Some Late Summer Pictures

For your enjoyment, here are some pictures I (Jed) took. This is Ali after getting her face painted at "A Taste of Concord" on Sunday afternoon:

And this is Josiah, with Elmo on his cheek.

The next is Ali at her friend Alyssa's birthday party on Saturday...a Hawaiian theme, as you can tell.

And finally, Josiah as we took a ride on the Redwood Express, a miniature steam train in Tilden Park.

Our Little Graduate

Jed and I sat down tonight and said "really, we have a child old enough to graduate?"  Yes, we do.  Ali's now a preschool graduate (but told me tonight not to call her a kindergartener yet).  Ali took center stage and sang her songs, wore her cap and gown, and graduated.   

Josiah gets the girl

We are back from our great vacation.  What made this vacation so great?  We were able to spend time with friends, relax, and make memories with our kids.  That last detail was the one thing Jed and I really wanted to do.  We wanted our kids to have fun.  We think we succeeded.

On Thursday we went to Disneyland.  The kids knew we were going, but we did keep one thing secret.  We made reservations at Ariel's Grotto--where the princesses come and greet you at your table while you eat your meal.  The breakfast was quite yummy, but the highlight of the meal was seeing Josiah so happy to meet the girl of his dreams, Snow White.

Josiah has been telling us ever since we told him about the trip that he wanted to see Snow White.  When we asked him what he wanted to say to Snow White, he always said "Will you marry me?"  Josiah is a shy boy, and I didn't think he would really go through with it, but he did.  Snow White let him down gently, telling him that she was already married, but Josiah was still in love.  He chose a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves "action figure set" as his souvenir, so we guess he still "got the girl". 

Ali loved meeting the princesses as well, and had a blast riding some rides.  Small World was a favorite.

Abi enjoyed the day as well, although she liked taking naps as much as the rides.

We had two wonderful parties with friends as well, and enjoyed a beautiful wedding between Becca and Scott.

Now we are home and hit the ground running.  We are busy this month with graduation, VBS, and meetings galore.  And, regardless of how busy we are, it is good to be home.

Our kids are cute. Here's the proof.

Josiah loves to help Abi to listen to music on the Ipod.

 Ali and Abi in their matching PJs.  Oh, and Abi can sit up on her own.  She'd love to show off her two bottom teeth that just appeared, but they are a bit hard to capture on camera.

 Sisterly love.

Abi eats food, and her little mommy loves to help.  Here's the video proof.

We leave on Tuesday for our OC vacation.  This includes a very important trip to Disneyland.  This trip is important because Josiah in on a mission.  In his words "Marry Me Snow White."  We'll let you know if a wedding is coming up in the near future.  We're looking forward to great family time and visits with friends.  We'll talk again after we get back!

Easter Joy

Happy Easter from the Maschke Five!  We had a joyous weekend celebrating our Savior's resurrection.  Today, after church, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon (with 3/5 of us taking naps).  After dinner we had a great talk while looking at our resurrection eggs and eating Easter candy.

A few pictures for all those interested...

 Josiah at the Easter Egg Hunt...no pictures of Ali hunting eggs this year.  They were in different locations.

 Josiah amazed at the egg changing color.

 Ali loving her egg decorating.

 Our homemade Hot Cross Buns (with Craisins instead of raisins and currants)

 Josiah's doll house.  It is what he really wanted and is super excited to have...thus far the family has taken baths, used the bathroom many times, taken a nap, and jumped out of the windows.

Happy Easter from the kids!

Yes, they are siblings

Ali at three months.

Josiah at three months.

Abi at three months.

Notice the similarities?

A Little Love and Looking Ahead

Most of you know I'm not a big Valentine's Day girl, but we had a little love at lunch today.

The kids seemed to enjoy them.

Abi is looking forward to having some food next year.
Josiah is looking forward to the next holiday that supplies him with candy.
Ali is looking forward to two Chuck E. Cheese parties in the next three weeks.
Jed is looking forward to finishing up his class work.
Anna is looking forward to getting back into crafting and sewing,

What are you looking forward to?