We went to Sunriver last week with my family. It was such a nice time away. The kids woke up so early though, maybe because they were eager to play? We spent lots of time outdoors, went to the pool, I got two runs in, we played pickleball, we played cards, and ate lots of good food. The kids all got along well and it felt like we all got some quality time together. 

Quinn developed some new tricks this week. She can talk to lady bugs,

hang from high bars,

and write her name!

On her own, she realized she could do Q, I, and N so she wanted to learn the rest. The U was giving her so much trouble but she stuck with it. So proud of you girly!

It was a lovely Mother's Day weekend. Friday night I took Quinn to a mother daughter pajama party at our church. There were so many nail polish colors that she had me paint a different color on each nail so she wouldn't have to choose. Saturday morning we had a babysitter come so Jonathan and I could have brunch at our favorite place. After brunch, we had a picnic lunch in our backyard and the kids played for two hours in the kiddie pool. We spent the rest of the day at our neighbor boy's birthday party. Sunday we went to church and had a leisurely day around the house. Jonathan gave me a beautiful bouquet of peonies and Quinn surprised me with this gift on Thursday.

Archer took steps by himself for the first time as a gift. Jonathan and I had him bring us a ball back and forth while Quinn recorded it. It seems he needs a task to do or he gets impatient and wants to just crawl to his destination. 

It's a pretty big blessing getting to be these two cuties' mama. There are definitely highs and lows and everything in between, but I'm so grateful to God for my babies.

Kiddie pool season has officially begun at our house. We busted it out last week and the kids loved it.

We cooked on the grill for dinner last night and ate outside, it was so nice! It feels funny to be typing that while it's raining outside though. We try to take advantage of the sun whenever we can. 

We went to our neighbor boy's first birthday and our neighbor girl's fourth birthday. My mom came for a visit. I'm almost at the one year mark for running regularly. It feels longer than that! I think my favorite months to run were October through January which I was actually a little nervous that I would quit during those months. The kids had a little cold bug last week so we all took it easy to recover. 

Archer (finally) got his sixth tooth, so no more goofy asymmetrical grin. He has a sweet new dance move that looks like flapping his wings and then shaking his hair upside down. He's attempting some animal sounds - I've heard dog, cat, duck, and cow. Not accurate, but consistent. He regularly requests "Barnyard Dance" and other animal stories to be read to him.

Quinn loves to stand up tall and say, "I'm this tall today!" She asked me to measure her yesterday and she's almost two inches taller than she was on her third birthday! Yikes! She is still in constant narration mode and does multiple voices for her stuffed animals and alter-egos. She frequently talks about wanting to be a nurse, pediatrician, and veterinarian when she grows up.

The kids and I had the privilege of being in a photoshoot with my parents while Jonathan was in Canada a couple weeks ago. We worked with Ashley Reich and she did such a great job capturing this funny stage of life. Ashley did our wedding photography and a family session when my grandma June visited last Spring. She has lots of energy and enthusiasm to keep the little ones going.

Here are a few favorites:

Lots of traveling since I last wrote! After Archer's birthday, Jonathan went on his annual Canada trip with his longtime buddies and had a lot of fun. It's such a great group. I took the kids to Eugene for some extra help. We had a fun time with both sets of grandparents and were able to see my sister's family too. Archer made the switch to standard crawling and started walking all over the place with a push cart. It seems like with his gross motor development is so sudden. He goes from no attempts to mastery in a couple hours. He has funny little skills now too. One of my favorites is when he senses we are getting ready to leave, he pulls my shoes out of the shoe bench and he starts trying to put on his own shoes. He has turned into a real bookworm too. He doesn't seem interested in his toys anymore, just looking at books and trying to climb.

And he keeps trying to escape.

One morning, I heard Quinn calling from her bed, "Mom, come see this!" repeatedly. I'm always surprised by what I find.

I taught her how to say I Love You in ASL and she wanted me to see that she had gotten both hands in position and balanced her panda on her head. Wow.

Quinn and I went to a pinterest-worthy birthday party the Saturday before Easter. Our neighbor girl is interested in volcanoes right now, so the party was a volcano theme complete with a dry ice volcano cake, erupting volcanoes for each guest to decorate, and a live concert by the amazing Red Yarn. Quite an event. We also did a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and Quinn and I made empty tomb cookies. They may not sound appetizing, but they are just pecan meringues that are hollow inside. The recipe steps go along with Bible verses and the Resurrection story. It seemed to really make the story come alive for Quinn and I definitely plan to make it a tradition. We tried to host a potluck for our home group people, but it didn't work out this year so we just had a quiet, simple Easter Sunday.

This past weekend, we went to Eugene for my niece's birthday party. She was such a cheery little birthday girl.

We also saw my sister's new house - we are so excited for them! And we saw my dad throw out the first pitch at the Oregon Duck baseball game. 

Otherwise, we've just been enjoying the nice weather when we can and having fun together. Quinn's rope swing is truly magical right now with the cherry blossom petals falling.