finishing up other May-June... cause i've just gotta :)

I have a million pictures I keep meaning to get up here on the blog, so sorry for those of you that count on me :)... if there's any left!
without further ado, here's a bunch of old pictures, (think of it as making room for the new ones!)
I still have a couple other things too (birthdays, etc) that have to get posted, but I figured this was enough for now:

would you believe me that they do this voluntarily? they seem to love it :)

most Sunday afternoons I can find these two snuggled upfor afternoon naps, and when I do, they are invariably in the exact same position as each other, sometimes together like this, sometimes not even touching on their backs or whatever... they look and act so much alike it amazes me!

seriously mom, you think this is gonns stop me?! we took the chair/stair-blocker away after a bit, he's definitely afraid of falling, so I don't worry much...

afton built this apple tart almost completely by herself.. but mom burned it a bit. it still tasted yummy!

umm, I thought it was an apple? (good thing he didn't have teeth yet ;) )

first tooth!!! (the second wasn't far behind)

he can seriously do push-ups like this folks! go, go gadget AF-arms!

all I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!

chubby baby legs!

Afton's braids... she doesn't do it as often as Rayna, but it's sure nice not to have to hound her to keep her hair out of her face or brush it out!

Kindergarten promotion

Ms Rose

field day volunteering... our game was pop-the-balloon-with-your-bum

field day tug-of-war (afton's class, they lost... so did rayna's, and so did the volunteers vs teachers, though we were winning til they cheated :) )

Chi's been loving the bunk-bed fort... we actually have the top bunk upside down right now, with the mattress on the 'bottom' of the bed, but a fitted sheet makes for the perfect tent-library (yes, my kids use tents to play library!)

Afton has an uncanny knack for finding 4-leaf clovers... this one is kind-of the worse for the wear, but I never have my camera handy when we need it... I think this was the 3rd or 4th one she found this summer, but she's now up to 8!

Afton's end-of-year awards

ta-da!!!!

and GONE!!!

the best Father's Day gift dad (or mom) could have EVER gotten!!! Malachi got dressed for church not only with no screaming, but he beat dad dressed all on his own! (with Rayna's encouragement, that's why she's in the picture too)
and the best part, this has continued EVERY sunday since! it truly is a miracle!!!

pear pie for Father's Day

I'm sooo helpful!

smile, I'm ADORABLE!!!

 

Easter

We had a super-fun Easter egg hunt with our little friend Isabella (her mom works with Paul and we've traded babysitting with them a couple times). I think the kids had as much fun pointing her to different eggs as they had finding some of their own! (which is why I don't have any good pictures of her, she was always surrounded by our kids!)

and yes, clearly they all dress themselves, polka-dots and plaid anyone?

got one!

it's already in a basket!

the bunny laid a silver egg?!

after they were done hunting, afton built a little nest on the remains of our woodpile and put some eggs in it

Go figure, another Easter I managed not to take pictures of the kids all dolled up for church :)

but they were wearing the same dresses as the last 2 years--and evidentially I didn't take any pictures last year either... but they've grown so much that this'll be it for those dresses... I love that they were able to last!)

I did get a picture or 2 of Asher all dressed up for Easter! I love his little face!

his cute little shirt was almost too small! I couldn't believe it... though I know how big he is, it still always surprises me

and I know this doesn't look like it matches the Easter theme, but that shovel was in the kids' Easter 'basket' --they had a joint pile of gifts from the good bunny to share, including some garden tools, a new swimming pool (that it was far too cold to use for another month), and FROZEN.

April in pictures

So once again, a brief recap of April in photos:

first, Rayna once had to build a working vehicle model for a race at school (remember the vehicle graph? it was in the same unit). Somehow I never got a picture of rayna's car, but it was very similar to Malachi's, except her's was a bigger box painted yellow, and with the wheels closer to the car... there were a few other minor differences, but it was fun. this is chi running his races

complete with ramp into the kitchen for maximum onto-the-tile-range

this is what happens to little boys with big sisters

and evidentially, I took practically no pictures of spring break! I have 2 events, and though I'm sure we did lots of fun stuff, since I took no pictures I've forgotten most of it already! I'm AWFUL!

the good news, the trees clearly reveal it's spring!

I looked out the window and what did I see... Rayna climbing on the apricot tree!

and a random picture of when Asher was just starting to crawl all over on his own... I'm not sure exactly when he became proficient, but it was probably the first week of April (7 months)

malachi was a bit under the weather... it's always obvious when he takes voluntary naps... with his boots still on!

still spring break:

see the ball! she's awesome!

it was a bit chilly... and Asher was a bit uninterested... though it was nice to have a different place to crawl around

Malachi was really getting into the 'tennis' too (Rayna was playing on the playground, she lasted maybe 5 minutes playing tennis)

on our walk home from the park... the biggest dandelion stem EVER! it had about 6-8 blossoms coming out of 1 giant stem, weird :)

just chillin' and teething on a cucumber, of course!

so for some reason, it never crossed my mind to bathe the boys together til one random day in April... Asher LOVED being in the big-boy-bath :)

And it appears the girls may have seeded the front lawn... on purpose!

but really, can you ever have enough dandelions? at least they're pretty when they're small and yellow!

and in honor of fun, we made uncle joseph's caramel popcorn! YUM! I think it lasted nearly 24 hours... nearly.

cherry blossom festival!

We've been trying to get to a few of the most popular sites before we leave DC, it just seems right, even though they are generally some of the most crowded things, overall, we haven't regretted anything we've tried to do, though parking can sometimes feel prohibitive! we probably didn't time our trip to the cherry blossoms ideally for just that reason, it was the last day of the festival, and the crowd reflected that! lucky for us, we found a parking space that was only about a half-mile from the tidal basin (it just took us 45 minutes of very slow driving to find it!).
I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully they can convey some of the beauty :) the smell was actually amazing too, despite the crowd... and yes, there really were cherry blossoms, and beech trees, and forsythia, and hundreds of other pretty spring flowers everywhere, but I did feel it was special to walk the tidal basin anyways! there's just a different atmosphere there... so, pictures:

note the people under the trees... there were tens of thousands at least! and no guardrails... I've never been so tempted in my life to 'accidentally' bump into a total stranger!

gorgeous blossoms!

and gorgeous girls :)

classic Washington Monument

this might be the only picture I got of Malachi, he doesn't like crowds, so he spent most of the time in the stroller... but he's a sucker for a cool bridge! and let me tell you, it's a tight fit to push a double stroller over a crowded bridge when there's no specified directionality! fortunately, everyone's there to enjoy the day, not rushing late to work or anything like that :)

the sun may have been too bright for that photo, but I love it anyways! and I like that she will see it and remember living in the nation's capitol, and recognizing how many amazing things happen(ed) here.

my 'shot' at a panorama

and of course, this smiley boy!