Zeezra

During family scripture reading one night Ezra found a new nickname for himself. Zeezra. Pretty funny guy.

Doing wash today I pulled a plastic lizard out of his pocket. I love those little moments when you realize how precious these little guys are and how these days won't last. for some reason the plastic lizard reminded me of that today.

Mark is army crawling.

We're out west waiting out the month that Mike and I can't be together because of housing issues. So grateful to have family to spend time with. We've been having a great time in Las Vegas, Los Angeles (only a short two days), and now Utah.

No Pants Day

Today at church the Sorensen boys (not men, just boys) went pants-less. Yup, it's true. We grabbed Mark straight from a nap. I'd put him down without pants because it's so hot here and didn't want him to overheat. When Mike went to grab him, I hadn't remembered to tell him to grab pants too, so our little one went to church in his church shirt sin pants. Ezra, Ezra, Ezra. He started out with pants, then had a major wetting accident in the middle of the chapel. What to do? I took him to the bathroom and started flapping his pants around hoping the fanning motion would dry them off. Getting home and back would be at least 45 minutes and cut into some of my responsibilities at church. Thank heavens for a great friend who happened to have a pull-up and swimsuit in the back of her car. Church is always an adventure with these little ones.

Daddy Saves the Day

Dad's on vacation. Last week Ava and Ez were sick, so we took it easy and enjoyed lots of naps, snuggles and Rainbow Magic and Magic Treehouse books from the library. This week we are trying to take advantage of it by visiting fun places around Boston. Tuesday was our scheduled beach day. It was supposed to be 90 degrees. Paired with humidity and a only a window ac unit, 90 can be atrocious. We went shopping for all the yummy snacks and lunch items, made phone calls about where to go and planned our trip. The kids were crazy excited. Just before bed Ava says, "Don't wake up and tell me we're not going!" Cutie. Two hours later Mark wakes up and is coughing like a seal, has a temp and is totally miserable. He caught what the other two had last week, and had his six month vacs to top it all off. So, what did we do? Well, I stayed home and pampered the little one, while Mike braved the beach with the other two. My hero! Such a great dad and husband. And for the record, to quote Ava, "This is the best day ever."


(Not only did Dad take the kids to the beach, but BONUS! He took adorable pictures while he was at it!)

What we've been up to

A visit to Salem. Not really worth the trip, but now we've done it.


A. Lil being her sweet angel self with M.Q.



Sports class! The rec center down here puts on this great class for kids where they cover the basics of soccer, t-ball and kick ball. They have so much fun and it's very entertaining watching them run around.


Excuse my no make-up face, but this was Ez's dream come true. Five police motorcylces parked in a row with five friendly policemen nearby to give us permission to hop on and take pictures. He's a shy guy and wouldn't get on without me, so I got to hop up too.

The M's and I went to the Boston art museum while they were doing a special exhibit including flower arrangements done to represent artwork. A very fun way to experience a museum. I loved the creative twist.

Mark's been working hard to grow his mohawk


Mt. Auburn Cemetery nearby is a peaceful place to enjoy a nice day. As advertised, "Timeless, classic, and still available..." Just in case you're interested. In the center there is a tower in honor of George Washington. We were able to climb up and see downtown Boston, Cambridge and all the surrounding towns. A lot of fun.

Mark doesn't like it when I eat chocolate. Ava is a good reminder to me. "Mom, does that have chocolate?" She'll ask when she catches me taking a bite of mint chip ice cream.

The other day we were sitting around the table and Ava says, "Mom, I have an idea."

"Hhhmm?" I say thinking she's coming up with the next mother daughter adventure.

"How about Daddy and I don't eat chocolate until Mark Quayle decides he likes it. Then you won't feel left out."

How sweet is she? Love that girl!

Looks like a Girl?

Dialogue between Mom and Ava and Mark:

Mom (to Mark): What a handsome boy you are. We are so lucky to have you in our family..,.
Ava (to Mark): You are a handsome boy, but I wish you were a girl....well, at least you look kind of like a girl.

I think it's the curl that makes him seem girlish to our little girl, because "only girls have curls."

