So it's been a very long time since I posted anything. I don't know what to say except that life has happened. Today I took some pictures of the cute kiddies in their easter clothes (translation - Ginger got a new dress, that's it.) And then I decided to download all the pictures off of my camera since last time - Ginger's birthday. It turns out that all of those pictures will give you a good idea of most of the things we have done since the middle of February.
As soon as it warmed up a little, I the boys were strongly encouraged to play outside. Unfortunately, the Georgia red clay is where they usually like to play. And we still don't have any grass on that side of the driveway.
And this is what they look like when they're all done. You know, it's pretty hard to get that red dirt out of EVERYTHING.
Random picture #1. Wyatt falls asleep on a chair.
Random pictures 2 and 3. Shane and Wyatt screaming from the top bunk. I find two crying scared boys who have zipped themselves in the toy hamper thingy and can't get out. I guess it seemed like a good idea.
I couldn't resist taking pictures. They cried even more when I left to get the camera.
Random pictures 4 and 5. He went to school a boy and came home a leprechaun.
Shane the leprechaun. Happy St. Patrick's Day - last month. Hope it was nice and green.
A whole bunch of random pictures. Ginger and the spaghetti factory.
Somehow, even without sauce we know it will be messy. So eating in nothing but a diaper makes for easier cleanup.
Ginger is SO GOOD at slurping anything long and stringy, like spaghetti, or the onions in the pot roast we had tonight.
"Would you like some, Dad?" Hmmm. "No thanks."
"Okay, then I'll eat it myself..."
"...and put some in my hair to make it look pretty."
The smiles were getting bigger so I guess it was worth it. You know, it's kinda hard to clean up spaghetti off the floor. I opted for the lazy route. Leave it over night until it's nice and dried out again, and can be swept up without smearing all over.
And poor sweet little Wyatt. He was smacked in the nose with a shovel by our dear friend Zoe (it was an accident). When he saw himself in the mirror with all the blood on his face he said, "Dad, there's a river on my face!"
Cue the smoke and fog, and flashback to when Shane was about Wyatt's age. Look familiar? Shane had a similar cut on his nose from playing with Grandpa who is standing behind him in this photo. Some people dress their kids in matching clothes. Ours have matching scars.
Spring Break 2011. We were farmsitting for some friends in our ward, the Merlings. We stayed at their house for the week while they were gone. And if you don't know the rooster story, call and ask Mike about it. It's pretty funny. Well, now it is. Here's Ginger enjoying her french toast breakfast.
She's telling you how much she loves it.
And Shane too.
Ginger wouldn't stay facing the right direction. She's a climber. See the cocker spaniel under the table? It didn't take long for him to figure out that if he followed Ginger around he'd have treats all day long. I wondered why he wouldn't eat his dog food while we were there.
We haven't taught her to chew with her mouth closed. Or use a fork.
Yea for syrup!
This is the face I get when I tell Wyatt to smile.
Aren't they sweet brothers?
Ginger really enjoyed the new (different) toys at the Merling's house.
More random pictures. I have no idea what number we're on. It's bath time. Or maybe pool time. There's WAY too much water in that bathtub. I'm pretty sure I mopped a lot of it off the floor.
Ginger after the bath. She has the most awesome hair. When it's wet, you can make it do anything you want. Then it dries that way.
Daddy is responsible for this lovely hairdo.
"I'm cute, don't you think?"
Pictures from last week - the Atlanta Georgia Temple Open House. Our temple is finally, finally, reopening. It has been under construction for the last 2 years, getting a facelift. Well, inside anyway. The outside mostly looks the same. I know some of the leaky stained glass windows were repaired on the outside. It is beautiful. We got to take our family on a tour.
The Angel Moroni.
Sweet kids.
Ginger eating some wood chips.
Wyatt begged me to let him take some pictures. This is what we got. Mike telling him to follow us to the car.
He took this one too. I think I deleted the one of the caterpillar he stomped.
Such good boys. I promise we tucked shirts in and untucked pants from boots when we went in.
