After she spent all that time sewing…

Daniel spent some time destroying the playroom and then:

He took a nap. 

Indiana Jones, er, Thomas’ 7th Birthday!

Today was my handsome guy’s birthday party!  The theme was Indiana Jones and Thomas dressed to play the part of the ruggedly handsome hero-minus the scruffy whiskers.  The shirt is one of Michael’s.  Thomas found the hat in the woods a few weeks ago.  I made the bag-plus one like it for each of the other guests.  We didn’t have any pants dark enough so I dipped some old khaki ones in some coffee, spun them out, and dried them in the drier.  He smelled yummy!

Even though the party started at 10, the guests trickled in slowly.  They spent the first 30 minutes in the front yard with their magnifying glasses (from the bags) looking for “clues.”  In this case, bugs.

Then we started some music (via the xbox) and Thomas/Indy explained that he was on a search for stolen treasure and passed out the first clue.

The first clue led them to the “Mummy Gallery.”

There they had to wrap each other up in toilet paper to find the next clue, which was skillfully hidden INSIDE the rolls of paper.  They were a little shy about it at first, but they really got going with it.  Even Gloria got in on the wrapping.

The next clue told them to go to the “snake pit!”  This was designed and built by Indy/Thomas himself.  The snakes were also artistically placed by the little man.

The adventurers got busy finding the clues and snake wrestling.

The rolled up clues, under the snakes, told them to go to the “crocodile creek” for their next clue.

I added more leaves and debris between the above pictures and the party.  At first the kids had no clue as to how to go about their task.

Soon enough, they began reaching in to feel around…

…until their fearless leader saved the day and found the first clue!  (He even read most of them since he’s such an awesome reader.)

This clue sent them to “Pankot Palace Banquet”…

where they had to feel around inside some gross food to find the next clue…

…and then assemble the three pieces so they could read it!

Their final clue told them to go to the “airport hanger” where they found the treasure…

…and made short work of stashing it away in their bags.

All of this only took 20 minutes!  Hours and hours of preparation and it only took 20 minutes.  It was sprinkling off and on, so that made things move along faster.  I was still amazed at how quickly they accomplished their mission.  I guess hunting for treasure gets kids motivated.

While Michael grilled the burgers and dogs, the kids made up their own adventures out in the back.

The rain started to pour down and put a damper on that.  Thankfully, the food was almost done by that time.  Michael set up a card table in the kitchen, so we had 12 seats over tile for the messy kids to have lunch! 

Then it was time for THE CAKE. (That I had soooooooooo much fun doing!)

We all sang “Happy Birthday” (much to Gloria’s unhappiness!)

There was NO question about it.  The kids ALL wanted to eat the boulder for some reason, even after I explained that it was cake crumbs smashed into a ball shape.

It got as quiet as it ever was during this adventure after the cake was passed out!

Then the guests all went home and the four Phillips passed out themselves.

Gloria’s 2 Year Check-up

Friday morning, I took Gloria to her 2 year old check-up.  My little princess was NOT happy about it one bit.  First of all her mother put her BROTHER in the stroller that SHE is supposed to ride in.  That got the entire visit off to a bad start.

Then when they called her back into the exam room this strange lady wanted to put this cold measuring tape around her head, lay her on the exam table for a measurement, and tape a urine collection bag to her little girl bits without even saying hello. 

And forget about standing on the scale.  She was NOT going to do that.  However, she did let Mommy hold her and stand on the scale and then sit in a chair while Mommy stood on the scale all by herself.

Then there was the finger prick.  The same lady who had already upset the little princess took her finger, poked it, squeezed it, and then, horror of horrors, put a BANDAGE on it  “Off! Off!” she demanded as she tugged at the offending article and bled all over the place.  Mommy grabbed a couple of tissues and held the finger to stop the mess.  “Mess, Mommy!  Leg!  Mess!”  So Mommy got a wet wipe and began cleaning up as much as she could find.  Gloria got in on the cleaning, too, but was still beside herself about something.

There was a bit of waiting time before the doctor himself came in.  During this time Gloria repeatedly explained that there was something wrong in her diaper and that she wanted it fixed, but she did NOT want Mommy to put her on the exam table to do so.  After much explaining on the part of her mother, Gloria anxiously allowed Mommy to place her on the exam table to get that horrible bag out of her diaper.  After that was gone, she was MUCH happier-and quieter.

By the time the doctor got there she was able to handle things better.  It probably didn’t hurt that she ate a good bit of cereal in order to keep her brother from eating it.  (We have a hard time getting her to eat breakfast these days.)  She was a bit suspicious of him, but was ok with him looking her over and checking her out as long as she was touching Mommy.

Then ANOTHER lady came in and laid her down on the exam table.  Gloria was not terribly upset by this until she felt something happen on her leg that made her eyes open wide with shock.  Something had STUNG her and she was so hurt.  Then she noticed there was ANOTHER evil bandage on her leg! 

Once she calmed down enough, Mommy was able to unwrap her legs from her torso and ask her if she was ready to go home.  “Home!  Yes!  Home now!”  It took less than 2 minutes to get her fully dressed and out the door.  This time her mother wisely put her in the stroller, but didn’t buckle her in, something that greatly offended the princess yet again.

After an hour filled with tears, Gloria came out of the clinic with a clean bill of health (duh), a couple of pokes (ow!), and some interesting yet ultimately meaningless statistics on her present size.  (Height 32.25 inches-11%.  Weight 30 pounds-85% Head circumference 19 inches-69% for those interested.)  Thankfully, we won’t be doing that again for another year.  At least, not with her!

