Caroline's Bear Mill party

So today was the much-anticipated birthday party at the Bear Mill (like Build-a-Bear workshop). Caroline seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, and her friends all seemed to have a good time too. They each got to choose a stuffed animal, a sound box, and an outfit. Then they got to stuff it, dress it, name it, and get a birth certificate with their picture on it. Whew! Lot's of activity jammed into a brief time. They had a nice party room in the back where we did the cake and presents, so when it was all done we could just walk away and come home without all the mess (other than the perpetual mess we live in these days with the remodeling...). All in all, I think it will be remembered as a great success. Here are some of the highlights.

Jameson's 1st Birthday Party

What a trooper Jameson was today at his first birthday party. Jameson and the Doyle/Perry clan had a great celebration of his first year today at Grandma and Grandpa Doyle's house. Brian's DVD recap of his first year in pictures and videos was a major highlight--we all enjoyed watching all the "firsts" of this past year and seeing all the cute shots of such an adorable little guy. Jameson wasn't so sure about the cake thing, but he was quite enamored with the balloons...

The "big" cousins celebrating amongst themselves...



Jameson and Daddy taking in the premiere of the "Jameson's 1st year" DVD



Caroline and Maya--instant friends.



Playing with Uncle Jeff



I'm having a little trouble getting the video to load...I'll try adding it later...

Dinosaur Diorama!

Margaret has been working hard at home this month on her first ever diorama. Everyone had to chose a dinosaur to study and then make a dinosaur and a diorama of its habitat. Margaret chose the stegosaurus and did a super job crafting one out of clay. Notice the special day/night effect at the back of the diorama--she painted two backgrounds and can flip back and forth between night and day. Her own idea, and no one else in her class thought of the same thing! They are also doing their first "research" paper on their dinosaurs, but that's all happening at school, so we haven't seen it yet.

Kitchen nook in progress

Construction on the new kitchen nook is underway. Here are a couple shots taken over a few days that show the progress. We're close to settling on the fabric for the booth seat backs, so those should be getting ordered soon. This is the last major structural part of the remodel, so from here on out it's going to be mostly the finish work (after the floors that is!)

Easter at Grammy & Grampy Doyles

We had a fun Easter afternoon and evening in Redmond on Sunday. One major highlight was getting to spend some time with Jameson, who we haven't seen since Christmas. Margaret and Caroline enjoyed trying to entertain him, although he entertained us pretty well with his standing up, playing catch, and chasing Joey around the house on his hands and knees.

Hunting for Easter eggs

The Easter Bunny hid a couple dozen eggs downstairs this morning while we were at church. Caroline was the first to discover this (she'd been on the lookout since last night...). The girls had more fun with the hunt this year than I remember them ever having before. Here are a few shots of the search, and a short video complete with the "it's not fair!" argument that we have gotten so familiar with lately. Enjoy!

Our new dining room table arrived!

Even though the dining room isn't quite done, the table we ordered before Christmas was delivered last week. We tried taking pictures from different angles and never found one that quite does it justice. You'll just have to come see it (and share a meal on it) in person!

Spring?

You'd think I'd be used to Northwest springs by now, but I can never quite accept that it would SNOW, hail, and rain on the first day of spring! The girls were quite excited to see the slushy mixed rain and snow this week--they wanted to wear their snow boots to school, but they settled for hats and rainboots. I thought they looked especially cute and had to take a picture on the way out the door.

Busy busy kiddos

Friday was a no-school day for kids (teacher work-day), but the kids managed to keep themselves quite busy anyway. Margaret started with a 1/2 day birthday party, including a trip all the way up to "Build-a-Bear" in the Tacoma Mall. Then, after a short break in the afternoon, it was off to a sleepover at her best friend Chloe's house. We picked her up Saturday morning at 11, and heard great reports about both events. Caroline had a Friday morning playdate at the Children's Museum with a pal, Charlotte, from school. After work, Jeff and I took her out to pizza and then to Glow Golf at the mall. She really relished the "alone" time with us, and was so excited about the golf we practically had to peel her off the ceiling she was so high. Not sure whether she had more fun looking at her teeth glow in the black light, or aiming her golf shots to get through the obstacles on the course. It's fun to watch her be so enthusiastic about new things.

Here are some pictures of Margaret recouperating Saturday after the late night Friday, and a short video interview with her about her new bear.





P.S. That's "Tiddie" and not what you think... :-) tee hee

Floating birthday party

Margaret and Caroline got to go to quite an unusual birthday party today--on a boat! We've made friends with a family that lives on their sailboat at Swantown Marina here in downtown Olympia. They have 2 daughters, one in Caroline's Daisy Scout troop (Annie) and another who is 9 (Sydney). They're from Portland originally, but based in Oly now while they're in training for a global sailing adventure sometime in the next couple years (closer to the San Juans and in between Seattle & Portland where Dad flies as a commercial pilot). They're homeschooled right now so they can take off whenever they want, but they attend St. Mike's church, which is how Annie got connected with Caroline's scout group. All four of the girls get along GREAT, and the birthday party was very fun. I think it's so neat for Margaret and Caroline to be exposed to such a different way of life--how often do you get to go fishing on a playdate?

Not as entertaining as Jameson videos...

But here's a video of our new fireplace and kitchen...

The unveiling, at last!

At long last, we're ready to show off the new kitchen. It's still far from done, but it's looking quite cool. We wiped down the thick layers of drywall dust that were in and on everything and then moved all our stuff into the cabinets today! We have no sink or running water for the dishwasher yet, but otherwise, everything is functional. Not sure if you can see the funny blue "tabs" on the cabinet doors--those are our temporary tape pulls until we get the hardware installed. And this last picture is of the post & beams that went up on Friday. We're ready to paint anytime, and the flooring arrived on Friday so it can be installed in the next week or two. Countertops and the island bar are still a 2-3 weeks away...

PJ Day at kindergarten

Caroline was flying higher than a kite this week because it was PJ Day on Wednesday in her kindergarten class. The kids got to wear PJs, bring a favorite stuffed animal, a blanket, bedtime story, toothbrush and toothpaste (that must have been the educational part...). They watched a movie and ate popcorn before going to "bed" for the "night" and then got to eat pancakes for "breakfast" after they got up. What fun. On Friday morning, at all-school mass, Caroline helped with the service by reading a petition--"For all the people who are sick and the people that are hurt, that God will bless them, we pray to the Lord." I thought it might be a little tacky to take a picture during mass, so I didn't, but she was very cute standing up at the lecturn on a step stool. I really like how they involve the kids in running all the events at school, including mass, and giving them all opportunities to share in front of the whole school, which is such a supportive group.

Caroline's update...

This is Caleb with Margaret. In Caleb's little alphabet block playpen. Margaret likes to play with him in there, and I do too.

My new shoes I got Saturday.

I took this outside and it was really sunny this morning.

teaser picture...

Here's a teaser shot of the cabinets. Jeff won't let me post any more than this because they aren't totally, completely, and perfectly installed yet. This is a shot of the top row of shelves, between the upper cabinets and the ceiling. The sink and dishwasher can't go in until the countertops are installed, which is probably about 3 weeks away. 'Til then, you'll have to be satisfied with this sneak peak... We'll try to keep you entertained with some of Caroline's pictures and postings...