Flour Tower

Every now and then, the Sorenson clan gets a hankering to play Flour Tower.

Daddy sliced with a steady hand tonight . . .

. . . but the tower had become pretty rickety by the time Daniel's turn came along . . .

. . . and after knocking it down he had to fish the penny out with his teeth.

Dude, your face matches your shirt.

Papa knocked the tower down in the second round, . . . 

. . . then Joy toppled it in the third round.  Don't feel too bad for her, though.

She did it on purpose.

Summer Shower

We had a surprise summer shower this afternoon . . .

. . . but the kids still felt like playing outside so we dusted off our umbrellas and headed out to the courtyard.

Here's Joy taking a ride in our convertible.

A Joy Ride

A while back Phillip floated the idea of giving Joy motorcycle rides to school, and she's been asking for a motorcycle helmet ever since.  They went helmet shopping for their Daddy Date today . . .

. . . and Joy came home with this.  Daddy gave her lessons on how to ride with him, and once he was sure she knew how to ride safely they rode to lunch at In-N-Out.  They both had a great time today.

Ties for Baby Brother

This afternoon, the big kids and I revisited freezer paper fashion design to create some gifts for Baby Brother to wear on Sundays.

We each selected a bow tie or necktie stencil, then chose our colors and went to work.

After everything was dry, we peeled away the paper to see how our handiwork turned out.

I think I like Daniel's pink and black bow tie best, but they're all pretty fun.  Our sure Baby Boy will love them. ;)

Archery 101

Phillip and I both have bows, and since Joy has recently expressed an interest in archery we decided to get her a little starter bow.

This afternoon Daddy taught her the basic mechanics of shooting at a local archery range, then she gave it a try.  Some of the arrows just bounced of the hay bale or missed it entirely, but a few got close to the target.  Not bad for her first attempt.

Daniel asked for a lesson, too.

Anna preferred to play in the dirt and toss a ball around with Mama, which is fine with me for the next two or three years.

Count Your Blessings and Hang On Tight

We spent more time on the lake today.  Papa recently bought a special raft to gently introduce the kids to water sports. 

Joy eagerly volunteered to go first and even stood up a few times, but she insisted that Papa drive very slowly.

Daniel never stood up, but he told Papa he could drive as fast as he wanted (which was still a pretty leisurely pace).

Since our whole immediate family was here, we took the opportunity to snap a few family pictures . . .

. . . some formal . . .

. . . some less so.

I'm so grateful for my family, and for the freedoms we enjoy.  It's so easy to take both for granted, and I'm thankful for special occasions that remind us to appreciate our blessings.

Cannons, Berries, and a Bit of History

We spent most of our nation's birthday relaxing on the lake with my fam . . .

. . . including Uncle Andrew, who's in town for the holiday.

Daniel aims his water cannon at an unsuspecting victim (he missed).

Anna just thinks it's cool that the plunger slides back and forth.

Failing to catch the vision of hydro-armament, Anna opted to spend the afternoon splashing her feet in the water with Daddy. 

Back at the cabin, the adults observed Independence Day by sharing short bios of a few signers of the Declaration of Independence.  I chose Stephen Hopkins, who in 1776 was a former governor and state supreme court judge of Rhode Island.  He was one of the oldest signers, and his wobbly signature is easy to spot because his hands shook with palsy.  As he signed the Declaration, he stated, "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

While the grown-ups discussed weighty, historic matters, the big kids had more important business to see to: climbing around on rocks and harvesting fruit from Papa's little raspberry bush.

Baby Cake

This morning my doctor did an ultrasound to confirm that Little Baby is healthy and all systems are operational.  She also answered a question that has been on my mind for months: are we going to have a boy or a girl?

I've heard of parents using a cake with a pink or blue interior to announce their baby's gender to family members, and I thought that would be a fun way to share the big news with our kids.  I baked a cake this afternoon, then after family home evening I explained to the kids how the cake would tell us whether they'd get a new brother or sister.  Both Joy and Daniel guessed it would be pink . . .

. . . but they were still really excited when they found out a little brother is coming to our family.  We're all looking forward to meeting him in four months. :)