february photo leftovers

here are all of the pictures that haven't made it up on the blog yet from april.

madeleine has been practicing the piano daily with randy and is doing really well.

what's that? you want to see a picture of my handsome husband?

valentine's day:

non-toxic and washable:

these two play so well together. this is a common scene at our house:

a rare splurge of getting to ride the carousel at the zoo:

jonathan is a little banged up from learning how to walk. he has perma-bruise on his forehead and got this nice gauge that turned into a little black eye when he was walking around with a saline drops bottle in his hand and fell down, jamming it into his cheek.

showing off his trick. "how big is jonathan? SOOOOOO big!"

showing off his clapping trick:

my girls can't get enough of sequence for kids. i highly recommend it.

diane with a sweet nutella hitler mustache:

this is how diane napped for most of february - she would drag her mattress into my room and sleep on the floor in there. it keeps madeleine and diane separated during nap/quiet time, so i'm fine with it.

pacific science center

last week the pacific science center had a free day for the first 200 people that arrived, so i invited our friends, the sines, and randy's cousin, jessica, and her boys to join us. we all met up downtown at the science center and had a great morning together.

we used to go to the science center a lot as kids. some of the exhibits inside have changed, but the general feel is still the same and the exterior looks like nothing has changed in the past twenty years.

the exhibits aren't all ideal for children our kids' ages, but they have a good toddler play area and the kids did enjoy some of the other exhibits as well. they especially seemed to enjoy these water toys outside. i probably wouldn't pay the astronomical prices that they are trying to charge for admission, but since it was free, it was a great way to spend a few hours with friends.

here's proof that we used to go when i was younger. i'm the one in the middle, front row. after trying to keep track of my kids while we were there, i can totally understand why my mom put us in stripes. it's hard to keep track of that many kids, especially when they're all trying to go different ways.

saturday at st. ed's

the weather was beautiful on saturday and we were all itching to get out of the house, so we loaded jonathan and diane in hiking backpacks and hit the trails at st. edward's. the trails were pretty muddy, but we made it down to the water and it was beautiful down there (and not as crowded as i thought it would be on a sunny weekend afternoon). madeleine walked the whole way with little complaint, so it was a good outing all around. i always feel accomplished when we get out and do something with three little kids and enjoy the whole time together as a family.

diane spent most of the time by the water snuggled up in randy's lap but did manage to break away for a little while to throw rocks.

i let jonathan out of the hiking backpack, but he wasn't to sure about the uneven, muddy ground, so i held him most the time. 

i love where we live.

quick fix

i realize that i am terrible about taking pictures during the winter months. the lighting isn't as good, the colors aren't as vibrant, and really, we just do a lot of sitting around the house, which doesn't make me think of getting out my camera too often. so, while i have been bad about blogging for a couple reasons (instagram), the main reason is because i really just don't have that many pictures.

so, to give those grandmas a quick fix, i got the camera out this morning and snapped away for a while. nothing thrilling, just hanging out around the house. 

this boy is constantly on the move and i deleted about twenty blurry pictures like this from the ones that i took today. 

jonathan comes running when he hears the fridge open. he loves to explore and try to shove food in his mouth before i snatch him up and shut the fridge.

this is our everyday: the girls playing nicely together, when suddenly, jonathan bursts upon the scene and ruins their lives. diane likes to throw herself dramatically on top of whatever toy jonathan has become interested in and start sobbing and yelling all at once. madeleine is constantly saying, "mom! it's hard to have a little brother!" and then diane says, "yeah! why don't we have a little sister?"

lately, diane has been trying to make decoy towers for jonathan while they play with blocks. jonathan will walk into the toy room and diane immediately starts directing him toward the one she has doomed for destruction. "jonathan! over here! this is your tower! come play with this one!" of course, he always goes straight for the real thing.

more posts to come soon...