Daddy Has a Surprise

Yep, we've added to our family. . . meet Georgia, our newest girl, isn't she beautiful?! We are just in love with her, all 6 of us! lol Daddy called to tell me that he had a surprise and for those of you who know me, you know I love surprises so of course I wanted my hints so I could immediately begin guessing. Nope, didn't guess this one. I have been asking for about 2yrs for another dog and she just fits our family perfectly. She is St.Bernard and she's 6wks old - yeah, you read that right - can ya believe how big she is already?! Oh yes, we're definitely in love with her! She was out in the yard just following the boys all over and playing with them - it's so incredibly sweet. The boys immediately starting thinking of names for her. . . Cutie, Honey, Amy, Happy. We thought, to keep with the "theme" of our other dog, we'd stick with a state name, thus 'Georgia' - we're thinking we'll call her Georgi for short. . . but seriously, isn't she just the sweetest?! :-) Thank you Daddy. . . I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are the BEST! Love you Babe!

A Great Start to a Great Day

Look at these adorable blueberry smoothie mustaches. . . aren't they just too cute for words?! This morning we got up and made a big batch of Oatmeal muffins and while they were baking in the oven we whipped up a batch of blueberry smoothies . . . y-u-m-m-y! (for those of you wondering, yes, the big boys are in the same clothes as yesterday. . . yes, it was a night where we just all collapsed! Don't worry Nana, they're in different clothes now! lol) :-)

The Princess & The Pea

Well, the day finally arrived. . . our long-awaited theater performance of 'The Princess & The Pea'. We've had tickets reserved for about 3 months and today was the day. We had such a fabulous time and all 4 of the boys enjoyed the performance. I smiled to myself because the boys have been to quite a few theater performances, beginning at the age of 2. . . the same age as ds4. . . this was his 1st performance (sniff/sniff). I looked at s4 today during the performance and reminisced about the 1st theater performance the boys ever went to. There they were, 3 2yr olds all sitting in their seats, eagerly awaiting the live performance of Sesame Street - what a treat it was for Daddy and I to watch them as their sweet little faces lit up watching all of the hoopla - such a joy. Today was another milestone moment as littlest man experienced his "first" in the theater arena. After the performance was over, the boys were able to talk with the actor/actresses and they really enjoyed that. Then we all went and enjoyed a lovely lunch at the cafe and chatted about the highlights of the performance and about our plans for the week. . . yes, another wonderful day spent with my men, well 4 of them anyways! ;-)

Our Date

This is how S3 and I started our "date" - we went to E's dance recital and wow, we had such a lovely time. E was in the Lion King performance and did a phenomenal job! S3 was quite excited to see his friend on the stage, performing. (she's the 2nd from the back)
Here's a close up of E twirling her ribbon.
S3 quite happy, at his choice of restaurant. . .'The Hamburger Place'. lol
Yes, I took a picture, because I knew no one would believe me unless I had a picture to "prove" what we had for lunch, my ds and I! :-)
And here, of course, is the true reason of why he wanted to go here - the Play/Climbing area. Let's face it, Daddy's grilled burgers are WAY better than The Hamburger Place. Nonetheless, when each of the little men get their "date" with Mama, they get to choose what we do, where we go, and what and where we eat and this was his choice. I have to share this, when we were ordering our food he said, "I want a hamburger, chocolate shake (make that a small please!), and 1 chocolate chip cookie please. . . no, 2 chocolate chip cookies please so Mommy has one." Now, is that not just the sweetest? I'm telling ya, their Daddy has taught them well! (Thank you Huney, you are the best!)

