It's great to be 4!

Eli celebrated his 4th birthday yesterday. His request was to get a happy meal, but then he thought of Jackson and Zoey not getting a happy meal, and per usual Eli's personality, asked if we could all get a happy meal so that they wouldn't feel left out. 

He's so thoughtful and sharing, one of his best and strongest inherent personality traits. So we had a family picnic and got Jackson out of school early to join us. It was fun, and worth the extra dough to buy 4 happy meals instead of one :) It was a beautiful fall day! I'm glad we got to enjoy it. 

 Of course Eli can't have a normal face shot when looking at the camera, another part of his crazy personality that I love.

 We had grandma Gray over for dinner. Eli's request was corn on the cob and Salmon. Then we busted open a piñata, which was more drama that it should have been! Kids were worried they wouldn't get prizes fast enough, Jackson got hit by a swinging stick, Zoey cried because she hit Jackson.....it was too much.


 Eli asked for a monster truck cake....

 And we had a family party, which was only going to be a small function with the grandparents, but Elmo and Judy wanted to combine parties and celebrate Elmo's birthday with us (it's on the 28th). Of course we said yes, 2 parties in 1... so it turned into a much larger affair. It was great to have family. It was cray to have us all together in our small house though! Eli had fun with his cousins.

Summer Storms

I've always enjoyed summer thunderstorms. I like listening to rain and thunder and watching the lightning. We had a cool storm blow through one evening and were graced with a beautiful rainbow. It was just the right timing of light to see it before the sun went down for the day.

 Thunderstorms create this energy in the kids, they go crazy with excitement. All but Calvin. We've found that he's super scared of thunder and becomes a leach when they roll around, as you can see in the photo, he's even afraid to look around.

Play time!

We've had a few hard weeks of school. Getting back into routine is nice, but the school work-load has been an adjustment for the kids. Although they enjoy their teachers and classes, we've struggled with the amount of homework they are required to do. Play time is very important too! It was time for a break!

This Saturday, Brian went on a huge mountain bike ride with Bob Barnes and Eldon Greenwood. While he was gone, we chose to explore a new playground for us.

This one is located on Traverse mountain called Eagle Summit. The kids LOVED it! The favorite thing was the "spider web"

Isaac always with thumb in mouth....

 Eli always making some fun face....

 

 Jackson the big kids doing daring things! 

 Sweet Calvin :)

Sassy Zoey :)

9 months!

Well.... he's been out of the womb now as long as he was in the womb! Life is going good. He pulling himself up to stand on anything that will support him. He crawls fast, and I may soon miss the sounds of the slap slap slap his hands make on the wood floor! This could be the last of them!

I love his chubby legs and hands, his slobbery smiles (which he graces my arm with zurburs), and his babbling ma ma ma ma ma. He's happy, sleeps good, eats great and growing just as he should!

Still sucks his thumb, still no teeth, and still flaps like a bird when he gets excited!

I'm so glad Isaac is part of the family!

Lost!

We love the tooth fairy at our house right now! She's getting really familiar with our address. Zoey lost her first tooth this morning! We're so happy for her! I'm loving her new smile. And her tongue is having a good time playing with the new hole!

There was wailing. There were tears. There was drama that only a little girl can bring. The darn thing was hanging by a strand. Food had to be soft, it had to be cut...she cried when she bit into things...drama, drama, drama. After a bowl of oatmeal and tears over her tooth hurting, it was decided that it was time to take it out and move on with life!

We all but sat on top of her to get the tooth out! The root was starting to damage her gums from all the wiggling she was doing with it and it was causing her more pain than pulling the tooth itself had been. But she was so scared that it would hurt that she was willing to live with the constant gum pain over the unknown. I wedged my thumb in her mouth so she would keep it open, and with my other hand I pinched the tooth and it popped right out!

After the ordeal, it was giggling and smiles as she realized it didn't hurt. AND now she's anticipating the arrival of the tooth fairy! She couldn't be more excited, and she's so happy that it didn't hurt! We sang the "Brave" song from Sarah Bareilles.

She had to bring it to school to show her little friend Penny and her teacher. An exciting morning before going to school! Hopefully the next tooth won't be so dramatic :)