Happy Valen-time Day!

Eliana calls it Valen-time Day. Maybe she thinks it's similar to rest-time or nap-time. But she had fun making a card for Daddy and decorating cupcakes. When Daddy came home from work, he gave her a bouquet of red tulips and a card as well. She calls the tulips "roses". Eliana has taken a real interest of helping out in the kitchen. She wants to help make mac-n-cheese, scrambled eggs, and do other things. Here, she helped make bread dough by measuring the flour, water, salt, and yeast, and then using a pair of chopsticks to mix everything together.
This past weekend, we visited the Portland Children's Museum. We think it's less of a museum in the traditional sense and more of a indoor area with lots of different activities for kids. I guess it's important to have indoor playgrounds in this rain-soaked area of the country. Eliana enjoyed going shopping in the fake grocery store with a cart just the right size for her.

The Museum has a "water room" with a table where water flowed downhill. You can move the blue panels to create dams or to channel the water in a certain direction. It was funny watching all the engineer-type dads take over and attempt to recreate the Panama Canal or something. Eliana just enjoyed hoarding and playing with the boats. Eliana also enjoyed the clay room. Elvin also enjoyed it, as he got to re-live, for 10 minutes, his ceramics days from high school.

Karina is continuing to grow up. While she still can't roll at all, she has learned to sit up by herself reliably. The amazing thing is that on Sunday she could not and by Tuesday she had it down pat.

Every evening, our routine after bathtime includes putting on jammies, brushing teeth, reading two books, and reading Eliana's picture Bible. We also say a little prayer before bed and Eliana has also decided she wants to pray as well. It is very entertaining, as it reflects the stream-of-consciousness side of her personality.