Veteran's Day

What do you do if its too rainy outside to have a parade?  You bring the parade indoors.

 These are homemade smoothie popsicles for some very cute kids.

FHE in Ocean Shores

We decided to make a quick trip to Ocean Shores to play at a new park we had found on a previous adventure.  It was some good quality family time.

Tom's favorite thing to do is swing

Catherine our monkey girl

Catherine's Dance Recital

Catherine loves dance.  She was a beautiful bird in this performance.

Ali Mareth, Natalie Mareth, and Catherine Gifford backstage

Catherine after her performance

Mother's Day Necklace

Jon got this necklace for me for Mother's Day.  I love it. The boys are on the outside with the birthstones for Tom and Mark.  Catherine is in the middle with her birthstone.

Lake Sylvia

One Friday after school it was so nice we decided to go play at the lake.  There were some other kids there with an inner tube and skin thick enough to go into the cold water.  One girl pushed Catherine around in the tube while Tom played in the dirt.  Both of them had lots of fun.  The water was still to cold to really play in.

Dance Recital is coming soon

Catherine's Dance Recital is coming up.

T-ball and Playing at the Park

Two Saturdays ago we had some beautiful weather.  It was so nice and warm that the kids decided they wanted to go a little early to Catherine's game so they could play on the toys.  Catherine has gotten sooooo good at the monkey bars.  At tball, Catherine tries hard to do whatever the coach tells her to do. 

 

Trip To Hati

Jon went to Hati for a little more than a week.  He enjoyed his time there remembering how much he loves the people, food, and was amazed at how much he remembered of the language.  He brought home some presents for the kids.  Tom got a guitar made out of a gourd and Catherine got a bracelet and necklace.  Mark got a little truck container and I just realized I never took a picture of it.

Swim Lessons

Tom has been taking swim lessons and LOVING them.  He asks to take a bath twice a day so he can practice his kickers.  One of his friends from playgroup has been in the class with him - Frank.  He loves putting his head in the water and splashing his friends with his kickers.

Hike in Sherwood Forest

One of the great things about living in Washington is all of the nature surrounding us.  One of our Relief Society additional meetings is a hiking group that is exploring some nice hiking trails in our area.  This one is less than 5 minutes from our house in the middle of a neighborhood.  Its called Sherwood forest.  I took Tom with me and carried Mark the whole way.  Tom was a trooper.  The trail has not been maintained very well so there were lots of plants to push our way through.  He didn't complain at all. 

Catherine's Piano Skills

Today as I was picking Catherine up from piano the teacher told me she had written a note in her book about how well she was doing on a particular song she had given Catherine.  It is "Love One Another".  She has told me before how easy it is to teach Catherine because she has this amazing ability to just pick up whatever she puts in front of her.  She had given her the song knowing it would be a challenge, but was amazed that she almost has it down already.    

Breakfast

This morning started out like any other Monday with me asking for suggestions for breakfast.  Our usual breakfast choices are oatmeal, eggs, toast, muffins, or cereal(I have been trying to give them less of this one).  We usually always have a green smoothie to go with whatever else they choose.  This morning I was feeling like something new.  I looked online and got the idea for parfaits.  They sound fancy, but include things my kids like - fruit, yogurt and granola.  I asked Catherine to help because our mornings usually go better when she has a part in helping with breakfast.  She decided she wanted to write out the recipe then make them.  I defrosted some frozen berries for her and she did the rest.  We also decided to make crepes with strawberries and a little bit of chocolate whip cream.  Catherine liked the breakfast so much she asked for the same thing for lunch.  No yelling or whining with everyone eating breakfast means it was a winner.  I'm sure they will be asking for this tomorrow.  The recipe for crepes is here.

Catherine wanted to write out her own recipe for her parfaits 

She made one for her and each brother

Almost gone

Tom loved it too

Mark loved it too - That makes a winning recipe in our house

Playgroup

Tom is part of a playgroup that meets at different houses each Tuesday.  This past Tuesday they were at our house.  Tom loves his friends.  Can you tell?  

Quick Beach Trip

Perks of living close to the beach means when you have a Friday after school that has nice weather - you head to the beach.  It got colder by the time we got there.

Drive right up and play

I told Catherine how we used to pretend we were making magic potions with the sand so we could create bigger waves.  She thought she would make her own magic potion to create more dry sand.

He was ready to jump in the water till he got some of it on his feet.  It was very cold.

  "More Sand!"