Regardless, here are some pics of our handsome little one.

Happy Birthday Ezra!

HAPPY EASTER

Mike dressed up as Andrew for our ward Easter Egg Hunt and told the story of the loaves and fishes.


Ava and Ez at the egg hunt, being their adorable selves.

So, we haven't been quite as lucky as we were at the beginning of this whole potty training thing. If you look closely Ezra has definitely had an accident. I told him to lay down and let the sun dry him out. I thought it was hilarious and so took a picture. While I was taking pictures, a lady from the ward starts taking snaps too, "Look how cute..." I didn't mention the accident. :o)


Ava on Easter morning. She loves dinosaurs!

Spring Break

Spring Break!!! I've officially fallen in love with Boston. All I needed was some sunshine and sight seeing. Our family has really hit a stride with traveling. Ava and Ez were angels and kept each other entertained, and Mark fell in and out of sleep.
Day One:

• Navy Yard. USS Constitution was sadly closed for the day, but we did get to tour a destroyer.
• Bunker Hill- Ava refers to the Bunker Hill Monument as "Rapunzel's Tower." Mike was working off and on through our adventurous day, so I took the kids to the top of the tower myself, and Ava and Ezra climbed the 290 steps all by themselves! Dad met us at the top and the kids took turns having rides on the way down. I was strapped with Mark already.
• Mike's Pastry-If you've come to Boston you'll know what I'm talking about. All along the freedom trail are people carrying boxes of Mike's Pastry. Mike and I hadn't made it yet, and didn't know when we'd be back, so Mike told me to load up. Boy did I. $20 later we had a box of delicious pastries that didn't last us as long as they should have considering the amount of sugar purchased.

Day 2-

• Met Curly Girl!- "Who," you ask "is Curly Girl?" A very talented artist who Jenn has introduced me to and I've fallen in love with. I was determined to get a specific card for my sister for her birthday, but didn't want to have them ship me the card because I knew there had to be a store near me that sold them. I called the company, and turns out, their show room is a half mile from my house. I trotted over (literally stopped by on my run). Guess who was behind the counter? The Curly Girl herself. Turns out her studio is in the basement and she was working the floor that day because someone called in sick. I got on her mailing list and happened to get invited to a party this week, where I won some pretty jewelry in a drawing. It was so fun meeting a personal celebrity. Check out her stuff here

Day 3- I told the moms at Ava's gymnastics class that we were thinking of taking a trip up to see York's lighthouse. They gave me tons of ideas to do on the way there, and we had a such a fun day trip. York is only an hour and a half away, but with all our stops we were gone all day having fun.

• Newburyport, MA- A quaint brick port town with a fantastic antique shop pictured below. My creative juices were flowing as we walked through and saw all sorts of old tools and things. I wanted to buy old hubcaps and license plates for Ez's wall, but the back-to-school budget halted my spending. That's good though, because reckless spending without thinking the design through, is probably not a good idea. Don't you love the eclectic feel of the place?
• Portsmouth, NH- Ah! The Friendly Toast. Yummy unique food, large portions and cheap! Very artsy little town.
• Dover, NH-They have a great Children's Museum that Ava, Mark and I toured while Ezra took a nap and Mike graded papers in the car. It was small and creative. Just perfect for me. Easier to keep an eye on the little ones. Ava keeps asking when we can go back.
• York, ME- The Nubble light is the most photographed lighthouse in the world. Isn't it quaint? Do you see the little white bucket hanging from the wire on the island? I guess at one point, the man working the lighthouse put his children in that bucket to get the to and from school everyday. Crazy, huh? The kids loved climbing on the rocks. Particularly Ava. The neighborhood we were driving through in Maine was beautiful too. Rocky beaches, beautiful houses with gorgeous views.
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Day 4
Plimoth Plantation- Native Americans are dressed in traditional clothing and can tell you all about their ancestors as well as anything you'd like to know about being a native american today. Pilgrims are actors and do a great job going about their regular day business, answering questions and telling their story. I wish I could have talked to every single one of them!



Ezra looking good in the parking lot.



