Shane & Leah

We have been blessed with quite a few sunny days this May…not all warm, but we will take what we can get.  I thought I would give you a taste of how we live it up here when the sun comes out. You can also click here to see our entire album.

We collect shells, explore drift wood and keep away from the local sea monsters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also do really cool erosion science experiments with balloons and flour

We play ball at the park and spin our children dizzy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly we go to the Zoo on the busiest day of the year.

So here is our top ten names for the baby with their meanings. The ones in bold (except for Nora) are ones that Shane has given a passing nod to, so they are more likely to end up as a first name.  We haven’t put up the kids suggestions, like “Diamond” but I have put notes on to some of their responses. More than likely Shane will decide to discuss this with me in the car on the way to deliver the baby, so we have a while yet for the names to change. Feel free to vote for which one(s) you like best.

Sabrina – Legendary Celtic  Princess (Peter thought this sounded like brain.)

Alyssa – Variant of Alice – Noble (The kids favorite name)

Nila – champion (gaelic)

Sarah – Princess

Nora (Elenora) – sun ray, shining light

Kathryn – Pure

Linette – Linette bird, flaxen

Elise – Consecrated to God

Brooke – Water or Stream

Esther – Star (Hebrew)

  The kids sang to me this morning while giving me breakfast in bed and gave me these awesome cards Daddy helped them make.  I wanted them documented with our traditional Mothers Day family picture. We also had a better day than normal at church and actually got to listen to some great insightful messages.  We are going to spend the rest of the day enjoying the rare warmth and sunshine we are having today.  Happy Mothers Day to all of the women who care for those around them.  It’s so nice to remember good women and the great things you do!

In case you didn’t figure it out from the new theme Shane put up, we are expecting a girl!  Marie’s prayers have finally been answered and I will no longer find her crying in her bed late at night wishing she had a sister.  I am excited to give the cute little girls clothes another run through and the next baby will for sure not be named Shane if she is born on his birthday.  The ultrasound tech made a CD with some video and that won the boys over after the disappointment of “another” sister. Oliver thought it was pretty cool his little sister seemed to have his nose.  Our little girl seems to be growing just perfectly and right on schedule, which we are very thankful for.

It’s hard to believe that it is our seventh year out to see the tulips.  Our first time was on Marie’s birthday.  As experienced attenders we all had rain coats and mud boots.  I carried extra socks in my bag.  Our first stop was our traditional pizza place, which although it changed hands was still good.  Then we headed right out to the tulip fields where the kids enjoyed squishy spongy mud, smelling the beautiful flowers and making goofy faces for pictures.

When we got back to the garden area Walter was READY to walk, so we let him out while the kids ran through the different areas.  We had to keep a close eye on Walter who thought that ripping the flowers off was the best thing ever.  After some caramel corn and funnel cake Marie and Oliver took some pictures of their own and then we headed home.  Click here to see all the goofy faces and beautiful fields.  The kids had a blast.

Our darling boy has developed some rather inconvenient tendencies.  He is determined to get into everything he cannot reach, open or get to.  Basically life is only really interesting when you are getting into all those things Mom keeps out of reach, or spreading mess evenly across the floor.  His curiosity has fueled his development and his new frontiers include the dining room table and down the stairs.  He has yet to climb out of his crib or open doors. (Sigh of relief)  While we are all pleased he is doing so well, this leaves the only time for a break when he is in his crib sleeping or yelling.  He is another Marie, who although wasn’t a terror, was totally uninterested in listening to you on the danger of certain things, like knives and electric sockets.  Walter’s current nemesis is the gate at the top of stairs that he just learned how to shake off leaving the death trap open of 18 stairs straight down to a tile floor.  I think every mother at this age wonders how any children make it to 4.

My children have developed a not unusual talent of ripping holes in the knees of their pants.  The pile to be mended had gotten rather large, so this weekend I started on a few pairs so I wouldn’t be constantly hearing, “I don’t have any pants Mom.”  Marie got heart shaped patches on hers.  She practically thought those pants were better than new.  Oliver’s first pair got plain old rectangles.  Oliver asked that his next pair have hearts on them as well…or machine guns….or fish.

This is the second time in seven years that Marie’s birthday has landed on Easter Sunday.  The day before Sunday was busy between a small egg hunt, making her pink and white castle cake, delivering our own family Easter testimony baskets, and making an early Easter dinner.

On Easter we watched the church’s new movies on Christ’s life, specifically his crucifixion and resurrection before heading out to church. After a good day at church we came home and made pizza for Marie’s birthday dinner.  The kids were so excited to see her open the presents they had “worked so hard” on as Oliver said.  Marie also received a new pet…a stuffed dog she dubbed Cotton Candy.

The weather was nice enough to go for a family walk and then the kids drew Easter “carpets” in chalk on our sidewalk before heading to bed.  This a tradition Brazilians do in sawdust to cover the road for their Easter processions.  The kids loved the idea and enjoyed trying their own hand at designs.  Click here to see more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year the idea came to me in a church training meeting to make Easter baskets filled with the primary children’s testimonies of Jesus.  Marie came home the Sunday after we did this in church and wrote out her testimony for her Mom and Dad.  Yesterday, as I was putting a few baskets together to give out to the delivering families, Peter sat down and drew his testimony of Jesus.  We will be adding his to our own family Easter testimony baskets.  The kids are really excited about this new family tradition and I am excited about it as well.  It is so fun to see my children’s love for Christ expressed in such beautiful ways.

This cute little picture may make one think.  “Oh, look Walter wants to do school just like his siblings.”  To me it means the end of the out of reach era.  Walter is now climbing on things.  Not everything yet, but enough to change the game at our house.  This picture is also deceiving because the school seat is merely a stepping stone to greater achievements, like standing on top of the desk to get the best view out the window, which he promptly did.  He can also climb onto Peter’s bed, much to Peter’s chagrin, and he is working on getting on top of everything else.  While his PT is thrilled and I am happy for him to develop I now will have to go check on him whenever he is squealing to make sure he hasn’t gotten himself stuck somewhere dangerous.