Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Summer 2015

This summer came and went before we could even blink our eyes this year!  We added our sweet Emma to the family in May.  Caleb asked Jesus to be his Lord in August and was baptized in October.  We made a lot of good memories and also just spent a lot of time close to home with the new baby and lots of friends and family coming for visits.  Here are a few pics from the summer!



 Emma, moments after she was born!  She was born May, 8th around noon, weighing 6lbs. 5.5oz.




 After she was a bit more cleaned up!




 This time we were actually able to have family visit while we were still in the hospital!




 Caleb has been in love since the moment he laid eyes on her - and Noah has continued to smile!




 Nana was able to watch the other kids and then bring them for their first visit!  Apparently, we were so overwhelmed with having hospital visitors that we failed to take many pictures!




 Daddy built them their very first swing set!  They have used it nearly every day since it was built.




 These middle two have developed a sweet relationship over the summer and especially since Caleb started school.




 He loves to snuggle his baby sister.  He definitely takes great care of her!




 A lot happens up in that fort!




 He learned to write his name over the summer and has perfected it (as well as all of his other letters) since school started.




 She has been such a sweet baby!!




 I rarely put her in real clothes but she is pretty stinking cute when I do!




 Their other grandparents stopped by on their way home from Alaska...the kids were sooooo excited to see them!




 We put up some corn this summer!!  We ate so much corn this summer - the kids all loved it on the cobb.  This winter we'll get to enjoy some "real" corn!




 He loves to love on her and sometimes she likes it!




 Finally, a girl with hair to play with!




 Such a sweet pumpkin!




 They loved playing in this pool this summer!




 No words!




 Caleb finally got to see his best friend, Hannah!  He was so very excited (notice his arm around her). I didn't have one of all the kiddos but it was a great weekend!!


Caleb wanted a Popeye cake for his birthday.  I didn't think I could possibly make this cake, but my friend came over and gave me art lessons!  We celebrated after he was baptized!  Check out this video of the baptism!




Friday, February 28, 2014

A Little Catch Up...

Apparently, the last time I blogged was in August!  So I decided we just needed a post to catch everyone up on the sweet children!  I didn't blog about any of their birthdays or Christmas!!  So, here are some photos to enjoy!


Caleb was really sick on Anna Kate's birthday.  It had been a pretty stressful few days leading up to her big day, but we had friend's come and stay with us and it was just the support we needed!  I took advantage of the extra hands and shed some stress by baking!  I made fondant icing for the first time and was able to create a cute little lady bug for this sweet girl!  


Unfortunately, just like her brothers (at this age), she wasn't interested in the cake.  There was no diving into it and cramming it into her mouth and smearing it all over her face.  She just picked at it and looked at us like we were crazy!


Can't you just see the enthusiasm oozing out of her little body?!  We had a great time with family though and she loved all the cuddles she got that day more than anything.


These boys are hilarious.  They have really begun playing together and getting into mischief together.  They are both so funny and love to pretend.  Caleb was taking Noah for a ride on Daddy's scooter.


This picture says so much.  Anna Kate is quite in love with her Grandma.  In fact, she prefers her to me (her own mother!) if we are both in the room.  And she absolutely, totally, has her wrapped around her little finger (hence the smirk)!


The boys thoroughly enjoyed Halloween.  Caleb insists that everyone puts out pumpkins for his birthday and not for Halloween.  They had a great time going to pumpkin patches and picking out pumpkins.  The grandparents might have over indulged...


This is just a small representation of all the pumpkins we had!  They had a great time painting them but we didn't carve this year.


Caleb really loves to do arts and crafts.  If only his mama was a little more creative.  We're working on it though!


Such a cutie pie!  She loved climbing up stairs long before she would walk anywhere.  She still loves to play on the stairs and she is pretty fast too!


Caleb was pretty sick on his birthday, so we had to celebrate later.  He picked out his cake on the internet.  He was really sick one day and laying on the couch.  He saw that I had gotten a picture for Anna Kate's cake off the internet so he asked to look for one.  Parents, let me save you the pain, don't offer up any cake on the internet to your child!  Ha!  He found one that had 4 dinosaurs, a volcano, hot lava, and a lake!  And he never forgot a single feature as he talked about it every.single.day from then until his birthday!  So I spent hours the night before making his perfect cake!  It was worth every minute to see his face when we brought it out!


The only family photo we have had in quite some time.  Christmas was so hectic we didn't get one then either!


This little man...he can always make us laugh!  He isn't much of a snuggler, but he does snuggle up with his bubba from time to time.  He is so fun!


This is one of those pictures that we will keep and cherish forever!  These three love their daddy!


This little girl is such a girlie girl.  She always brings me hats, shoes, bracelets, clothes, etc. to put on her.  She loves to carry purses and accessorize!  


The boys had a great time going out and cutting down their tree again this year.  It was pretty cold so Caleb wasn't too excited, but Noah loved every minute of it!


He always tells us how strong he is and shows us his muscles!


Somehow, the boys decorated the tree this year while I was making dinner.  I finally just decided I could live with a Charlie Brown looking tree because they and such a fun time!


Anna Kate was helpful...she drug out all the decorations and handed them to Caleb and Noah to put on the tree!


Poor Noah only got cupcakes this year.  It was crazy busy and it was just all I could manage.  Caleb decided on the Mickey Mouse theme because Noah couldn't have cared less.


All he asked for was a hat and a box.  A simple kind of guy!


Caleb loves to read stories to Noah.  The crazy part is that he can't actually read them but he has most of them memorized and can practically tell them word for word.


This little guy is our monkey.  He is always climbing on something.  One afternoon (Caleb was out with Jared), I was putting Anna Kate down for a nap - which takes less than 2 minutes - and I came out to this.  He had lined up all the dining room chairs to make a path to the window.  They are solid wood chairs and quite heavy.  He was pretty proud of himself!


The snow.  The boys have LOVED it, and I am so ready for Spring!  We got 14 inches one day and they had a great time playing it for about 5 minutes at a time.  It was in the teens and the wind was fierce.  Once it finally warmed up to the 20's though they really enjoyed it!


Our side yard has a great hill for sledding.  Their cousins and a neighbor boy came over to test it out.


The first day we used our homemade cardboard sleds.  They worked really well...


Then daddy brought home the real sleds and they could really go somewhere!


Love the memories they are making!


This little girl finally started walking around 16 months.  In the last month, she has found the joy of climbing.  She loves to climb up onto the table (which she knows she isn't supposed to do), and she loves to feed herself.  So, here is she..."what mom, I am not on the table, I'm just eating my brother's left over cereal!"


Can you tell how tall Caleb has gotten!  He has grown several inches in the last couple of months.  Tiny tot on the other hand...just gets cuter, not bigger!