Alyssa celebrated her 9th birthday in April. She just wanted to play outside all day, which I think she managed - at least most of the morning. She had half a Texas Sheep Cake and got a few new skirts, which was what her heart desired. I can't believe she is already 9 years old! She is the backbone of sibling love in our house. She is so good to help out. She sees what needs to be done and will do it! I love reading to her. This is my favorite activity to do with her. She is active, always riding her bike and jump roping. She loves math and can write a pretty well thought out math quiz. We are all so thankful Alyssa is in our family!
In other news...
Kent sported a stylish mullet all month long. He has some luscious curls on the back of his head that I did not want cut off. He liked to use his food - especially yogurt and peanut butter to style it!
Kent is also very independent. He likes to raid this cupboard because it is the only cupboard that I didn't put a lock on. Sometimes he even feeds himself raisins from it!
He also likes to help Dad with projects. Where everyone else is, there Kent is also.
And this picture is significant because of the magical position of Ken'ts cup that he was throwing while the picture was taken.
Alyssa's Children group at church has a challenge that happens each week. One of the challenges in April was to build a temple. Taft and Alyssa both built temples out of Legos. Taft accidentally broke his so Erik used this picture to put it back together, which gave insight into how Taft designs his Lego creations. The verdict: he has no method it his madness.
Later in the month, the challenge was to make an origami Easter thingy. Alyssa made a rabbit.
The kids play together remarkably well. I love to see what they come up with. On this particular day, Kent was the prince and Alyssa was ??? I'm not sure. Taft and Joel were most likely animals. Kent was pampered and escorted all over the house on the royal rolly chair. I feel very grateful that Alyssa does not mind playing with her younger brothers and that they absolutely adore her. Having her home makes my life easier as she is always entertaining them and caring for them.
Here are some playdoh creations. Taft made some food out of his playdoh.
Alyssa made pizza and Joel had the stickiest playdoh in the bin.
I love the nose scrunch in this picture. And the boots. And the Santa Clause PJs, which Joel really does like. At the end of everyday, Joel is so excited to put is pajamies on. He lives to be comfortable and relaxed!
Another goodie of Joel:
Erik got a new rolly chair that has better back support since now he works in our bedroom. Taft was trying it out for him!
A Taft Duplo Creation
We dyed eggs for easter! Joel was cranking them out like crazy! He probably dyed 2 dozen himself. We had a few hard boiled eggs, but we mostly died raw eggs. When we would eat the hard boiled eggs, Joel always wanted one just for the thrill of peeling it. He wasn't really a fan of eating them. And Alyssa got a dyed egg out of Taft's dyed egg box planning to eat it hard boiled. It turns out it wasn't hard boiled though. Always do the spinning test...
Another Easter tradition we have is making Resurrection rolls on Good Friday. The kids enjoyed the endeavor this year. Even Kent got in on it. They have marshmallows in the middle. Then you bake them on Sunday and the marshmallow is gone, leaving an empty tomb!
We also did the traditional egg hunt. We did an Easter symbol egg hunt in the morning and then did a candy/goldfish egg hunt later in the afternoon.
Taft unloads the dishwasher every morning. It is not always easy to persuade him to do this thing that he has done everyday for nearly 9 months. On this particular day I took a picture of him because he did it immediately. I told him it would help us remember that he can do it when he tells he can't.
Erik decided we all needed masks. So he and the kids cut out fabric to make their own masks. We made all the kids' masks first and then by the time it was his turn, it was too late, I was too tired, and we were out of elastic. Blessedly a friend had made a bunch and gave Erik and I each one. Now Erik can sport Paw Patrol whenever he goes out.
Taft wore his for the first 24 hours straight.
A little extra PPE. You can never be too safe.
Erik has been trail running. We also took the kids on a couple of hikes along Barton Creek - featured here. Joel had great hopes of seeing animals, but unfortunately all we saw were dogs.
We've also had a lot of bike riding happening around here. Alyssa discovered she can use the bike trailer on her bike and loves to tow Joel and Kent around the neighborhood. They like it because it means they don't get left behind when Taft and Alyssa take off. She will pack them snacks and buckle them up to keep them safe.
Erik's dream came true when he invested in a 3-D printer. He was so patient and let the kids help him build it. They print something almost every day. It's fun, though the products are not always as durable as one would hope.
Alyssa's homeschooling adventure consists of some attempts to do the public school projects, and a lot of me counting every day stuff as education. She made a food web out of stuffed animals and pictures (school project).
She learned the importance of putting water in the bowl when cooking ramen in the microwave. If you don't put water in, then the microwave will burn your ramen black and melt your bowl (everyday occurrence counting as education).
Alyssa pictured with her Geometrocity made from 3-D objects (public school project).
Alyssa helped me sew some masks for local medical providers. She cut the strings and stacked them as I finished (everyday occurrence counting as education).
Naps are my saving grace as a mother. I feel greatly blessed that most days all 3 boys still nap. And even if Taft doesn't nap, he is pretty good at keeping to himself for at least an hour. I use this time to practice the violin, do family history, update this blog and help Alyssa with those public school educational experiences.
Alyssa is indeed out in this picture. She sneaks a nap in every once and awhile. She is reading The Little House on the Prairie series. I think she really enjoyed On the Banks of Plum Creek pictured here.
And sometimes naps just happen during dinner because nothing is as relaxing as eating bread for Taft.
This was one of our evening adventures - the 360 Pennypacker Bridge! Camera technology can make real things look pretty incredible.
Finally, we all participated in the Archibald First Vision Art Show!
Some were a little more abstract.
Some were called nursery worthy...because of their cut and paste elements.
Oh, and a little brotherly love at the playground.
Until next time!
