GLOSSY!

The question is... What kind of foolish parents lay their three-year-old down for a nap with a brand new compact of lip gloss right next to her bed?! (She's smiling because she feels so beautiful!)

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

Today our nephew Jeremy is sixteen years and ten days old, so this is, of course a special day for him. Actually Feb. 15, was probably more special, but we hope he's having a good day today, too. As Jeremy would tell you, there's no one who deserves a better birthday than him, the most humble of all men, and happy to tell you about it! He's great for a laugh, and a talented and kind person to boot. The cross-eyed picture is an old one that we have, and as I have never put it in an album, we come across it in our piles of stuff on the desk periodically. Whenever we do, we just have to laugh, partly because the eye cross is so great and partly because it's this nice, serious family picture where everyone else looks normal and smiley. On this special day, may Jeremy bring everyone a laugh...

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Yesterday was the third birthday of our littlest "Big Girl", Erin Lee. She had a grand day, complete with her choice for supper (pancakes) and her choice for a movie night ("The Heffalump Movie"). Her tricycle is a hit, and she really can almost pedal it. (Either she's bigger than I thought, or it's smaller!)

Of course, for Moms, birthdays are always nostalgic. All day long I was remembering three years ago and how much I was just loving being taken care of in the hospital and focusing on this new little one. And what a privilege to see a personality unfold over the past three years! Erin is our kid who's never met a stranger and is always looking for fun. Just last week, she asked one of the men who was helping in the church nursery if he would, "...please get down on the floor and be a heffalump." He got a kick out of that, but we weren't surprised...it's just so Erin. She's also brought our family new words such as "babypants" for shorts (because they aren't full-grown pants yet) and "hemigana" for sunrise/sunset (long story). And as she's the kid who always wants to be like the big kids, she's delighted to finally be a big three-year-0ld. I sigh as the "terrific two's" slip away, but I'll always be able to look back and smile when I recall one of my favorite memories of Erin, screaming in a fit of passion, "I...DON'T...YIKE...MOMMY...ANYMO'!!"

And just a side note, yesterday was also the birthday of our friend Janice, a fun lady and great role model as a Mom. She visited us last summer, and I told her I'd put this picture on the blog...so I finally did. Happy Birthday, Janice!

Life Goes On...

...whether the blog does or not! I have no excuse for not being more faithful at this lately, other than being very busy with some other projects and feeling sort of dull. I'm sure all my faithful readers (both of them) have given up wondering if I'm every going to post anything again and are long gone. But in the event someone is still interested, here's what's somewhat new with us.

First and foremost, we celebrated Erin's third birthday this weekend. Her actual day is tomorrow, so I'll say more about her then. I like this picture, though. I call it "Sunset of the Terrific Two's".



Matt's been putting together a tricycle tonight in anticipation of the big day tomorrow. It went relatively quickly but looks way too big now that it's together. I was hoping for something our "shortstack" could ride now rather than in two years. We'll see how it goes.


We've been playing in the snow on days that it wasn't too cold (which has actually been most of them lately).



Matt and Joe missed three days of school last week because of snow and cold, which led to other amusements like Family Movie Night. I tried to get a sweet picture of Joe and Ellie being all cozy but discovered that it's impossible to take a picture of my kids while eating popcorn. I have about six shots in a row, all like this one!

Happy Birthday, Carris!

Yesterday our niece Carris turned nine, and we are sending her birthday wishes! Carris lives in Seattle with the part of the family that visits every summer...and we love it! She has a very cool name ("grace" in Greek) and a cool nickname, Chi-Chi (or Cheech)...although I don't think she really likes being called that anymore. My favorite Carris story is that once in school (maybe for Valentine's Day?) the class had to draw a picture of a heart and tell something that they loved (or something like that). For Carris' picture she drew a picture of a real heart with four valves and veins and arteries going in and out of it. I just love that! What an original!

Happy Birthday, Lief and Amy!

Last week Matt's youngest sister and her husband both celebrated their birthdays. They live out in Montana where they went cross-country skiing in Glacier N.P. to celebrate their big days. I've done this with them before and know that it is truly a treat. What a great way to bring in a new age. They even took their three kids with them!

Lief and Amy are the parents of Hans, Mary, and Anna (who hasn't been blogged for her birthday yet). They live in a beautiful house, which they built almost entirely by themselves, while they were living over their garage/"carriage house" for I-don't-know-how-long with three kids. And they all still love each other! They also make great original video productions. Their debut was this Christmas with "Mall Wars", which kept the entire Ohio part of the family riveted on the TV and laughing hysterically. They are just fun to have in the family, and we wish them continued happiness through the year ahead!