The Tortoise and the Hare

A couple of months ago, my dad asked if I had any epic plans for costumes for the girls.  I admitted than I did not.  He suggested that Elaina would make a good little turtle, since she was almost crawling at that point.  I loved the idea, and decided that Chloë and her high energy levels would make a perfect hare.  And so the idea of Tortoise and Hare was born.  My mom found a stuffed rabbit at Goodwill, so I washed it, cut it into pieces and made Chloë's costume.  My dad worked some magic by shaping a tortoise shell out of good ol' paper-mache, we sewed on one of my old belts, and my mom and I went to work painting it.

A few days before halloween, our church had their big annual Fall Carnival, so we dressed the girls in their costumes, and I got out the face paint.

At the Fall Carnival with my very own tortoise and hare.  (Thanks Bryan, for taking all the pictures!)

On her mark...

The Vegetable Toss game.  Chloë did pretty well from about a foot away. 

We stood in line a long time for the archery game.  I tried to help Chloë do it, but she'd never used a bow and arrow before, and wasn't quite sure how to make it all work.  At least she got some candy in the end.

I got up on the stage with both the girls for the first category of the costume contest.  They both fell into the newborn to 2-year-old category.  The infant viking on the right took 1st place, I believe.

The 15-and-up costume category.

We had to get back up on stage for the Group Costume category.

There were some pretty creative group costumes!

We got lots of candy, and had as much fun.  Chloë especially loved it all, and keeps asking for me to do her face paint.

My Little Lamb

Happy All Hallows' Eve! Happy Reformation Day!

As the 31st of October approached, I had no great ideas for what I should dress Chloë as for our church's Fall Carnival, as well as for a little trick-or-treating downtown. I felt like last year's merbaby was so epic, it would be impossible to even come close. But a few days ago, I had the idea to make a sheep costume. So I sewed some batting on to a onesie, cut and glued some felt into ears and made them into hair clips, and bought a black turtle neck. With black tights and boots, voila, I had my very own little lamb.


I think my favorite part is her little tail. So cute.

Yesterday, before the Fall Carnival. "Chloë, what sound does a sheep make?"

"BAAAAAAA!!!"

She really enjoyed bleating.


Here we are with Ali and Sam at at our church's Fall Carnival yesterday, sitting in front of the judges for the 0-3 age category. There were some fabulous costumes. I didn't hear who won 1st place, but Abra's son Jude (in a great Mr. T costume) won 2nd, I believe. (Personally, I think Ali's sock monkey costume should have won 1st place. She did a pretty fabulous job knitting it, and really, it was perfect.)



This afternoon, before we went downtown to do some trick-or-treating.

I'm guessing I might retire to buying costumes next year. I don't know how much time I'll have to sit around sewing with two kids on my hands.

Family Camp

Last weekend was our church's first ever Family Camp. Bryan and I were excited to pull out our camping gear and go camping for the first time in almost two years... and the first time as parents. We weren't sure how Chloë would do, but she loved it.

We drove the hour and a half up to Camp Lutherhaven; a beautiful camp on the shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene. We got there as early as we could on Friday evening, and set up camp in the great little private camping area.

Saturday was a very open day. We slept in after a cold night (and after Chloë woke up with the sun at 4:00, and took an hour to fall back asleep). While she was awake, she just looked around at the inside of the tent, grinned from ear to ear as if to say "you guys, this camping thing is the best thing ever." We made a great breakfast of coffee, fresh raspberry pancakes, hashbrowns, and omlets. Camping breakfasts are our favorite. Then we relaxed, explored, slathered ourselves with suncreen, and spent the afternoon on the beach with friends and family.





Bryan being ejected off the blob. There isn't much control over which way it flops your body, thus Bryan's imminent belly flop.




Chloë totally loved the cold water and sand. She got sand absolutely everywhere.


Hanging out that evening at the group camp.


Handsome, long eyelashed little Owen.


Playing in the dirt on Sunday morning. We packed and loaded the car, and then had church in the little chapel.


After church picnic. Some people drove up to the lake just for church and picnicking, and it was a lot of fun.

We had a great weekend, and came home just a little bit tired. I think if we invested in better sleeping bags, we would sleep better. Looking forward to next year!