And through it all, her little brother sat peacefully in the stroller eating cereal and only occasionally shedding sympathy tears for his sister.

Happy Birthday!

On Friday Gloria turned 2.  On Sunday Thomas turned 7.  So on Saturday we had a family celebration where we celebrated BOTH birthdays, but mostly Gloria’s since Thomas will have his Indiana Jones birthday party with his friends NEXT Saturday.  Here are some pictures I managed to catch.  There were other cameras present, so I may come back and add more.

First, “the cake.”  I did the baking and frosting, Mom did most of the decorating, and Michael artistically placed the fairies and candles.

The princess was NOT happy about us singing “Happy Birthday” to her-at all.

But she did like blowing out her candles!

And EATING the cake

And playing with her brother

Then Daniel got really, really tired…and passed out on Cousin Gilah.

The expression on Gilah’s face is just priceless here.  And I love how all the colors (hair and skin tone) all just go together.

Then the gift opening began!  Gloria actually got the idea this time.

Hmmmm…What’s this?

It’s Dora!

A camera!

Dishes?  Gee, thanks, Mommy.

Another camera.  This one says “You’re beautiful!”

“Big Tinkerbell!”

“Open it, Daddy!  Open it right now!”

An absolutely gorgeous smile from Daddy.  (That’s the smile I see a lot, but can’t get on camera!)

Daddy demonstrates how to love on a doll.

But Gloria wanted to look at her instead.  “No hug Tinkerbell.”

Meanwhile, Thomas opens his OWN presents

Hmm.  This looks pretty cool.

A transformer!

Then Michael told Thomas he needed some help finding something outside.

He found it!

He was a little intimidated by the idea of the hills in our neighborhood, so Michael stuck right next to him to give him confidence.

He promised he wouldn’t let go, and he didn’t!

We had much fun.  NEXT week, we will have MORE!

Proof Daniel Smiles!

This is the face I see most often when I look at Daniel, but I have many pictures to share that prove he CAN and DOES smile!

Tell me if YOU have a favorite because I just can’t choose!

Aldridge Gardens

Since  the power was out, school was out, and Thomas asked, we went to Aldridge Gardens for a good old fashioned picnic complete with a quilt and the day after Easter egg and tuna sandwiches.  I brought along my camera and got busy taking pictures of the moving targets.  Here are some of the better ones.

Running around the picnic area:

On the bridge:

On a rock:

On some steps:

(Hey, they were both holding still and looking the same direction!)  

Then we got the idea to put them all on here:

The light was fading and my camera decided to flash, so the babies look whiter than they already are.  Even with them captive, we STILL couldn’t get them to all look the same direction at the same time, but as you can see, Daniel was having a blast.

Easter Photoganza

Happy Easter!  With the kids all dressed up, I took the opportunity to snap a few (dozen) pictures.  Here are just some of my favorites.

At home before church:

Thomas and Gloria

Thomas and Daniel

How’s this for a smile?

Mommy and her grinning boys

Michael and Thomas  (They really do love each other-just not holding still and smiling for the camera)

I made Gloria some bloomers to go with that dress LOL

At church, Gloria got to go on an Easter egg hunt with the other preschoolers:

Is there one under here?

I’ll put this one in my basket.

Why is this picture so sweet?

Can you tell she was thrilled about the house?

Mommy, open it!!!

Investigating Thomas’ findings on his egg hunt

Now how does this work, Daddy?

Daniel tries an egg

You see, son, you’re supposed to open it and eat the candy inside.

Who needs candy?  These eggs taste great!

Silly baby!

Relaxing in the nursery after church

Here we all are after church-still happy, pretty and only slightly sticky!

Dying Yarn

For those of you who might not know, we do cloth diapers around here and use wool covers beautifully and graciously crocheted by Grandma.  The colors readily available aren’t all that exciting sometimes, so I learned how to dye my own with Kool-Aid and food coloring. 

I began with just one color per skein.  Then Gloria picked out these cute little colorful sandals and I just HAD to dye some yarn to match them.  So, I played with my little scraps until I had the closest I could get and ended up with the following:

  Two skeins hanging up to dry.

One skein wrapped around the shoe to show the matching colors.  I didn’t do as well on the red, but it’s acceptable.  The trim is some pink already at Grandma’s house.

The other skein put into a hank to show the mix of colors.

Group shot just for fun.  (Don’t worry, Mom.  I put them into balls after this to minimize the tangling and knotting.)

My little helper.  She saw the camera and wanted me to take a picture.  Who was I to argue?  She even smiled.

I will be putting up pictures of the finished product in a few weeks.  I am really proud of the things that Grandma makes for us.  I probably don’t tell her thank you often enough.

Deniece or Denephew?

My baby sister is PREGNANT!  Between her cycle and her first ultrasound, it looks like my niece or nephew will arrive sometime in early November.  The ultrasound they did yesterday puts the baby at 8 weeks and 4 days.  They also got to see the heartbeat and little arm and leg buds.  Awww!  It’s amazing how much can be seen.

With Valerie’s permission, here is the bean:

Here it is…

This is the dress I was working on while the kiddos fell asleep.  I think I did pretty well without a pattern.  There are a couple of little things I would change the next time around though.  I learned a lot!

She wanted the camera in the last one.