Kate is 2!!!

Our sweet girl is officially two! We celebrated at home with a few presents and cinnamon rolls for dessert. It was perfect. 

Kate is such an energetic, loving girl. She adds so much life to our family. She absolutely adores her brothers. She wants to do everything they do, which sadly doesn't always happen. She LOVES to color and draw - she can spend hours at the art table just doodling and scribbling. She also really enjoys puzzles, blocks, books, anything associated with Dora, and is getting interested in taking care of her babies. We have started "feeding" them and "making dinner" for them in her kitchen, it's pretty cute. I'm just waiting for her to start being interested in Barbies - I was crazy about them as a young girl. We'll see if she follows suit. Happy 2nd birthday sweet baby, we LOVE you so much!!!  

Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We had Luke and Evan's first field trip of the year last week. It was at the Pumpkin Patch, obviously. Thankfully my awesome mother-in-law watched Kate so I could spend some time with my boys. We had a great time and thankfully the weather cooperated, too. 

 Our little pumpkins. I scratched out the name of the preschool in case there are some weirdos out there that stumble across our blog.

 The boys were very excited about s'mores, but not so sure about the fire. The smoke kept blowing in their eyes, so mama had to take over on the roasting front. 

See their faces. Even little Emerson wasn't impressed. 

 Freshly made kettle corn. Amazing. This was actually what got Ev to smile. You'll see in the pictures below. . . he was a bit grumpy that morning. The kettle corn seemed to snap him out of it. I will note (I'm a bit freaky)that this was their first time EVER having popcorn. I know, a bit freaky to some people. Luke enjoyed it, Ev wasn't a huge fan.

 There were some awesome activities for the kids to enjoy such as pushing a gigantic ball around, exploring a tepee, a corn maze, a hayride, and a small playground. I forgot to mention that the pumpkin patch is actually at the director of the preschools house. Pretty cool, right?!?

Again . . . he's 5! I'm not sure when I'll stop doing that. 

 Luke was trying REALLY hard to get Evan to smile for me, but to no avail. Thanks for trying, bud.

It's so much fun to spend time with the "big" kids by themselves. With Kate at home it allowed me to actually pay more attention to them and less time chasing the crazy girl around. We need to have more times like this. I love those boys (and Kate, duh). 

Luke is FIVE

We have been so busy over the last month, time has just gotten away from me. Now that vacation is over and the party has been thrown, I can sit back and breathe. As I sit here during naps and edit photos from the last month I find myself getting emotional about the time that is sneaking by me so quickly. When I think of the time passing, I can't help but think about how quickly five years have gone. Luke is going to be in kindergarten next year. I am going to have to send him off all day, five days a week and trust him to be taken care of and taught by someone other than me. I know that he will thrive, but it makes me sad and somewhat sick to my stomach. I've always heard that "it goes so fast" but when you're in the midst of raising three small kids (all within 18 months of each other) it's easy to think those people are crazy and they have no idea what I'm going through. Oh, I take it all back, y'all are right. IT GOES SO FAST. I know, I know, five is just the beginning, but to me it is big. Huge, actually. Ugh. Enough. 

Moving on to what this post is all about . . . Luke is an awesome kid. He is scary smart, kind, loving, funny, and inquisitive. Lately he loves putting together puzzles, building with Legos or blocks, drawing, coloring, and playing games on his iPod. He loves being the oldest, he thinks that's pretty cool.  He is his brothers best friend (most of the time) and loves Kate like the pesky little sister that she is. He adores his daddy and thinks that he hung the moon. He's kind-of sweet on me, too. He's doing fantastic at school and is learning more and more each day. We love him dearly and thank God that He has blessed us with such an amazing son. 

Newborn!!! No joke, I seriously cried when I pulled this picture up. 

1st Birthday Party - he wasn't walking yet, but was sooo close.

2nd Birthday Party. 

3rd Birthday Party . . . looks very similar to now, doesn't he?

4th. He looks so big!!!

And, 5! Wowza. So handsome. Love you, buddy.

A Superhero Birthday Party

Luke and Kate both have birthday's in October, so we decided to combine their birthday parties this year. What a relief to only have to host one party! Luke is interested in superheroes lately and Kate likes anything, so we went with a superhero theme. It was so fun. I made capes and masks as party favors and then added little touches of superhero stuff here and there. The kids all really enjoyed the capes, so worth the effort. 

 Luke requested a Spiderman shirt for me to make and Ev wanted Captain America. I went with a lightening bolt for Kate.

 He's 5!!!

Little miss has one more week till she's 2. Wow, kind-of blows my mind. 

 My cousin made the most adorable doll for Kate. Seriously, her creativity knows no limits. I love it. You can see how much in the second picture. Thanks Carrie for taking pictures so Justin could enjoy watching the kids open presents while I helped AND for catching this expression. Too funny.

 Grandma and Grandpa bought Kate the cutest tricycle EVER. She loves it . . . so do her brothers. It's taken up permanent residence in our house for the time being. Our poor walls may take a beating in the process . . . 

Our last couple of days in RB

As I mentioned before, we had such an awesome trip. I know the pictures are a bit much, but who prints pictures nowadays?!?! This IS our online scrap book, right??? Ha, I just took a ton of pictures!

Late night snacks 

Luke's birthday night! 

Breakfast in Alys beach. We actually made the bike ride there to get donuts at the donut truck, but apparently they open and 6 and are usually sold out by 8. Umm, ok I guess not. Oh well, we still found some delicious eats and great scenery. 

The "hill" in the park at Alys Beach. The pictures don't do it justice. It is a massive hill that has a foot path that winds around it to the top. The kids love it.

Behind the hill is a sand playground. Very cool and beachy. We must remember for our next trip that the slide is scary fast and to warn the kiddos. Sorry, Kate. 

The thing that stood out to me the most in this post is Evan's facial expressions. I do not think I can take a picture of that kid without some crazy expression on his face. It's hilarious. 

Playing in the fountain after dinner. They were COMPLETELY soaked. All of them. They loved it!

Our last night. Boohoo. No, it was great. We ate at George's in Alys. Amazing dinner and an even prettier sunset. You'll see . . .

No joke. Amazing, right. It was breathtaking. I have never seen anything quite like it. Perfect way to end an awesome week.

Our last night required a little beach exploring. The kids always love it. Flashlights are a necessity. 

And that was our trip in a nutshell. Until next time . . . LOL