Goodnight Daddy!

Here are the kids saying goodnight to their Dad. Delaney learns all kinds of things from Jackson, good, bad, and silly.

Nate's in New Zealand for good friend Ken's wedding so we had to email the pictures to him. The time seems to be passing pretty quickly here also. I seem to be getting a lot done getting ready for this baby which includes getting us resettled into our house after a year away. By the way, anytime you ask a pregnant woman if she's expecting twins or due next week, is one time too many! Aparently I look like I will burst soon. Oh well.

Lunar Eclipse (of the heart?)

Okay, so I truly can't say the word "eclipse" without hearing "Turn around bright eyes. Every now and then I fall apart. And I need you more tonight..." If you know the song, you know the rest and now this will affect you too! Well, it was not a total eclipse of the heart, but it was a total eclipse of the moon. Thanks to my friend Alexia for tipping me off to the event.

So here's my attempt at capturing the lunar eclipse tonight. Not bad for no tri-pod. I have a tripod, I just couldn't find the piece that connects the camera to the tripod. It's probably a victim of the move. Time will tell.

The kids has a great time looking at the moon through binoculars and watching the Earth's shadow move over the moon. Jackson was a little concerned about when the moon would have the "right light" again. Delaney mainly thinks the binoculars are cool.

Alien invader

Here's Jackson with his voice-changing mask. His explanation - he is an alien from another planet who carries his little rocket ship around in the bag slung over his shoulder. If he needs to fly away somewhere, he shrinks to fit into the rocket, but his clothes don't - he has to reach up and pull them into the bag. He just walked out into the kitchen one morning after breakfast, dressed up like this.

Jackson rides a bike!

A few posts ago, we had a picture of Jackson riding his bike without training wheels for the first time. Here's the video I would have posted, if I'd known how! This is from mid-January, one weekend afternoon, in front of our house. I guess living on the edge of the desert has advantages also, like NO traffic! Jackson and Nate have since been riding multiple times - one ride was more than a mile! That's pretty good when you've got little legs.

The girl loves to dance!

You might be wondering about the sudden barrage of videos - I just figured out how to add videos on the blog, so I'm just having fun and sharing a few favorites. This one is of Delaney as the base-side Christmas party was ending. The holiday music changed to a Christmas rap and before we knew it, she had hopped down and was showing us some moves. Check out the way she holds her lip at the end of the video.

Delaney loves oranges

Here's a video of the the Jelly Bean demonstrating how her Papa taught her to eat oranges. Note the red dress - it is one of her favorites. Any pictures of her not in the red dress or the green dress are the result of some major catastrophe, like they weren't washed because they were just worn the day before.

Good man

I just want to brag on my husband for a moment. This is a picture of him at Christmas at my parent's house. Each couple was given a night to prepare dinner for everyone, so we of course opted to make everyone cook for themselves on our night. Ha! Here is my wonderful man teaching part of the gang how to roll and throw pizza dough. I just saw this picture and wanted to post it as an example of what a good guy he is. I think he had fun doing it, but I also appreciated him taking the lead and jumping right in.

100 Days of School!

Here's Jackson last Monday with his "100 Days Project." On the 100th day of school, the kindergartners celebrate by making projects, have a field day, and count things. Nate helped JAC with his project. It's 100 wheels with a few games tied in, like can you find the 101st wheel (there's one that pops up) and can you find the 4 wheels that don't turn? Poor JAC was a little under the weather this day and actually stayed home the next day with a fever. He's almost over the cold now. He has since lost his other bottom front tooth, too. Wow he's growing up fast! He can now count by 10's, 5's, and 2's! It blows me away.

70's wall paper cake

This cake is called, "I had left-overs." It's a little funky, but tasted just fine. Nate asked if I would give this cake an official number (like #4), but I think this cake is a little too much to be assigned a number. I'm going with "70's wall paper" for the name.

Watching TV

Nate's sister, Tymaree, recently paid us a complement that the kids are always doing so many creative things in the pictures we send her. Ergo....we are amazing parents that offer them so many creative activities and outings. I said, "Thanks Tym, but you know they do just sit and read and watch TV also. I just don't take pictures of that." So, here's a picture for Tymaree, of Delaney watching a Sesame Street video this morning. I think she's awfully cute, even watching TV.

Cake #3

So last week, we were suppossed to finish learning how to make roses and sweet peas (the flowers around the edge.) I couldn't find child care for Delaney, so I took her to class and we watched other folks. I think I really needed some hands-on help. I'll be calling the teacher for a tutor-session soon, I think. I made some cute cabbages, but not-so-much roses. Oh well. Nate and kids have gladly eaten the cakes, regardless of the design, though.

Cake number 2

So here's Cake #2 (as indicated). Note the gigantic icing clown. I think I did a better job icing this one (very few crumbs). I think I'll keep my day job, but this has been fun. I have to ice the cakes while the kids are otherwise occupied. If not, Delaney gently rocks the table, with excited energy and asks to smell every icing bit. Jackson wants to sit almost in my lap and holds his breath in excitment and nervousness. He's so worried that I'll make a mistake (which I do) and that it will be the end of the world! They are also both greatly disturbed that I'm not copying any of the cakes in the cake book. I'm just trying to practice the things we learned in class more than make a lovely cake.