River of Time

This is probably my favorite event in our area. It's held once a year, and it's FREE! OK, they do have henchmen standing at a "Donations" bucket, so it's not really free... but still! It's the cheapest entertainment we'll have all year. Everyone at the event is so nice, it's very family friendly. And I get to hear people playing dulcimers. Awesome.


Casey goes for the root beer, I go for the kettle corn. We polished off 2 bags of this stuff. SO good.


Rachel was happy to pet the goats.


We felt the elk and bear furs.


Candy... marbles... it was hard to get Adam to move on.


Adam looked at the roasting meat and said, "There's grass all over it!" The man explained that it was thyme. :)


Panning for gold- Adam's favorite part, of course.


Rachel and Anna picking out scraps for their rag dolls


Here's Bethany and her new friend Lilly. So sweet!

August

Anna and Bethany had a combined birthday party. We had a great time with all the grandmas and grandpas, Laurie, Dean, Addison, and Liam. The weather was perfect and we played in the backyard all afternoon. It was great! I'm kinda sad that my mom had me in February. I'm considering celebrating my birth in the summer instead.


Here is Bethany in one of her birthday outfits. Thank you, Grandma Maude!!


I started some zinnias from seed the beginning of April. I am so glad I did, they have been very prolific. The girls like to make little bouquets out of them. :)


I planted 3 glad bulbs- this is the only one that came up. I love the peachy color!


There's a weird virus floating around here. Bethany had it first- fever for days, finally that broke and she was left with some red spots that didn't last long. As this week has progressed the kids have been hit one by one... Buddy was the last one to get it I think. He has an eye appointment in the morning, so I'm hoping for a miraculous recovery by tomorrow.

Anna is 3!

Anna had some crazy hair when she was a baby. I loved it!

Anna is our crazy one. She is pretty happy-go-lucky most of the time. She loves people, loves to sit on your lap and read, loves to sing. Here she is singing to Bethany during dinnertime...


Other things Anna loves-
* baked beans and refried beans
* mashed potatoes
* her baby sister
* sucking her 2 fingers while holding her pink blankie
* changing her clothes numerous times a day
* making a mess with her toys and books
* caring for her dolls throughout the day. It is precious. :)

Dislikes-
* picking up afore mentioned messes. She will end up crying she protests so much.
* most vegetables
* Tommy bothering her. He is good at that.
* having dirty feet
* shopping too long. She begs to go, and about half way through she wants to go home.

She thinks she should start school since she got a "lunch box" for her birthday. She loves to carry little items around all day and it's the perfect size. We are having Anna and Bethany's birthday party this Saturday, she is very excited about the grandmas and grandpas coming!

Happy First Birthday Little B.!

Thomas and Bethany (about 1 week old)

My baby is one. Where did that year go? I am terrible at journaling or blogging anything of factual importance, so I thought I'd better jot this stuff down while I'm thinking of it...

Bethany likes...
* me :)
* Ok, she likes the whole family, but she always holds her arms out for Rachel
* bananas and carrots and oatmeal
* to have nibbles of my cookie. She is so spoiled!
* Daddy's picky chin- she laughs and laughs!
* to point at the flowers. This makes me very happy.
* to ride in the stroller around the block
* to play in the neighbor's pool with daddy holding her

Bethany dislikes...
* Cocoa wheat. I love that stuff. I have to make her oatmeal instead.
* refried beans. I'm still wondering if she's really my child.
* to be mauled by Thomas.


Happy Birthday Bethany. We love you very much!

Summer afternoon

Two more days until she turns ONE! Now she wants to push the wagon around the yard instead of riding in it.

Rachel and Adam spent a week up north with Grandma and Grandpa V. recently, and Abby is so happy to have them back. Her and Adam get along splendidly. He is the brains behind the operation, and she gladly goes along with most things he comes up with. They removed the sand down to the dirt this afternoon and found ant tunnels with hundreds of eggs... fascinating.

T. still has an aversion to the camera. Only if he's holding Bethany will he behave for a picture.


Bethany has no idea how popular she is. They fight over who is going to push her.

Happy Wednesday!

My sweet little Anna. She'll be 3 in a couple weeks! I made this jumper for her. She loved it when she saw it this morning. Too bad she can't stand still long enough to get an unblurry picture of it. She is still my snuggly kid, wanting to be carried and read to. She still naps for about 2 1/2 hrs each afternoon. I would like to keep her this size for a few more years.

Thomas. He's the athletic one. His six year old body is like a finely tuned piece of grissle. Grizzle? No, that can't be right. Well, he's got some muscles, anyway. And someday, when he stops sucking his thumb, the girls will be calling. Adam will still be overturning rocks in the backyard looking for ant tunnels, but Tommy will be going on dates. I don't want to think about it. Forget I mentioned it.