Easter Fest

Saturday, May 7th was Trinity Reformed Church's 3rd Annual Easter Festival. When the final RSVP head count rolled in a few days before the feast, my friend Sarah and I had to do a little last minute scrambling to make sure we could feed everyone. We had assumed we would have something close to last year's count of 380, so when the numbers came in at 449, we knew we had underestimated all of the planning we'd been doing for months. Neither of us had ever organized dinner for that many people before, so we recruited some wonderful ladies from church to help us cook the main dish. As it was, I made seven batches of the biryani recipe I adapted to feed 10, and let me tell ya, it was a lot of food. Of course, when I calculated how much food we would need, I was thinking of how much my hungry brothers can eat in a sitting. I kept forgetting that we had lots of families... women and children who don't (usually) eat as much as a starving college guy. Needless to say, we overestimated a bit with the main dish, but I was glad we didn't run out of food altogether. The naan we made disappeared in a hurry, but I guess that means everyone liked it, right?

We had some great college kids recruited to help in the kitchen, and when we arrived to begin getting everything ready, people just started showing up to help. We were overwhelmed, and so glad that everything went as smoothly as it did. I even got to sit down and eat, hold my baby, enjoy a little bit of the entertainment, and take a few pictures.


Dinner. For 450 people. After the kids had eaten and rushed off to play games outside.


After dinner was out on the tables, but before the dishes started pouring in, I had a few minutes with my baby. Bryan was so great spending most of the day with her and keeping her happy while I rushed around like mad woman.


The Stervensons (being Abby, Josh and Caleb for this set) started us off with some fun entertainment and music.


Grace's Ezra watching the show.


Bryan's sister Christa hosted "Penalty Pictionary," which was hilarious. Here is Christa's sister Jessie drawing Norway. As a penalty for losing the last round, Tyler wears a dunce cap decked out with a fairy wand and tinsel.


My sweet husband, doing what he did all day.

There were all sorts of awesome things going on for the kids outside, including:


(Abra's Ophelia bobbin' for apples.)



Jacob and Bethany's adorably handsome Micah.

Then after dinner, kid's games, and entertainment, there was dancing. Live music and even a caller... everyone had a great time.

Sarah (in plaid) took a few minutes to enjoy the dancing.


And these were the leftovers. I was very happy that we didn't have to throw any of it away (waste not, want not, my mother always said), and we sent most of it home with families and college guys. Chloë has been eating it every day since then, too.

Dishes took a while, but we had more help than we knew what to do with. And what a joyful crew of dishwashers we had. There was lots of laughter and even more singing, from Disney classics to 500 Miles by The Proclaimers. It was so much fun, and made me think back to washing dishes at Camp Of The Risen Son, oh, 15 years ago. We got out of there an hour earlier than the clean up crew did last year, so we considered that to be a huge accomplishment. It was a wonderful evening, and we were so grateful for the many hands that helped.

Chloë's First Easter

We woke up while the sun was still rising, and the light was still low. Chloë wasn't used to being up that early, but she rubbed her eyes and yawned, sleepy, but happy to see Mama and Daddy. We bundled her into her snow suit over her pajamas, loaded the car with blankets, coffee, and juice, and drove to the cemetery. Within a few minutes of arriving, all of Bryan's family, plus a few others had pulled up. We laid the blankets on the cold grass, and started dishing up the breakfast feast that we had all helped prepare. Cinnamon rolls, egg strata, sausage, cheesy croissants, fresh fruit, fruit salad, and coffee and juice. Bryan's dad read the account of Christ's resurrection. It was bright and sunny, but crisp and cold. Chloë wasn't really interested in the fresh banana, but liked the sausage her daddy let her taste. For the second consecutive year, we all feasted early on Easter Sunday, celebrating life in a graveyard. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

And then we went home to get ready for church at the extra early time of 8 am. So we were home by 10, and had time to take some pictures of Chloë's first Resurrection Sunday. The dress she wore was actually a baby shower gift, and I thought it was a perfect Easter dress, even though it was a bit large. So we took some pictures, and then went on to do more feasting and celebrating.











We went to a baptism party, and feasted and celebrated there, and then out to Mom and Dad Blakey's and had a fabulous Easter dinner. There were Easter Baskets at everyone's place on the table, including the baby, and in Chloë's there was a banana that Aunt Laura had drawn the Easter Bunny on, calling it the Easter Banany.

I'm a little sad that I didn't bring the camera for breakfast in the cemetery or dinner at the Blakey's, but here is a video of Chloë's first chocolate bunny taken with Bryan's iPhone.