Easter Festivities 2012

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for
    that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy.
    Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.
- Charles R. Swindoll  
 

 Easter brought with it friends and traditions. Amber, one of my closest friends from my younger years (I met her when I was three, but our dads went to college together), flew up from Southern California to spend the holiday with us. She has been with us a few Easters of the children's lives and we LOVE IT!

Amber got to join us in dying Easter eggs... and her parents (Uncle Ron and Auntie Grandma) came down from Bellingham to be with us this year too! It was a special time. When Amber and I were little, we'd have Easter egg hunts with her family every year... now we were able to carry this tradition on in a sense!

 I took pictures on Easter morning of the kids all dressed up for church.

BOYS!

 

Kezia didn't last so well so we tried again after church outside. Kezia did better outside, but the boys (especially Tate) "couldn't see... it's too bright out!" (Thank God for sunshine, but their eyes just weren't ready for it!)

 

 
Uncle Ron and Travis hid Easter eggs for the kids. 91 eggs and Katiree hauled in about half of them. She's a pro! The boys will catch on soon enough and she'll find it's not so easy to just head a different way and gather while the boys follow each other looking for eggs. It was so much fun to have beautiful days surrounding Easter since it allowed us to do so many things outside!

After the search, we counted eggs and found the Resurrection eggs (they were numbered). This allowed us to tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection by opening up 12 eggs with symbols and verses! Because Katiree can read this year, she was able to read all the verses in her eggs! Amber, Auntie Grandma, Uncle Ron, Auntie Marjie and six Armstrongs all enjoyed the sunshine... and the kids enjoyed some treats from their eggs too!

 

 

We feel so blessed to celebrate Christ's resurrection with our family and wonderful friends! It was an Easter to remember!
HE IS RISEN!

The warmth of a friend's presence brings joy to our hearts,
    sunlight to our souls, and pleasure to all of life.




 Favorite people, favorite places, 
Favorite memories of the past, 
These are the joys of a lifetime. . .
These are the things that last.

She's ONE!

Our littlest one turned one. A year has gone by since this sweet little bundle was placed on my chest. Her dark hair has lightened a bit, but hasn't grown much. She's our laid back girl, with a crazy side to her. Everything goes into her mouth - especially paper which made her birthday a lot of fun! She idolizes her older sister and brothers, knowing just when to giggle to get them to keep at their antics and keep her entertained. She prefers their toys to her own, and even when they share their toys, what they have in their hands is always better than what they gave her so she goes for that too! While she cruises, she doesn't walk yet so at least the older ones can get away from her if they want.

This little one knows how to beg popcorn off her older sister. She adores music... her head bobbing of old continues with the added bum moving back and forth as well as her hands either clenched together and moving or waving back and forth like she's directing an airplane into its gate.

The last month has been full of new words... she loves saying "Dadda" or "Daddeee" and applies that word to most people even when she knows it isn't the right name. "Mama" is used when "Daddeee" isn't around. She's tried to say "Tate" (Tae) and Katiree "TeeTee". Zane is still "Dadda". The only sign that has turned into a word is "more", but her signing continues to improve. She just added the word "up" to her vocabulary.

This is our girl that gets a twinkle in her eye when she sees the gate is not at the bottom of the stairs (and heads straight for them giggling all the way - even when she hears one of us tell her "no"). She thinks taking a few ziploc containers out of the drawer is great fun and would explore more of the kitchen if she was allowed. And for as much as she likes to lick (kiss) her baby doll and snuggle, she also loves getting right into the wrestling match or the indoor football game if Daddy and the boys get going with one of these. She crawls straight in with laughter in her voice. What will the next years entail?  Oh, sweet girl... you've grown quickly.

Here are just a few pictures from her birthday and birthday party. She liked the paper and wrapping, was excited at first about her cupcake (birthday) and cake (party), but decided quickly they weren't so great (threw cupcake from the high chair and bawled after touching the cake).



Yum - curly ribbon!

Yum - paper!

Chewable - non destroyable books!

Happy Birthday to Kezia!

