New Pages!

One thing about being a mom is you need a constant flow of fresh ideas.  That sometimes includes a new look at some old ones.  As I've been gathering ideas, I feel like I need a place to share them with you guys.  So, I'm using the "page" feature on blogger to store and update things I gather.  I'll do my best to keep them organized and easy to copy.

You can view the pages available at the top of this blog, just above the post.  Each page is represented as a tab.  Feel free to comment on each page if there are ways I can make them more accessible.

Enjoy!

Nicer Weather and Fun!

Now that we have nicer weather, we've been able to get out and do things!  Of course, we still have fun inside on the rainy days, or the cold windy days.  Here are a few things we've been enjoying lately:

Visiting Borovoye, a beautiful national park not far from Astana.  We were lucky to be joined by a friend to show us around the park.

Here we are working on a local friend's garden.  The missionaries joined us and we had a lot of fun creating furrows and planting potatoes.  Harry really wanted to get involved in the gardening work and would walk around stealing people's tools.  We waited a minute before stealing them back...

Our friend is so talented with children.  She brought along these toys and pillow so that Jane and Harry had a place to play while we worked. 

We just received this scarf Grandmama made for us and the kids absolutely love it!  Jane put this ensemble together this morning.  I love that it has the "boa" look without the feathers!

Harry has been growing so much, talking and getting involved in everything.  Here he is with his lunch box, on his way to "work".  "Bye, Mommy!  I go to work!"  

One last little treat.  I made some easy dancing "ribbon" with streamers and a straw.  The kids enjoyed putting on a show for me.

Mermaid Costume

Jane wanted a Little Mermaid costume and I just happened to have all the necessary items to make it happen.  *sigh.... I love the fact kids don't have to have extremely detailed or authentic costumes in order to be happy! Thanks to cousin Gigi (and Aunty Sharole!) for passing down a beautiful body suit, we already had a purple top.  Then I had some material left over from when I was in high school that was a good shade of green and had the right shimmer.

  Rather than spend hours making it look just right, with scales, proper tail, etc., I took advantage of the awesome fabric and just did a quick version - half a seam down the back and some velcro to make it tighter or looser as needed.  The results were good enough for Jane and, let's be honest, kids look cute in anything.

Easter dresses

Just wanted to show off these Easter dresses I made for this year.  I even got to do some fabric painting!  

East Asia Trip

We just got back from an incredible trip to parts of Eastern Asia.  We started in Beijing, took a train to Shanghai, flew to Hong Kong, flew to Manila, drove to Tagatay and the Taal Volcano, drove to Batangas, back to Manila, flew to Osaka, took a train to Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo, flew to Busan, flew to Seoul, flew back to Beijing and arrived home yesterday morning.  Whew!

I've uploaded a selection of our pictures and tried to organize them by location.  I plan on writing more about each place and what we saw and did.  For now, you can look through the pictures and see for yourself just how incredible these places of the world are.

Beijing

Shanghai

Hong Kong

Philippines

Hiroshima

Kyoto

Tokyo

Korea

St. Patrick's Day

The kids had a fun time attending a St. Patrick's Day party this year, hosted by some new friends Erica and Alexandra.  Our friend Natalie organized a cute craft for the kids.  It produced a very fun picture I thought was worth sharing.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  

Winter Fun

I love Wintertime! There are days you go outside and roll in the snow; other days, you want to stay inside and make-believe an adventure.  This Winter we tried to do a variety of things and as I was looking through our pictures, I thought to share some of them with you!

Princesses!  Jane and I made crowns and necklaces for each other out of beads and pipe cleaners. 

"Madahm."

Playing outside on a "warmer" day.  Harry just looks so cute in his snow suit.
That suit was passed down from my younger brothers who are now in their 20s!

Look at me!

Going down the slide all by himself!

Coloring!

Sledding with friends Natalie and Leyla!

Pirate day!  Arrgh matey! (That's what we did today!)