St Louis

 We took a trip with the Dodson side of the family to visit the STL Dodsons over spring break, and I think I can safely say we all had a blast! No matter what we were doing, the kids loved just being together, and the adults seemed to feel the same way too. The times where we are ALL together are way too far apart, so it's always special to get time together. Half of us stayed at a hotel there, and it was pretty comical hearing the comments as 7 kids would come down in the morning for breakfast. We started counting how many comments we received each morning, but we always lost track... I'm pretty sure I heard the word "day care" a few times too!

One of the nights there we celebrated Micah, Harper, Caylee and Papi's birthdays. The food was wonderful and I think all the birthday people felt loved on.

We hit City Museum while we were there, and it was a huge hit with the kids. There really are no words to describe the place...it's a big play ground...a kid's heaven... It was really fun seeing all the different personalities come out as we explored the place. Harper had absolutely no fear, and so Micah enjoyed letting her be the leader. Claire always had a plan of where she was going, and Lily was just happy to hang out. Ethan still wasn't walking (his cast had come off 2 days prior), but he was able to get around pretty well crawling all over the place. And with the help of his uncles and dad carrying him around. At one point Chris said, "Ethan, if you'd walk we wouldn't have to carry you everywhere." To which Ethan responded, "If you hadn't broken my leg, I wouldn't have to crawl." Touche.

The kids also loved swimming together. I think the dads did too.

All in all it was a great trip. I'm so thankful for family that loves each other! Time to plan another trip....

Easter

Happy Easter!

We're so thankful for another year to celebrate our Risen Lord! 

 It took about 30 pictures to get one where all 3 kids were even looking at the camera. These pics are definitely more "true to life". It was right after one of these that Owen fell back into a puddle of mud. Yep, true to life.

 We made our annual "resurrection rolls" - you dip marshmallows in butter and sugar, wrap them in dough and bake...once they're done baking the marshmallow has melted and symbolizes Jesus' body not being in the tomb. It makes for some funny questions like "Did Jesus' body melt?" and "Is the marshmallow in heaven with Jesus now?", but at least it started the conversations! And it was fun seeing Harper get into it this year. The whole day she would say, "Where did He go?? HEAVEN!"

Easter afternoon we went to the Harris' house for 5th year to celebrate with them. (it's hard to believe it's been that long!) The kids had a blast on their egg hunt, and the parents enjoyed hanging out eating wonderful food. Thanks, Harrises, for hosting again!

Birthdays Galore...2, 4, 6

I'm a bit behind blogging about birthdays...like 3 months behind. I think I've just recovered from all our partying.

Ethan turned SIX in January. Six...my first baby is so big now. He's adventurous, passionate, loyal, sensitive, observant, and goofy. He constantly surprises me with what comes out of his mouth. For example, when I praised him for loving on his brother one day, his response was, "If I had not loved on Owen, would I have been doing the bidding of Satan?" He leaves me speechless. A lot. He's loving Kindergarten and was a champ with his broken leg at school. He's reading but much prefers math to any sort of reading/phonics. He still loves to draw, and is working at mastering drawing Ninja Turtles.

 Ethan was a trooper as his birthday plans were changed last minute. One of his good friends got really sick the night before his party and I was a the hospital late, so we decided to keep the party at home and very simple. We invited everyone over for a movie and pizza. When we told him about the change of plans, his wasn't upset at all. "As long as my friends are with me, I don't care where we celebrate." That was just what this momma needed to hear!

Owen turned FOUR in February, and my little farmer has turned a new corner. He loves super heroes and Ninja Turtles. I'm not sure how it happened, but his construction stuff has been packed up and all he does now is play action figures. It made me a little sad at first, but it is fun seeing the boys fight crime together! Owen is still his own person, though. He's hard-working, passionate, tender, helpful, strong willed, resilient, and funny. He's soaking things up that I don't realize and will surprise us when he'll shout out an answer to Ethan's homework. And I love his sweet spirit...he tells me constantly that he'll always be my baby boy. Once day when I picked him, I told him how big he was getting and I probably couldn't carry him much longer, and he responded with, "I guess I'll have to stop eating so you can carry me forever."

 Owen's party was at the place he takes gymnastics. He was in heaven having free reign of the gym. At one point he lost his pants in the foam pit. When he was pulled out by the assisting coach, he was completely naked from the bottom down...I didn't think to make sure he had put underwear on before we left the house. Awesome.

