Ilea

We've had gorgeous weather the last few days, the first really warm days of spring for us. Sun was upper 70's, and in the evening after dinner I let Ilea walk up the hill by herself (she and Kyler are getting more privileges). We tried to make a fire in our fire pit in the back, and while Kipp was trying to get the waterlogged wood to catch, I drove up to find Ilea, because I knew she would want to enjoy the fire too, and it was getting on to dusk.

I picked her up as she was heading back down, and asked her what she had done for so long. She said she was just talking to God, thanking Him for the beauty and talking about other things.

Makes my heart melt...

Whack!

Kipp and I have been playing racquetball about 3 times a week now. We both have new rackets, and boy can they hit! I hit Kipp in the back about every other day, and this time he smacked me in the back of my knee with the ball. This picture was taken about 2 hours after he hit me! It was a huge red spot with a white welt in the middle, stayed for a couple of days. Mostly it's fun, but those balls can really get some speed!

Love my kids!

Ilea and Kyler really like each other, and most of the time they play well together for hours, making up games. This was not posed (although Kyler started to smile when he saw me). We had been watching a movie and Kyler snuggled up to Ilea. I love it! Mostly, they look out for each other, and are good friends. It makes me happy.

Art

One night Ilea pulled out the paints and surprised us with a couple of pictures. I really liked how she did the fire in the fireplace, and the sun behind the clouds. I was a little confused by the dot one, but she said there were hidden pictures in it. She made dots in patterns of smiley faces, so if you look carefully, you can see many smiley face patterns. Very creative! Then, Kyler wanted attention too, so he painted the forest and deer? the next day.

Kyler's Sport

Kyler is loving his Tae Kwon Do. He goes twice a week. He started in Jan, and in Mar he had his first test to move up to the next belt, yellow. We didn't know what to expect at this. It took over an hour for all the kids to pass their different levels, with some group skills and some individual skills. One of thier individual skills was to break a board with a kick (or punch for some of the more advanced students). Kyler broke his board on the first try! There was a thin board and a thick board. Some of the kids had to do a thick board. Only one boy had to switch to a thin one. The top girl, who was going for her black belt, maybe age 10?, had to do 4 punches and kicks. The last one was tough, but she made it! Now Kyler is a yellow belt!

Snow Again

We've had more snow than any other year since we've been up here, and natives are saying the same thing! I heard we've had 28 days of snow this year! One night it began snowing in the evening, and the flakes were HUGE! Ilea wanted to try to catch some big ones, so she ran out in her nightgown! Funny girl! It has been fun to see all the different snows. I've loved every one!

Coal Garden follow up

I'm going to try to get caught up on some of the happenings of our lives, so get ready for some old info for some, and some pics to go along with.

This is the follow-up to our coal garden. That thing was kind of fun. Basically it just kept growing until all the liquid evaporated. It looked pretty, and was very fragile, like powdered sugar. Hard to believe it could hold it's shape! We finally got rid of it, but the kids enjoyed looking at the new crystals growing. If you get a chance to get some coal, go for it!