We Miss You, Daddy!

Matt has been in Texas this week for business. We are VERY ready to have him come home tonight.

BLUE and GOLD Banquet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUB SCOUTS!

This week we attended our Blue and Gold Banquet. It was fun!

They put a bag full of "junk" at each table and we had to build out own centerpiece. I'm not sure exactly what ours turned out to be, but I think the boys were shooting for "steam engine" and the plastic bag was the smoke billowing up.

 The rest of us... (not a great picture of me, but oh, well!)

Aaron and Sally

Happy Meal Hat

 

This picture doesn't really need a caption.

(Levi sure does make us laugh, though!)

Love and Hearts!

On a day dedicated to LOVE and HEARTS, I want to say that I LOVED hearing our baby's HEARTbeat today! 

Yes, we are having Baby #5. Our new arrival is due towards the end of August and I am currently 12-13 weeks along. The kids are excited. The boys don't care what they get and Kellie is hoping for a sister instead of (to quote her) "another brother." We just want a healthy baby.

We feel very blessed to have another baby join the family. For a while now we wondered whether or not we should have "just one more". Four kids has been a wonderful handful and it is a little overwhelming to consider starting over again, but we just felt like we were missing someone. We were a little surprised to learn we are getting one so soon!

In case you are wondering...

Aaron is 10, and will be almost 11 when the baby comes. (Birthday is September 22)

Caleb is 7 and will be almost 8 when the baby comes. (Birthday is September 5)

Kellie is 5 and will turn 6 a few months after the baby comes. (Birthday is October 25)

Levi is 2 and will be 3 around the time the baby comes. (Birthday is September 1st)

I am due August 25, and typically deliver late, so we are crossing our fingers and hoping to dodge a few of the dates above. (as you can see!) The Lord definitely has a sense of humor to have sent all of our kids in the same month or two. Oh, well, there are perks; like eating cake for a straight month every year!

MY VALENTINES

 Here are my "little Valentines"! I sure love these guys!

This shirt was given to Levi affectionately by his Grandma and Poppa J. Anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes with him is aware of his "devilish" ways! He really is one curious kid who gets into EVERYTHING! Handsome Little Devil sums him up pretty well!

Snuggling...

I went in to Kellie's room this morning and found these two cuddled up together. "What are you doing?" I asked. Kellie's response was, "snuggling." (said as if it was obvious, which I suppose it was)

Not 10 minutes later I watched this scene unfold on the stairs...

Levi sure knows where to find his loves and cuddles each day! I think he might be a little bit loved, don't you?

Puppy Power-Up

(I've heard of horse power- but puppy power?)

I walked into the room and found Levi like this. As best as I can figure he was trying to jump start his ride-on car using the puppy flashlight. Either that or he was trying to power-up the puppy? I'm not entirely sure...

He was SO proud of himself that I decided I needed to take pictures.

100 Girlfriends for Caleb?

I was going through Caleb's papers when I came across this one that he did for his 100th day of school. Looks like he doesn't want 100 girlfriends... :)

(I never knew how smart Caleb really was!)

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge

Sally's 4

Our dog was born on February 4th. We know that because when she was a puppy, the vet pulled her records from the shelter and wrote it down on her charts. Aaron memorized the birthday and has insisted that we celebrate every year. So here's to our dog, Sally! Happy 4th birthday!

The kids got her the red bone on a rope for her birthday. She is a happy dog! (and a little bit spoiled)

Sticky Lips

Today Levi found out the difference between a glue stick and a tube of chap-stick. I probably should have felt sorry for the poor kid when his lips got tacky and started melding together in a gooey mess, but heaven help me I just stood there and laughed!

(For the record, I did eventually help him- I'm not a completely bad mother, and you will notice that I did NOT take a picture of him in his distressing moment, even though I was sorely tempted!) :)

Prayers and Dump Trucks

How do you get your little one to sit still during prayer? 

 

My little 2 year old Levi has a hard time sitting still during prayer. Most of the time he starts out with his arms folded, sitting in a lap,  but then he typically jumps down and ends up wandering around the room before the amen is said. We stumbled across a different plan, purely by accident, but it works- most of the time. :)

Why, you get him a dump truck, of course!

When it's time for prayer he goes and gets his dump truck, wheels it in, and sits down. I say if it works- we'll do it. (Now the only problem is trying not to giggle throughout the prayer.)

Math Woes...

 Aaron was frustrated with his math homework. Being the dramatic kid that he is he declared that he was going to be one of those guys who never gets a job and never moves out of their parents house because every job he could ever want involves math and he just can't do it.

He actually looked like he was going to cry when Matt and I both jumped on that and told him that was NOT an option. It's tough work disillusioning a 10 year old...

Sledding! (or is it "saucer-ing"?)

Christmas Day 2011

Santa found our new house this year! He brought snow saucers and snow toys and new scarves!

Aaron

Caleb

My boys!

Levi and Kellie playing in their new Play Kitchen. (Maybe Levi will stay out of MY spatulas now!)

Aaron's HEXBUG toys.

Caleb's LEGO Hero Factory guy.

Sally got a bath at the groomers the week before Christmas. She likes her festive bandana and she loves her new soccer ball that Santa brought her.

Our Family

Matt's parents drove in to spend Christmas with us.

Aaron playing chess with Grandpa Lane.

Grandpa Lane 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun this year! 

We had SNOW ANGELS...

TREATS FOR SANTA...

and you can't forget

REINDEER FOOD!

.

Caleb's NEW Glasses

A few weeks ago we got a letter from the school nurse telling us that Caleb failed his vision screening at school. Because of this he earned himself a trip to the eye doctor. Evidently he has an astigmatism which when he squints he can almost correct to 20/20 vision. That would explain why he never complained. The doctor had such a hard time getting him to stop squinting during the exam that she ended up having to dilate his eyes so they would relax and she could see what was going on. He was so well behaved- he just reclined back in the chair and let her put the drops in. He even giggled when things got a little blurry. Well, the end result is that he now is the proud owner of some very snazzy glasses! You can't see it, but the inside of the frames are tiger-striped! He knows the stripes are there though, so that's all that matters! Here he is:

Zoo Lights!

 We had a great time at the Zoo Lights! I have always wanted to go, but have never wanted to take a little baby out in the cold. Levi is 2 now- so we figured he was old enough to enjoy it and to be exposed to the cold night air. We picked a great night to go- it wasn't even that cold! (Although that could be because the kids were all bundled up in their snow pants and coats.)

Levi especially loved it and kept saying, "WOW!"

Kellie got sleepy and ended up riding in the wagon for a while.

Aaron loved the Kangaroo lights that hopped.

Caleb loved the swinging monkey lights in the trees. 

Matt and I just loved watching the kids have fun. We highly recommend it!