Fun With Cousin Hannah

Our First Trip to Knott's Berry Farm

Today we purchased passes to Knott's Berry Farm, a local amusement park. The pass also includes a water park called Soak City which we haven't visited yet. We chose this place over Disney for this year because it's closer to our house, it's a lot cheaper, and it's much easier to navigate with 3 kids. They have so many rides that Sky and Brad can go on together. The kids had a blast today! Everytime Brad would get off a ride he would say, "Another ride!!!"

This race car ride was Sky's favorite. She was begging to ride it again and again.

A few family updates:

Sky- I had a parent/teacher conference with her teacher on Thurs. and Sky continues to do well in kindergarten. She is on target for what she needs to know and she is a good citizen in the classroom which especially makes me proud. Her teacher says that her behavior is excellent and she is a friend to all. I'm so proud of her!

Her teacher at church chose her to sing a solo on Easter Sunday so we've begun working on that. Sky LOVES to sing and dance and she is very excited about this opportunity.

She will begin swimming lessons again next week and may take them all the way until summertime so that she can be capable in the water.

Brad-Potty training has been going very well for Brad. When we are home he consistently uses the potty and is very proud of himself. We make a real big deal about his "accomplishments" and I've been amazed at his progress. He doesn't like to go on big toilets which poses a problem for when we're not at home.

He continues to scare and torment the cat despite our best efforts at teaching him to be kind to animals. He just thinks it's hilarious when the cat runs away from him and jumps up on to the fence.

Brad also continues to have an enormous appetite. The other day when we went to Golden Spoon, he walked up to the counter and said to the server, "I need some strawberry." Too funny! Also recently we went to McDonald's and he ate a whole double cheeseburger and a bag of apple dippers.

Lila -We are still waiting for this crazy bump on her head to go away so that we can put the helmet back on! When she went to the pediatrician yesterday she weighed 15 lbs. 6 oz., a great improvement from when she left the hospital after her illness weighing only 13 lbs. 8 oz. She's now in the 8th percentile. And, praise be to God, she has started eating some baby food. She's 8 months old! She has been very uncooperative with it until this past week.

Ken-There is an integration committee that Ken is a part of and he had to go with the group to a retreat center for 2 days this past week. He also taught an all day seminar at a local church last Saturday. He is very busy with so many things: he's second reader for a master's thesis, revising an article for publication, preparing to preach in Talbot's chapel in May, meeting with a small group of men from our church every Monday morning, and he recently worked with a philosophy professor to help him revise a chapter in one of his books.

Me-Lately, I've felt pretty overwhelmed with life. There are many factors with the primary 3 being dealing with all of Lila's medical issues and the emotional energy it takes to get her the care she needs, Lila still doesn't sleep through the night so I haven't had a full night's sleep in almost 9 months, and Lila has been very adverse to eating baby food or taking a bottle (which means that I never get a break from her and can't get away for time for myself). I have felt like I'm losing myself and I've been much more easily stressed out lately and very emotional (which is unlike me).

Thankfully, I have wonderful friends and family who are praying for me and supporting me in tangible ways too. And I have a wonderful husband who is trying to provide some time for me to get away without any kids for a couple of hours each week. So yesterday I was able to use a gift card that I received a while ago (thanks Eric and Michelle) and get a massage. I love my sweet kids but I really need some time for myself every once in a while too. Hopefully things will get better!

Fullerton Arboretum

Yesterday we took a trip to the Fullerton Arboretum to see their Rainbow Garden. We went with the Talbot wives group which also has an overabundance of boys. It's a small miracle that no one fell in the pond! We saw turtles and ducks here.

Planting some seeds.

Looking at all the different colred vegetables in the rainbow garden.

Carrots!

The only girls on the trip: Courage and Lila. Lila still has her helmet off because she still has a painful bump from an infected hair follicle. We were at the doctor's again today about this and we're going to try some topical antibiotic cream.

A cool dinosaur!

So the new neighbors across the street painted their house on Sunday from neutral gray to ORANGE!!!! Wow! Hmmmmm. Below is our orange tree which is producing ripe oranges right now. Yum! Lots of orange when we step out our front door!

Our Visit to the Fire Station

Today was such an exciting day as we visited a local fire department! The MOMS Club was the group we went with and Lila was the only girl there!

All the kids got a fire badge for being so good at the fire house.

Brad and his friend Michael checking out the fire pole.

This firefighter took a special liking to Brad.

Each kid also got their own fire hat.

Brad (and all the boys) had a really great time exploring the trucks and interacting with the firemen.

When I asked Brad what his favorite part of the trip was he said, "The trucks!"

Brad even got to try on the pants and boots.

Brad was very impressed with their chairs. And their tv was ENORMOUS!!! Maybe he will be a firefighter when he grows up???

Recent Crafts

Brad really likes glue-the liquid kind-and lots of it! Now would be a good time to buy stock in glue! A "project" like this will keep him busy for quite a while. He never puts anything in the glue although sometimes Sky will "finish" the project for him by putting in some buttons or beads.

On Thursday night Sky woke up vomitting and having diarrhea in her bed. Apparently this is going around in her class. She had a stomach ache since Sunday so it finally manifested itself on Thursday. Unfortunately we had to cancel our Friday and Saturday plans because of Sky's illness. It was a real bummer since Ken taught an all day seminar on Saturday and I was stuck home with the kids (rather than attending the 2 bday parties we were hoping to go to).

So, I know it's a little early for Easter egg dying but since Sky was home sick from school and we were looking for something fun to do...

Brad was like a mad scientist with the different dyes. He would dunk each egg into each dye and by the end, most of his eggs were a strange brown color.

Please note in the picture below how much straighter Lila's head is. I think the chiropractor is really helping her torticulis!

Brad and Lila Hanging Out

This is how the helmet comes off-we remove the velcro strip and then the helmet can stretch an amazing amount to fit over her head.