And my baby girl turned TWO in March. She's been ready to be two for several months now. If she could say she wanted to be sixteen, she'd probably say that though. This girl is keeping us on our toes. She never stops moving, she is tough and has no fear. She's incredibly expressive; you never wonder what she's thinking because it's clearly written on her face. She loves Mickey Mouse (ie: "moush"), wearing sunglasses, carrying purses, jumping on the trampoline, having her nails painted, and Michelangelo the Ninja Turtle. I have to admit, I have loved having a girl!

 When I asked her what she wanted to do for her party, all she would say was, "PINK!". So a pink party we had. We painted nails, played with babies, and ate a pink cake. It was startling the how quiet and peaceful having 10 little girls in one room vs. 10 little boys. They were calm, quiet and relatively still. I wasn't sure what to do with that!

We had family over for a separate family party, and it turned into a full day of celebrating! The kids loved having their cousins over to play, and they managed to love on all their grandparents along the way. Ethan and Adam both had casts on and practiced their break dancing moves on the floor together. Thanks, family, for celebrating our kiddos! We loved having you all here!

A Few Randoms...

 Harper and Papi share the same birthday, March 19th. Every time someone would tell Harper "happy birthday" she would say "and Papi too!"

 The boys received skateboards for their birthdays from our favorite next door neighbors. I immediately went to the store for the knee pads, elbow pads, etc. They're still working at figuring them out. Thankfully, Bob, is next door to give them lessons!

 It's a totally different dynamic on days when Ethan is at school. Harper and Owen have really become buds, and it melted my heart this one day at the store when they were cuddling with each other.

 Owen is a little bit of a ham these days. I'm not sure where this pose came from, but I'm pretty sure he rocked it. ;)

 And Harper knows how to pose on cue as well. This is her "sweet" face as she's holding her stuffed animal Grandma sent her...

...and this is her "silly" face as she decided she was done having pictures taken that day. I think this one makes her look way too old!

Our First Broken Bone

It's been a busy last month. One that started out with a crack. Bad, pun, I know... Ethan was out on the trampoline with Owen and Chris jumping before dinner. A nightly routine  weather permitting. I heard Ethan start crying and saw Chris carry him inside. Ethan was crying, "My leg is broken!!" Anyone that knows my Sweet E, knows that he sometimes can be a tad dramatic, so we weren't too concerned at first. There was no swelling, and he was fine laying on the couch watching tv. He wouldn't walk on it and wouldn't stretch it out, but he went to bed fine and fell asleep quickly. Till about 10 that evening. Then he was up in pain almost every hour. We would get ready to take him to the ER and then he'd fall asleep. Then he'd wake up crying. It was a long night, and Chris and I were starting to feel like "parents of the year" for not taking him more seriously. The next morning we headed straight to the doctor for x-rays. The initial round didn't show much, but thankfully with more exploring we saw a slight crack in the tibia. That's when we REALLY felt like awesome parents. Armed with pain meds and an appointment the next day to see an orthopedic specialist, I drove straight to Braums for some serious comfort food. For Ethan, of course. 

The next morning we headed to the "bone doc" to get a cast. Ethan was a little leery at first, but once they started putting it on he was totally fascinated. They didn't make crutches for someone his age/size, so we tracked down a children's wheel chair for him to move around in. The whole time we were realizing how our life was going to be different for the next month, I kept feeling so grateful that it was ONLY a month. Some families deal with a handicap for a lifetime. 

Ironically, two days before Ethan's broken bone, his buddy down the street broke his tibia falling off a bar stool. The "Broken Buddies" now at least had each other to sit on the couch with and share the whole experience with. It was crazy seeing their two little bodies roll next to each other down the sidewalk in little wheel chairs! I had several moments seeing them together not knowing if I should laugh or cry!

Overall the month flew by. The hardest part was not being able to do a whole lot. Having my big kid not be able to get around was like having another baby. A big baby. So we opted to stay home most of the time. He really did wonderful at school, and his amazing teacher was so good about the extra work that a kid in a wheel chair entailed. I'm so thankful for what a sweetheart she has been!

 The cast came off almost 4 weeks after the break, and we were all a little nervous. Ethan did a fantastic job of breaking the tension when it was time to pull his pant leg up to cut off the cast and he announced, "You can't take my pants off because I'm not wearing any underwear!" Lovely. Thankfully, we were able to pull the pants up high enough and cut that red thing off. Ethan went to town scratching his leg and he molted all over the place! X-rays showed the bone was healed, but the doctor told us it would be a little bit before he was walking again. Not something we expected. Today it's been a week since the cast came off and he's just started trying to walk/hop. We'll get there...

