8/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: sporting uncle al's graduation cap at ud. 

lucy: snorkeling in balmorhea state park.

finn: hasn't wanted to take off his goldschmidt jersey since grandad gave it to him for his bday.

dot: got her some moccasins at a trading post on the way to dallas.  she walks on the inside of her left foot, just like finn.  

7/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: sweaty and tired after another baseball game.  this kid sure loves sports.

lucy: those teeth.  i am so glad they are captured forever.

finn: this guy is 6 years old today.  *sniff, sniff*

dot: goofball.

6/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: his go-to pose (like when i run into his room at 9:00 at night and say, "hey i forgot to take a picture of you this week!" pose and done).

lucy: she makes me laugh.  i wish i had been more like her when i was seven.

finn: all snuggled up for bed with his babies. and a wristband. 

dot: eating cheerios and staring out the window.  a usual morning. 

5/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: all about soccer these days.

lucy: she's been swimming since march.  and very proud of having been the first one in.

finn: will this boy ever figure out how to sit in furniture like a civilized person?

dot: our next little bookworm.

we don't like things sad around these parts...

lucy recently finished reading this kids' edition of heidi and was excited to watch the shirley temple version of the movie that we just happened to own.  she asked finn if he wanted to watch it with her, so she explained the story to him and then the two of them snuggled up and started the movie.  i heard them giggling away at shirley temple's silly antics and having a lovely time together.  about an hour into the movie finn came running to find me in absolute, hysterical tears.  i immediately remembered this incident with the giving tree and knew something must not be going well for poor heidi and her grandfather.  yup.  heidi had been taken away and grandfather didn't know where she was and it was all just too sad for mr. finn.  "i do NOT like that movie," he declared.  so, he and pete and i settled in to a game of clue instead.  the kid can sit through the hobbit without batting an eye, but don't show him anything sad or he will fall apart.  shortly thereafter, lucy came to find me, also in tears.  she, however, prefers to torture herself and sat through the rest of the movie sobbing and yelling, "oh, no! oh, no!" at the screen.  i guess she just needed the closure of everything working out in the end...

oh, funny kids.

favorite shirt

my sister erin still had this shirt that i got at a thrift store in high school and she gave it to jack.

super awesome 90's phoenix suns art with the circle k logo on the back.

and it is just about the softest, coziest shirt you have ever touched.

needless to say, it has become jack's very favorite.

proof that you should never, ever give anything away...

(he thinks he is hilarious... but i kind of do, too)

afternoons with these two

i have said it before and i'll say it again, 

sibling love is just the sweetest.

when finn gets home from school at noon, all he wants to do is play with dot.

and she is always quite excited to see him, too.

my kids are all obsessed with dot's "doggy" tongue, which goes in and out at a ridiculous rate...

really, i just kind of wish i had a video of their silly little interactions...

4/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: caught me trying to take a picture of him reading in his favorite shirt.  right after this he stuck his finger in his nose and cracked up at himself.  i should've posted that one.

lucy: trying to keep her plants alive. our little gardener. 

finn: and the football helmet has been resurrected.  

dot: is there anything sweeter than a baby on white sheets?

goose

last week, lucy was making fruit salad to go with dinner and

 she told me she wants to be a chef when she grows up.

just like aunt christine.

she is going to have a restaurant called lulu's cafe.

and the special is going to be fruit salad.

you can order it plain, with yogurt or with whipped cream.

can't wait to go to that little restaurant someday...

parcheesi

the last few weeks, dot has gotten herself into a routine of taking a short little nap 

right when finn gets home from school.  (not so this week, but that's another story...)

in finn's world, this is perfect.

he gets to squeeze her and love on her for a little bit and then he gets his mom all to himself.

so lots of parcheesi has been being played.

i love it.

this game reminds me of playing with my mom and my grandmother, mame. 

a little nostalgia mixed with some mr. finn and life is good.

these two...

our cousins, the petersons, have been in town from chicago for most of april

 and it really kind of kills me that they don't live here year round.

these two boys named jack could play together all day.

the other day they went from swimming to baseball to basketball to football to soccer.

never an ill word between them and never a conflict over who wants to do what.
ok, so they do like to argue over who the best soccer player in the world is, but even that is all in good fun.

it's all sports, with the occasional chat over what books they are reading or have recently enjoyed.

they are quite the match.

like i said, it seriously kills me that they live so far apart.

and they are both so sweet to dot.

what nice boys.

3/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: thanks to march madness, he is a basketball playing machine.

lucy: doing homework in her bed, after being told repeatedly to sit at a table or desk...

finn: i love half-day kindergarten.  what will i do next year without my trader joe's buddy?

dot: obsessed with bike rides.  she will point her way to the carport nodding affirmatively until she gets you to the bike.  as if to say, yes this is all i want.

2/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, for one year"

{april 2013 - april 2014}

jack: i can't help it, seeing that boy in a tie on monday mornings makes me smile.

lucy: she's a paradox. loves wearing dresses, loves being dirty. (ugh, those feet!)

finn: many a day, he disappears into his room to change and i find him an hour later, shirt open (always) playing make-believe. today he was thorin oakenshield. 

dot: i adore how she crawls to the window and looks out after every nap.