by Jennifer | Jun 21, 2011 | Blog
So I’m a little behind on blogging . . . but we’ve been busy and have been able to get out of the house with the weather starting to get a little nicer.
About a month ago, we headed out one morning to Whidbey Island, which was so beautiful!! We drove for a few hours up to Deception Pass, which we have always wanted to see. (Our girls are pretty horrible car riders, but we decided that they just have to get used to it or we’ll miss out on too many things we love to do and would like to see.) After that, we headed down the island and then took the ferry back over the mainland. Here are some of our pictures from the day.
The bridge at Deception Pass is AMAZING!!
Walking down the the water under the bridge
View from below the bridge
Ashley and Tom walking together (I love this picture!)
Our kids are getting so big, aren’t they?
Molly and Ashley loved looking at the fish people were catching on the shore.
Molly enjoyed climbing over all the driftwood
Wish I could remember the name of this cute town we stopped in.
Looking down at all the starfish in the water
Having some tea at a cute shop
Fort Casey
The short Ferry ride home
by Jennifer | May 22, 2011 | Blog
Sage has been working hard this past week on her science fair project. She decided to answer the question, “At what temperature will my glow stick last the longest?” This is a great question for her, because every time she gets one, she wants it to last overnight. We’ve always heard to put it in the freezer, but tried some other temperatures as well to see if that was really the best way to get it to last the longest.
She tested 4 glow sticks: 1 in the freezer, one in room temperature water, one in cold water (60 degrees) and then one in freezing cold water (40 degrees) – this is her wording. 
Tom must have gotten super powered glow sticks from Fred Meyer, because this experiment, which was in our dark bathroom, was there far longer than we thought it would be.
0 hours
20 hours – the room temperature one had just gone out
38 hours – just the freezer one remaining
She took the freezer glow stick out after 38 hours and it was still glowing this morning and we started on Sunday afternoon. Wow!!
When it came to putting the display together, I struggled a little with how much to help. But at this point, with the size of her writing and her phonetic spelling, I decided to have her tell me what she wanted to say and then I typed it. Then we printed it out, used the paper cutter to cut everything (which she loved!) and then glued everything down. She did really well with lining things up straight, so I mostly just helped to get it done in a somewhat timely manner. I was surprised at how much she could do and explain to others at the age of 6.
At the science fair this morning, she explained her project to the judge and to other adults and kids that were there. She was very proud of her work and she was so cute and very grown up looking to us!
When the results were announced, she won first place for the Kindergartners and got a blue ribbon and a prize. We are so proud of her and she is very excited!!
Sage and her friend Taylor from down the street
by Jennifer | May 22, 2011 | Blog
Yesterday, Sage and I went on her first field trip ever to the Pacific Science Center. The 45 minute bus ride was actually much better than I thought as it was fascinating to watch and listen to the kids as we passed through tunnels and over bridges. It was in the low 70’s and absolutely beautiful too.
Here are a few pictures from the couple hours we were there.
The butterfly exhibit
Sage and Kleo at the touch tank
Eating lunch as fast as we could so we could get back in the Science Center
Puzzle time
by Jennifer | May 14, 2011 | Blog
(Skip to the 3rd paragraph for the non-depressing part of the blog post.)
I think that Mother’s Day is my least favorite holiday of the year . . . a day to remember that my Mom is no longer here with us and now also a day to remember that we live 19 hours away from my mother-in-law and have to “celebrate” with her over the phone instead of in person. I know God has a purpose for taking my Mom home to be with Him when He did and I know we chose to move 19 hours away to live up here, but this holiday is much harder than others!
So, I dreaded the day the entire week before, but managed to get through the day without too many tears. Tom was working on Mother’s Day, so the girls and I had a pretty normal day and then we celebrated as a family on Wednesday. This actually worked out well as I was over the Mother’s Day depression and had moved on and could enjoy being celebrated by my wonderful husband and 3 beautiful daughters.
Dinner on Sunday evening – the girls made decorations for the table and we had sparkling cider with our dinner
Cheers! Ashley was using a Mickey Mouse water goblet for the first time and was very excited.
So Wednesday morning was Spa day at our home. Tom and Sage made some apple pancakes that I asked for, for breakfast. Then they had a beautiful basket for me with lavender lotion, soap, room spray and tea and shortbread. I was then “pampered” with a manicure given to me by Sage, and a pedicure by Molly. Ashley kept grabbing the nail polish as she wanted to be part of it, but 21 months is probably a little too early for nail polish. (OK, 3 is too young, but Molly really had so much fun and I chose such a light color you could hardly see it.) Tom made us a wonderful tea for lunch and then I was able to volunteer in Sage’s classroom for the first time that afternoon. It was a great Mother’s Day!
I know what you’re thinking . . . Wow! That sure looks relaxing.
They were so excited to do my nails.
I just saw this picture for the first time tonight. Here are the questions that come to my mind:
What I was thinking giving my 3 year old nail polish? (just kidding – she did a great job!)
When did I get old lady feet?
Where’s the self-tanning lotion to hide the things that need to be hidden?
I wonder if Tom would like a spa day for Father’s Day?
(Just kidding honey!)
by Jennifer | May 10, 2011 | Blog
Molly was is Puggles at AWANA this year. There was no scripture memorization for this level of AWANA, but her fabulous leader, Miss Trish (Trisha LeProhon) knew the kids could do it! So over the course of the year, Molly memorized Psalm 100. Here’s the video . . .
by Jennifer | May 4, 2011 | Blog
Well, the crib is officially gone. Ashley has been moved to the bottom bunk (closed in with 3 chairs) and Molly is on the top. Molly is very proud of herself that she gets to sleep on the top bunk. The biggest challenge is Molly messing with Ashley when they are going to sleep . . . it’s getting better now that Molly knows the TV will not go on in the morning when she wakes up if she doesn’t do a good job.
Sage now has her own room and some space of her own. We were able to get her a loft bed, which she loves! There is a huge desk below, so the girls have been enjoying that as well.
