Kids Were Here

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a blog a group of photographers started, Kids Were Here.  It's made up of beautiful photographs documenting the everyday presence of children.  I just skimmed down the page a bit.  I really liked the one of the cake with the fingerprint streaks through the icing.   I love the idea behind it, the reminder that there won't always be tiny bathing suits hung out to dry at the beach. 

I was inspired that day to take a picture of my own.  I wanted to remember how on some days, when I make lunch for the kids, Ella wants to know exactly what I'm serving so she can fix duplicate plates for her girls out of her stash of play food.

 And someday, the foyer won't be filled with carseats, either.

Easter Pictures

Last Easter we decided to take family Easter pictures a couple of days before Easter since rain was predicted for Sunday morning.  And this year, Easter Sunday was going to be an extremely full day of non-stop action so it seemed a good idea to do some backyard pictures ahead of time again.  It's much more relaxed than Sunday morning when we're trying to get everyone out the door for church.

KJ took a few sweet shots of the kids while I was getting everything set up.

I love their little expressions.  I suppose it's because I've been grooming them for the past 3 years of having a camera pointed in their direction, but they were unbelievably agreeable about this picture-taking venture.  Ella directed several shots and posed everyone the way she thought best.  James only got dirt on his pants once.

My mom made Ella's dress and James' little seersucker suit.  She's so talented.

Mom also made James' short-sleeved buttoned shirt.  I was so glad, because it's really hard to find one that is short-sleeved.

James has gotten a lot of mileage out of his "surprised face," and I thought it was so cute when I told them to look surprised, Ella's little hand went to her throat.  It was such a lady-like expression of surprise.

In the words of the Rat Pack, "You either got, or you haven't got--- Style!"  He obviously has it. ;)

She's such a lovely girl, a lovely girl who doesn't always get excited about a new dress, but since Debbo made a matching one for Kit, Ella couldn't have been happier.

I really should have gotten a better picture of Ella and Kit, but we were running out of light, so I'm glad Ella put her dolls in this photo after all.

 

Easter Preparation

Last Friday night KJ was working late, and the kids and I had a lot of time together; it seemed like a good time to dye eggs.

I forgot to buy an Easter Egg dye kit this year, but then I remembered that I had bought Neon food coloring last year for the purpose of trying something different.  I had also bought these little Q-Tips filled with some kind of paint/dye for drawing designs on the eggs.  The Heinz ketchup and Northanger Abbey are optional for an egg-dying party.

Sweet James saw the picture of fully-colored eggs on the computer and thought he was supposed to achieve it via the Q-tip.  So he attempted painting the entire thing.

This resulted in dye on the fingers, which he wasn't so sure about.  But then the kids spied a bag of marshmallows in the baking supplies and took a break from the egg-decorating project.

I'm just not a huge marshmallow fan, but my kids love those things.  I do remember a friend in high school who brought them as a snack, and we thought we could eat as many as we wanted because they were fat free.  That was back before sugar was a thing, I guess.

See if you can catch it in your mouth, James!

 

I think Ella is the only one who succeeded in that department.

Saturday was a sad day of learning my Papa had passed away in the night, but the Lord was near, and there was grace to slow down and let Ella help me make cookies.  There was grace in enjoying the gift of that moment with my family.

Ella and I couldn't believe how nicely our cookies turned out; I am such an amateur baker, so I am really excited when I find something that works.  Now I know THIS roll-out sugar cookie recipe (the cookies are delicious and soft) and THIS frosting recipe from The Pioneer Woman.  It spreads nice and thin without being a huge mess.  It was perfect.

Franco Fridays: Pointe du Hoc

Pointe du Hoc was my favorite of the D-Day sites we visited.  I wasn't familiar with the story of these brave Army Rangers, and it was so moving.  I also really enjoyed reading part of President Ronald Reagan's speech made there on one D-Day anniversary.

The site has been left undisturbed, so you can walk amidst the huge holes in the earth where bombs were shot from the sea.  KJ walked inside one so you could see how big the pits were.

As at Omaha Beach, you could see and walk inside German bunkers and see where their guns were anchored.

 Standing at the top of the cliffs you could still see the barbed wire coiled across as a barricade.

We could have stayed a lot longer than we did, but we were interrupted by a pretty strong rain shower.  I really need a waterproof camera case.