Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We did our celebrating for St. Patrick's Day a little early. Last Saturday was the Burch family's renowned block party.

Our kids get excited every year for this party...

but not as excited as this guy. I think it is his favorite day of the year, second only to the Purple

Seriously, he and Lili were pacing around our house, (fully dressed and ready to go) a good two hours before the party started.

Not that I blame him. Guinness? Gorgeous spring Phoenix weather? Serious and intense cornhole tournament? What's not to love?

My favorite is how the kids all look after a few hours of green lemonade, green snowcones, and green cupcakes; all churned together in their little stomachs by non-stop bouncing in the bounce house. They look like this:

Sorry Audrey, but you look like you've had a few too many.

I'm sure a few of the adults looked like this at the end of the night, too.


Anyway, just as the kids are crashing down off of their sugar highs and nursing various bounce-house related injuries, the awesome live music starts:

This was definitely Kateri's favorite part of the night.

Thanks for a great day, Burches! You and your neighbors sure know how to throw a party!

Spring Break!

The girls have this whole week off... and we are so looking forward to a week of freedom... No carpool, no homework, nothing to do but decide to try to make a kite out of construction paper and embroidery thread all by yourself...and then give in to your baby sister's very vocal demands for one of her own.

...they flew about as well as you might expect with approximately a pound and a half of scotch tape weighing them down...but no one seemed to mind.

Family

We've had a lot of family in town lately, which has been wonderful. You can see by the look on Kateri's face how excited she was to have her godfather back in town.

We got to see Grandpa, too, but somehow Nanny managed to avoid the camera...

Even though she DID fulfill her life-long dream of bouncing in a bounce house. Justin rented one for the family and friends get-together he hosted.

He even hired a balloon lady!

Needless to say, the girls had a blast.

They made some new friends, too!

Thanks Uncle Justin!

Overheard on the way to the library...

From the back seat

Lili: Oh, I really hope I can find a book on Athena...I love Athena...Ok Audrey I'm going to be Athena...you can be Aphrodite.

Audrey: Who's Aphrodite?

Lili: You'll like her Audrey, she's the really beautiful one.

Audrey: Oooooooh. (contemplates this in silence for a while) Is she rich?




Another gem from Audrey, as she was looking at her own 20 week ultrasound photo in her baby book: "Mom, I was really cute when I was still in your tummy...even if I was all grey and black."

I had to google a real picture of a 20 week baby in utero to show her that they are actually pink and solid...not grey and black little profiles.

Grandma Precious and Great-Grandpa

Every winter, Great Grandpa and Grandma Precious come to stay with Nona for awhile. They get to soak up the sun, and we get to soak up a little of the warmth and wisdom of this amazing couple.

As you can see from the photos, the girls adore their great-grandparents, and Luke and I always look forward to the great conversations, and great advice.

There is so much to admire about these two; from surviving Omaha Beach to raising eight children to staying madly in love for sixty years and counting.

We're so blessed to be able to share this time with them...

I knew Audrey was feeling better

when we found that someone had snagged our old camera and taken a series of incriminating photos... There is only one person in the family with eyes that shade of blue...

Yep, it's Audrey.

(I like this somber self-portrait with her beloved Jesus statue.)

And this series in Kateri's Little Tikes Car is just astounding in its emotional depth and range...

Sneaking up and documenting Luke's conference call...maybe it's a little corporate espionage for a rival pharmaceutical company? I wouldn't put it past her.

This one might be my favorite, because while it looks like a terrible photo of her little sister, it actually does an excellent job of epitomizing how we all felt at the tail end of a week spent cooped up with the flu: grumpy, demoralized and disheveled.

I know all kids love to take pictures on grown-up's cameras, but Audrey seems to really really love it. Last year Nanny got her her very own disposable underwater camera. It was a big hit. 85% of the photos were close-ups of "beautiful" rocks at the beach surrounded by the silhouette of the shadow Audrey cast as she bent over them. I'll have to post some.

In the wake of this most recent discovery, I'm struggling to find the right course of action as a parent. Should I punish her for using a camera without permission, proving to myself to be strict and responsible? Or should I sign her up for photography lessons, proving to myself I am a perceptive and nurturing parent who recognizes my child's affinity for this art form and responds by nurturing her burgeoning talent?

Maybe both?

On the Sun not working

We are so spoiled in the winter here in Phoenix. The kids are battling a virus this week, so Kateri has taken to napping in her beloved baby swing that she is quickly outgrowing. Yesterday I gave her a big push and then went inside to tend to one of the other kids. I heard her calling me in a frustrated voice and when I went outside and asked her what was wrong she struggled to articulate the problem.

"It not working..." she complained.
"What's not working?" I was confused.
"The wind...the sun...it not working..."
I realized that a small and fluffy cloud had obscured the sun, robbing my spoiled little Phoenician of the warm sunlight for a minute or two. Just then, the cloud passed, the sun came out again, and as Kateri looked down at the shadows that sprang out in sharp contrast on the bright grass she sighed in relief and said,
"Oh...it working now, " before leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Oh, to be two again, and wholeheartedly believe that you are the center of the universe, and that there is no problem that can't be solved by calling for your mom... There will be no napping in the yard today, however. Kateri will have to learn (along with the huge part of the country that is currently snowbound) that you can't control the weather. This is what our swing set looked like after our sprinklers went on. It could be worse...

...our backyard could look like Nanny and Papa's. Brrrrrr.