Somewhat of a Catch-up & The Post about Dr Pepper

How can I talk about Christmas and Easter in the same post?
Because I'm BEHIND.

Christmas was great.
Made lots of gifts,
didn't take pictures of most of them.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Oh well.

We did our annual
cram-everyone-into-the-photobooth
picture.



Love it!

Don't know how much longer we'll all fit!

In other news....

Lent started yesterday.
I gave up pop.
Actually, I'm trying to decide if I gave up pop
or just Dr Pepper.
But all pop is the greater sacrifice
so that's probably what it should be
and OH MY, I'm having a hard time!
I'm shocked. Is it possible to go through pop withdrawal?
This is crazy.

But then I found this post
that talks about going without a different luxury
for one month at a time and instead giving the money for water.

This month's challenge is coffee. I like coffee but it's no big deal for me to give it up. Dr Pepper..... there you go! I bet I spend close to $20/month on Dr Pepper! That same $20 could buy water for 20 people for 20 years. Um, yes, SIGN ME UP FOR THAT!

I can choose to sacrifice for one month so that others can have water for 20 years.

And then can we pause for a moment
to consider the privilege of my life
that giving up Dr Pepper
is my "sacrifice"?


If you are interested,
here is the post that got me thinking.
They are building wells in Liberia, West Africa
through charity:water.

Sunday

After One's first soccer game
where they "didn't keep score":

but we won, 5-1.
:o)

Wordless Wednesday: Fun Times in MuchoLand

Helping Hands

I thought this was so cute,
Three "helping" One tie his shoes

Catch Up

Just checking in from a blogging break.

We've been doing lots of hanging out.



Playing in the sprinklers:


Getting our entire floors replaced:



Turning 3 mos old:



Taking youth groups to the Lion King:


Notice the smile on my face?
This is me before they told me
I had to have a ticket for Four as well.

Seriously.

(Don't worry, they comped it.)


Then this one gave us quite the health scare:

(He has taken to drawing on his face....markers, lipstick, sunscreen....you name it.)

He's now scheduled for kidney surgery this week.
Ironically, so is our neighbor.
Same day, same hospital.

So the blogging break is going to continue
because my babies come first!

Happy Summer!

Because I might need it one day

I love my kids!

Sunday

What?!?
It's not Sunday?
Well, life is a little slower these days
and I was super late getting a Sunday pic
and then no one could agree on
who got to hold Four sooooo.......

Why not a little Musical Four? :o)

One's turn:

Three's turn:


Two's turn:


And of course:

Check back soon!
I actually have a craft in the works!
*gasp*

Recital Costume

Two got to try on her recital costume.
It was adorable!!!

(It's actually sleeveless
she was just wearing a long-sleeved
leotard that day.)

100% adorable!

Before & After

Before:

After:

#4 has arrived!
8lbs - 19 3/4"

Big Sisters

Warning!
If your baby has a big sister
then when you get out of the shower
you might find this:


Love it!

Green and more Green

No pinching occurred in our family today!
Although Two told me that she pinched
DaddyMan this morning....
even though he was wearing green....

Here's the green crew
plus One's best bud:


Yesterday's skirt turned out pretty cute!
Two's teachers said they were waiting
to see what she would wear today.
Not sure if that's a comment on the fact
that I often let her dress herself
or the fact that we go a little crazy
with theme-dress days. Hmmm.

So another craft that was
St Patty's appropriate totally on accident
(thanks to some scrap yarn)....


I learned to crochet!
From somebody's Aunt Esther.
Doesn't that name make her
sound immediately competent?
Anyway, youtube had many how-to videos
but if you're wanting to learn how to crochet,
you have to check out Aunt Esther!
It was a breeze and by the end of her videos
you can chain stitch, double stitch, half double stitch
and basically go crazy!

After a few attempts at each style,
I'm going for it with this beanie hat pattern.
It's gauged for a teen/young adult
but I used a smaller crochet hook
hoping for a smaller size
and let's face it,
also because that's the size crochet hook I had.

Anyway, it's looking too big for an infant
so at this point this hat belongs to
Whoever It Fits When I'm Done With It.
But it does actually look like a hat
so for my first attempt
(at least so far)
I'm calling it a success!