Perler Creations

So the new thing for the kids is Perler Beads. I know they're not new to the rest of the world, but over the last couple of months, ours have gone nuts for them. Ezra, in particular, will scour Google images looking for perler bead patterns of planes, space ships, Marvel characters and all sorts of random stuff. Then he and Gabe will sit for hours making them. 

 A set of Star Wars characters

Just a couple of the Marvel guys Ezra has done.

My only complaint is the sheer number of the things I have to spend time ironing! But, at least they're being creative, right?

Happy 3rd Birthday, Irene!

Now the second of our "twins born 3 years apart" had her own day of celebration.

 She was greeted by the traditional birthday banner, which she loved. Mama got her some cool watercolor painting pages that she spent a while doing. She also got a really cool balloon with little balloon stars inside it that she ran around with most of the day. Unfortunately, it suffered a ceiling fan mishap. 

That evening, we went over to Nana and Pop-pop's for a fun family birthday gathering. There was yummy pasta with homemade sauce for dinner.

  The youngest 3 enjoyed some relaxation in their chairs in the yard.

 And tasty cake, strawberry shortcake and ice cream for dessert.

It was great to get together with Nana, Pop-pop, Uncle Greg and Cousin Rooney for a fun couple of hours! 

Ezra's 6th Birthday

It's so hard to believe our little guy is 6! 

 This kid is, without a doubt, our most intense child. He does everything with great passion, whether it's playing and laughing or getting mad and upset. He does it all with all he's got. He loves to get physical, wrestling and punching, throwing balls, shooting Nerf guns, playing with cars. He's fascinated with planes and will spend hours building them out of Legos or Perler beads. 

 When it came time for a cake, I asked him what he wanted, expecting a plane or something from Star Wars. Instead, he said, "Chocolate." When I explained that I meant what did he want it to look like, he said, "A race car." Like a Cars movie car? Lightning McQueen? "No. just a plain old race car." 

Well, rather that a plain old race car, Rebecca had the idea of a racetrack with a bunch of cars, so this is what I made him. Rebecca picked up a few new cars for him and we put them around the track. Well, it was a hit. He loved it. :)

He loved getting up in the morning and seeing his giant birthday banner that the other kids had decorated with planes and cars for him. Olivia took some of the money from her own piggy bank and bought him a rubber band gun that he's been wanting for a such a long time. I think we'll all need to wear safety goggles around the house from now on....

I really can't wait to see what this next year brings. I expect more and more passionate activity from him for a long time to come.

Olivia's Recital - Spring 2016

Olivia had her Spring Recital today. She did wonderfully. It amazes me each time just how much she improves and how hard she works to learn her songs. 

There's no question in my mind that Olivia's got a lot of talent and can go as far as she wants to with her music.

As usual, the kids got some running-around time along with some snacks afterwards

 It's not often that I get a decent picture of all 5 kids, but today I was able to get 3! :) Unfortunately, the wind was blowing, so it was hard to keep it out of the littles' faces.

Strawberry Picking 2016

We took advantage of a beautiful morning (actually the only one that week without rain) to pick a few strawberries.

 The blooms were everywhere and just as pretty as can be.

 The kids paired up and worked to fill their buckets. Gabe and Ezra worked one row.

 Olivia and Emma worked another. Emma had quite a good eye for spotting great berries.

 And Irene followed me with the bucket. She wouldn't let me put any in it, though... She insisted that I hand them to her so she could put them in. 

 After she and I filled our bucket, she went to trail after Gabe for a while and point out what he missed. :)

We got a decent haul for less that an hour's work. Sadly, they ate them all within a week. :)