all have birthdays in the March 20's--March 22, 26, and 29!  So this year, instead of trying to go to three parties, we combined them at the farm.  Joshy was so excited to have "a farm birthday!"

 Look at the darling children that Katie, Ellie, and Ben have had!

This is classic.  Personalities oozing out of the candids...

 We gave Millie a pool, and the kids were excited to try it out!

Happy birthday to you three sillies.

The Toy Box

Family Time at Fizzie's

"You have a baby!!!  In a bar!!!!"

Yes, our children know the menu at Fizzie Mulligan's local bar and restaurant.

This is Grandma Gigi's "Cheers" where everybody knows her name, and she treats us to dinner--Taco Tuesday!--every so often.  We love spending time with her, and love how she shows us off to her friends. 

 The cousins love foosball and pinball and the pool table.

G'ma even restocks the crayons there for us.

I can't wait to have this come up in one of Gracie's "weekend retells" that she writes about in school.

Mornings

I take lots of these morning-snuggly pictures.  I love mornings when I get to stay home.  Kids come downstairs all warm and pillow-smelling...like cookies, fresh from the oven.  Bottle time.  Coffee time.  "Josh-quit-touching-me!" time.  "Stop it, Grace!" time.  Talk about the day time.  No-you-can't-watch-a-show time.  What-did-you-dream-about? time.  A little bit of slow before the race begins.

The things my husband does for me...

1.  Cut styrofoam balls in half.
2.  Spray paint them orange.
3.  Drill holes in the tops.
4.  Don't ask any questions.  :)

Rainboots

G'ma Joan did an awesome job picking these out for me!  My sister said the were "so Ellie."  What does that say about me?

Kindergarten Shots

My pendulum boy has been thinking about turning five:

"I'm so excited for my birthday! I don't want to get shots!"

The elated face flipped to the worried face each time the topic of his birthday came up.

So the day that I made his 5 year-old well-check, I didn't tell him that we were going to the doctor.  We had a little time to kill between preschool and the appointment, so I asked Heidi and Kai to lunch at McD's.

When he caught on that we weren't driving toward home after lunch, I broke the news to him.  He did okay, but definitely had butterflies in his tummy.  So did Mommy.  His last set of shots were memorable--for the wrong reasons.  :)

But it turns out that this mommy's memory is failing her.  As our nurse took us back to the room, she said that Josh was all caught up on his shots!  Relief flooded over Joshy's face like a tidal wave, and I started to remember several shots this winter when we came in for a single flu shot...that last set of shots was awful!

A whole lot of stress could've been avoided here, had I still obtained the memory that I had BEFORE birthing three beautiful children.  But alas, we'll count it a blessing that I still know their names and am able to recite their birthdates...given at least 30 seconds for recall.