I'm so thankful this ordeal is almost over. It's been hard. It's also been good seeing the kiddos adjust and work together to help out. Owen has stepped up and been a big helper, and Harper has at a minimum enjoyed patting Ethan's leg saying, "Okay, Bubba?". :)

This shows Ethan's good spirits in spite of a broken leg as we attempted to get some school work done... Rather than yell "focus" at  him again, I figured I might as well see how long he went with his song.. Gotta love it.

Happy Valentines Day!

 All the pictures from Valentines are pretty terrible...I'm not sure what was going on with my phone, but I'm posting nonetheless. Ethan had a wonderful Valentines party at school - his home room mom never ceases to amaze me at what she pulls off. All his class mates made their own Valentines boxes. Ethan and I had some creative differences on his Angry Bird box, but I think it turned out well any way. :)

Our "home school" group through church also put on a bang up of a party, and Harper and Owen were thrilled to have their own party. They decorated their own boxes, played a few games and ate some yummy food. For someone who doesn't love this holiday, I was thankful that someone else put on some fun parties for my kiddos!

6 Years Old

 Turning 6 has proved to be an eventful age this past month for Ethan. Of course I have to start out saying I cannot believe he's six. I look at my first baby sometimes and am amazed at how big he's getting. He's passionate, loves to learn and draw, is loyal, dramatic and has a wonderful imagination. I think he must learn through listening because it always amazes me what he can repeat...and it scares me a bit too! One of the funnier things he's said lately after I was trying to praise him for loving on his brother was, "If I hadn't shared my toy, would I have been doing the bidding of Satan?" Yeah, I didn't have a response. He's also a little on the introverted side. The other day after being around a lot of people, he yelled, "I need to be alone!" After about 30 minutes of alone time drawing, he was ready to be social again. I can relate. :)

 We celebrated his birthday at our house with an Angry Bird theme and a Ninja Turtle movie. His girl friends opted to watch a girl movie in a different room though. We had to change the venue of his birthday after several crazy things happened that week, and I loved that Ethan's response was, "I don't care. As long as I can hang out with my friends."

 One of his favorite birthday gifts was a skateboard from our neighbors. His obsession with Ninja Turtles has fueled this interest. Lucky for them, our next door neighbor is a skateboard salesman! It was hilarious watching Ethan and the neighbor boys get lessons from Bob. I think they have a ways to go before we take them to the skate park...

And of course it will be awhile before there is any skating as Ethan broke his leg on the 17th. He was jumping on the trampoline with his dad and brother last Sunday night when he wasn't looking and got bounced. Chris said he hit the tramp yelling "I BROKE MY LEG!!!" There wasn't any swelling, and he seemed to be okay if he was watching tv, so we didn't take it too seriously. As the night went on, though, and he couldn't straighten it out, we started to get worried. After several x-rays at the doctor the next day, they found a small fracture just below his knee on his tibia. What made it even more surreal was the just 2 days prior, his "brother from another mother" down the street broke his tibia falling out of a bar stool. 2 broken tibia in 2 days on one street is insane. Ethan got his cast on the next day, and was so much happier b/c he could move w/o so much pain. His first outing after the cast was to see his "other broken friend" and have everyone sign his cast. It was really sweet and a little surreal! I think Sarah and I didn't know if we should laugh or cry as we talked about how we were going to survive the next month with 2 kids in casts! It's certainly making carpooling interesting... Ethan is managing to get around in his wheel chair pretty well, and we have ordered some crutches for him to try. We have a 3 more weeks of this...should be fun!

January thus far...

Ethan's class took a trip to the Springdale Fire Department, and I don't know who was more excited...Ethan or Owen. The received a tour of the building, saw the fire trucks, and watched the firemen put on their uniforms. Owen has worn his fireman costume non-stop since then!

 Last weekend my friend, Amy, had the brilliant idea of going to a hotel and swimming. We split the cost of a hotel room and took the kids up after naps and swam the whole rainy and cold afternoon. The dads grabbed pizza and we ate in the lobby and then hit the pool for more swimming. Right before bed we threw the kids in the shower, put their pjs on, and then headed home for bed time. The kids had a blast. Thanks for the fun memory, Harris Clan.

It feels like we've spent a lot more time at home lately, and it never ceases to amaze me how the dynamic drastically changes when one kid isn't around. With Ethan at school, the house a lot quieter; Owen and Harper play really well together. I let Owen bring his grill in the other day, and they played happily together for what felt like forever. Those moments are priceless!

