New Playground

On Saturday we went to a carnival at a park behind our local library. The big highlight was the opening of a new playground. There is already one playground and a second was added along with a water area which is going to be great in the summertime. The kids had a great time. There were also jumping castles, a train and crafts - unfortunately we didn't get any photos of those.




Yesterday Sam wanted to do a craft and so we made these Easter lilies. The petals are the kids hand prints. We found the instructions online at familyfun.com .


There is alot of baby talk and pretend play in our house at the moment (I wonder why!). This is how I found Ella yesterday!

Happy Birthday Ethan

Sam, Ella and Owen want to wish cousin Ethan a big happy 5th birthday!

New haircuts

Yesterday the kids and I were feeling a little off and so we stayed home all day. Not something we've done that often lately. It was great to have the whole day to just go with the flow. The highlight for Sam was getting his haircut. He has been asking for a while to have his haircut short and so finally I gave him what he wanted. Owen got his first haircut ever and Ella just a trim at the back. There was lots of hair to sweep up in the kitchen at the end!

Here's Sam showing off his new hair cut and also the mini banana bread he was about to eat. Sam has lost about 2lbs / 1kg in the past few months so we're very excited when ever he eats anything. This was the most I had seen him eat in one sitting in weeks..

Sam enjoying he last few bites.... He ate the whole thing bar about 3 bites! I'd make this every day if he would eat that much again!
Owen's new haircut. It's hard to get him to sit still long enough to get a picture sometimes. He's too eager to see what he looks like in the photo!

And Ella...

Summer already?

We had 4 days this week of beautiful 30oC / 85oF weather. The kids had a wonderful time enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. It was just a bit of a teaser though, today it was only 7oC / 45oF. It seems anything is possible in Georgia at this time of year, last week they canceled school because of the "threat" of snow!

Ella decided it was warm enough to get out the sprinkler. She didn't last long though!


Owen spent two hours in the afternoon with the hose, his sand box and his trucks. He would not take off his swim ring though. He just loves the pool and any time there is water involved he wants to have his swim ring on.


A random shot of Owen enjoying fresh whipped cream from the Kitchen Aid whisk.

Today, Ella went to her friend Madison's 4th birthday party. It was at a Tae-Kwon-Do school that Madison's brothers go to. Sam got to go too and they both had a great time.

Sam and Ella getting ready to break a board in half. They brought their broken boards home as souvenirs.

Ella and Madison. They are friends and church and also see each other at the gym several times a week

Owen the cute

Chris loves to ask Sam "Are you handsome?" and for Ella "Are you pretty?". They always respond "yes!". And for Owen he asks "And what's Owen?" and then Sam and Ella respond "He's cute!"

Well our cute little baby is getting bigger. He's now 20 months and full of personality in a little body. He has made it on the growth charts now and is in the bottom 10% for height and 5% for weight. He can already hold short conversations with you and ask for pretty much anything he wants. His idol is Ella and he can often be found copying things that she does - particularly dress-up and dolls!.

Owen loves strawberries. I put these on the table for dinner last week and he decided that they were all for him!

About 2 Sundays ago Chris was helping the kids with their breakfast while I was taking a shower. I heard a cry from Chris and then frantic calls for the fish net. Owen had decided to feed his goldfish the remains of his cereal! The good news is that the fish are still alive and doing well.
Owen came up with these outfits all on his own!


But he is a little boy at heart and loves to get dirty. Here he is "helping" Chris in the garden on Saturday.
And Owen is still riding the vacuum cleaner. Although with me getting bigger I've had to start saying no, which he is not too happy about.

Happy Birthday Oliver

Sam and Ella had a great time making this moving today for cousin Oliver, who is turning 4. Happy Birthday Oliver!