The Tupperware Pile

Do any of you have a problem keeping all your plastics and lids looking neat??? Can you find the lid that matches the one you want to use? Well, here's our pile. We just pulled them all out and tried to find all the matching lids, and of course we had a lot of lids left over.

Maybe we can keep this cabinet neat for a while???

Daddy's little helper

Eliana is a really good helper. Here she is helping Joel with a project. She even likes going to Lowe's & Home Depot to pick up what is needed.

(I think she just likes to shop!)

The project they were working on is a stand that has feet on it. Eliana laughed when Joel said something about it having feet. She thought that was funny. Then about 20 minutes later she said, "Where are the toes?"

Dissecting once again!

Joanna and Caleb watched a cat being dissected today. They were talking about muscles and I guess cats have a lot of muscles. I missed out observing since I had a doctor's appointment, but I wasn't too upset! Joanna said she took pictures with her little camera so we'll see if I can get to those.

Easter at Nannies!

We always have good time at Nannie's and Mr. Joe's (good family friends we knew in Germany) house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. It was a colder day, but the kids had a great time. It's always fun watching them open each egg and see what is inside.

Eliana says she remembers when....

...she was inside my tummy. I asked her what it was like and she said, "It was DAARRK!!"

"The house is going to fall over"

I was sitting at my desk watching Caleb playing in the backyard when he told me that "The house is going to fall over." So I said, "Oh, why do you think that? It looks like it's okay to me."
It turns out he had noticed that the shadow of the house on the back lawn had moved since the last time he had been out, so he thought the house was slowly falling over.

Tired & "Lazy" Days

Some days it would be nice to just be as lazy as a cat.

Right now I wish I could stretch like them too!

Eliana's Big Decision

Eliana prayed and asked Jesus to come into her heart!

She was very happy.

We celebrated with a "cross cake."

She enjoyed her cake!

Joseph & Lisa's wedding

Joel & Caleb were in a wedding this past weekend. Joel was a handsome best man and Caleb was the cutest ring bearer ever!! (I'm not biased though.)

Caleb with the groom

This one is a little dark, but

shows what a good job

Caleb did!

A Victorian Tea Party

Joanna was invited over to some friends' house for a tea party today. Her friends were studying the Victorian era for school. Joanna said they had tea, cucumber sandwiches and a fancy cake. They also made a couple of crafts, and she brought home the material to make a doll from a handkerchief. This is what a lot of girls made for themselves back then since they couldn't afford a china doll. Their mom took pictures and posted them on their blog.

Easter Party

Our homeschool group had an Easter party. The kids enjoyed some games, making their own Resurrection eggs, and a shared lunch.

Painted Lady Butterfly

Joanna & Caleb have started watching the larvae of three Painted Lady Butterflies this week. They got them on Monday, and the larvae have grown so much this week. Every morning they are surprised to see how much bigger the caterpillars have gotten. They can't wait for the chrysalis to form. Eliana has also been watching excitedly. (I think that's because Grandfather calls her "my little butterfly.")

Tadpole update: No back legs yet on our one remaining tadpole. Hopefully this one can survive it's metamorphosis!

Baby Names

We have decided on a girl's name. Finally. It seems like every time we start talking about baby names it turns almost instantly to silly and crazy names. I was beginning to think we'd be naming her in the hospital. I mentioned last night that we should probably come up with a boy's name for backup-just in case. And what do you know, the very first name Joel comes up with is a crazy one, and then the kids just keep making up silly names. Auugghhh!

Where did this week go??

This week has just flown by. Well, at least the days have. The nights sometimes seemed long with all the cumbersome flipping over and bathroom breaks.

We've been busy doing all our normal stuff and then some. Eliana seemed to have a fun time getting the baby's room ready. She asks "How long till we can get the baby out of your tummy?" My nesting instincts are also kicking in. Certain areas of the house are really calling out to me, but my energy is just not there. There's one kitchen cabinet that's driving me a little crazy!!

We took Belle for her annual vet visit also this week. The vet let the kids listen to her heartbeat and then theirs to hear the difference. She asked them if they knew what the heart did and Caleb burst out with a "Yep!" She asked him what it did and he said "It pumps your blood." The kids were also impressed that the shots didn't bother Belle at all!!

My other stomach

Caleb and I were playing catch in the garage. I was just sitting in a chair and if I missed the ball, Caleb would have to go get it. After a while he said, "Mom, I like your other stomach better." I guess he's figured out that my "current" stomach is slowing me down.

One of my birthday cards

Just thought I'd share my birthday card from Joel which he drew.

I guess you can all imagine how huge I am!!

Missing a tooth

Caleb lost his first tooth today. He only noticed that it was loose a couple of days ago. He came running this morning and said, "Mom, look! I just pulled it out myself!" His other tooth is already in right behind it, just like Joanna's were. So there is a little gap, but not for long. He's been telling everyone!! The only problem now is that he can't find the tooth. It went missing on his way back up the stairs when I told him to go put it in a plastic bag and to go rinse out his mouth. It has vanished.

Our school pet

Belle always hangs out with us during school. She likes to play with the pencils on the desks and sit on the kid's papers. This morning Belle keeps sitting on Caleb's papers and won't get off.


She may also be smarter than we think.
Here she is learning some math facts and about nickels!

Coloring flowers

Caleb & Joanna are learning about the parts of plants. In this experiment, we split the stem of a carnation and put half of the stem in water with red food coloring and the other half of the stem in water with blue food coloring.

We started with a white carnation...

...and ended with a carnation with half of the petals

red and the other half blue.

Recycle Center

We went on a tour of our local recycling center. Caleb liked the big crushing machine and the educational video. Joanna liked the big paper pile and Eliana liked the girl who gave us the tour!!! They all also enjoyed watching the conveyor belt move lots of cardboard into the crushing machine. I was very glad we went in the winter, because I'm sure the smell is not very pleasant in the hot summer months.