Big Shoes to Fill

Waffles

Making some Saturday morning waffles with Dad:

I love Saturday mornings.

Rockin' Some New Masks

Learning to Smile

Well, Eli's figured out how to smile for the camera:

I love how his nose wrinkles in that last one; he's trying so hard. I also love how he's in an orange t-shirt here. Eli's almost always in orange these days. It's his favorite color, but since both of his orange shirts happened to be short-sleeved and we've yet to hit "spring" around here, I find the need to do some creative layering while he's getting dressed.

I am so ready for spring. It seems like the daffodils in my yard have been about to bloom for weeks. The sun was peeking through the clouds this morning and I thought, "Finally! Today is the day!" But, the temperature has yet to get anywhere close to the predicted 60 degrees and the windy gusts have blown the gloomy clouds in once again. And it's not just the weather. There seems have been a lot of opportunities to get a little bit "down" over the last couple of weeks. Ugh. I'm just so ready for spring: a new season and some sunshine.

I've been challenged by the words throughout the Psalms during the last couple of weeks. Like these from Psalm 62:

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."

Where is my rest? In God alone. Not the sunshine or warm weather. Where is my rescue? My salvation comes from him. Not in blooming daffodils or budding trees. God alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.

Perhaps, every so often, we need to relearn how to smile, or at least be reminded there may be another reason to. Eli first smiled when he passed gas 2 1/2 years ago, but now he's learning how to smile because someone expects it. I pray that I'm learning how to smile because it reflects the true joy within my heart.

Some "spring break" images: (I hope they make you smile!)

Sandcastles at the beach.

Spring hockey season.

Caterpillar to Butterfly

Bubbles, Oranges, and Bellies

We've officially made it halfway to our next big adventure. Baby Mulder is "half-baked" and due to be finished July 28, 2011. We're excited to meet you, little one!

Our Baby Can Read and Other Updates

I know I've become horribly negligent on posting pictures, so here's a few from the last several weeks. Looking through them, I can't believe how grown-up the boys are looking.

Brothers watching "t.b."

We've had a few big snowfalls lately. Poor Luke has a hard time getting around in all his snow gear and the deep snow... he much prefers to be carried by Dad.

At a Spirit hockey game with Grammy and Grandpa. The boys got to stay up waaaay past their bedtime. They really enjoyed watching the players skate and Eli was thrilled that he got to give the Spirit eagle mascot a high five. He kept trying to tell me about it the next day.

Luke watches some curling action out on the rink/pool.

Eli prefers to be up and moving around, here he is showing off some of his hockey skills. He loves the snow and ice!

Making some Valentine's cookies with Mom. All those play-doh cookie cutter skills come in handy when you've got a couple dozen cookies to cut out.

I think Luke thought he had the best part of the job. (He probably did.)

Eli's been using the "real" potty for about a week. He's still in diapers for nap and nighttime, but he's well on his way. These were specially selected underwear to be just like his big cousin, Tristan. We called Tristan before our big underwear shopping trip to get the scoop on the best kind of underwear for little boys. Apparently, Tristan--who was outside walking to the park at the time-- pulled down his own pants and checked his current underwear on the spot. He was wearing Lighting McQueen, so that's what Eli got.

Eli read his own bedtime story tonight. Enjoy!