I just like this picture of Harper and her Papi. They're getting ready to celebrate their birthday together here pretty soon...

And lastly, my kitchen is starting to get an overhaul. Amy has educated me about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), and after about having a melt down after learning what I was putting into my kid's bodies, I cleaned out my pantry and refrigerator. (This wasn't even what was in my freezers.) GMOs are in EVERYTHING. I really thought we ate relatively healthy, but after watching this video, "healthy" has a new meaning. I'm working at changing my mindset and making time to really think about and prepare food for my family. Shopping at one store really isn't an option any more either as I'm going to have to hit several of them in a week to get what we need. Being in WM land, we don't have a lot of organic options. Thankfully I have several friends who have pointed me in the right directions and given me several resources in the change. I think a garden in our back yard in our future. If this city girl can keep anything alive...

First Snow

We were geared up for a massive snow on Christmas day, but it ended up not producing like we'd hoped. Thankfully, when we got back to Arkansas after Christmas, we got about an inch. It was enough for the kiddos to make a small snowman and make a couple sledding trips down a hill before it turned to mud. Harper was real sure what to think of it, but the boys had no problem jumping right in. We're hoping we get at least one more snow this year...I'd like to get my moneys worth out of the snow gear I bought!!

Annual Christmas Party

We had our 4th annual Christmas party this past month, and it was a blast. It was "wear something festive themed", and we had everything from pajamas to blinking sweatshirts. (The blinking sweatshirt won "most festive" voted on by a panel of expert judges. Congrats, Alison..I know that ceramic cow you won will be a prized possession!) We played the Favorites game, and everything from scalp massagers to homemade bread to festive beer was shared. We ended the night with some Rock Band, and it's a miracle that our kids stayed asleep. There was some serious singing and jamming going on. We're so thankful for all the fun friends that came to celebrate with us!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas! We have so much to be thankful for this past year... Chris and I were talking about our highlights of 2012...fun family trips, the health of friends and family, and watching our kiddos grow and become fun little people were at the top of our list. Chris and I both took on new jobs, Ethan started Kindergarten, Owen started gymnastics, and Harper has been a constant source of entertainment through it all! We feel truly blessed.

Our Christmas season was a whirlwind, and here is my best at re-capping...

 We decorated our Christmas tree after spending Thanksgiving in Oklahoma. I'd like to pretend that it was a warm and fuzzy evening spent as a family, but the reality was that the kids broke about 10 ornaments between themselves, fought with each other like crazy, our tree wouldn't light up, and nothing was going as I had planned, so I was cranky. There is a small dose of our reality for you. :) Ah, well...looking back at the pictures it looked like a really sweet memory!

 We celebrated our own family Christmas that morning of the 22nd so that we could have time for our own family traditions. It ended up being really nice for the kids to have time playing with their new things before we packed up for 5 days. I think Harper was most excited about her Chapstick, Owen has barely taken off his fireman costume since he got it, and Ethan was pretty excited about an art set. (I selfishly was excited to see what he did with it!)

The 23rd we headed to the Hoyle's Christmas-Eve-Eve party, and per usual, Kerri did an amazing job. The food was phenomenal and the Dirty Santa game was abnormally tame!

We woke up the morning of the 24th to a yummy Paw Paw breakfast. The kids could hardly eat because their Christmas gifts were in the corner waiting to be opened! Ethan was stoked about his swords (among many other things), Owen couldn't wait to put his wheel barrow together and wear his construction vest, and Harper could have been done with gifts after opening her "feed my baby dinner set". Thanks, Paw Paw for the great gifts and loving on us!

The afternoon of the 24th we headed to OKC to see Grandma and Lynn. Grandma had quite the spread ready for us when we got there. Debbie, that dip you made could be the death of me! Once our kiddos went to bed we played a game called "Brands of the World" (or something like that), and I'm pretty sure I haven't laughed that much in a long time. At one point I was crying...the Hoyles are quite the competitive bunch, but we manage to have a good time in the midst of the trash talking. (The girls won, btw.)

Due to the winter storm that was headed our way, Greg and family left early Christmas morning to avoid getting stuck. We opened gifts right after breakfast, and we were really sad to see the cousins leave. The rest of Christmas day was spent in our pajamas watching Christmas movies and the boy host wrestling matches in Grandma's living room. Harper joined in occasionally and it was quite entertaining. We made some sweet memories. Thanks, Grandma and Lynn, for letting us take over your house and for the fun gifts!

