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March 31, 2005
Fine Motor Skills
True to her gender, Emma's fine motor skills at four amaze me.
She loves to write, draw and paint. She is learning her letters and sounds mostly through writing. This is the opposite of Harrison, who knew all of his letters and sounds by three, yet still struggles with writing and dislikes coloring and painting.
Posted by jennifer at 10:42 PM
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March 28, 2005
Happy Easter
Emma and Harrison both looked so cute and festive in their Easter outfits. We had a wonderful day, beginning with the kids finding their Easter Baskets.
Posted by jennifer at 10:20 PM
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March 26, 2005
Dying Eggs Again
This morning the kids dyed Easter eggs, again.
The first time round was with Nicole on Tuesday afternoon. She was baby sitting Harrison, Emma, Lisette, and Clare. Earlier in the week she had suggested dying eggs with the kids. I wasn't surprised to receive a call from her midday with some minor complication, but it wasn't what I had expected. The activity had gone smoothly, the kids were playing nicely, and Nicole went out to the garage to bring in the drying colored eggs. The carton was empty. Sixteen eggs had disappeared. After a thorough search by one adult and four children a conclusion was reached, the dog must have eaten all 16 eggs.
I called the vet, and Kess will be fine. We have kept her outside in case of toxic flatulence or sudden defecation. Now Emma can put her new vocabulary word to good use!
Posted by jennifer at 10:35 PM
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March 25, 2005
Happy Birthday Jd
Clap your hands.
Stomp your feet.
Jump in the air.
It's Jd's birthday!
Click on the image above to see MNF kids celebrate.
Note from Jeremy:
If you are having trouble veiwing this movie you may want to try 2 things:1st - wait for a while... the movie is about 2.5 MB (this is a larg file - on dialup it could take as much as 15 minutes to load.
2nd - you need quicktime to view this movie... get it at Apple's Website.
Enjoy!!
Posted by jennifer at 01:26 AM
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This entry makes me feel all warm inside. Thanks, guys.
I'm older than I've ever been
and now I'm even older
and now I'm even older
I'm older than I've evern been
and now I'm older still
Posted by: jdroth ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.gingerichfamily.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 25, 2005 08:17 AM
That is the greatest birthday card ever. Great job Gingerich Family!
And happy birthday to J.D. again!
Posted by: Denise at March 25, 2005 09:59 AM
Happy Birthday J.D.!
And cool vid!
Posted by: Rich R at March 25, 2005 05:05 PM
March 23, 2005
Spring Break Fun
Spaghetti Factory is a great place to go for lunch with six small children. Harrison and Emma were so excited to be with their cousins, as well as eat lots of pasta and spumoni ice cream.
The overcast and drizzly weather didn't effect these little Oregonians.
One ride on the roller coaster, clinging to me for dear life, was enough for Harrison. He prefers the calmer rides. Emma also discovered her ride limit with the fast spinning Spider. We all loved the Frog Hopper best of all. Emma says it gives her tummy the tigglewinks.
A ride on the carousel is a must for the twins.
As we loaded into the car after several hours at the amusement park, Emma commented on her exhaustion, "We did so many rides. I'm so defecate!" I don't know where she picked up this word, but I'm glad she got the meaning incorrect. She slept the whole ride home.
Posted by jennifer at 08:18 AM
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Emma, most people would have commented "I'm really pooped". Interesting use of your Thesaurus.
Posted by: GrandpaG at March 26, 2005 12:16 PM
March 21, 2005
Vernonia
This morning Emma packed up her suitcase, and every other imaginable container in her room. She came out to the kitchen and announced that she was going to Vernonia, where her Aunt Judy lives. Harrison offered to carry some of the luggage and travel alongside.
Posted by jennifer at 07:42 AM
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March 19, 2005
Mud puddle
After a month of unseasonably dry and warm weather, the rain is refreshing. The kids couldn't wait to put on old clothes and rain boots to go jump in the puddles.
Harrison loved riding his bike through the puddles last year and making the brown water spray in all directions. There he goes again! Emma followed on the scooter.
Emma wanted to join in this fun, but I refused to hold on to the back of her bike while zooming through the puddle. We compromised. I gave her a good running start and let her go the rest of the way on her own. Sometimes she missed the puddle or fell before reaching the puddle, but Harrison managed to take a great shot of her right on target!
Posted by jennifer at 09:00 AM
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The real question is...what is Jenn doing in the background?!
Posted by: jeremygingerich at March 21, 2005 04:22 PM
I was wondering the same thing, Jerm. Maybe she's break-dancing. You know that robot-like thing breakdancers used to do? (Body-popping?) It looks like she's doing that. I can imagine a Herbie Hancock song playing, Jenn dancing, and the kids splashing through puddles.
