Picture taking

A few days before Easter weekend, Julie had texted Dana and me about a Walgreens half-price deal on wood panel photos.  I had seen some that she had bought before and I really liked them. The deal ended on the Saturday before Easter.  I told the girls my hope was to get a picture of the grandkids and submit an order before the deal ended. 

Saturday - things got busy.  Naps. Feedings. Play. Lunch out. Naps. Feedings. Play. Work for me. Basketball. Dinner prep.  I forgot all about it.  Suddenly Dana said "Mom, we should take the picture now."  She grabbed a blanket. She and Julie gathered the kids.  Dana suggested that only she and Julie give directions to the kids. No other adults talk.  BRILLIANT!  It worked.  

With the iPhone "Burst" feature for photos, you can hold down the camera button and take multiple sequential pictures.  I took 34 pictures with one take and 44 with the other.  Here are a FEW!

Kids are positioned!

Hope was making noises.  Cole was consoling her with "sh-sh-sh". Elsy noticed. 

Watson was at the mercy of Elsy.

Elsy wanted to help Hope.  She continued to manage Watson with a hand on his head.

Some pictures three of the four had bright eyes... 

This was the last photo taken.

BOOM!  A success!  I love Cole's hands around Hope. I love Elsy's hug and care for Watson.  Perfection.  This is what I chose to put on our wood panel picture.  

On Monday Susie told me about a FREE 8 x 10 (that ended that day) so I also have a beautiful 8 x 10 of this photo too.  Love it!

Making cookies with Cole

Marc, Dana, Cole and Hope came to visit.  They arrived around 6:00 p.m.  Soon we sat down to have dinner.  During dinner I told Cole about some cookies I wanted to make - "Bird's nest cookies". I added that it would be fun if he would help me.  As we were cleaning up after dinner, Dana said Cole was ready to help make the cookies.  Cole quickly set a step stool at the counter, climbed up ready to go to work.   

Cole patiently waited for the butterscotch chips to melt in the microwave.

Once the chips were soft enough we added peanut butter.  I started to mix them together but Cole stopped me and said he could do it.  I was surprised at how well he could stir!

Once all the ingredients were mixed thoroughly, it was time to make the nests and add the bird's eggs. This meant a repositioning to the other side of the counter.  Not sure what all the joy was about in this picture, but I love it!

Cole was very good at spooning the "dough" onto the wax paper in nest-sized clumps.

He was also our quality control taster.  He approved the dough AND the bird's eggs.

Dana was helpful too.

LOOK at the form this young man has - elbow up, other hand firmly on bowl for support.  A master!

Some of the finished product.  An Easter success. And so much fun.

Children's Mercy Park

Sporting Park where Sporting KC plays has been renamed to Children's Mercy Park so all the Children's Mercy employees were invited to an open house today. It was very chilly but I'm glad we went!

We got to see the stadium. 

And the seats where the players sent when they aren't playing. 

This is the interview room. 

Trainer room with hydrotherapy in the back. 

And Elsy's favorite - princesses!

Will this work?

I've been having trouble with the Blogger app. Brad's been helping me troubleshoot. I'm just going to see if I can publish this cute picture from christmastime. 

Bumbo

Daddy got the bumbo out for Hope tonight at dinner. She loved being even more a part of our meal. What a sweetie!