So much cuteness

One of my favorite aspects of going back to NY to visit is seeing my children get to know Hannah's little guy, Isaiah.


 


 


 


 

 

I mean seriously, they're so cute together, it's hard to stop taking pictures!


 


 
High five!


 


 
Watching Baby Einstine together


 
Doing exercises (crunches)


 
Push-ups


 
Helping Joel do push-ups

For more pics of our time in NY, check out the Flickr set.

Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk!

On Thursday morning, the entire household managed to rouse itself and get out the door by 10:30 AM (you will recognize how miraculous this is if you have ever traveled or done any sort of schedule planning with any of my family.)  (Not point fingers, just saying.)  (I will surely be slayed now by all of my family.)

Moving on.

So yes!  We made it out of the house and went blueberry picking at a patch very close to my parents' house.  It was great to decompress and work together as a family for a little while, and with so many hands picking together, we made short work of harvesting a full 4 buckets worth of berries before the youngest children started Naptime Meltdown.  Success!






 


 


 


 


 


 


 

The two toddlers ate all that they picked, Blueberries for Sal style.








Christopher, Jamie and Lavella




Joy and Alison




My dad, Grace and Rachel



Jamie and Lavella








My mom and Andrew




Joel and my mom
















Jonah and Isaiah with Hannah

Swimming and a group birthday dinner

We're in NY this week, spending time with my family.  On Tuesday, we went to a nearby state park for a rather cold -- but fun -- swim/splash.  Hannah and Isaiah were there too, although they arrived after I'd already stowed my camera away.


 

That night we had planned a "Five Little Cousins Birthday Dinner Party" to cover birthday celebrations past and upcoming for all of the little guys. 


 

Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob brought gifts, I made dinner (4 chickens roasted with lemon-thyme-garlic butter, gravy, rice, sauteed red swiss chard, romaine salad, corn on the cob) with some help from Greg and my mom, and made 2 layer cakes (lemon cake filled with a quick blueberry jam/sauce and vanilla pastry cream, and frosted with a lush lemon swiss meringue buttercream).

After dinner, Hannah assembled the cake (she had also made the pastry cream) with Isaiah's help.


 

Isaiah had the very important job of Frosting Taster.


 

He may have had a little bit of help from some friends.

 


 


 


 
(I can bake things that taste great, but I am severely challenged when it comes to decorating, so I was glad that Hannah took that part over for me.)

Rachel put as many candles as she could into the tops of the cakes,


 

and we turned the lights down for everybody's favorite song.


 


 


 


 


 

 

Happy pre and post birthday to all!

Blackberry-ing

On Thursday morning, the children and I decided to go out blackberry-ing, so I had Greg give me a quick lesson on driving the 4-wheeler, and we set off in to the woods.  After a mostly cheerful, peaceful time in the thickets, I brought the children back to the house, but I still didn't have quite enough berries for a pie, so...

 
I drove back out by myself...

 
And picked berries in the silence of the big green woods.  In spite of the mosquito bites and pricker scratches, the lonely quiet was some kind of wonderful.