Blueberry Picking

We had such a fun time picking blueberries on Friday. Ella and Evan thought it was like an Easter egg hunt, which is Ella's specialty!! It was a warm day, but very enjoyable with a nice cool breeze. I'm thinking we need to go back in about a week to stock up for winter and freeze them. We only got about 3 lbs, but I'm thinking if I sit my camera down for a bit we could get a serious amount to last us for a while! Here's the little munchkins all set to explore and gather! :)

Evan didn't want to hold hands for some reason, but Ella was trying hard!

Grandma showing them how it's done!

Showing me how much he has so far...

Looking at all the rows of blueberries...

This was the smile he gave me when I realized he was eating more blueberries than collecting in his bucket! :)

Some more "little tastes". ;)

TONS of juicy berries-- yum!

Off to Mama Bear's house to give her blueberries to make a blueberry pie. These kids are so funny! :)

Happy guy!

Bean's bucket. Had to remind her to only get the big, blue ones!!

Lots of exploring to do!

LOVE that sweet face!

Even more happiness when the coloring table and books were available!!

Almost 3 lbs!

Is there a more handsome little guy!?!

Finger Painting Fun!

Ella and Evan had lots of fun finger painting this week! It was so fun to watch them and see how differently they do things. This is true for most things they do, but it was noticeable with the painting too. Ella is all over the place, making sure paint gets into every nook and cranny (just like she does when she colors... she's very thorough!). Evan is pretty mellow about it and just kind of plays with it. I love hearing them explain what they're coloring too. Most times, they are coloring a "Big (or sometimes "little") Moon", a flower, or food. :) It's interesting to see what colors they chose as well. They each had their own plate with the same colors, but they both chose very different colors-- LOVE it! And then they always like the "clean up" part and washing their hands with the "wash your hands" song. They were super excited to see their artwork hanging up on the fridge and couldn't wait for daddy to come home and show it off! Next time we'll be making some new colors, likely some orange for Bean... her all time favorite color!! :)

Evan and his "cheese" smile!

Evan's is on top and Ella's below! :)

Fabulous Momma's Giveaway!!!

Want something great for Mother's Day?? My friend Kori is an INCREDIBLE photographer and she has teamed up with some equally awesome professionals... Mommy & Me Bootcamp, Drop & Shop (drop your kids off while you go shop!!), and MORE!! Check out her blog to enter for a chance to win... ends Saturday and they will announce the winner on Mother's Day!!!

Here's the link: http://http://recollectphotography.blogspot.com/2011/05/fabulous-mommas-giveaway.html#comment-form

My Funny Little Bean

My Bean. She's a funny one. Her words and her actions crack us up everyday. She loves to talk and says the funniest things such as, "there, that's much better." She's polite and uses nice manners without being prompted (thank you, mama -- yes please, mama). But as for the odd things, Ella has always been one to collect and organize. She absolutely loves coloring/drawing. She actually prefers to have blank paper as oppose to a coloring book. Both Ella and Evan prefer that. I love their imaginations. Ella loves her crayons and likes to organize them: by color, length, etc. She likes to put them in organized tubs or containers. Her favorite right now is her backpack. It's kind of an ugly one (even though she has a cute, fluffy animal one) and prefers it. I think because it's clear and she can see all her goodies. She takes it every where and asks for it first thing in the morning. The contents vary daily, but have a few staples, such as crayons. She has new funny things everyday. I decided to take a picture of her doing her thing today. Here she is "working" at my computer desk. She has her little drawing book and a tea cup filled with crayons. Notice how the crayons are organized by length (because we have A LOT of broken ones around) and tips right-side-up. She carried it around with her today, very proud of her organization. LOVE it! And here's a picture of Evan grabbing the tea cup and moving it closer to sissy. I'm surprised she was okay with him touching it actually. They both love to give things to each other, but her crayons are usually off limit! LOL

Here's her tea cup full of crayons.
And her backpack that is always close by.

And here are a few of the items from today's gatherings: a yellow kazoo, a baby doll soap holder, green Easter egg, and crayons, of course. Today she broke into song with her kazoo in the car. Too funny! :)

Look forward to seeing more of her quirks tomorrow! :)

Thank You Jesus

(don't mind that my children are mainly "nakey" in this picture... it actually happens quite a bit---haha!)

We've been praying with the babies for a long time. It was so fun when they got to each new level: first it was clasping their hands, then they would close their eyes, and now they will even say the prayer with us out loud (well, mainly Ella). It's the sweetest thing and warms our hearts. Not sure why Evan says this, but always likes to tell the drill: "hold hands, head down, mouth closed". No one has ever told him that, but he likes to say it. Perhaps that's why he doesn't say it out loud, but you can definitely see that he's saying it inside his heart with lots of concentration.

And they remind us constantly (not that we forget, but they're on top of it!) to pray before we eat. Now anymore they even like to pray before they eat their dessert (fruit). They like to pray before bedtime and even at random times. It doesn't matter where we are either... a restaurant, a friend's house, wherever, they know that this is what we do and give thanks to God for what we have. I love their genuine and childlike faith... it's encouraging and beautiful.

Thank you Jesus for this food.
We love you Jesus.
Amen.

Easter 2011

We had a fun Easter this year! Unfortunately (once again!), the babies have come down with a cold that showed up in the middle of the night right before Easter. Poor Ella Bean was up several times in the night crying. She has a really hard time when she gets sick, therefore mommy does too. We were all a bit exhausted come Easter morning that the babies and I stayed in, while Daddy played at church. We waited until Papa and Mimi got home from church and headed over to their house for breakfast and then down for our normal afternoon nap. We woke up ready to head over to Papa and Grandma's house (although Evan always says that Papa is at GRANDMA'S house-- haha!) for a nice Easter dinner.

Before dinner the babies went out front and searched for eggs that cousins Kayli and Kevin hid for them. Ella and Evan had their first egg hunt the day before at Papa and Mimi's house. These kids knew exactly what to do. I suppose Ella's 2 years of hoarding/collecting paid off. These are some competitive kids, I tell ya! =)

Grandma had a GREAT dinner with way too much food. And Ella and Evan thought it was so fun that both sets of grandparents were there together! =) Here are a few pictures of the egg hunt prior to dinner. We had LOTS of fun! Hope you all had a blessed Easter!!

Bean and Buddy cuddled up Easter morning!

This looks so sweet to me!
Daddy and Buddy

Bean all ready to head out and hunt down those eggs... with her never-leave-behind backpack!

Evan and Kayli

Sweet Bean

My little moose checking to see if anything was hidden in the eggs! Strawberries were in the other ones... he must have eaten 10 strawberries in a row the day before! Today they had yummy fruit snacks! =)

Isn't he a handsome little guy!?!?

Trying to keep up with his sissy!

And he's off!

Easter basket AND backpack!

Any in here?

Do you know where this is headed? Evan with his Easter basket?

Yup, you called it!

Kayli hid eggs in her apron pocket. Ella quickly reached in and said, "No Kayli, those are my eggs!" =)

Silly Bean.

Isn't she beautiful!? =)

Fun with effects!