Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail

We have baby bunnies "growing" in our phlox out front! (Yes, I'm excited about this--I'm a sucker for babies!)  What's been neat about these bunnies is that we've been following them since the evening they were born.  Cubby happened to come home from work just as they were being delivered!  They were all tiny and slimy and gross looking, but it was very neat all the same.

The following day, my friend and I went out for a run and I saw that three of them were out of their burrow, laying in the grass.  "How sad," I thought.  "Something got to a few of them."  When we came back from our run, I took a closer look and, low and behold, they were all still breathing!  It was a chilly day (shocker, I know) and so I was very surprised that they were still alive.  So, I put on some gloves and carefully transferred them back to their nest.  They all snuggled right back in and I hoped for the best.  (Like I said, I'm a sucker for babies.)

A couple of weeks have gone by and, unless you knew where to look, you would've never known that there were seven little bunnies hiding and growing.  Mama bunny comes in the evening and nurses them.  (I had never seen a rabbit nurse before--it's a very strange sight.)  But, they are getting braver and tonight I caught all of them lined up and looking about.  Aren't they cute??!  (And, lest you think I'm a total sap, I have a spray for my plants in the backyard that makes the plants taste bad to rabbits.  But, since these are in my front yard, I'm happy they're here and doing so well!  The kids have loved seeing them grow!)

C's Big Par-tae

Christian's birthday party was fun!  We weren't sure if we were going to be able to have it outside until about noon that day (yes, the weather is still acting crazy).  Thank goodness, though, that it ended up cooperating!  I put Cubby in charge of the games and the kids all had a great time!  Tug-of-war was up first...

The kids versus Cubby...and the kids won!

 The ring toss was up next...

 Followed by sack races!  (These were hilarious as most of the kids ended up falling on their faces, either from tripping on their sack or from giggling.)

(Uncle Kyle must've been bored or tired from all of his sitting and talking.)

 We served up some grub...

 Everyone say, "Hot Dogs!"

 Juliana liked the cones :-).

 Harvey was in-charge of feeding Juliana--he did a great job!

 Time for presents!  Christian was very happy, of course, with his gifts and was very good about saying "thank-you" to everyone.

 Harvey, continuing to perform on his Gpa duties...

 And then it was time for cake!

The cake.  Christian had requested a Lego cake.  Originally, I was going to keep it simple and do two Lego bricks.  One blue, one green.  However, the cardboard we used wasn't quite big enough for two side-by-side cakes so I figured like Legos, I'd stack them!  A few things I learned:  1)  yellow cake is much less crumbly than chocolate cake.  2)  It's important to have the proper cake frosting tools when you're doing something not-so-simple.  3)  There's a reason why cake decorators frost cakes in big refrigerators.  I finished frosting this one while it was in the fridge.  4)  It would've been better to just cut a bigger piece of cardboard.  5)  The kids all thought my less-than-stellar cake was fantastic.

 Finally, it was time for a water-balloon toss (and water fight).  Woohoo!

 Christian's big surprise came when Gma and Harvey brought out the new bike they bought for him!  Didn't he get a bike last year, you ask?  Why, yes, he did.  However, when you grow as quickly as our Christian does, you end up needing a bigger bike just one year later.  Thankfully, Trek bikes have a trade-up program so we're covered from here on out :-).

 He was THRILLED with his new bike and we have gone out on bike rides almost every day since!

A boy and his bike.  Awwwww....

It was a great birthday party!  (But we're thankful we're done with birthday parties until December!)

It's Super to Be SIX!

Today, our boy Christian is SIX years old.  Wow.  I think I write this with every birthday, but, where has the time gone??  The days seem long but the years go by so quickly!  This not-so-little boy is wonderful in so many ways.  He is smart, affectionate, thoughtful, quick to help out, passionate about his opinions, funny, fun-loving, determined, and a terrific brother, son, and friend.  We love Christian so very much.  Here he is today, enjoying the spoils of his (a-hem) labors...

And then, here are just some random ones of this sweet, special boy in his "early" years :-)....{happy sigh}....

Happy Birthday, Christian-boy!  We love you!!!

Kari's Turn!

Who's the cutest girl in the gym?  This girl!

Last Saturday, it was Kari's turn to shine!  We all came out to see her perform in her gymnastics "spectacular!"  As my brother said, it was cuteness extraordinaire!

It was also super hot in the gym.  Thankfully, they had the little ones (aka "Big Dippers") went first.  Normally, Kari's class is in the smaller, preschool gym and they rotate through circuits and have a theme for each week.  To make it as familiar as possible for the little ones, they still set up a circuit and Kari hammed it up for everyone!  She had a BLAST.  It was so cute!

 After they were done, each of the children were announced and got a medal.  Kari had seen Emily and Christian get medals and applause for their activities, and now it was her turn.  She was very proud, indeed.

This picture just makes me laugh :-)

 Once Kari's performance was over, we got the heck out of Dodge (the gym was so warm!).  We snapped a couple of group shots and called it a day!  (I was smart and had hired a sitter while Juliana was at home napping, but Kari had missed her nap and was pretty beat.)

Thanks, everyone, for coming out on Kari's big day!  She was so happy and excited to hear her family cheering her on!

Piano Debut

Tonight Emily had her first piano recital!  She played "Brave Knight" by Vogel.  She was very nervous, but was very brave (just like a knight ;-)) and got up and did beautifully.  She learned that it was okay to make mistakes (no one plays perfectly all the time!) and overall it was a positive experience for her!  I'm just so proud of her work and effort.  (And she was just so beautiful up there!)  Great job, Emily!!!






Daddy wasn't able to attend (he was on a plane coming home from a trip to LA) but I was able to record it so he can see it tonight.  Isn't technology great?!

Emily sets such a great example; Kari and Christian wanted in on the piano action too!

And speaking of Christian...does he look a) angelic and happy or b) completely worn out and fresh off a tantrum?  If you chose option "b" you are correct!  We were late to the recital b/c poor Christian had a complete melt-down at dinner.  He had been at the zoo all day with Auntie Erin and Jeff and had even fallen asleep on the way home!  Sooo...combine the tired and the hungry and you have the perfect recipe for a major melt-down!  And, once this kid gets going, you just have to ride out the storm b/c there is NO distracting or calming him down.  Being borderline OC doesn't help the situation in the least.  Ugh.  Needless to say, I was grateful that we even made it to the recital in one piece and that he perked up while listening to all of the kids play their lovely pieces :-).