Mother's Day Tea at Sunrise Preschool- May 7, 2009

Tyler and Mom

Tyler and his basket of treats (what was left of them, at least)

Tyler and his preschool class hosted a Mother's Day Tea. The kids all brought a blanket and a basket to school and then served the Moms their treats picnic-style. The kids made us biscuits, chocolate-covered strawberries and lots of other yummy treats. Tyler was especially excited about the bag that he decorated with his handprints, which he has decided will be our new library bag.

Birthday week for the - April 2009

Mia enjoying the bounce house.

Tyler showing off his swing.

Tyler blowing out the candles on his dinosaur cake.

Nick, Jake and their friends at their sleepover party.

Our big 8 year-olds and their Pokemon cakes.

Nick, Jake and Tyler have birthdays 24 hours apart, which always makes for a crazy April. Nick and Jake had a Pokemon-themed sleepover party. It went very well and the kids were all great. Everyone was asleep by 9:30!

Tyler had a dinosaur party complete with a bounce house in the backyard. We all had a great time playing on the bounce house for the whole weekend! Mike especially enjoyed having the kids sit on the sides and then body-slamming himself on the bounce house to see if he could make the kids all go airborne. It sounds a bit cruel, but believe me, the kids LOVED it!

A trip to the zoo- March 29, 2009

Tyler hamming it up for the camera. His chin is still showing the damage from his sledding crash the day before.

Mia climbing on the ants at the zoo play area.

Nick and Jake looking more and more grown-up.

Just after our March snowstorm and sledding day, we had an absolutely beautiful 65 degree day so we decided to head to the zoo. We were able to see the mountain lions get fed and a moose chasing a wild turkey. It doesn't get any better than that!

Winter sledding fun- March 27, 2009

Tyler

Nick going for another run

Jake trying to perfect his technique over the jump

We had a snowy day in late March and went sledding with some friends. We made it to the hill just in time as the snow was melting as quickly as it had come down! Mia wasn't crazy about sledding. We forced her to go down the hill a few times with Mike and I, but she preferred to stay at the top and watch her crazy brothers (and father). All was well until Tyler crashed face-first into the curb at the bottom of the hill. He rebounded well though and a good time was had by all- kids and grown-ups!

Mia's butterfly-themed 3rd birthday

Mia got a new bike for her birthday. She likes to put her snacks in the basket.

Mia especially likes her new ladybug helmet.

Mia and Mom at her birthday party

Mia blowing out her candles


The butterfly cake

Chinese New Year and some other winter pics

One more cute picture from Florida.

Mia and Ty at home before the Chinese New Year celebration.

Mia in her traditional Chinese dress.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with a dinner out for Chinese food. Sadly, we must have chosen a very unauthentic Chinese restaurant because the waiter didn't even know it was Chinese New Year!! Our church also does a Chinese New Year celebration and parade every year, so we had a lot of fun with that. It's so neat to get out all the traditional Chinese dresses that we bought for Mia while in China. We got at least one for every year until she's a teenager!

Disney World 2009

Tyler and Mia meeting Mickey.

Tyler going down the water slide at the Polynesian- pretty brave for a 3 year-old!

Andy, Tyler, Madeleine, Mary and Alexandra

Jake and Nick posing near their favorite sign at the hotel. They were actually a little afraid to go stand so close to the sign and to the gators!

Mike and the kids on It's A Small World.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Disney World in January. We had a great time with my brother and his family and with Grandma. We were lucky enough to have fabulous weather the entire time and the kids enjoyed the beach and pool at the Polynesian as much as the parks, I think. Mia's favorite ride was It's A Small World, Tyler's was the roller coaster in Mickey's Toon Town (and the water slide at the Polynesian), and Nick and Jake loved Space Mountain and the Rockin' Roller Coaster. It was great to spend some time with family in such a fun place!