A barn filled with hay. "Rumplestitskin's pile" according to Ava. I love her fairytale twist on our outings.


What a great week. We are loving our adventures out east and feel so lucky to be living here!

Crazy Hair Day

Crazy hair day for Joy School. Whose hair is crazier?

The Potty Master

Ezra showing us his muscles. He is officially King of the Potty. And who decided it was time to train? He did! One day he tells me, "Mom, I don't want to wear my diaper anymore."

"Okay," I say, "Let me know when you have to go to the bathroom.

15 minutes later...FLUSH!

"Ez, do you have to go potty?"

"I did."

"Did you wipe?"

"Yup."

Sure enough he'd taken care of everything all by himself, and that was that. Easy as pie. I hadn't even considered training with the new baby and a move coming up in June. I guess he figured if I wasn't going to worry about it someone had to. Way to take matters into your own hands Ez!

A quick potty story...

We had a little boy over the other day who is not trained yet. He was asking about one of Ezra's toys and I thought I'd throw in a little propaganda for his mother's sake and said, "Oh, Ezra earned that toy by staying dry all day. Did you know he can use the potty?"

"Yeah!" Ezra jumps in, "I can go forwards," thrusts his hand out, "backwards," waves his hand around, "even standing up!" one more big wave. It's true. He loves experimenting with the potty. One day I went in and saw him sitting backwards on the potty, facing the tank. Whatever works funny guy!

Ticklish

Mark on St. Patty's Day.

The Wave

This boy is so precious pictures just don't do him justice, but I know you're itching, so I'll give you a couple of his most distinguishing feature: the wave. Check out his 'do! Yup, it's all natural curl and I don't do a thing to it besides keep it clean . I love it. It's like an ocean wave right along the top of his head. I hope it's stays always.

Counting our January Blessings...

January always seems long to me, so here's a few snaps of our brightest January spots (besides baby Mark, which is a given):


Mark Quayle (as the children always refer to him because there are so many Marks in our family) doesn't like chocolate. I like dessert. Mostly desserts with chocolate, so I took the opportunity to expand my horizons and explore new recipes. This one is a keeper. Pumpkin Spice donuts. YUM. Go here for the recipe.

An at-home date night with my Lovey. We decided to cook together steak-house style. Everything was delicious from the steak, to the blue cheese sauteed spinach and crab potatoes. Delish. The best part of course was creating something fun with Mike and enjoying it together.

Gunny Bag!! Those of you who don't have a Gunny Bag should get one! We were introduced to Gunny Bag through the Joy School carriculum. The idea is that Gunny Bag eats up all the toys left out and keeps them in his tummy. At our house it's not the threat of losing toys that's the motivator. The incentive at our house is that if there are no toys to eat he eats girls and boys. And gives them a ride around the house until he's too tired and spits them back out onto the floor. Whatever works!!!

Christmas at Our House

I know what your thinking, "CHRISTMAS!?!?!? In March? Christina!" Let me kindly remind you that we have a newborn. AND Christmas was really fun, so I can't just skip it. These peeps are important to us and my sis-in-law Shelley has a great camera, and great talent, so there are some really awesome shots.

Boy oh boy do we love having Brent back. Here he is zooming the kiddos on Ez's new scooter.

The girls waiting for pizza oustide Boston's finest Pizzeria Regina after a brisk walk along Boston's Freedom Trail.

The annual Christmas Squash Match. Hi Scotty!

A very full house.

The Sorensen boys love to snuggle. Mark's getting in on the cuddles.

Ez, enjoying the masterpieces. The adults had a gingerbread competition while the little ones were sleeping. We couldn't decide whose was the winner so we thought we'd let Ava and Ezra decide come morning. When asked, Ava responded, "I just can't decide. I like them all so much!" Sweetie!

Thanks Sorensens for coming out our way. We had such a great time together, you guys took such great care of our family. Ya'll come back now, ya hear! We miss you!

Mark Quayle Smiley Boy Sorensen

Ava's new name for her brother.

Who got a hold of the camera?

Just flipping though my camera, Mike, did you take these??? Let's just say it's a good thing that Ava got her own camera for Christmas!