Our Latest Project

Ahhh it's springtime. The flowers are blooming, the husband is employed again, and everything seems right with the world. I mean other than the presidential race, but who's keeping track.


So we are going to put in an egress window! I think the boys will be going downstairs. My dad is going to do the actual cutting of the cement blocks and framing out the bedroom walls. But Casey digs a mean hole, so he goes at it with vigor. Lookin' good, Honey!


We're almost there! Casey is a machine when it comes to getting something done. Where does he get all that energy?


Since there was hardly any snow this past winter, we have resorted to making forts out of clay.


These are some of the flowers that made it to my yard after raiding Jenny M.'s garden. Thanks, Jenny!


20 months old already! She loves to put on her "chews" and go outside.

February

Thumbsuckers. Abby (5) just quit sucking her thumb, so that only leaves 3 that still do. Thomas, we need to do something about that.


My friend Becky made all the kids hats! So cute.


Let's just say we are all thankful that the science fair is finally over. I told Jenny if I would've worked this hard on my own school work I would've went to Harvard. Good grief. If you have any questions about calcium propionate do not hesitate to call. Her little project did fetch a blue ribbon, so I guess the tears were all it worth it. Aunt Laurie and her computer skills made it look especially nice.


We are losing teeth left and right this week! Adam has lost his 2 front teeth, and Thomas lost his very first tooth a couple nights ago. Adam is very proud of his gap and loves to show it off to me. :)


I spent the afternoon with my sweetie today. Rachel turned 10 today, I can't believe it. 10 years ago at this moment I was staring into an incubator at my 4lb 4 oz preemie and falling in love with her. There was never a medical reason as to why she wanted to show up 8 weeks early, but I guess life is always full of surprises. Now she is an amazing, tender-hearted, soft-spoken 4th grader. Happy Birthday, Rachel. We love you very much.

It's been a long time

I can't believe my baby is 17 months old. She really is a funny little thing. In this picture she is riding the Little People horse. Good luck with that.


On December 4th Casey and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss. We even spent the night away from the children! OK, we were only 4 miles away, but still! We had a riot. We ran into some of my dental patients (a fun married couple our age) and she said, "You have a hotel room and your shopping at Target?!?!??!" Hey, we have to Christmas shop when we can, people. We also traveled to the far off town of Bay City to meander around the antique mall. This is usually where we end up for our anniversary. We kept trying to avoid the people that smelled like Chinese food in there, they kept stopping to look at all the same stuff we were. They were totally killing the atmosphere. I want to smell must when I'm looking at antiques, thank you very much.


Man, they are so cute. Grandpa T. was talking to Abby one day about the fact that next year she'll be in kindergarten. "What do you think about that?" he asked Abby. "Mom doesn't want to talk about it." she replied. He thought that was hilarious.

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!