Our last leg of the Christmas marathon was spent at Mimi and Papi's. The St Louis Dodson couldn't make it, sadly, due to illness. So we Skyped them into our living room as much as we could, but it wasn't the same without them around. 

Mimi and Papi helped the kids put on a play of the birth of Jesus, and it was hilarious watching the kiddos dressed up. Jack and Ethan chose to be sheep instead of wise men - I'm not sure if we should be concerned or not... Mimi did a great job on the stocking stuffers, and all the kiddos loved their gifts. I think mostly they enjoyed the time playing together, though. It's fun to see their friendships form. Thanks Mimi and Papi for the great memories!

I think I need a nap after all of that. :)

Lighting of the Square

My parents came up for the annual light of the Bentonville Square. It was a fun day filled with shopping, watching football, a few Daddy-dos around the house, and playing with the kiddos. The kids loved dancing to the music in the square with Mimi and Papi and watching the lights turn on. Thanks, Mimi and Papi for making the drive!

Catching up...my motto lately.

 November flew by. Flew. By. I'm not even really sure what all we did, but I know we were busy... The weather was unseasonably warm, so we spent most of our time outside. The kids loved playing in the leaves and playing hard with their friends. Owen got a touch of whatever bug was going around, but other than that we were healthy - praise the Lord!

Part of what made the month so crazy is that I decided it was time to completely redecorate my whole house. I'd been putting everything on hold till Chris decided whether or not we were going to be moving, but with him accepting a new job with another local candy company, it gave me the green light to dig my roots a little deeper here. (yay!) We re-painted our kitchen, a wall in our living room, and the front room all back to the original khaki color that was there when we moved in...it was our 5th time to paint our kitchen in 4 year. My poor hubby. I then painted our front room ceiling teal. Yes, teal. I knew we'd been painting too much when it started to become a party of Harper's every day pretending...

Michelle, I'll post better pics soon. :)

19 Months

This girl makes me laugh. I caught her at her brother's school desk today (somewhere she's not supposed to be playing), and in her sweetest voice she said "Hiiiiii, Momma!" The rabbit ears didn't help. Yes, I'm in trouble...

She's becoming more independent these days, but she still wants me to hold her all the time. Especially when I'm making dinner. She stands and pulls on my leg yelling "HOLD". She loves antagonzing Owen, and if Ethan will pay attention to her she's in heaven.

I took her in for her 18 month well-check and to no one's surprise, she wasn't even on the charts for her weight (at a whopping 18 lbs). She was in the 5th percentile in height and 80th in head size, naturally. (that seems small compared to Owen's 99.99% size head!) We've been working at fattening her up by giving her whipping cream or half and half in her whole milk. I'm also covering all her food in butter. She's successfully gained 3 pounds in past three weeks!

Halloween 2012

 We hosted our 3rd Annual Halloween block part this last week, and it was a blast! We invited all the neighbors and other friends to grill out before it got dark enough to go trick or treating. I think we had over 30 kids all dressed up jumping in the jump house and playing games in the yard. There was everything to super heroes, Legos, and Bob the Builder to kitty cats and Egyptian princesses.

 Only a few moms dressed up this year, but it didn't stop us from having a good time! I'm so thankful for these crazy ladies that keep life as a mom fun!

 Owen was Bob the Builder again this year, but I don't think he ever had his complete costume on all at once. Ethan was Wolverine, and he was so busy playing I never had a chance to get a picture of him in complete costume. Harper was a cute kitty, and she loved wearing her costume and saying "meow". Chris dressed up as Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible (hence the hood and no smile!).

It was such a fun night of hanging out with friends, eating good food, and getting to know new people. Who would have thought Halloween might turn into one of my favorite holidays! ;)

Breaking in the new house...

 We broke in Mimi and Papi's new house a few weeks ago, and the kids didn't seem to miss a beat staying in the new place. Ethan was concerned about all the same toys being there, Owen just needed a place outside to play, and Harper needed a shopping cart to push...I think needs were taken care of on all accounts. Of course having their cousins there helped too. We're looking forward to putting LOTS more memories into that place!

While we were there, I was able to sneak my favorite goddaughter away for some ice cream. Lily was a little shy on the ride there, but after eating some birthday cake ice cream and putting on some lip gloss on afterwards, she was all sorts of chatty. I think she's pretty used to her big sister there to help answer all her questions, because she wasn't sure what her favorite color or toy was. It looks like we'll have to have several more dates so she can figure it all out!