Joshua's Catapult

Hooray!  Joshua fixed the kinks in his catapult with great success!  At first he was trying to load ammunition into a yogurt container attached to the end of the arm.  Then he hit on this idea, which is a rope tied to a potato and looped (loosely) around the end of the arm.  He tried launching water balloons too, but they kept bursting before they were launched!

Today was...

 Rollerblading and scootering   Joshua has taken over Gabriel's scooter, although apparently they have traded.  Joshua gave Gabriel his old bike and his bucket of soldiers (with the army tank!) for exclusive rights to the scooter.  Ella has been practicing her heel-toe move on her rollerblades.  Looks like she also get towed along by Joshua.

 Sweet dreams in the grass.  The sky was overcast and the air cool earlier in the afternoon.  Just right for reading stories cuddled up on a blanket. 

Waking up to kisses!

Joshua started making a catapult today too.  There was quite a bit of frustration in the building of the throwing arm, but I think he's got it almost worked out. 

Ella has started a new blog, me and my sister.  She is really excited about ideas for her coming posts, so stay tuned!:)

Three Months (yesterday)

We love love love our sweet, happy girl!

Picture review of the last two weeks

 Ella and Joshua have figured out how to climb into the lower branches of these towering tulips.  They wedge themselves in between the two trunks and scooch on up.  Ella is up in the tree in the top picture.

I had to include this series of shots, Ella and Joshua are such good buddies:

Another pair of great buddies.  Gabriel reads to Hannah, plays stuffed animals with her and here he is weighing her as part of a game that he has made up. 

A jersey all her own

Long ago when Ella was a little tyke, a friend brought her back this soccer uniform from England.  She wore it.  Lots.  Then Joshua wore it.  When Gabriel grew big enough he wore it too.  Now, I'm no longer sure that we have this snazzy outfit, though it could be hiding in a box somewhere.  Anyhow, Joshua heard me lamenting over the fact that Hannah will not get to wear this, and set about making her a soccer jersey of her own.  He cut out the red stripes, and asked me to cut out the number eleven for him (Not just two lines, Mama!  Real ones!)  We sewed them on together using the machine. Hopefully he will have better control over a gas pedal when he learns to drive than he does over the presser foot!  Joshua is really proud that his little sister can now be a part of all the soccer fun happening over here!

Notes:
~The top picture was taken when Gabriel was two weeks old
~Gabriel had just gotten his first buzz cut in the picture of him weating the uniform
~Joshua took the number eleven picture (11 was his jersey number when he played soccer last fall)
~Hannah is lying on her brand new blankie by Bee in the last picture!

 A couple of weeks ago we watched a YouTube video of a man making a soccer ball out of a fruit bag and newspapers.  Today, upon receiving a load of junk mail (those coupon newspapers that fly to pieces by the time you have brought them back to the house), Joshua asked if he could make one.  He is SO happy with his handiwork!  There was one setback, when he got his ball stuck way high up in the Catalpa tree after pretending it was the death star.  However, he remedied that by cutting down a tree (Yes!  A whole tree!) to retrieve it.  Joshua could not quite lift and maneuver the tree to get his ball down.  I was giving a valiant effort when lo and behold Daddy materialized mid afternoon and heroically saved the newspaper ball before the rains hit this afternoon. 

Two Months

Pictures from Hannah's two month birthday, April 19, 2011

When Gabriel was all done splashing he said, "I'm really proud of myself for getting all wet".