Luke is 1

The number of changes we have undergone as a family over the past year is almost unimaginable. One year ago this month we lived in a house (which we owned) in a town 750 miles from where I sit this morning. I was working full-time at a hospital pharmacy, while Sarah was a full-time mom. Most of our extended family lived within a 2 1/2 hour drive from our home. And our little family was just the four of us: Mama, Papa, Julia, and Mary.

Sarah and I have gotten in the habit of saving our kitchen calendars. It gives us something to use to cue memories (both good and bad!) and also can make us laugh quite frequently. Although March seems like the longest and most tedious month of the year, the page for March in last year's calendar is filled with more things than probably any other three months. One of us was taking Omnicef for the first 2 weeks of the month. A wedding reception. Some friends visiting from out of town. Multiple overnight ER shifts for Sarah. "Did You Match" day (coincidentally on the Ides of March), followed by Residency Scramble, and then actual Match Day three days later. On March 31 I see an entry that says "List house by this day (meet w/Julie before".

And last, but certainly most life-changing and important, on March 26: "DUE DATE. Ed comes to stay."

Fast-forward to today. "Ed," in the person of Luke, is now 1. Can you believe it? Chattering, crawling, munching fuzzballs off the floor, and providing comic relief, he has become an adorable blond attention-stealer. He's one change we wouldn't exchange for anything.

Sarah invited over a couple families from church who have children the same age as ours for Moosie's birthday.

Mmmm...waxy.

Is it OK if I eat this?

Happy Sunday

Sisters, sisters...there were never such devoted sisters!

Today Julia and I went on a shopping marathon...2 1/2 hours, five stores....phew! Everyone at work is getting very coupon-happy, and we wanted to try our hand at getting some deals. We clipped coupons and made lists....and despite my best efforts, my grocery bill was STILL $100. I don't know how I have such talent...my grocery bill is almost ALWAYS $100. I can go to the Kroger with an enormous list or just to pick up "milk and eggs," and the cashier always asks me for a Ben Franklin. Anybody else out there have that problem?

Julia was a shopping champion. She held coupons and didn't run away to play with toys. I didn't catch her opening all the musical cards in the Hallmark section and she didn't "taste" all the grapes. By the time we made it to Target, she was pointing out Clearance sighs. She was so good for me that I rewarded her with a fairy wand and some boinger-oingers with stars. I love that my kids are young enough that a 50 cent gift from target is enough to make their day!

I had to post this picture. Mary looks beyond enthusiastic about her new wand and matching jammies. Life is good.

Lutheran Schools Week

It's Lutheran Schools Week! The kids get to wear something special to school each day this week. Today is "career day." We have here Nurse Mary and Chef Julia. I knew there was a reason we kept that Grill Team chef hat.

Spring fever, kicking in.

Right around the end of February/beginning of March everyone at our house starts to go a little bit nuts. We do our best to keep the kids busy, playing outside in the snow or over at friends' houses or chucking them in the basement to play when our toes start to curl. I can't put a number on the times we've headed shopping more just to get out and about than to buy anything that we actually needed. I'm hoping that that doesn't mean we now own a bunch of random crap that has no function...
Sarah happened to be off this past Saturday (yay!). Her cure for the Fever for the day was to roll out a bunch of sugar cookies and have the girls help her decorate them. For good measure the children selected all the spring-oriented cookie cutters they could find (ducks, tulips, bunnies, etc); unfortunately for me these cookie cutters happened also to be of the "mini" variety - as in bite-sized. I say unfortunately because Sarah makes a mean sugar cookie, and making them tiny only increases my ability and propensity to gobble them by the dozen. I'm pretty sure that I ate almost two dozen before they were even cooled.
It's a good thing I'm not on a diet.

Let's get started.

Mary enjoys her role as taste-tester.

"I think I hab do sdeeze..."
"COVER YOUR MOUTH!!!"

Jules trying out her artistic talents on a cookie-canvas. It's nice how, as the kids get older, messes during activities like this tend to be smaller.

And one final shot of the cookies, a.k.a. my nemesis.