Or maybe there's a robot Jenn that she activates when you leave the house. Perhaps this is the first evidence of it...
Posted by: jdroth at March 22, 2005 09:12 AM
March 16, 2005
Babies
Emma has been surprising us lately with an increased vocabulary. Last week Mac and Pam came over with 6 week old Megan. After observing the new parents remove one very fussy baby from her car seat Emma proclaimed, "You know, babies are a big responsibility!"
Here Emma puts her baby to sleep on the brick ledge. Hmmm?
Posted by jennifer at 08:23 AM
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March 15, 2005
Dizzy with Joy
I sure have enjoyed this beautiful weather. I love the sunshine! On Monday we met Jeremy for a picnic lunch at Maple Street Park in Canby. Emma's friend Marli also joined us. The kids are always drawn to a tire swing. They love to spin and circle at the same time. I remember loving this as a child, but as an adult it is not appealing at all. I avoid anything that reminds me of morning sickness.
The kids also spent a long time playing on the merry-go-round spinner. They would run along side, building up speed and then jump on for a ride.
There were a dozen Spanish speaking kids also playing on the merry-go-round. The oldest boy acted as a translator speaking to both Harrison and his friends in turn. At some point he said something that sounded like fiesta. Harrison, Marli, and Emma instantly grabbed on to the concept and began yelling, "It's a fiesta!" They all laughed and everyone chanted Fiesta! Fiesta! as they whirled around and around.
I listened to the happy sounds from my spot on the blanket, basking in the sun, drowsily reading my book. What a perfect afternoon.
Posted by jennifer at 08:21 AM
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March 14, 2005
Lazarus
I have been telling the children's story at church for several weeks. The format was provided for me, a series of object lessons, based on the concept of vision. The objects so far have been eye glasses, binoculars, and a mirror.
Last Sunday a camera was used to demonstrate how we can see change over a period of time, either short or long. I used my digital camera to take pictures of the kids as we revisited the bible story of Lazarus.
Lydia and Maren pretend to be Mary and Martha, so sad about their brother's serious illness.
Now Emma shows the anger they felt when Jesus did not return in time to prevent his death.
When Jesus finally shows up he calls Lazarus out of the tomb. The children were very surprised when Lazarus, a high school student wrapped in strips of cloth, stumbled through the side door. I took pictures of their surprise and delight. When the last bandage was removed Harrison, going for the cheap laugh, shouted, "Hey that's not Lazarus!" The congregation responded with a burst of laughter.
Posted by jennifer at 08:18 AM
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March 13, 2005
Geocaching
On Friday afternoon we organized a geocaching event with six families. What is a geocache? It's like a scavenger hunt, with coordinates and a GPS. You can learn more about it at geocaching.com
Our first cache took us to the Barlow Pioneer Cemetery where we found a tupperware container filled with trinkets. The rule is if you take something, then you leave something. Harrison left a Mennonite Missions kazoo and took a matchbox car. Emma left a noisemaker and too some purple glitter nail polish. Albert took a toy dinosaur and his mom left a jazz CD. Joel signed the log book and we hopped back into the cars to find our second cache.
The second cache was found at the Canby Duck Pond. Joel and Lisa used the GPS to lead us closer to the cache. This was lableled a micro cache, meaning it would be very small. Pam interpreted the clues - Duck in, sit down, and stick around - to find our second cache in a magnetic key box under a park bench. No trinkets here, just a tiny notepad to record our find. I think we called ourselves the Whiskey Hill Cachers. There were several silly name suggestions.
Our third geocache was a multi cache, which required several stops to gather data. A little math led us to the final location. Finally we returned to our house where Jeremy had hidden our own personal cache, a treasure chest full of chocolate coins, fake jewelry, and other treats. After finding the treasure the group stayed for dinner and a campfire. It was a great evening with friends. To view other blog entries on this same event you can visit Lisa's blog or Andrew & Courtney's Blog or Pam's Blog
Posted by jennifer at 08:24 AM
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March 10, 2005
Two Wheeler
Posted by jennifer at 09:02 AM
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Way to go, Hank! I can't wait til he makes his first all-Harrison weblog entry. I give it a year. Two years, tops.
So, on the whole, after having used TypeKey for a while, which do you prefer: having to remove spam but getting comments from friends and family, or not getting either one? I know that all of us are still reading, but for me at least, it's a bother to comment now, so I rarely do it. On the other hand, I'm still hand-deleting bucketsful spam. sigh Why do jerks have to ruin the internet?
Posted by: jdroth at March 15, 2005 05:16 PM
Oh -- and way to go Emma, too!
