Open Barn Day

 Philadelphia had a barn day on Saturday. There are about 6 or so horse barns around Fairmount Park (which spans an enormous area). Each one was open for tours, demonstrations, games and more. We visited one near the Wissahickon river trail called Monastery Stables, off of Kitchens Lane.
We had a great time, Lilia was beyond excited. They have a saddle club for kids and immediately was begging me to join. She's even asking when we can go back. Oh boy - I think we have a true horse lover on our hands!

 Believe it or not, the pet portrait function on my camera takes the best pictures of the kids, especially in motion. If that is an option on your camera, give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Hey Cous

 So it's almost the end of Kindergarten and Lilia is beginning to read on her own. It's so fun, so empowering for her! Here she is reading to Ellie.

 I love that Alex - on his own - was playing with Olivia. He was playing peek-a-boo. That is too sweet!

Moms are the best

 I love my mom so much and I love my mother-in-law like she's my own mom. Both of them have wonderful Christ-like qualities that they portray to both me and the kids. They love well and serve us well. They are beautiful examples to aspire towards.

Lilia my biker girl

This picture is from our first month in China - September 2008. Lilia is only 18 months old.
As we lived in China for the next 10 months this is how we got around; on bikes with Lilia on the back.

First day of Kindergarten in the bike seat

Lilia has outgrown the bike seat. She mentioned just on Monday how it's starting to get squishy back there. We have moved on to the trailer bike.
After school yesterday Dave got everything all set up. Dave and Lilia rode around the block with me running along side holding her arm for security. She loved it and grew more and more confident with the rolling of the tires over the pavement.
This morning they rode off to school together (pictured right). They left with plenty of time to go slow and steady. They did great and made it to school just fine. Lilia is so excited; she loves the trailer bike. She can't wait to ride it tomorrow to school.

The Adventures of Alex

This boy LOVES to bike. Every where we go, "can I bike there?"
Last week Lilia left her folder at home. Alex and I took it over to school for her. He biked the whole way there and back. It's 2.8 miles round trip and all up hill coming home. Then the next day he bikes 20 minutes over to Bible study.
Dare I say we could be done with strollers? (As Dave and I both smile!!!)

"Super Siberian Tiger"

The Adventures of Lilia

 We were out at Penn Park (on Penn's campus) and Lilia was chilly. I gave her my sweater. She looked like such a model to me I had to take some pictures.

Two weekends ago we got to be with my parents for the weekend, which entailed hanging out with Patti and her horses. Lilia is so in her element on a farm. She spent most of the day outside with the animals. She loves their 3 Australian sheep dogs, especially Star, who has also grown quite fond of her.

Longwood Gardens 

Popsicle stick puzzles tutorial

This is a total Pinterest find. I am excited to try it out for our drive from PA to CO this summer. Here's what you need:

• Popsicle sticks, the thick kind. I got mine at Michael's
• Glue stick
• Pictures from magazines, old books, old calendars, or photos that your kids find interesting.
• Scissors
• A pencil/pen/marker
• Some way to make a copy of the pictures

STEP 1. Cut out the photos to the size you want them to be. It's also important that they fit on the stick.

STEP 2. Make a photo copy of each picture.

STEP 3. Taking one of the popsicles sticks, trace lines on the back of the picture to fit the width of the stick. (pictured right)

STEP 4. Cut the strips. ONLY do 1 puzzle at a time so you don't get them mixed up.

STEP 5. Have the copy in front of you for reference and began glueing the backs of each strip.

STEP 6. As you glue each strip, place it on the stick. Make sure you are "putting the puzzle back together," as you glue the strips. You want them to be lined up at the same end of the stick.

STEP 7. Once your puzzle is all glued together, draw a shape at the bottom of each stick as well as the copy so your kids can figure out which puzzle pieces go with which picture.

Step 6

Finished product; popsicle stick puzzle