Big, BIG news...

We have big HUGE news to announce.  No, I'm NOT pregnant.  But we are making another change in the family.  P will be leaving.  He is headed out for training on a new job.  We decided that this was not the lifestyle we wanted for our family.  His work schedule has been very demanding and he has not been able to be as involved in the family as we'd like.  So... we're moving AGAIN.  At the moment we don't know where but will take anything if it means more time as a family.  We'd like to stay close to extended family but we'll see what is available once he finishes his training.  The kids and I will stay put and carry on as usual.  Hopefully we'll all be together at our new location by Thanksgiving.  If not, then Christmas will be our reunion. 

Who could resist this face?

Birthdays

Part of our summer has been spent going to varoius birthday parties.  I never realized how many of our friends' kids had birthdays in the summer!  It is crazy!  And we aren't finished yet.  E and C still have to celebrate their own.  For K we invited 2 friends but only 1 was able to come.  K was just happy to have a friend there.  Summer birthdays are pretty easy.  We filled up the little pool and let them run and play.

K's good friend L knew he'd like this!

Here is K playing with the train Grandmother sent him.
He loves pretty much anything with wheels.

4th of July

We had a jam packed 4th of July this year since it was on a Sunday.  We made it home from church, got everyone fed and down for naps.  Early that evening was the church picnic.  They go all out.  They have lots of inflatable games set up for the kids, giveaways, plenty of free food and homemade ice cream.  There is also entertainment which was taken over by the storm that blew in.  It was impressive!  Plates of food went flying everywhere.  I grabbed the boys but E was on the otherside of the table with the biggest scared eyes I've ever seen.  Thankfully P was able to scoop her up and keep her calm.  Everyone huddled the best they could trying to wait out the storm.  Storms around here pop up quickly but also move on so we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Here's the fam all decked out in their patriotic attire...

After the picnic we left and went to some friends' house to do some fireworks of our own.  K LOVED getting in on the action.  He kept slowly slinking back out to the blast zone to help the "big boys" work.  E prefers to sit on the sideline and cheer.  Poor C just wanted to go to bed!  He did great and slept well that night.

Speaking of sleep, that is also the night that K transitioned from the crib to his youth bed!  He had been climbing out of the crib and we were concerned that one of those times he might actually get hurt.  So we decided that since we'd be up late on the 4th that would be a great night to switch beds.  By the time we got home he was so tired he went right to sleep!  He has done well with it ever since.  He does get up to open his door after we tuck him in but then usually goes back to bed.  Sometimes he has to pick up an extra toy to sleep with but we don't mind as long as he sleeps.

Update...

Where to begin?  I will give you a quick glimpse of our summer that has just flown by!

We spent the first part of May preparing our backyard flower bed to become the garden.  There were lots of things growing voluntarily in that spot already so we had lots of root pulling.  None of it was very attractive and this is our only sunny spot to put in a garden.  We finally had everything ready to go so E and I went to the local greenhouse to get our plants.  (We started too late to buy seeds this year but maybe next year we'll be ready.)  We planted peppers, basil and tomoatoes for Daddy, zuchinni and squash and cucumbers  for me and strawberries for E.

After much watering our little garden went from this to...

our first pick!  We have been enjoying the fresh veggies.  Unfortunately, the squash plant is no longer with us.  The horrible squash bugs found us and within 2 days killed this lovely plant.  :(  Thankfully the monster that we call the zucchini plant is still thriving.

E shows off some of the peppers for Daddy.

The kids are growing like crazy too.  They are finally to a stage where they are able to do more together.  It is so sweet to see them playing.  But at times it is not so sweet.  I had a glimpse into the future yesterday when K grabbed C's hand and led him down the hallway to go play.  Alert instantly went off in my head so I followed.  Sure enough K had opened the door to our bedroom and was taking C into the "forbidden zone."  Jumping on our bed or sliding down the sunken tub are just to tempting to stay away from at this age!

K is full of life and likes to push the limits.

E is the pleaser and our sensitive heart.

C is full of joy.  Rarely do you catch him without a smile.

More to come... the dryer just stopped so it's time to fold clothes.