Sesame Street and Lava Frosting

The boys and I had so much fun making Cookie Monster cupcakes for BiggiE to take to preschool for his birthday. If I had a scanner I would love to show you a photo from 30 years ago with my dad posing just the same way in front of similar cupcakes for my preschool.


We had a great time at BiggiE's birthday party. I think it was my friend, Michelle, who mentioned the idea of using dry ice to have a steaming volcano cake. Whomever it was, we thank you -- the cake was a huge success. Uncle Drew took a video and the oohs and ahs are very enthusiastic.


Each kid made their own mini volcano and we made them erupt, or as BiggiE says "interrupt", with vinegar and baking soda. There was so much excitement with every eruption it was like they were seeing it for the first time over and over again. Hilarious!

Happy 4th Birthday, BiggiE!

Baby BiggiE


One-year-old


Two-years-old


Three-years-old


Our big four-year-old! We love you!

Opening Day

I love having a big driveway! It is especially good for opening day for Team Thomas or the Cardinals or the Arizona Tiger Sharks, depending on whom you ask.


BiggiE had a good command of the pitcher's mound.


Moose had a nice hit to reach first base. I especially like his bike helmet doubling as a batting helmet and the dab of marshmallow on his nose.


Jelly Bean is getting ready to send Moose home.


Play ball!

Reading and Sopa Rica

Moose has cracked the written code. It started with simple books at school and then out of the blue he picked up Pato Va en Bici (Duck on a Bike) and started sounding it out. I was amazed at how well he did.


Another day he was reading one of his homework books about a dog making some delicious soup and sharing it with her friends. Moose decided we should make the soup. Since there was no recipe provided he counted the ingredients in the pictures: 6 carrots, 29 beans, etc. We went to the grocery store and counted out the exact amounts, chopped them up and ended up with a soup that was indeed "rica".

To say Moose was excited about his soup would be an understatement.

Notice the chunk of bangs missing in the above picture. This was the result of an experiment where he was making an ant trap and required some hair to complete his work. I informed him that if he needs hair in the future he will need to ask for my assistance.

Road Warrior

The big guy had a bit of a spill in the driveway. Nothing a frozen yogurt stick couldn't fix.

BiggiE told me he wanted me to count to 2200 while he was icing his mouth. I got to 200 when the idea of the frozen yogurt stick occurred to me.

Win-win for everyone.

Jelly Bean -- 16 months

Our sweet Jelly Bean continues to make us smile. She is very busy and independent. I don't remember the boys getting into things as much as she does, but perhaps I am a bit more distracted keeping tabs on her brothers and leaving her too much time to explore. One thing that is definitely different is that she loves to put things away.

She has added some more words to her verbal vocabulary: uh-oh, whoa, and her new favorite, no (pronouced noah). It is especially amusing when she adds her stop hand, like "talk to the hand". All of her other communicating is done is sign while she says mommy. For example, she signs for drink as she says my name.

We went to the coast and she made a bee line for the ocean. She loves water.


She was entertained for a long while playing in the wet sand.


Jelly Bean is very interested in airplanes. Here she is trying to do the sign for airplane.


I think the look says it all here...


We love you, you little rabble rouser!

Easter Egg Hunt

One thing I love about living in a small town is the local events. This Easter our local fire department put on an easter egg hunt at the local elementary school. The kids had a great time wandering through the tall grass looking for colored eggs. They were searching for one of the special golden eggs they could redeem for a chocolate train. No luck with the golden eggs this year, but they all had a great time. A photo of the boys ended up on the front page of the paper the next day!