Posted by: jdroth at March 15, 2005 05:16 PM
Oh -- and way to go Emma, too!j
Oh brother, and now I can't post this comment because I just posted the other one. Sheesh!
Posted by: jdroth at March 15, 2005 05:17 PM
That was strange.
Jeremy — reply to my e-mail, man!
Posted by: jdroth at March 15, 2005 05:18 PM
Hey, look at that. I remembered my password.
Noah liked this entry so much that he printed it out. I checked out your blog Saturday afternoon and left the web-page open while I ran in the other room. I returned to find Noah on the floor pulling papers off the printer. I thought he was just pulling blank paper off the printer, but was surprised to find picture of Emma pedaling through the filbert orchard. I have no clue how he managed to do it.
Posted by: Jethro at March 15, 2005 09:32 PM
March 09, 2005
Ray & Barb
Uncle Ray (aka Santa Claus) and Barb are visiting from Texas. We invited them over for a visit and some cobbler. Harrison and Barb spent a lot of time going over weblog entries.
Posted by jennifer at 08:59 AM
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March 08, 2005
Ice Cream Weather
The kids and I spent several hours outside watering all of our new plants. They enjoyed building moats around the roses and larger trees. Emma created waterfalls with the hose, while Harrison filled up squirt guns to aid the thirsty plants.
The newly tilled up soil and garden hoses made for lots and lots of mud. In several spots the kids sunk into mud above their knees. Harrison had to retrieve his boots, and later his flip flops, from the sucking mud holes. By the time we came back into the house at 5:00 the kids were so dirty I made them strip down to their underwear and wash off in the hose before going directly into the bathtub. Sorry no pictures, my hands were too muddy and my body was too tired.
Posted by jennifer at 06:16 AM
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March 07, 2005
Landscaping II
Kris helped me to plant over 40 perennials. All of these plants came from dividing the perennials at our Hubbard house. I have all my favorites in various shades of purple and yellow with a little splash of red and white: hardy geranium, speedwell, liatrus, echinacea, rudabeckia, peony, phlox, aster, crocosmia, boltania, catmint, daylilly, and more. Thank you Kris!
Jeremy planted the bigger items: cedar, fir, hemlock, dogwood, lilac, maple, and forsythia. That's a lot of plants! He also moved 8 rhodies. He is really tired.
We also planted about twenty roses on the south side of the house under the new windows. Most of these roses were on the property in another location. We potted then in the fall in order to make the new driveway.
It is so much fun to see our outdoor living space take shape. Stop by and see for yourself.
Posted by jennifer at 01:11 PM
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March 06, 2005
Birthday Celebrations
We had a wonderful evening of food and friendship at Jd and Kris' house. They brought together this wonderful group of friends through high school and college connections, book group, and work relations. It was great to spend time together laughing, telling stories, discussing babies, politics, and weblogs.
The men went outside to stand around the fire while the women stayed inside to relax and talk. I went outside to give Jeremy his birthday card and share some sparklers for a little celebration. I was informed that only those with a penis were allowed in the fire circle. Then the men lit the sparklers and ran around yelling, "I have a penis!" Pretty hysterical. I guess boys will be boys.
No sparklers and lewd chanting at this camp fire. John & Louise, Carolyn, Ben, Jd & Kris, and Joel & Aimee (good friends visiting from South Dakota) joined us for hot dogs and s'mores after a long day's work in the yard.
Posted by jennifer at 09:31 AM
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March 05, 2005
Happy Birthday Jeremy!
There is not better way to spend a day than working outside on home and yard improvement projects... at least I hope Jeremy thinks so. He has spent his birthday outside putting in a culvert and new entrance to the driveway.
Jeremy's first present of the day was a new wheelbarrow from his mom and dad. Harrison put it to good use as an outdoor recliner.
Posted by jennifer at 01:12 PM
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March 04, 2005
Outside Projects I
We spent the afternoon moving all of the junk (pipes, wood, patio furniture, old windows, garden stuff) piled up around the outside of the house. John moved the huge pile of filbert stumps back to the burn pile with the tractor. Then he moved the swing set into the back yard. Finally we moved the shed into place by the wood pile under the first row of filberts.
Hiding behind the shed is all of the junk that I mentioned above, in a somewhat organized pile. We have a much nicer view out the dining room window. I even put up our bird feeders. No birds yet...
Posted by jennifer at 01:01 PM
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March 02, 2005
Rainbow Fort
Emma and Harrison love to build forts out of blankets or cushions. Emma constructed this fort out of a rainbow scarf and sticky notes attached to the kitchen island.
A perfect place to read undisturbed.
Posted by jennifer at 08:14 PM