Our family time is VERY important to us and we really enjoy our quiet, bonding time together. Also, I do alot of talking about how important Date Night is for you and your spouse, well let me also suggest trying to seize the moment and do some "dates" with each of your children, allowing 1:1 time. We have been doing Mommy and son date time since the big boys have been 2yrs old and I cannot say enough about it - give it a try and you'll see exactly what I mean! You'll love it! ;-)

Earth Day Celebration

Here are all 5 of my very handsome men! (Daddy doesn't like this shot of him, but I LOVE it) Sorry Babe! :)
They were busy non-stop from the time they opened the yard, the boys and I enjoyed watching this pile grow.
And of course the boys REALLY enjoyed watching the Mag Crane and the Grapel Crane in action - we had such a fabulous time.
Here is Daddy walking/checking on the activities in the yard - it was BUSY!
After all of the festivities and the yard closed, we got a personal tour from Daddy. . . and littlest man got a ride as well! lol

We celebrated Earth Day at Daddy's work and got to see Daddy in action - what a wonderful team they have up there. The wives and family members were also there to help serve up 400 hot dogs (yep, you read that right!), chips, soda and bottled water to all the customers bringing in scrap. The boys and I enjoyed getting to meet people that Daddy works with and the family members of his workers; such fabulous, kind people! We got to see all kinds of items being brought in for scrap, like an old school bus, a bobcat, a forklift, all kinds of old vehicles. . . it was quite a learning experience for the boys (and I). We discussed the process of it being torn/smashed down into scrap, resold/recycled, and reused and what an important part of our environment this process truly is. What a fabulous day we had - thank you Daddy!

Color Everywhere

I love this time of the year, every day new things are blooming and popping up. . . it's like a wonderful surprise every morning to get up and walk out and see all that popped up and out over night! The beauty is just so intense and incredible. . . sometimes I'm just mesmerized by it - I could just sit and stare at the trees, flowers, bushes, etc. . . I just truly love it!

Life is a bowl of. . .blueberries

Today was our baking day for this week and we made up some big batches of blueberry muffins. . .mmm, mmm good! Our little men, yes all 4 of them, LOVE to cook and bake and they are really great at it. They have become quite the skilled little recipe readers and measurers, but I guess that's what one would expect after spending the past 4yrs in the kitchen with Mama! lol We all sat at the table and ate some yummy blueberry muffins, getting our daily fill of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. . . ya just gotta love organic life and the benefits of eating the way God intended us to. After our baking we headed out to our friends' house for a playdate and had a lovely time. Our friends have this incredible piece of land with a woods area behind their house and the boys were enjoying every minute of their adventure. They also have a big hill to ride down and I'm quite sure between the 6 boys they probably put a few good miles on that hill today! :) We sooo enjoyed our visit and had such a phenomenal time just hanging out, exploring and being adventurous. It's nice to just bask in the beauty that God has blessed us with and we feel very fortunate to have found our new friends who enjoy the outdoors like we do (not to mention the healthier things in life). . .God is so great!

Europe

We have been reading and studying the Middle Ages and the history of how they lived, what their lives were like, etc. We often do notebooking after our reading but I've been putting a different spin on it this year and kicking it up a notch! lol :-) Sometimes after reading and studying they will create their "summary" and I snap a picture and then we add that pic to their notebook - it's alot of fun for them and me! This shot is s1's creation of his take on castle life. It's quite detailed and he did such a fabulous job. I asked him if he would like to be the King of his castle and he replied, "No thank you, I want to train to be a knight!" lol Well, there ya go!

Are We There?!

S2 was sooo excited to reach our destination. . . we were meeting some of our oldest and dearest friends, the F family to play and hike and have some yummy, healthy dinner! The boys get incredibly stoked when it's time to get together with these friends - something we've been doing since the kids have all been about 18mo old. It's very special because they only have memories of the F family just always being around and involved in their lives since they don't remember before that. . . very sweet. We had a lovely time playing, eating, hiking, more eating and more playing! We are so thankful to be blessed and surrounded with friends who are really our extended family. (And on a side note, doesn't his hair cut look nice? He had been asking to get it cut so we knew it was time. . . usually he doesn't like it shorter but it looks so darn handsome on him!)

Outdoor Play

We had a very interesting start to our morning with Mother Nature full of surprises but oh what a fabulous day it ended up being! We were outside literally all day just basking in the awesome sunshine, wonderful breeze and enjoying all of God's beauty! I love the 2nd shot of Ds1 & 4 - the bond between them is quite clear and no words are needed to explain any further. In the 1st shot, I was doing a little "playing" - turned out nice but I prefer the close-up shot better. The 3rd shot shows Ds4 running and blowing in the glorious breeze. . . yes, it was a super day indeed!

