Fun in the Rain

Spring is finally here! Lately we've been learning about clouds and worms. Both are plentiful this time of year for observation.


Here's some fun in the rain:

Basic Mechanics

I remember when I got my driver's license and my first beater car, my dad showed me how to change a flat tire. I was so pumped that when I actually got my first flat tire, I made the guy friend who was with me stand and watch while I changed it. I felt pretty self-sufficient, I can tell you.

Well it seems my boys will know about changing tires long before their first car. I always wondered how guys seemed to know so much about cars already by the time they were teenagers...well now I know! Richard finally decided it's safe to take off the snow tires on his car, and The Littles were watching with keen interest! Well, Clementine wasn't quite so interested, but she likes to be wherever her brothers are. Moses was very keen and asking Richard lots of questions. I can almost see him storing the information away in his hungry mind, to be pulled out again when some situation arises that requires his knowledge.

I'm so glad I have a husband around who welcomes his boys (and girls) into the garage while he's working, in order to teach them the things they need to know.

These are lug nuts, boys.

Holding tools

Moses took this job very seriously

Wow, Papa is strong!

It's very important, boys, that you DON'T LOSE THESE!

Mother's Day Present to Myself

I love my kids' profiles. I love to stare at the way their foreheads slope out and then indent above their incredible little snub noses. I love Moses and Clementine's curls. I love Grace's graceful neck and Judah's little chin. I love the chubby, slurpy cheeks the three younger ones have. I think their little faces are just adorable. Sometimes they get weirded out because of how much I stare at them.


I've wanted to have their silhouettes done for a long time now, and I finally decided to do it for Mother's Day. I read this post from A Holy Experience and loved the silhouettes she had of her children! She even helpfully included a DIY link at the end of her post. How nice!

So I went over here to see how hard it would be to make my own silhouettes. Not hard. All you need is some pictures of your kids, an exacto knife and/or nail scissors, some cardstock and double-sided tape. Yay!

I followed her advise and took their pictures in front of the french door, then I messed with the contrast and sharpness on iPhoto in order to get nice sharp features. If I do this again I'll print out 5x7 or maybe 8x10 photos instead of 4x6.  Some of the small details were hard to cut out.

Here's the pictures I used for my silhouettes. Clementine's was the hardest to get.

Cut through picture and cardstock.

Here's Sissy! I messed up on her back, but that's okay.

Here they all are. My index finger was killing me at the end because I had to press the knife in so hard to cut through the cardstock. But I like how they turned out!

 Then I wanted to mount them on some pretty paper. It was hard to decide. I have lots of pretty paper.

I decided on a different paper for the boys and the girls. I like it!

 Sorry about the glare in these pictures. How do you take a picture of something under glass and not get glare? Beats me.

Clementine, 18 months

Judah, 3 years

Moses, (almost) 5 years

Grace, 12 years

My Children!

 I really do like how they turned out. I did get double prints of the original profile pictures (in case I messed up!) so I could do another set if I wanted to. I'd actually like to frame them in 5x7 frames so they aren't so cramped, but this is the only frame I had on hand. And it really needs to be painted another color. Yuk. But other than that, I love looking at these adorable little faces!! They change so fast... I'm glad to have captured the sweetness of Right Now.

Cousins!

 Boy, I just haven't had time to post anything other that a few pics here and there. No family updates, and certainly not any interesting or informative posts...so if you read this blog for anything more than pictures of your grandkids (Mom), I'm sorry you've been bored out of your gourd for the last couple months. But to stick with the theme, here's a bunch of pictures!!

My kids' cousins Jesse (21 months) and Sylvia (4.5 months) are such dears! Jesse and Clementine are only 10 weeks apart and are really starting to "discover" each other as playmates. It's pretty cute! And Jesse is learning a lot about WRESTLING from his two boy cousins as well. Sylvia is adorable and sweet, and Moses especially can't get enough of her! Moses loves babies. You might not think my sword-fighting, monster-killing, lightsabering Jedi would be a baby man, but he is.

So here's some pics of the cousins together:

This was Grace's horse when she was little.

I love Moses underneath...

This cracks me up!

Here's all the cousins together! I love Judah's smile in this one. And Mo's. And Grace's.

Judah!! Seriously cracks me up. Look how cute Jesse is.

Love Sylvia's smile!! And Moses holding her hand. Very sweet.

And there's Jesse's big cheesy grin. What a cute bunch of kids!

My mom reading books to Sylvia, Moses and Clementine