Ahhh, Sweet Spring! (AKA- MY LONGEST POST EVER)

Anyone who knows me even a little bit, knows that I hate rain and cold. Washington hasn't been the most pleasant since we moved here, but we have had some amazing days already this spring and I am really looking forward to summer with the children. So far though, springtime has been a lot of fun with the kids, hence the lack of posting on the blog. Sorry about the long delay but sometimes I'm in the mood to blog...literally...sometimes. When those sometimes happen to roll around when I need to do other things, well, you see what happens :)
I think it's been about a month since I put up any pictures of the kids, so here goes! Jeanine is now 8.5 months and is so sweet to be around. She is growing so quickly and when I saw her up next to my friend C's newborn baby girl on Saturday, Jeanine was enormous!! I'm wishing for a little one...again, lol! She and John have become great friends already and she loves to get his attention, touch his face and cackle like crazy. John also enjoys making her smile and laugh, and spends a lot of the day with her sharing cars and toys. He is such a wonderful big brother and I can't wait until they can play more together and spend lots of time outside.

One day I needed to get Jeanine a bath super-quick like before her nap, and after she was done and asleep John decided he wanted to get in the sink and play :) He had a blast and I had to add more and more hot water for almost an hour while he played and splashed. Silly 2.5 year old!

During early April, we had one of the most amazing weeks weather wise. It was in the 70s (hot, yes, hot for WA, lol!) and there was such a pleasant warm breeze for about 5 days. What a reprieve from the usual chilly and rainy Aprils here! I don't have many pictures of Johnny because he was too busy playing outside, but here's a few of the little miss, enjoying her new summer clothes and sitting in the sun!

Toes!! Learning to crawl! She's finally a crawler, and loves playing with her brothers' Hotwheels cars!

2009 seemed to have a wonderful Easter in store for our family. We spent the weekend together as a family, despite Isaac's hectic schedule. We were able to get to church all together for a wonderful Resurrection Day Service, with amazing food, fellowship, and fun for the kids. There was a brunch between services so everyone could attend, and an Easter egg hunt inside one of the church buildings for the kids. After that we had Isaac's parents and grandma over for supper and it was an awesome meal! I made my first ham, scalloped potatoes, Caesar salad, and we also had rolls, asparagus and zucchini, and Jello, yum! Here's Grandma Kathy with the kids.

Me and Jeanine Johnny playing with Grandpa Jim Jeanine with Great Grandma Caroline (Jim's Mom) (and trying to figure out what that huge thing is on her head, lol!!) "The Bunny" and Johnny...he walked right up and was so excited to take a picture!

The day before Isaac took John to an egg hunt here in town and got some pictures with "The Bunny." John has no idea who that bunny actually is but he thought he was silly anyway. We as a family choose not to invite the Easter Bunny into our home during the Resurrection season simply because we don't want to add unbiblical traditions to such a holy day as Easter (we also don't have Santa at our house, in case you were wondering). THIS post, written by my best friend Lauren, talks about the reasons we (and they) have chosen not to "do" Santa or the Easter Bunny, and she says it much better than I ever could, lol! Instead we add other fun traditions and teachings, such as using Resurrection Eggs to teach about Jesus, His death on the cross, and His rising from the dead. John really seemed to enjoy and soak up learning about Jesus for the 12 days before Easter Sunday and I really look forward to using this tool each year as our children get older.
The day before Easter, I also took Johnny to the Tacoma mall to see Handy Manny (from the Disney Channel). Handy Manny is John's all time favorite show to watch, and he only gets to watch that and one other thing per day. I guess talking tools, fixing things, and a Spanish/English language mix is right up a 2.5 year old boy's alley, lol! We went, we stood in line with 200 other people, and guess what? Handy Manny didn't show! Ick! It was such a huge disappointment for so many of the kids, though there were other activities to do as well. John got to color a cardboard tool box and take it home, watch a brand new (never been aired on TV) episode of the show, and learn how to be "green." Overall it went fine and I was more disappointed than John since I wouldn't have taken him out, skipped nap time, or gone to the mall on a Saturday if I'd known Handy Manny wasn't coming, lol!

I am a member of Meetup.com and often take the kids to a local Meetup to do lots of different activities. Last week was toddler playtime at the community center and here's a pic of John and his two friends C. and G. who were there. Fun at home...

Playing outside with daddy last week:

At the neighbor's house playing with water:

Lunch at the park: Spiderman tattoos with sissy (You know you have a brother when...):

On another note, we also have Jeanine back in cloth diapers and we LOVE it! I found the perfect cloth diapers, also known as pocket diapers, made by Cushytoosh and they're fabulous! She looks adorable in them, we're not throwing away countless diapers that take hundreds of years to biodegrade in landfills, and we're saving so much money! If you've ever thought of cloth, please check into it at THIS site to learn all about it! My friend Lauren has spent countless hours putting together a blog that outlines everything you'll ever need to know about cloth, including the 4 different types, how to wash them, the $$$ you'll save, etc.

Other than ALL THAT, I've been busy with bracelet making, burp cloth sewing, fabric buying (for yet another project for Jeanine's room), Boppy mending, and keeping up on my Etsy shop. Isaac is currently in EMT school for the next 3.5 weeks and will then begin shift work and college classes. We are so excited for the summer, his schedule is AWESOME and we'll see him so much more! I have a few other things I'd like to post about but for now I think that's enough. I've been on the computer for 2 hours now and need to go read to the kids so I don't feel guilty anymore ;) Thanks for reading and commenting, it makes blogging so worth it to know what you guys thing, and if you are reading at all! Until next time...