Our Ladies

I looked through photos from the last 6 years, and I'm suddenly feeling like time is passing much too quickly. I love going back and reading about the different things our girls were doing at certain times because it's true that you forget so quickly, and I'm not gonna lie...poor Julia doesn't have that much recorded about her so without further ado:

Sabrina:  So super old and such a sweetheart! She is loving the warmer weather (a girl after my own heart) and wants to go outside to ride bikes, new scooter, water table, slip n' slide, etc. all the time. Her best friend at school is Bellamy, although she seems to have a new story every day about someone new. She is such a good big sister and can make Julia laugh harder than anyone. She is taking an after-school art class one day per week, but I'm not sure she's loving it as it makes her day go from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, which is long. She has had a loose tooth for quite some time, so any day now, the tooth fairy will make her debut around here (and she'll probably sob a little as she takes that little tooth).

Lucy: Oh, how I love this spitfire! Lucy is growing like a weed. She and Sabrina can share most clothing now and people ask me if they are twins all the time! She is obsessed with getting a pet. She asks me about pets no fewer than 20 times per day. We may have to give in and get a fish. She is still the best hugger on earth. She is taking gymnastics again, and the teacher says her name no fewer than 20 times during the 45 minute class...she likes to do her own thing! We're working on it, but she still loves going.  She cannot wait to go to preschool in the fall. She is more than ready (in fact, we are all more than ready!). She really loves Primary now...a complete turn around from her first few weeks. 

Julia: Is now nearly 7 months old! I just love her little self. She sits up pretty well until she gets excited and needs to move all her limbs at once, and then she tips. She is very happy (except when she's not). She has two bottom teeth that have popped through, and I have the feeling that more are on their way as she voraciously chews on anything she can get her hands on! Jewelry is a thing of the past on my end. She eats anything, but I'd say that she has a sweet tooth and loves fruit (and even the few tastes of real treats that she's had...third child...enough said!). She watches her sisters run around her, and seriously, her face shows her excitement to see them. It's so strange to me that in another 7 months she'll be joining in on the fun. We all just love her!

Happy Birthday Sabrina!

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My goodness! How did 6 years go by in such a flash? Sabrina's birthday is always such a reminder of her total lack of babyhood, so it's a little bitter sweet for the mom, but it's just sweet to her! We celebrated by taking a trip to the American Girl doll store, where Michelle joined our family. When Sabrina was born, I was teaching and had great insurance, so I'm pretty sure that it cost us more money to bring Michelle (and accessories) home than it did to bring Sabrina home. Such is life! We then went to eat with the Kyle Sampsons and had cake and ice cream and presents at our house.

Sabrina, if I had all the kids in the world lined up to choose from, I'm pretty sure I'd pick you! You are my biggest helper, such a great student, friend, and sister. You confirm the nature over nurture philosophy as I know that I did nothing to make you so good. You came that way. We love you so much! You make life fun.

Happy Birthday to my Subby! I don't care how old you get, you'll always be my baby!

Goodbye Discovery

I totally missed the Space Shuttle Discovery's final flight over D.C. before retiring to the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport. Luckily Sabrina has teachers who are clued in and took her outside to wave to it as it flew over. Paul also was clued in and saw it from on top of his office building. I totally remember watching the Space Shuttle take off on TV as a kid. Pretty cool!

Monticello

The Boulters arrived at our house about an hour after we returned home from Utah. You may think that would be crazy, but it was really quite wonderful to have guests to stay up late with and talk. They indulged us one Saturday and rode with us (and all three kids) down to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home that's on the nickel). I LOVE Monticello. Say what you will about Jefferson, but he knew how to build one heck of a house! It had been 7 years and 3 kids since we'd been to Monticello, and it was possibly even better than the last time.

At the edge of the vineyard. The garden was amazing too!

The odds of us getting a great shot of everyone ever again are not great!

Utah

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of info I have to post tonight! I'm going for quick and to the point, so pardon my brevity. (Unless you welcome brevity, in which case, you probably stopped reading my blog a long time ago!)

 Utah, we love thee! We spent two weeks in Utah over Easter break, and it was awesome. Thank you to our peeps for being such great hosts and playmates and for hanging with us. We miss you all dearly!

Spring Time Funnies

Man, this place is spectacular in the spring. Cherry blossoms, 80 degrees, birds chirping in the early morning hours. It's pretty ideal. This is probably why EVERYONE comes here in the spring. We tried to do a Sunday outing/picnic at the Tidal Basin among all the cherry blossoms, but it was so crowded we couldn't find parking. And then our kids got hungry as we were driving around looking; so we ate in the car, never getting out to actually walk around. Still, the views were stunning.

Lucy's funnies:

Mom: (noticing it was a little chilly out) Hey, Luce do you need your jacket.

Lucy: No Mom. Spring is on!

Mom: It's time to go to bed guys. (I still shoot for 7:30 even with daylight savings).

Lucy: But it's not nighttime, it's light time!

Sundays

I'm not telling you that I have the worst time in the world for church (3:00 pm to 6:00 pm) so that you'll feel sorry for me. Really, I'm not. I just want you to count whatever time you have as a blessing. I kid. While 3 to 6 church isn't ideal, there are perks.

Perk #1:
PJ's 'til noon and the "family bed"

Sorry so dark!

I read a book about sleep when Sabrina was a baby, and it mentioned that some families choose to have a "family bed." Paul and I have joked about how "wonderful" that would be ever since. This scenario isn't really chosen by us, but it somehow seems to happen every Sunday morning. (Note: I do NOT condone a family bed. The few times (like twice) that we've had kids in the bed to sleep have been the least restful experiences I've had.)

Perk #2
Pre-church outings

Again, super dark!

We usually choose to just put the girls in the car for a family drive some place before church, but last week we decided to head up to the temple and do the visitor's center. I adore this picture! Sabrina isn't really trying to put Lucy in a choke hold, she's just trying to teach her to look at the camera and smile. The cute sister missionary at the visitor's center gave them "Junior Missionary" sticker tags. They wore them all day and were quite disappointed to find the stick gone the next day. As the weather warms, our Sunday outings will vary some we hope.

And why post on your blog if you're not going to show a pic of your cute baby:

Of course, no one thinks your kids are as cute as you do, but man...she's got me wrapped, and I'm the disciplinarian around here; so can you imagine what that face is going to get away with? Trouble, I tell you.