fig tree freedom

I won the lottery!
On Sunday, February 12th, I had a fever. After church, I barely moved off the couch. By Tuesday, I was on the mend, but the girls had fevers. Between administering Tylenol and ibuprofen around the clock, I didn’t remember to take advantage of the early registration for the Broad Street Run. By the time I remembered to register, registration was full. It sold out in five hours. (Last year it sold out in four days. I thought I had more time.) As a last resort, there was a lottery. An extra 2500 registrations would be given out by lottery. So, I signed up for the lottery, and I completely forgot about it.
This past weekend I registered for the stroller friendly 5K Run for Clean Air; Heidi is going to run it with me. (My goal is to run a 5K with each baby. Lydia and I ran one almost two years ago.) Remember?

On Monday morning, I checked my email to find an email. “Congratulations! Your registration was selected in the lottery and you are now registered for the 33rd annual …

guest blogger: Lydia

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I am somewhat timid about things until I know I can do them. I now love climbing up the stairs and going down slides all by myself.

Last week we had another baby shower. This time we celebrated Monica's pregnancy. After two boys, there's a girl on the way, so, of course, we had to provide some clothes for the little girl. And of course, at a party, there has to be yummy (and pretty) food to eat.




Notice the reappearance of the tissue paper pom-poms.


Andrea made a tutu. I think Monica loves it.


Watching the gift-opening. 


Cute clothes.




Right before we left, we got a group shot with the guests who hadn't left yet.


So excited to meet this little girl in a few months! Congratulations again, Monica!

Somehow, in setting up my computer, I deleted things (contacts, calendar events) off of my phone. Now some are back, in duplicates. Thus, I'm fighting with technology instead of blogging today. Argh. Wish me luck.

I have much to share in the world of photos, but I have to backup this computer so that I can get my new computer into action!

Here are some excited faces for you to enjoy while you wait for me to upgrade from 2007 to 2012.



These girls are the best! (Yes, I am completely biased.)

guest blogger: Lydia

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Our zoo membership expired, but thanks to a Google deal, we replaced it with a membership to the aquarium! We went for the first time on Monday when Daddy was home from work for President's Day.

There were sharks.


There were lots a sharks.


Fish.


Seahorse say, "neighhh-glub-glub-glub!"


Jellyfish.


It's Bubba and Ralph! (A few weeks ago, Daddy took me to a coffee place with a fish tank. We named the fish Bubba and Ralph. This new aquarium was full of Bubba and Ralph.)


Hippos in the water.


Watchin' the penguins.



Seal on a rock.


Actually, we saw a turtle, too (but Mama didn't get a picture of it).

Here we are with our hometown skyline in the background.


Let's go to the 'quarium again, Mom!

Last year we searched the city for fasnachts and found them only blocks from our stoop at a German bar on South Street.

This year, the Tuesday playgroup rallied at the park (since it was 52 degrees) for fasnachts! By noon we had the whole place practically to ourselves. (Everyone else must have gone home for lunch, but we had packed our lunches.)


 Sage was enjoying her fasnacht, but Lydia had already polished hers off before I could get a photo.


Brennan and Kuyper are still eating theirs.


A group photo attempt, of those who were left by this point anyway. Hazel declined, and Louisa was already getting ready to nap in her stroller. Heidi was attempting to escape, and Sage is in the middle of sliding off the turtle.


Are they really all looking in the same general direction? Impressive. =) (Sage went MIA.)


Happy Fasnacht Day!

Help me, please. Here's my dilemma.

I love to cook. I especially love to cook from scratch. (Hence my love for Simply Scratch. How often can I talk about that food blog here? I love it.) I'm not a very creative cook. I don't invent recipes from scratch. I can tweak existing recipes - but just a little bit. My secret? I follow directions really well. Hence, I can cook with a recipe. Food blogs that give me step-by-step instructions with pictures? They just make me look good. Like I know what I'm doing.

On Saturday, I made dumplings. For chicken and dumplings. From scratch. They were delicious. But THEN - so embarrassed - I cooked them in chicken broth, made by dissolving chicken bouillon cubes in water. Ugh, gross. Horrible. I roasted the chicken. In the oven. Picked every last bit of flesh off the bone. So I have bones with which to make chicken broth. Yet, I do not make chicken broth from scratch.

Why, you ask? I tried once. It tasted like water. With a hint of nasti…

I made these shirts for the girls for Valentine's Day following this tutorial. (Easy. Just ask my self-proclaimed-non-crafty-friend who successfully made them with me; she just skipped the sewing step.) I used a shirt from H&M with little blue hearts for Lydia. (A shirt with hearts that isn't pink? Woo-hoo!)


Unfortunately, the little blue heart shirt didn't come in Heidi's size, so her shirt is just white. (Reading their new book Just Because You're Mine (by Sally Lloyd-Jones, Jesus Storybook Bible author) with Daddy before he goes to work.)


Of course Lydia is asking, "wanna see the picture," before I even finish pressing the shutter.


I wrapped the shirts with these cards. By the time breakfast was over, Lydia had lined up the cards with the corresponding animal. She is onto my drawing inspiration. (i.e. I am not original. I just copy well enough. =)



Can you tell the girls were febrile and miserable on Tuesday? Hopefully not? =) I had a fever Sunday,…

On Saturday, we thew a baby shower for Rebecca and her baby girl. Once again, we sorted through our Pinterest inspirations and created an event to celebrate. Ashley (not the one who just had a baby) hosted all of us in her beautiful home.


(No, blossom is not her name as a curious shower guest wondered. It just gave us a theme.)


Monica made the banner and thought up anchoring mason jars of tulips on the wall.


Mia's beautiful tissue paper flowers.


We enjoyed delicious food. (Sorry for the poor lighting.)





Guests gathered to celebrate.







And played some (hopefully-not-too-lame) shower games.


(The pictures posted in this post should fulfill the "I Spy" game seen here.)


(The guest with the newborn won the pacifier spit contest.)


Of course, there were gifts for the mama and baby!



. . . where she received Monica's signature onesie gift (Ashley got one, too)!


Perhaps you noticed the other baby bumps in the background of some previous photos?


Katharine and Monica are both due…