Art Studio Wednesdays

Here are our boys during Clay Class - they love this class. Today they were creating fish and here they are cutting out their big scale fish. They then put all of their details on, slit and scored it and applied eyes, mouth, etc. Can wait to see these after they're fire glazed - then they'll apply their paint.
This is our Painting and Drawing class and today they were working on a Magnolia Tree. . . below is DS#3's finished painting. He even applied the blue sky - isn't it lovely?

This is our Drumming Class which is the boys favorite - they so LOVE this class. We have 3 classes that we do on Wednesdays, Clay/Painting & Drawing/Drumming. The teachers are all incredibly amazing and I am pleasantly surprised at how well they all work to include DS#4 in their projects. . . he of course just loves it!

Pedal Baby, Pedal!

DS#4 has learned how to pedal his tricycle - hurray! He's just riding all over. . . no more pushing with his feet! He follows the big boys around on the sidewalk and then promptly turns around in the designated spots and comes back around - it's so cute to watch him with his big bros!

A Day in the Life. . .

Today we awoke to glorious sunshine! Yes, a bit chilly, but still shining with a feverent force of beauty! I put on a big batch of oatmeal and we settled in for a full day of playing, reading, playing and more reading! lol We snuggled up and did our Read Alouds and then the big boys all took turns reading to the rest of us. . . what a glorious day indeed!

Some Wii Time!

Who doesn't like a little Wii?! It's fun for the whole family. . . and did I mention quite a little work out?! lol Our family, especially the boys, LOVE their Wii. It was a Christmas gift for the little men from Nana & Pappa G and we have put quite a few miles on this bad boy! lol Fridays are our Wii game night and Daddy stops and gets a new game and brings it home. The big boys literally start talking about what game Daddy might bring home as soon as their sweet little eyes awaken in the morning. . . it's a highlight of their day! It's not even so much the game(s) that we're playing, but the fact that we're getting such great quality family time, making great memories and having a blast together! And did I mention it's quite a work out?! lol

Some Birds. . . Finally!

We have been faithfully watching our bird feeder for some hungry little birds and to no avail. Finally, after much anticipation, we were settling in for a snack and some reading and DS#4 yelled "Birdies Mama, at the bird feeder, eating Mama, birdies!" The big boys and I all went running to the bay window and sure enough there sat 2 birds. . . eating. We watched them for probably 20 minutes, just playing and returning to the feeder and then more playing - yes, it was quite enertaining. In the 2nd picture we snapped another bird who was there at our feeder in the evening. I think the birds have finally arrived!

Where'd He Go?

The boys were getting ready for some notebooking and DS#1 was playing a little 'find me' game. . . he's such a silly little guy, always keeping us laughing! He would change his voice when he was behind the Note Pad and then was carrying on a 2-sided conversation. . . between the "bear" and himself! lol

A Game of Tetherball

Today was nice enough for us to get out the Tetherball set that our little men got from Pappa & Nana P and man were they excited! Daddy got it all set up and they started right in playing. I have a feeling we will be getting alot of practice and increasing our skill level with this one this year! Thanks Pappa & Nana P - we're putting it to good use, as you can see!

Spring has sprung!

Our Easter Lillies are springing up - hurray! We've had a drenching of rain and then some wonderful sunshine and Mother Nature is rising up - isn't God's beauty amazing? And to think He created it especially for us! Seeing this is giving us 'planting fever' - we are eager to get some heavy-duty planting done this year. . . and how blessed are we to have 8 little extra hands to help???

Look Mama, Worms!

We were outside enjoying the wonderful, warm sunshine and doing a bit of nature study when lo and behold, DS#3 & 4 stumbled upon a worm. We enjoyed watching it for quite some time and I, of course, enjoyed watching their faces and the immense joy from the simplicity of nature itself. We soooo love our nature time!

Ahoy There Matey!

The big boys decided to work on their Pirate puzzle - it's 100 pieces, so not too big, not too small, but definitey lots of fun for them! Their new thing is to "time" themselves and see if they can beat their last 'time' - it's so cute! Not too mention great teamwork! Isn't it cool?! Pirates and Dragons are still a favorite around our house. . . treasure hunts are a weekly affair! lol