Happy Easter 2010

Easter Morning. (What, you couldn't tell?)
Mitchell wanted us to take his picture with Eve, and she can't decide whether to laugh or cry.
She decided. (But even her Very Sad Faces are still so adorable.)

We got together with family in Springville for dinner. Eve with her cousin, Trysten.

Cousins, Addie, Mitchell and Kasen after the (due-to-crummy-weather) indoor egg hunt.

The Princess and the Frog

April 3, 2010 (3 months old)
Marcus thought it was too funny that the toy Eve got a hold of was a frog, so he took these pictures to document this real-life Fairy Tale. Though there was no prince involved, it did seem to have a happy (or amicable) ending. At least the frog was still smiling after his legs were gummed.

A Midsummer Nights Dream

Sheridan's 6th grade class performed an abbreviated version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in March. They double-cast the play, so in one cast Sheridan played Oberon, the fairy king (pictured with the other fairies above), and in the other, he played Bottom the Weaver (seen with "The Wall" during the play within a play in the bottom picture). He had so much fun (and was really very funny) as Bottom, especially in his "death" scene. He was really very sad when the play ended. I asked Sheridan if he wanted to do more plays, but he thinks he should only be a Shakespearean actor. :-)

Mitchell attended the play with me 3 times. The first time, we were in a back row where he couldn't see and he just played on Guy's iPhone. But the other two times, he loved watching it, and thought it was terribly funny. What I found funniest was overhearing him recite some of the lines from the play--especially the ones from when Bottom was a donkey.

Cousins

Nyah Brown was born on March 12--10 weeks after Eve. Here they are on Marcus's birthday when Nyah was only 4 days old. It will be fun to watch these two grow up together.

Happy Birthday Marcus!

Marcus turned 10 on March 16. He had a rather detailed/complicated adventure treasure hunt for his party (it took almost 2 hours to complete) with some friends from school (Thanks so much, Mom and Dad for all your help). Then that evening, family came over for dinner and chocolate cheesecake (thank you, Liz). He had a great time, and I hope felt sufficiently celebrated. We think our Marcus is a pretty incredible kid.

Miscellaneous Cuteness

Really, what can I say?

March 24--11 weeks old

We still haven't managed to catch her great big smile on film. It's fabulous and can't help but make you happy--no matter how little sleep you've gotten.

March 26--I took these in the van while the boys played on the school playground for a little while this very windy day.

Oh, and Some About the Boys Too. . .

Sheridan had a pretty good run this science fair season, after the school fair (above, in January when he still had his long hair), he went on to district, and then to the Central Utah Science and Engineering Fair at BYU on March 23. This fair had winners from Provo and Alpine districts as well as the charter and homeschools in the county. The fair itself is pretty fun (rock climbing wall, flight simulator), and was made more fun for Sheridan when he came home with a trophy for 1st place in the chemistry division, and a check for $30.

Mitchell--the Cool Knight (2-10-10)

Caleb takes a great deal of pride in being big enough to haul his sister around (after weeks of pleading with me to let him try). She, however is not always as fond of the opportunity. Caleb really is great with Eve. My favorite is when he sits by her and sings her spontaneously created songs. (2-28-10)

Just a cute one of my cute 3-year-old. (3-28-10)

How Sheridan tends the baby :-) (In his defense, he'd finally gotten his hands on the 5th Fablehaven this day. One of his friends at school let him borrow his copy. Sheridan was thrilled since I'm too cheap to buy the hardback version and the waiting lists at the libraries are way too long.) (3-31-10)

Eve's Sunday Fashions

I take surprising delight in getting Eve all dolled up for Sundays. Except for the spitting-up part, it's a lot like playing with baby dolls. I'd forgotten how much fun it could be.

February 14--6 weeks old

February 21--7 weeks

March 14--10 weeks old

March 28--12 weeks old

Mitchell has to get in on the fun too.

Valentine's Day 2010

I actually loved that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year; we could get all the school stuff out of the way, and enjoy family celebrations. Here we are enjoying our traditional fondue dinner by candlelight.

Blessing Day

February 7, 2010

Little Blessings

We have a neat tradition for the baby girls in our family. My sisters and all of my sister's daughters have been blessed in this beautiful baby dress that was made by my grandmother sometime in the '40's. (Correct me if I'm mistaken here, sisters) I believe she made it for a baby that she miscarried--her last pregnancy, so it wasn't worn until my mother started using it for our blessing days. I have to admit that seeing this dress hanging in my sister's closet was the one thing that made me feel sad about having only boys. Because I can't keep the dress and pass it down to Eve (baby Nyah will be the next to use it), I decided to make shoes to go with it that she can keep. I asked my mom to help me take a pattern off of some existing crib shoes, and she brought back the completely sewn satin shoes. Then it was up to me to try and copy my grandmother's incredible handiwork and embroider a matching pattern on the shoes. My mom even brought over some silk embroidery thread that had been my grandmothers for me to use. After some practice on a scrap cloth, and a couple of internet video tutorials, I was mostly pleased with my late-night-the-night-before-the-blessing results. I certainly gained a much greater respect for the skill and artistry that my grandmother possessed.

Eve--4 Weeks Old

January 28, 2010

Four Weeks Old

So, I know I have extremely limited photography skills, and only a point-and-shoot camera, but I still wanted to try and capture some of Eve's "newborn" (almost) phase. Here are some of the results of my efforts. (Oh, guess which outfit she decided to poop out on? The family heirloom blessing dress, naturally. Luckily it washed right out.)