The kids decided this morning that I needed breakfast in bed. Made my tea and oatmeal all by themselves and brought it upstairs with no spills!
Breakfast in Bed
Apr 8th, 2017 by ECM
Neighborly Tea Party
Apr 7th, 2017 by ECM
We love having kindred spirit neighbors!
Tommy and Susie’s Art Class
Apr 5th, 2017 by ECM
I finally came in before the end of class today to get some pictures of the kids at work!
Tuesday Morning Silliness
Apr 4th, 2017 by ECM
Last Picture with Grandma and Grandpa Muller
Apr 1st, 2017 by ECM
It’s been a busy week here, playing catch-up with schoolwork, making it to physical therapy, getting receipts in to insurance, and going back to CBS, so there are no pictures of life, but here was our last photo shoot with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed home!
LA Opera Open House Day
Mar 27th, 2017 by ECM
The big three kids were huge fans of their first visit to the LA Opera! We got to hear soloists from the Young Artists program sing famous arias, saw Placido Domingo himself in person, checked out sample costumes and props (many from shows that Derek and I have seen!), watched one of the six full-time staff wigmakers creating a new wig, looked at designs and models for sets, sang along with the LA Opera Chorus to famous opera choruses, saw clips of past productions, and had pictures taken on the red carpet. As an educator, I even got a free copy of a children’s opera production from a few years back. This must become an annual tradition!
Janie’s Birthday Party!
Mar 25th, 2017 by ECM
Janie had her first ever birthday party today, with bubbles, pizza, and most of her best buddies there to celebrate with her!
Micah, Ellis, Holly Joy, the birthday girl, Judah, and Heidi!
Cinderella
Mar 24th, 2017 by ECM
Last weekend, I took the girls to see their babysitter, Jennifer, in a new production of Cinderella. They loved our girls-only date! Beforehand, Oaks Christian put on this whole cute little princess tea, with yummy treats, chances to meet all the actors, and even face painting. As you would expect from a high school theatre program founded by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, it was very well done. I wasn’t anticipating all the good old Rogers and Hamerstein songs in a new production that features Ella opening Prince Topher’s eyes “to the injustices of the kingdom” and one of the stepsisters falling in love with a rebel leader “who seeks to overthrow the government.” (I’m not exaggerating; I’m quoting the wikipedia description!) Watching some of the richest, most privileged kids in the area singing about being nice to poor people was an interesting cultural experience. I found that the new songs and plot points dragged a bit, but the girls loved it, Jennifer did a great job, and they all got to hug Princess Ella after the production.
Janie at Four
Mar 23rd, 2017 by ECM
Though strangers would never believe it, Janie is our loudest, most-obnoxious-in-small-places child. She’s a youngest for sure! She yells, cries, laughs uproariously, and generally makes sure we don’t neglect her. =)
She loves being a big girl, whether that means dropping naps earlier than her siblings did, running around and doing everything they do, or explaining which of our friends and relations are babies and which are “big kids like me.”
Janie is definitely an introvert. She does enjoy people, especially her special friends, and she enjoys CBS and Sunday School. But socializing wears her out. She comes home and needs to decompress. She does like to play with the big kids, but she can also entertain herself quietly in her room with her play kitchen and tea set for an hour or more. She loves to be read to, can be daring on the playground if Susie eggs her on, and is really, really good at building with Magformers. She adores our little French class and is very proud to tell us, “J’ai quatre ans!” She likes watching Elizabeth’s ballet class and wants to start ballet herself (though probably she’ll have to wait until we get back from Iowa).
I asked her sisters about her. Even though they fight a lot, they all end up snuggled together on their bottom bunk every night, so I have high hopes that they’ll grow up to be best friends.
Susie says, “She’s cute, funny, cheerful, and loves to play that she’s the mom. What I like doing most with her is playing the game where Janie is a baby panda and I am a hedgehog and the mommy panda growls at me. I also love playing dolls with her. Annie (her psychedelic purple turtle) makes her happy. She likes chocolate cake, I don’t think she likes carrot cake, and sticker books.”
Happy Birthday, Janie!
Mar 20th, 2017 by ECM
Our little bug is a big girl now, for sure. We spread her birthday over two days so that she could open her sand toys from Uncle Matthew on Sunday afternoon, eat homemade gnocci on Sunday night (when Derek had time to make it all), then did homemade cinnamon rolls and the traditional four books for four years today! She’s enjoying lots of snuggles with Grandma and Grandpa Muller, too. =)
