J: If you put a toy in your mouth again, I'll have to tape your mouth shut.

E: But then I won't be able to eat food and then I might die or something.

J: chuckles to herself

E: What are you laughing at?

J: I'm laughing at what you said.

E: I didn't say anything funny.

During Edmund's breakfast prayer:

E: "Thank thee for Mom and Dad and me and Carter"

Me: "And Faye"

E: "Why?"

Me: "Aren't you thankful for Faye?"

E: "But I said that in my other prayer."

I haven't been posting the past few months, and I haven't been picture-taking either. Maybe the result of my lack of pictures is the cause of my lack of posts. Anyway, we, the Phillips family, have had a wonderful summer. I think there are a few more items on the agenda before I am willing to admit that summer is over. To briefly recap:

*Camping at Father Hennepin State Park. It is situated on MN's 2nd largest lake -- Mille Lacs Lake. It rained most of our time camping, but we had a great time!

*Hosting the Phillips family -- Ed, Mom, Nate, Julee, Jenna, Amber, Lukas, Isaac, April, Travis and Jenessa. We spent some time at Minnehaha Falls, the Walker Art Museum and Sculpture Garden, Lake Josephine, Concert at Lake Harriet and my new-found love Sebastion Joe's -- where the most amazing ice cream I've ever tasted can be found.

*Driving to UT with Jenessa to spend a couple weeks with the Schiffman family -- Hogle Zoo, Bean Museum, Scera Pool, Pioneer Commemoration Concert/Sweet Tooth Fairy double date with Rachel and Steve, pool time in the back of Grandma's house and overall a rockin' good time!

*I Can Fish at Fort Snelling State Park. We played in the lake last weekend and watched a little bit of net fishing. It was amazing to see fish actually being caught from the same spot we were playing in.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter. We took two neighborhood girls with us to church and then spent the afternoon outside. The weather was so nice -- our Easter dinner didn't get cooked until Monday!

Carter 6 months

Carter keeps growing! He has mastered rolling over from both tummy and back. He is also working on his scooting. He has done pretty well on his back for awhile, but he is inching forward better and better each day on his tummy.



He started solid foods a few weeks ago and is doing very well. He still spits up (Edmund and Faye rarely did) which is getting more colorful with his expanded diet.

Carter 5 months

Winter Inside

Faye and Carter

Edmund and Carter

Faye Sings!

Carter 4 months

Carter has had a runny nose all winter!

2011 A New Year!

After years of living in white walled apartments, my husband's Christmas gift to me this year was the permission to paint! (He is not looking forward to repainting the walls white once we move!) Anyway, from white to roasted mushroom and marsh in the living room and the kitchen:






After hemming and hawing over the best format to pursue in keeping a record of our family history, I am going to focus my efforts in the blogging direction. Until now, I have been trying to keep a book for each of the kids and a separate photo album for our family. I guess I am in the mood to consolidate and keep everything online instead of on my bookshelf. So, here goes:

Edmund's actions last Saturday night still have me laughing inside. I had just given Carter a bath and refilled the tub for Edmund and Faye's bath. Edmund and Faye were both anxiously awaiting their turn. I brought Carter downstairs and Edmund asked if it was his turn for the bath. Since my reply was positive, he proceeded to run upstairs and jump in the bathtub! Literally! Seconds after the first splash, Devon and I both heard crying from the top of the steps, "I forgot to take off my clothes!"

Faye is in the mood to do EVERYTHING by herself. "No, I do it!" is her most repeated sentence these days! On the bright side of this, she is doing very well at using the toilet by herself. We introduced her to her first pair of princess underwear on Saturday. After one accident each on Saturday and Sunday, today was a no accident day! Yay for Faye!

Carter is an angel. He is in heaven when someone holds him. Oh how he loves to be held! Too bad I don't have three sets of arms -- one for each kid. Carter played with his first toy last week -- a little rattle. He is my little angel!

The many faces of Carter!