Abby is 4 1/2. Sometimes Abby has a poor attitude. And sometimes I like to take pictures of Abby when she is sporting her grumpy face. And yes, I've been told a gazillion times that girls only get harder as they enter their teen years. But for now I'll enjoy this stage because it doesn't last long. Usually a few minutes go by and she is back to herself, pretending she's a bird and making a nest so she can hatch her eggs.

What did we do before B.B.?

Bethany loves to show off her 4 teeth... and some other things that should be covered with a onesie. I'm still sticking with "she's just big-boned..."

Bethany discovered the hole yesterday. And she wasn't coming out until she had that baseball.


Big Brother sometimes forgets that Bethany is only 11 months old and shouldn't be swinging alone. But she was doing her funny high pitched "singing", so I knew she was having a good time. I did stay right there... just incase he saw a bug and ran off.

May Pics

Adam had a birthday! I can't believe he's 8 years old. Grandma made him a special blanket that has bugs on the flannel- pretty cool!


My big girl dreams of being an artist. Her drawing was on display at the Anderson Enrichment Center. I am so proud of her!


The old lady that lives behind us rescued this jeep from the curb. Clever uncle Dean fashioned a battery for it, and now it provides hours of fun! This is the only photo you will see of Thomas all year. He literally runs from the camera, but there was no way he was giving up his spot in the jeep!

I usually don't take pictures between 7:30am and 8:10am because it's the most chaotic time of day, but look at these two!!!! My heart was melting!! I love that my boys have such a sweet spot for the baby. :)

I love my tulips! They are all done now, but with the cool weather they did last a long time.


We are back to living on the porch. It's Bethany's favorite place to hang out. I can't wait til she stops putting every little stone/bug/fuzz ball in her mouth, it's exhausting always being on high alert.

I loooooove my new sewing machine!!! I just made some little shorts for Abby. Or Anna. They pretty much wear the same size so it doesn't matter.

I Love Spring!

We spent Easter at my parents. As usual Casey had to work, so I took the kids and spend Sat/Sun there. It was chilly and windy, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They have discovered how much fun "the tube" down the road is. I can't believe nobody fell in the water.


I think we need to start saving for lessons!


I never pictured myself the Hellebore kind of girl, but Amanda gave me this plant a couple years ago, and I'm totally in love with it.


I love white and I love yellow. And all together on one flower??? It's a winner in my book.


The sandbox! Anna has been wearing her crown from MOPS for 3 days now. That must be some high quality cardboard.


The motorcycle. Sell it/ fix it... Casey can't decide. But look at how cute Rachel is on there! Yeah, we should sell it.

March and April pics

Thomas turned 6 on March 9. He is doing good in kindergarten. He has lovely penmanship, it's so cute to see his own style coming out. :)


A long-lost MOPS friend sent me her extra Pampered chef pie plate. I mean, that doesn't happen every day! I put it to good use. I still have blueberries in the freezer.


We painted the pantry doors! They were a mauvy/burgundy sort of color before. This really brightened the place up. Yes, the floor is still ugly. I'm trying to live with it.


Abby. I could eat her up.


Yesterday was a glorious day! Both grandmas and a grandpa came to visit. Scrabble was played on the porch. All the dead stuff was cleared from the gardens. Have I ever told you how much I LOVE spring?!!?


Little Bethany is 8 mo. old now. She is loving baby food (sweet potatoes are her fave) and still nursing. She is crawling pretty good and pulling herself up to everything. She was sick for 2 weeks with a bad cold and then the fever/roseola crud, but the peds office said since it's a virus there was really nothing to do for her. So thankful she is smiling and happy again!

A Little Sewing

I finally found a simple little pinafore pattern at the thrift store! It's just one piece and has 2 buttons in the front. AND I had the fabric in the bottom of a bin that somebody gave me. So this was the perfect thing to whip up while we were snowed in.

"Isn't this excitin'?! "

The title of this post is what Anna says on the potty all the time. :) She's almost 2 1/2. I just have to brag for a moment- she wore underwear all day today with no accidents!!! She did wear a diaper for her nap, but woke up dry and went right to the potty and did her business. I can't even tell you how happy this makes me. I'm sure you understand. Yesterday every time I went into the bathroom there was a dirty pull-up laying on the floor. Um, no. I can't afford that. So I told Casey she was not going to wear one at all today. She could pee in her underwear all she wanted. Apparently she didn't like the idea of that.


These two make me laugh. They are getting along better these days, but they'll both be glad when summer is here and they can hang out with their brothers more.

I knew the day would come, but I don't feel ready. Bethany is becoming mobile and it's really putting a crimp in my lifestyle. She is dragging herself over to interesting objects. She's starting to nibble on books.
The poor thing has been sick all week. She's been coughing and her nose is raw from all the snot running out. But she's sleeping pretty good at night, so I'm extremely thankful for that.