A fun day

We feel so lucky to live near beautiful lakes and hiking spots. It's great to get out and breath in the fresh air. The kids love throwing rocks, picking flowers and searching for bugs. Happy, indeed. 

6 months ago . . .

Evan turned five!!! I am beyond behind on posting. Evan is sweet, sensitive, artistic, athletic, kind and an absolute lover of animals and bugs. Six months into his fifth year he has started kindergarten, played Spring and Fall soccer and has started recognizing sight words and putting letter sounds together. I love this boy SO much.   

Easter 2014

We had such a fantastic Easter weekend with our family. It was full of laughter and fun. So thankful for His sacrifice. He is risen, indeed! 

Kate's 3rd Birthday

was also waaayyy back in October! This girl is hilarious. She is strong-willed, sweet, sassy, opinionated, loving and a true girly girl. She ONLY wants to wear dresses. When I get pants out, she is outraged. When it's time for pajamas, it MUST be a nightgown. She also has an opinion on how I fix her hair. Wait, am I talking about a 3 year old or a 13 year old? Gesh. Although she has a strong fashion sense, she is actually very loving and kind. She adores her brothers and wants do whatever it is they're doing. Her feelings get hurt when she's excluded from their "boy" play. As she gets older, she's understanding their lingo more and more and she's getting left out less and less. 

Kate is really into Disney Princesses, especially Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen. She loves her babies, animals and kitchen stuff. She enjoys reading and coloring. We are working on getting better with puzzles lately. (I need to learn patience in this area). Kate recently started dance (ballet and tap), which she loves and is a hoot to watch (more on that in another post). 

Three year check-up stats:

Height  - 39 inches ~ 81st percentile

Weight - 35 pounds ~ 79th percentile  

Luke turned 6 . . .

waaaayyy back in October. I have been terrible about blogging. Six is a big year for Luke. He started kindergarten, playing soccer, learned to read, add, subtract and formed friendships on his own. He is having a fantastic year so far (now that he's half-way to 7 I can say that with confidence!). 

Luke is super smart. He is a fantastic reader and he amazes me everyday we sit down to read together. He absolutely loves Legos. His favorite card game is Go Fish, he would play it all day, every day if I would comply. He loves playing outside with our new neighbor friends and is anxious to start riding his bike without training wheels. Luke is just a sweet, fantastic kid and we are so lucky that he's ours. We love you, buddy.

Six year check-up stats:
Height - 44.5 inches ~ 21st percentile
Weight - 44 pounds ~ 31st percentile

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I am spending the day lazily hanging out with the kids. The boys have already put together their new Lego sets, Kate is joyfully playing with her new Elsa and Anna Frozen dolls AND we've been sledding. As I type this blog post, I am listening to them laugh and color with their new crayons. It's been a great Valentine's day so far. Now I am just waiting on my honey to get home and it will be perfect. Happy mama, indeed. 

Child Labor

I put 'em to work around here! Kidding. Evan has been begging me to let him go out and shovel. So I semi-bundled them up and let them loose on the porch. I stayed warm and toasty inside and snapped a few blurry pictures. I am so over this snow. I know the kids love, it, but I'm looking forward to the warm up this weekend! Happy kids!

Baby's . . . Kate's 1st Haircut

Kate recently had her first haircut. I have been dragging my feet on this. When Kate was little-bitty she had some super crazy hair. All different lengths, curls on the sides, long rat tail-like look in the back. It wasn't pretty. It was suggested that she get a hair cut on several occasions by family members, but I refused. NO! She's a girl, it will grow out. That was my mantra.

Well, I stood my ground and grew out it did. My word. The girl (in my opinion) has amazing, envious (by me) hair. It's long, amazing in color and curly just at the ends. Sigh. However, it began to look crooked and kinky in the back, so it was time for the much dreaded and fearful haircut. My goodness am I a rookie? My boys had their first haircuts before they could even sit up on their own (thank you for that Lin . . . amazing skillz). 

So it was a whirlwind day at my sisters (thank goodness she works form home!) the boys, me and Kate all in one day. Whew. Exhausting. Well let me tell you . . . this sassy gal was super-duper excited to get her turn in Aunt Cara's chair. She did great. I may have shed a tear when her first ringlet fell (no worries, I snatched it up and put it in a bag for safe keeping), but it was time. She now has beautiful layers and it looks great, but she did lose the curls I was so desperately hanging onto. They are still there, but not like before. I am okay. She loved it and her hair is healthier now. Amen. 

I like to sew. . .

I love to sew, actually. I don't seem to do it as much as I used to. After the move I have taken a little break. I'm ready to get back to it. I love photographing Kate in dresses that I've made. She loves it too. Maybe not the picture part, but the girl loves a new dress. She's usually a good sport. The point is for me to be creative and I get to do that. It may not happen as often as I would like, but I enjoy it to its fullest when I do. 

Florida!!!!

So . . . we took the kids to Rosemary Beach . . . back in October! Gesh, this post is long-overdue. As always, we had an amazing time. We are even debating a Spring Break trip (5 weeks from now!!!).