May Fair

The May Fair is the oldest state fair in California, in continuous operation annually for 135 years, right here in little old Dixon (population 17,000.) I entered chocolate chip cookies in the baking contest this year and won a blue ribbon--all I can see here is a waste of 3 good cookies since they were thrown out after the Fair. :)

R (and S next to him) showing off their balloon "tatoos"

Watermelon sno-cone, yum

Our church entered a float in the parade, and also won a blue ribbon. The theme of the parade was "California-the melting pot" so that is why the kids on the float are dressed up in costumes representing different countries.

The Bible and Cross were on a rotating platform.

The orange tissue paper flowers under the cross are supposed to be California poppies, our state flower.

Can you see the California state flag on the wall behind our band? That's chicken wire stuffed with a kajillion squares of different colored tissue paper to create the flag--it looked awesome.

Silly Sally

In preschool they are using new curriculum this year that centers around a new book each month--they read that same book every day, and most of their crafts/activities are related in some way to the book. This month the book is Silly Sally, who "went to town, walking backwards, upside down." So today was backwards day at school, and the kids wore their clothes backwards. We put her ponytail in the front, and you can see from this picture she is sporting her new short haircut (which has made the morning detangling process a bit easier.)

Me & Baby P

She'll be 6 months old in less than 2 weeks!

R calls this his "stair chair" and "desk" and "computer"

R recently completed the gymnastics lessons he received for his birthday--he really enjoyed it!!

When we started, he would only kind of bounce on the trampoline, then he progressed to one foot leaving the surface, and by the end he was bouncing high with both feet off :)

My parents visited for a few days in April--we went to San Francisco so Paul could try eating oysters for the first time (my Dad's the only one he could find who was willing to eat them with him. Supposedly they were very good.)

Prepping the garden

First oatmeal cereal--she's not too keen on it yet.

Insert your own caption here:

These last 2 pics were from the day we went to a baseball game at the local high school--one of the boys from church plays on the team. Dinner was Cheetos from the snack bar...and nobody's died yet.

Easter kids

I don't have any individual pics of R because he had a cold on Easter and wasn't too happy in general, let alone smiling for the camera. But we had a friend take some family pictures at church so we'll see if any of those turn out to be post-worthy. Thanks Grammie for the beautiful Easter outfits! It rained most of Easter Sunday, so we had a lovely afternoon curled up next to a cozy fire.

Sisters in Cherries

Here is S wearing her craft project from school (on St. Patty's day)--she has now added the terms "leprechaun" and "shamrock" to her vocabulary.

S and R love to spin on the "circle swing"--i did it with them one time and just about got sick. But they want to do it overandoverandoverandover.

Baby P is 4 months old

Sister S at age 4 months, in her red cherries outfit

Sister P at 4 months in the same red cherries outfit.

He's A Heartbreaker

R doing what he does best - putting on a show.

Long time gone

Paul has been away at Shepherds' Conference since Tuesday--which is a long time gone. But Mom's been here to help me with the kids, and a good thing too or we'd have all been sent to the crazy house by about Wednesday. So here are some pics to catch up on...

ok, so she's almost 4 months now, but still just as cute."Hey look, Mom, they've got a pool over there!"

Tres chic.

same outfit, same baby, same Bumbo seat...totally different day.

Happy Birthday morning (though it seems like he's been 2 forever already.)

His favorite gift by far--his face was very excited when he opened it, "A foo ball!!!"

Working on the spiral throw

Big catch

Chocolate milk on my birthday-yes!

Is that a crown above my princess's head? No, it's a Corona (help, Photoshop!)

A Foot

I was thinking out loud, "What should I title this?" R answered me, "A foot." So there you go.

R helping Dad unload some firewood...

Don't you love those pink flowered hand-me-down rainboots from his big sister?

We had music playing, and R was beating the table like a drum while he bobbed his head to the music and drank milk--who says men can't multi-task?

Trying on Mom's shoes

Strike a pose

P sitting up in the Bumbo seat!

And this pic just because I like it.