Wednesday, April 25, 2012

A few...

 Ethan swinging on our tire swing out back. He's getting harder to capture on camera these days because he's always on the move.

 My serious little construction worker. Owen always has a job to do. Even on family walks, he's declared that his job is to tell Ethan how to be safe. 

Harper got a tea set for her birthday (THANKS, Penturf girls!). I was pretty sure she wouldn't know what to do with it for awhile, but I opened it anyway. She sat down, started stirring things in her cup and offered me some. Pretty sure I had my first tea party! Have I mentioned I love having a girl?!?

Harper checking her favorite dad out at a wedding.

 And Easter pictures...of course we were scrambling to get out the door this day and I didn't get very good pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes. At least no one was in tears...



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

3 Birthdays & 1 Party


 Rather than do three parties over three months in a row, we decided to knock them out in one day. While it was a little daunting at first, it ended up being so much fun, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves! I struggled to find a party theme that would appeal to a 5 year old who loves super heros, a 3 year old who is obsessed with construction sites and everything John Deere, AND a 1 year old little girl that I am very much enjoying slathering in pink! We finally landed on doing a "candy bar party", and I had my wonderful cake-making friend, Elizabeth, make each kid their own cake. Ethan got a 3 layer super hero cake - of course he had to have a piece of each hero's layer. Owen was so excited to see his construction site cake, he almost took a bit out of the top before we could sing to him! And Harper had a beautiful little pink cake that she surprisingly wasn't all that interested in eating. (I think she didn't want to get her dress dirty :)


A wonderful neighbor helped us get a great deal on a trampoline, so we had that for the kids to jump on, and both grandpas put up a tire swing for the kids to play on too. We ordered lots of pizza and enjoyed watching all the kids play and have a fun time together. And I am sure all the parents were cussing us as we handed all the kids to-go boxes to fill with all the candy on their way out the door! It was really cute watching all the kids (and a few parents) pick their favorite candy out.

Having all the kid's friends there along with family made the day very special for us all. It also made us feel incredibly blessed to see how our kids have special relationships with everyone there and know that they have fun memories with each one of their friends and cousins. How did we get so lucky?!


And  special THANKS to the family that came early to help out. We could not have pulled this thing off without your help! Love you all!



Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Happy Birthday, Papi!

 Two weekends ago we went to OKC to celebrate Papi's 60th birthday. 60...that's big time! Papi was so kind to offer to babysit 6 of the 7 grandkids one of the nights we were there so we could go to a NBA basketball game. Thanks, Papi! :) It was pretty comical seeing 6 grandkids of the years 5 and under all lined up at the countertop eating dinner as we left. I think only 2 of them were crying...

The following night we grilled steaks out and celebrated my dad. It was a beautiful evening, the food was incredible, and it was so fun watching the cousins all play together. It made us so thankful for family, and even more thankful for 60 years with its patriarch! Here's to 60 more!

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday, Harper Laine!

My baby girl is 1! I've been in denial...probably why this post is pretty late considering her birthday was two weeks ago! The year has flown, and it's hard even imagining what she was like as a newborn.

Her favorite toy (and thing to say) these days is "BALL". For her birthday, her Paw Paw got her a blow-up house that you put balls in, and she's in heaven sitting in that thing. She's crawling all over the place and starting to pull up on things. I'm not sure how soon she'll be walking, though. She doesn't seem all that interested, oddly enough...she's rather scream till she gets carried everywhere she wants to go.

Bath time and making her brothers laugh are still her favorite things to do. She's mastered the signs for "all done" and "more", and she loves showing off her skills to anyone who will pay attention. She also loves to blow kisses and wave to anyone who walks by. It is a little awkward when she's blowing kisses to the construction workers that drive by on our street...

She has 4 teeth and it's looking like she has 2 more coming in up top. Or at least that's why I'm hoping she's started waking up in the middle of the night. She's also a crazy picky eater; I blame her dad. :) She knows exactly what she does and doesn't want, and what she doesn't want ends up ALL over the floor. We're going to have to work on that.

I went to my first Matilda Jane party (girls clothing) a few weeks ago, and let me just say that having a girl is SO much fun. Oh my. The more fun girl stuff I see out there, I am so loving having a girl to dote on.

This past year has been so much fun with Harper in our family. She makes us laugh, and she keeps us on our toes. I can only imagine what more she's going to bring to our family this next year!