Where has March gone? (lots of pictures)

We knew this was going to be a busy month--we had something planned for every weekend--but who knew it would be over so quickly?

• A day or two before March arrived, we were outside playing like this:

• On March 1st, we were playing in the snow.

• On Monday, March 9th, David started his new job. He seems to be enjoying it so far, but his descriptions of climbing inside the fuel tank of a C-130 almost make me hyperventilate. I'm a bit clostrophobic, and I do believe I'd die before my first paycheck.

• The weekend of the 15th, our friends Michael and Erin came to lead worship at our church. They did an awesome job! And Aubie loved playing with their kids again. Did I get any pictures of this very fun weekend? No, I forgot. But their son Thomas did. Lots. I just don't know how to get his pictures on my blog.

• Matthan got into his share of messes this past month. He's getting into the gum in my purse in these pictures. I think the gum was too "spicy", as Aubie calls it, because when I found him, there were 5 or 6 pieces of slobbery gum scattered around him that he had put in his mouth and spit out. Yuck!

• It was 50's and 60's night at Cubbies one Wednesday, so I used some things I had to come up with this hippie outfit for Aubie.

Earlier that day, I had kept Jill and Wendy for Renee while Daniel had an appointment. Aubie and Jill dressed up like cowgirls and wanted a picture to document it.

• The weekend of the 22nd, Ken came back to visit. Did I get any pictures of this visit? Nope. I forgot again. But we (the picture takers) only got to visit with him for a few hours, so if I'd had longer, I might have remembered to pull out the camera.

• Renee and I took the kids to the Cherry Blossom Festival again this year. Check out Renee's blog for more pictures and explaining--my post is too long already ; ) Or, if you want a trip down memory lane, check out last year's post. Matthan was so tiny!

• During the week of the Cherry Blossom Festival, David had to finish getting his tool box ready for work. This included engraving numbers on every one of his tools. Since I wanted to learn how to use an engraver, and he was worried about finishing his tool box in time, I offered to do that part for him. Writing on a hundred different pieces of metal with a tool that's vibrating a mile a minute isn't easy! But I had fun, and did a pretty good job. I'm gonna keep working on it so I can get really good.

• And then that weekend, our church's praise team (David and I are both a part) had two nights of leading worship for various functions, which made for a very busy weekend!

• We found the most adorable turtle in our little pond the other day. Poor thing needed a real home, so we took him down to the lake. I let Aubie hold him before we "took him to see his mommy and daddy", though. Don't worry--I made her wash her hands thoroughly after she held him!

• Random Pictures of the kids:

So, yeah. That was March. Hopefully, it won't be the end of April before I post again : )

P.S. Heather is celebrating her 300th post! Check out her giveaway!

3 weekends and a haircut

Three Fridays ago, Renee and her kids celebrated Chinese New Year with us. The kids had great fun playing with the lion/dragon. We also made this dragon puppet. And as it always is with a complicated craft and little hands, the big hands did most of the work. :)




The following Monday, Matthan got his first haircut. It was about time! Poor fellow had a mullet and a half. He did really well because:
1) he had to sit in Mommy's lap. 2) he got a sucker. 3) there was a dog. If any one of these three things had not been present, these pictures would look a lot different!
(Notice picture #2. If we had wanted him to have a genuine official 1980s mullet, we could have left it like that. I love McGyver, but...not his hair.)



From the Friday of the Chinese New Year celebration, to the following Friday, Matthan had sicknesses of every sort, from an ear infection to sores in his mouth, to teething, and a horrible cold. It was a miserable week! But by Saturday, he was feeling better and we...






Went to Rome. It was a last minute trip, so I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to (we're coming to see you next time, Erin!), but it really was a great trip. I introduced Aubie to the folks I used to work with at the credit union and showed her the apartments where she spent the first 8 months of her life. While driving by there, I saw that my old neighbor was home, stopped by to say hey, and found out she was having a really hard time with a medical problem. I got to pray for her, and it made us both cry. She said she had just been thinking about me the day before. The whole trip was so good, I felt like it really was God-ordained.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well, when we were Romans, we ate at Chili's! So whenever we go, that's what we do.


After Chili's we went to Winshape (at Berry College) and took some pictures. Left to right: Tiffany (Brandon's girlfriend, very nice!), Brandon (David's nephew), Dorenda, Matthan, David, Aubie (with her eyes closed), and me.
One looks like he's posing and isn't. The other is obviously posing. Obviously.

After that, we went to Dorenda's sister's house to pick up Dorenda's old car, and there were horses! I couldn't keep either child away from them, so I just had to watch closely. Ever since David was bitten by a horse (the horse got mad that he stopped feeding it and bit him in the back) I've been very cautious around horses. But Matthan and Aubie had no fear. Matthan probably would've hopped up on it and rode off if there hadn't been a fence : )



Craft! For Valentine's day, I got David this shirt combo. Only, I thought the grey tshirt looked kinda plain and needed to match the green plaid a bit better. So, I did something I've been wanting to do for a while: make Abercrombie-style letters. Basically, jersey fabric under felt lettering. It was a lot easier than the felt letters I made for New Years, let me tell you! His shirt says "father" in Russian. I just love the way Russian looks (and sounds)--I just knew it'd look awesome on a tshirt. (sorry it looks wonky--I forgot to take the picture before David wore it, then put it in the dirty clothes. So, yeah. Its a bit wrinkly now.)

BUT...
best of all , this weekend we all got to meet Kenaz, Leah's boyfriend. I think they make an absolutely adorable couple! He is such a great guy. I'm so happy to know him, and even happier he found my sister!

first picture post of...

I was going to put this on a card, but I could never get the pictures to print right after I collage-d them all together. So, here you go: Happy New Year!
I haven't posted in forever, and here's why:
Aubie and Jill had their first sleepover before Christmas, so I made aprons to remember it by.

I made a potholder, apron, and basket liner (painted the basket red) for our church ladies Christmas party.
For Leah's Christmas present, I made a reversible apron (she's been needing an apron for the art room) out of a reversible skirt she had given me. I also made myself 2 "puffed-sleeve" turtlenecks out of the 2XLs Ma gave me--one of them pictured here.
Finally finished Miss Debbie's prize!
New Year's Eve Costumes.
Made the letters for my costume (hemmed the skirt as well). I was Cordelia Drexel Biddle from "The Happiest Millionaire". Leah is Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman. (sorry this pic is so tiny--I stole it from Facebook.) Made Daniel's hat and boot-covers from scratch, painted a thrifted jacket bright blue and added cuffs and a much bigger collar. Daniel was going to go for existential, but I thought it'd be a fun Christmas present for him to have the whole costume. And, guess what! he won the Best Costume prize! Woohoo! "Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow."


Friend presents.
The ornaments were some that I cut out when Renee did ornaments with the kids and me. Then I painted them at home (much more peaceful painting by myself! : )
This one was for Lyndsay--3 down, 47 to go : )

And then lastly, possibly my favorite quilt yet. Not only is it so green (as in the color), its pretty "green"--as in it was 100% STASH!!!! Woohoo! (For those of you who don't know the term "stash", it means that it is all stuff that you already have. So technically, it didn't cost me a penny.)
The recipient is doing the nursery in John Deer, so green and yellow fields with corn and green beans seemed appropriate. The tractor toy has a squeaker inside!