Recital Videos

Here are two videos of Chris playing at his recital yesterday. The first video is his own composition which he entitled "Labyrinth..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGOgM3_iEdA

Here are his two other songs from later in the recital. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=464ibETDt74

Piano Recital

Christopher had his piano recital this afternoon and it was great! 

We got to the church a little early to help Mackenzie set up so the boys had a little fun--Chris practicing his songs ...

 And Jonathan practicing his preaching...

I will have the videos posted of Christopher's performance just as soon as they get through YouTube's processing process--it's taking forever tonight!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This is definitely my favorite time of year--garden time! We took a trip down to the River Market this morning and picked up the rest of our starter plants. The boys really enjoy the market because of the abundance of plants, foods, cookies, and other goodies as well as the ethnic restaurants that are down there. The spices and smells at the market are amazing!

Also look out for those killer street car tracks! They'll get you every time (especially when you forget the front wheel of your bike)...

The sun was shining when we got home so Chris and I got the plants in the ground. If we have a successful harvest this spring and summer our vegetables will include: kale, chard, spinach, lettuce, onions, bell peppers, eggplant, big tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, jalapeños, and broccoli. 

The dogs were enjoying the sunshine as well!

A couple weeks ago, we also planted some gladiola and dahlia tubers and they have started coming up!

Cast Off!

Christopher got his cast off today! He got the all-clear to wear a boot during the day for the next three weeks. There is still a little bit of healing for the bone to do but overall it is doing well. When Chris got the cast off today and stood on his foot for the first time, he said it was sooo weird feeling! Now he's getting used to the boot and feels just a little like his favorite TV robot, Voltron. His dance teacher was happy too that Chris is moving in the right direction. He has been going to class and simply stretching or walking through steps. It will still be a little while before he's jumping, leaping and stepping but this was a good development!

The Boys, The Dogs, and Food!

We were back at the pool tonight for round two of Jonathan's swim lessons! His kick is getting better already and now he is working on relaxing on his back to do a back float... Yesterday, Holly discovered a bunny nest in the middle of our backyard. Somehow, the bunnies must have been born between when I let them out around 7:30 and 12:30 because suddenly Holly was guarding the nest. She literally stood like this for 20 minutes and would have stayed longer if I didn't interrupt her...

Holly is funny because she won't actually hurt the baby bunnies. We've had this same situation for the past several years and she just guards the babies. Athena on the other hand... well, the nest didn't last very long once she got ahold of it. Sometimes there is nothing you can do when you have hunting dogs... Also in the backyard, the garden beds are starting to look great! Our lettuce and greens are flourishing!

This weekend we will be taking a trip down to the River Market to pick up the rest of our starter plants for our vegetable gardens. So exciting! One of my favorite things about the garden is picking the food and cooking it a few minutes later. I've been obsessed with this cookbook...

I can't wait to incorporate some of our fresh veggies into Chef Chloe's recipes! Here are her pizza burgers with avocado pesto...

And tonight we had the pasta with "pink sauce..."

...accompanied by sautéed squash and zucchini. All completely vegan and completely delicious!

By the way, this post is the 2001st post on the Baby Wogs blog. When we started this, I thought we would just do the blog for the first year of Christopher's life. I can't imagine everything we would have missed if I stopped there!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter friends! We've had a lovely weekend and today was filled with family, food and relaxing. Yesterday, the boys colored their Easter eggs and enjoyed some of them for breakfast this morning...

We got dressed up this morning for a lovely church service where the music was fantastic! Jonathan was not amused by his outfit, as you can see from his expression. We managed to squeeze one more year out of the boys' outfits but I'm pretty sure this is the end of the road for the suits!

Church did its part in sugaring up the kids with jelly beans (above) and a donut wall. Nothing says resurrection like a donut wall. Thank you Jesus!

Then we had a lovely brunch with Grammy at our house. Shout out to the New York Times with yet another fabulous recipe. This one was a spinach artichoke pasta dish which we made with gluten free pasta so Grammy could have some too. Delish!

Twas the Saturday Before Easter...

It is a stunning spring day here in Kansas and we've had a lovely morning so far! Chris stayed at Grammy's last night so it was J and I for yoga this morning. Apparently, this is how J does his "rest" pose...

Holly got stuck with Henry and Hetty on the couch. You can tell she is not amused!

We were invited to an early Easter brunch/egg hunt at the Robins house this morning too. Laurel is one of Jonathan's friends from his class. It was a lot of fun and both kids and adults had a great time!

Later, we went down to have lunch at Grammy's and we all went down to the Overland Park Arboretum to enjoy the spring weather and the gardens there. It was a perfect day to be there! So much is already in bloom and we hope to spend a lot more time there this spring and summer...

I also want to give a shout out to Jonathan and Christopher for something they helped with the other night. We volunteered at Center of Grace's food ministry, which we have the chance to do through our church. Chris and I have gone before but this was the first time Jonathan helped out as well. It basically provides a hot meal for people in need and Jonathan was in charge of pushing the dessert cart. Both boys did great and for his age, Jonathan was a rock star helper! He was enthusiastic and asked each person at the table what dessert they would like. Then he wanted to hand them out as well. Chris helped with that and also with the wiping down of tables at the end. I'm so proud of these two for everything they did to help!