Dr Suess day at Max's school

Max's class went on a field trip for Dr Suess day ~ Lots of fun characters there to celebrate with us! I really do have a cute boy.

Cinderella date night

We had tickets to Cinderella, so I just had to wear my pearls! Dinner at Mother's Bistro before... Also because of Cinderella, I had a pot of tea :) Love the Broadway shows...

Girls' school musical

The girls were both in a school musical this year, called "Swamped"... It was super fun listening to them sing together at home, and practice all their songs! Marin had a spoken part too, it was awesome. Between events like this, and their regular piano lessons,  I love it when they make music. My parents joined us for the week as well! Special...

Gorgeous spring weather

I'm still waiting for the other wet shoe to drop. We had a dry and beautiful winter, and the spring is turning out just as amazing. I'm sure we will pay the piper later for this uncharacteristic sunny weather, but for now I'm just going to LITERALLY soak it in :)

Valentines Day

Kyle made us a delicious seafood dinner for Valentine's Day (since we have a personal rule that we never to go restaurants on the actual day... a certain date we went on in California where we waited 4 HOURS for our table has scarred us for life)... We did get a date night the following weekend, though!

Max's school fun with sisters

Max has been having a great school year. Two little tidbits...

1. Volunteering sisters: It all started when Madeline told Max's teacher that someday she wants to become a teacher. Mrs. Shearier asked if she would like to come and "volunteer" in Max's kindergarten class sometime. Maddie got so excited, and we put a date on the calendar. But then, as the day approached, baby girl got sick and had to stay home. We promised her a "reschedule". Marin then piped up and asked if she could fill in for her sister. And Maddie got her day in the sun, several weeks later. Both my girls were super helpful to the teacher, and I know Max felt good as gold that his sisters both cared enough to come to his class.

2. Playing the chimes: Max's class learned the hand chimes this year, and right before their concert, his teacher realized a handful of kids were going to be absent at the concert. The thing about hand chimes, is each kid has his one bell. So if they are absent, the song is going to miss some notes. She asked Max if his sisters would mind filling in. They had never done these before, but really (it's kindergarten) as far as the girls go - if you can read, you can play... They both stood up on stage and played the hand chimes with Max's class. Again, the pride Max feels when his big sisters care for him, and engage in his life... priceless!

Running buddy

I think I found myself a running buddy! I invited Marin to come along on a weekend run, and she made it 3 whole miles. I was a little concerned she was pushing herself too much, but she kept wanting to go on, and not take the short way home.  She was sore afterwards, and slept for two hours on the couch - ha ha! Goodness child, take it easy. But I could tell she loved it. The exercise, the special time with mom, being outside, etc... I can't wait to see how this develops :)

Mon-Poly

When we were in Bothell on our girls weekend, cousin Joshua taught Marin how to play Monopoly. They played for hours and hours, and even got up at 5am to finish their game. She caught the bug and every since returning home, we have a constant game in progress. Kyle taught Maddy & Max how to play as well, and so now the whole family can participate! Marcus enjoys grabbing our playing pieces off the board and grinning at all the screaming and yelling that ensues :)

The best part is that, on our game lid, where it shows the title "Monopoly", it has a little face on the middle "O" of the title, so Marin thought it was pronounced Mon-Poly and has had a hard time breaking out of the habit of calling it that. It is so cute and funny, so now of course I must call it Mon-Poly forever and ever.

Brave Max

This boy is such a cool customer. We decided to get tubes put in his ears, to help with the hearing loss he has experienced from fluid build up. Generally, this procedure is so very common and a "no big deal" type of thing. My only cause for concern is that he has some asthma tendencies, and happened to have a cold with some wheezing at the time of his surgery. So... anesthesia and all that becomes tricky. I trusted the doctors to determine his readiness, and they were not concerned. Lots of prayers offered on this matter as well. The nurse offered him an anti-anxiety med, but he was calm and collected and did not want it. He was good with his blue dolphin, and frog blanket that Nana made him. Really, all he cared about was "when will the nurse bring me refreshments?"... :) Proud of my brave boy. Thankful I am blessed with healthy kids. One mom in the waiting room was with her daughter who was there for her 20th surgery, and I sat in awe of my simple problems in life.

Girls weekend

The girls and I got away for a little "Girls Rule, Boys Drool!" weekend together... (don't worry sometimes we reverse it if the boys are driving the show)... Kyle so graciously agreed to my idea for me to take Marin & Madeline up north for some family time. 

We are becoming experts at the "divide and conquer" philosophy as a way to roll with life. We all want to be at everything, all together, all the time (right? right... ha ha)... But sometimes you just have to split things up either due to illness, or not-enough-beds-to-fit-your-family, or differing hopes for the weekend. Any way you slice it, we had a wonderful time on our girls-only trip. 

First stop was at my Nana & Papa's house, to visit with them and celebrate Papa's birthday. It was smiles all around for all of us. Sweet pictures of the sweetest, most special people. Next stop was the Bothell Corrigans to celebrate Annalise's birthday and baby Matthew's church dedication. We had an eventful overnight (kids sleeping with cousins, sleep deprived babies & parents, what can I say, we know how to partay!) and special time celebrating all these wonderful events. 

Memories I would not trade for the world. Love my family!!

Road trippin' selfie

Quatama's Family Fun Night

For the first time ever, we all came to Family Fun Night at the girls' school! Every single previous year, someone was sick, and Kyle had to stay home with them. This year it was the Party of Six in full force, beating back the crowds and trying to keep track of everyone. The kids loved racing around their school showing off their independence and school pride. We all won something in the raffle and the snack-walk. And the lines for the bounce houses did not deter them in the least! And in classic Farcus style, we had 2 year old bliss as well as 2 year old gym-floor meltdowns. I'm so used to this, it barely phases me anymore. I mostly just gave advice to passers-by to watch where they walk :) Fun memories!

Lower right for sneak peek of the meltdown

Furniture origami and notes from the heart

You never know what might come forth from the minds & hearts of your children. One day it's "Mom can you please teach me how to make furniture origami? what? you don't know how to do that? can we google it?" - then you do a quick search, turn your back for an hour and Voila!!! an entire "doctor's office" has been created...

Then this same child writes about God being her hero, and it is the most profound truth of life. Especially as it comes on the heels of a classmate challenging this idea, and insisting their lives amount to "air" and she comes from "nothing". Teachable moments as we learn about others' world views, and also how we can know that we are created with a purpose and we can KNOW God and are known by Him.

Resting up

Similar to the rest of the universe, we have been in a cycle of rotating illnesses. If I don't hear a cough in the background noise of my life, I have to stop for a minute to try and figure out what's missing. Here is the week when TinyLove was down and out. Thankfully he had his blanket Nana made, to make it all better.