 

 

It looks okay. It tastes.... hmmm... well I don't like it. (toss it off of high chair) 

Oh, how exciting! They're coming with this beautiful candle on something I've never had before!

This is exciting.... no scary... 

What are these things that catch my eye and pull my hand to test them out?

Horrible... horrible trick! I don't like this sticky mess!

Yes, that's how it ended, folks... with tears and hatred toward the cake that celebrated her first birthday!

Sweet One Year Old Girl

Our baby is one... yes, it's really hard to believe! Last year on this day we were welcoming her into the world while my dad presented his doctoral thesis. What a blessed day! Here are birthday morning pictures!

 One smiley little girl!

 

 Reading and Eating books. Two of her favorite things to do!

 
The look... this is her box of toys, but the boys' balls were in it. She always gives us a look like, "I know this isn't mine, but I want it" before she tries anything. It's quite funny to see this look with the pleading eyes. When she goes for the stairs, she looks back at us with mischief in those eyes. They read, "Oh, PLEASE don't say no this time!" Her eyes are fun to read!

 

Blowing kisses and more birthday smiles. Happy Birthday, Kezia!

Turning Five

It's official... we ALMOST have a five year old! Tate turns five tomorrow and we celebrated this weekend. Every year (age 2 and up), I let them choose a cake. I then spend time looking up photos of other cakes online and figure out how to make what they want. This year Tate wanted an air craft carrier with REAL fighter jets (toys he could keep, of course). The cake, in and of itself, was not a difficult one to make... the prep of everything just takes time. We used Zane's air craft carrier toy as a model and this is what came of it:

Taking a day to make a cake may sound crazy... but when my son woke up and saw it... he said, "Now that's a cool cake, Mom." Sigh... it was all worth it at that moment. I love this little tradition, even though it means a lot of planning and time goes into it.

We celebrated with family and a few family friends... and tomorrow we can officially say we have a five year old here in the Armstrong household! Happy Birthday, Tate!

Armstrong Family Weekend

Travis' family came down for the weekend to celebrate Tate's birthday. We had some good times!


The boys love their baby sister and she loves them.

Taking pictures with all four children can prove to be challenging. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time there was someone blinking or looking elsewhere in every shot! But... for the sake of real life... here's the best one. At least they are all trying for Grandma!

We got a new Wii game and had a lot of fun playing it together! Travis and his sister, Chanda, started the evening with a rocking dance party. Katiree joined in later and was hooked! The following evening the adults played again! What fun!

As Kezia is nearing her first birthday, I caught a few moments with her grandpa and grandma... this little girl brings such joy to us all!

Winter or Spring?

Yes, it's spring. Wait... it's winter. What? We have blooming crocuses and daffodils. The tulips are popping up as well. On top of it all, we got snow... on March 1st! But, it sure was pretty. I looked outside and thought about the clean white snow as I waited through the morning trying to find out if Katiree's school would be starting on time or have a 2 hour delay. The school districts around us all had 2 hour delays, but she goes to school in the Evergreen school district, which had no delay. I was glad, for her sake, that there was not a delay, though she would have enjoyed playing in the snow. It was Dr. Seuss day and Read Across America day at her school, so she was really excited to go that day. Even the snow wasn't as exciting as that! (She got to wear pajamas and take her pillow pet to school.)



The boys, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get out and play. As I bundled them up, I prayed this wouldn't be a quick 10 minute play time ending with "I'm cold. I want to go inside." Thankfully, they played outside for the next hour or more. We had fun making snowballs (I did it one handed since I had Kezia on my hip - oh the talents one acrues when being a mom of multiple children) and making snowmen.

Even Kezia got to enjoy outside a little. She shivered when I let her touch the snow!

Tate made his snowman all on his own! He was so proud of his work!

Zane also made his little snowman on his own, with help just to put on a face. Isn't the little guy cute?

We had a wonderful time playing outside in the snow and it was a good thing we played out in it as soon as we got home from dropping Katiree off at school, too! By the afternoon, all that was left of the snow in our yard were the two snowmen - Tate's looked like it was bowing and Zane's face had all melted off! Thankfully, the boys thought that was pretty funny rather than being disappointed that their snowmen didn't last!