Darth Vader Fairy Princess

Listening to Elders

Eric amuses dinner guests.

How was dinner?

Tonight I made dinner for the family and then went to a Zumba class. When I got home, I attempted to communicate with my spouse. What I got was a brief summary of what dinner can be like after children. Lots of joy, but not the most relaxing or filling experience!

K: How was dinner?

S: Chaotic! You should see the videos I took.

K: No, I mean how did it *taste*?

S: Can't remember.

WELCOME, OSCAR!!!

A heartfelt welcome to Oscar Gleeson Van Leeuwen, born February 18, 2011 ! The violet is your birth flower, a symbol of spring! You have only been here a few hours and you have already brought so much joy! Can' t wait to meet you. Now, let your parents get some rest!!!

Piano!

We now have a digital piano! Everybody has been enjoying it. They even let me play sometimes!

Fiddle-i-fee

William is getting more and more confident about his reading! One of my favorite things is when he reads to his siblings.

Warmer Days

Last week we were dressing like this for our commute to work. It hit a low of -39F! This is Sean, in case you can't tell!

So as soon as it warmed up a little bit we headed 1,000 feet down in elevation to Fort Collins where it is a lot warmer...and there's more to do! It was 55F which felt BALMY. We went to a farm so we could review our farm animals. This is a picture of Eric calling the pig a "MOO". Clearly, we have our work cut out for us today!

This is the gobble-gobble. Eric was scared of it so William protected him. Very funny, because William was scared of turkey too! It kept hissing at us. Never said "gobble gobble".

After a short break for lunch we were back outside. We played at City Park and then toured around this small lake , the kids were on bicycles.

The kids were on bicycles but sometimes had to dismount to climb on one of the four gigantic frogs on the side of the lake. This picture goes out to our frog-loving friends in Bloomington and Lansdale!

Thanks for a nice day, family!

6:34 pm and Tangerines

Katy - Cleans up dinner , wipes off countertops. Fills fruit bowl with tangerines.

Sean- Juggles three tangerines to the Alvin and the Chipmunk's Pandora station. Wows children.

William - Ignores everybody and does his homework concentratedly at the kitchen table.

Margaret - Dances frantically,integrates new moves from dance class, tries to chase flying tangerines.

Eric - Runs off with tangerine, peels it, eats some and squishes the rest.

Names and Poetry

Poetic: Eric has started to call Margaret "Mimi".

Not as poetic: Eric has started to call William "WeeWee"