Mike and I also served at the temple open house last week. Our friends, the Merlings, watched our kids so that Mike could be a Spanish-speaking tour guide and I could be an usher. It was really neat to be a part of the open house. I had to laugh when I saw a limousine pull up. I was expecting some VIPs maybe but all I saw was a bunch of car seats. Funny.
More random pictures. I hope I'm not boring you all with these everyday pictures. Whenever I open the door, Ginger runs as fast as she can to go outside. She loves to be outside. And sometimes the boys leave the door open and I don't know it. She has also learned how to go down the front porch stairs by herself, darn it, and she usually heads for that patch of red clay on the side of the driveway. And then she eats it. Note the runny nose has cleared two little tire tracks down to her lip.
All that dirt can make a girl thirsty. She's doing pretty well now with a regular cup. She certainly prefers it to the sippy cup. I think it makes her feel like a big girl. She has also cut her first 2 molars. That was a terrible time in the McLelland house. We are now without any rubber erasers on any pencils in the whole house. The boys have also lost all rubber lego tires. I tried to give her teething stuff but she likes erasers and lego tires.
And finally, here we are to today. We waited until after church to get into the Easter stuff.
Ginger was checking everything out.
Wyatt was mostly inspecting for candy.
Shane gave away most of his candy and went straight for the toys. That one doesn't seem to be too interested in candy. Can't say that I mind that.
I say, "smile" and I get this.
I say, "now smile for real" and I get this.
Ginger ran off with Wyatt's sidewalk chalk. I didn't give her any because she eats it. She seemed to figure out that there wasn't as much "cool stuff" in her basket pretty quick. She didn't go for the plush peeps.
Sweet Daddy and Ginger and a big fluffy bunny.
Okay, sidetrack a little bit. We sold the truck a couple weeks ago and with it, Mike's left arm. So we've been a one car family for a while. It's hard when you live so far from EVERYTHING and Mike's 12-hour shifts make it double hard. I felt grounded for a while. So yesterday, we drove to Alabama to buy that little (okay, big) gray Suburban that you can barely see in the driveway on the other side of the Mazda. It's the car of Mike's dreams. And it's growing on me. It's a 1987 diesel Suburban. I know some of you must be rolling your eyes, but it really does have some good points. It will fit 1 car seat and 2 booster seats easily, it's exempt from emissions tests, and it actually gets okay gas mileage, much better than the truck anyway. It has been pretty well cared for, new tires, hubs. And while it has some normal wear and tear it's in pretty good shape, has low miles, and a pretty new engine, or transmission. I can't remember. Ask Mike. He was all smiles yesterday. I told him we should trick it out. He of course, agrees. I'll try and get some better pictures of it soon.
Okay, back to Easter. Ginger on the prowl for candy.
Look at the adorable butterfly headband that Aunt Anna sent. Thanks Aunt Anna!
Ginger thought they were pretty fun.
This is a pretty good shot of Ginger's sweet little Easter dress. She loves this stool. She climbs up and down it all day long.
After the easter pictures we changed clothes and I had to make Ginger wear this little outfit. A friend gave it to us. It's sort of a vintage-style, smocked onesie with a bunny rabbit, Easter basket, and eggs embroidered on the smocking. It's adorable but it's a 12-month size. Still I was determined to squish her into it, just for today. I got 2 buttons done up in the leg area. Good enough. By the time I took these pictures. she was ready for bed.
The Girardins came over to have dinner with us. Mike made a delicious pot roast and Marci brought her homemade sourdough, yum, yum. When Marci saw Ginger she thought she looked like a little egg with yellow chicken legs sticking out. I was thinking of taping some feathers on her . . . what do you think?
You can see the smocking and embroidery in this picture. It really is a very cute outfit. Too bad it wasn't just a bit bigger.
Well, that's about it for the last little while. For those that may not know, I was released as primary president two weeks ago, and today Mike was called to be the new Webelos assistant. I also have a bit of poison ivy from trying to reclaim some of our yard. Sheesh, that's the last time I go walking out into the backyard trying to pull weeds willy nilly. Next time I will be properly dressed. Or we'll just get a goat. So now you know what we've been up to. We love you all. Happy Easter!
