Arkansas Trip

During Spring Break, we went to Arkansas to visit family.  We love going to visit Madison, Parker and Paisley!  The kids had a great time playing, but with 6 kids ages 6 years, 4 years, 3 years, 21 months and 19 month twins, it was CRAZY loud!  : ) It was fun to watch them play though.  Good news is, no sickness and no broken bones during this visit!  WooHoo!!!  

 Parker, Hunter & Reed

 Sweet Paisley

 Parker!

Hunter & Madison

Zoo Trip

Eli had two weeks for Spring Break.  Our first adventure was a trip to the zoo with some friends.  The weather was perfect and the zoo was not crowded at all because most school districts were not on spring break yet.  Reed loved seeing the animals.  Chase is pretty scared of all the animals, but he enjoys looking at them from a distance.  He tells me that he is scared that the animals are going to eat him.  I'm not sure where his fear of animal comes from, but it is very sincere so I respect it and don't force him to touch or get too close to the animals.

While at the zoo, Reed wanted to walk rather than ride in the stroller most of the time.  Since it was not crowded, I let him walk.  He LOVES to do what big brothers and friends are doing and he did a good job of keeping up.  We were at the zoo for almost 6 hours and we were all exhausted.  I was tired so I can only imagine what Reed felt like.  He fell asleep at 4:30 on the way home and didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning.  15 hours!!!  Now that's tired!!!  : )

 I just love giraffes!  I think they are one of God's most beautiful and unique creations (besides people, of course).

 Feeding the giraffes....check out that tongue!  : )  We gave Chase some lettuce and he just threw it over the rail.  : )  Too scared to feed the giraffe.  : )

 Eli's sweet friend, Jacob, is always so super sweet to Reed and Reed just loves him.  I love these pictures of Reed and Jacob.  I think they capture Jacob's sweet spirit and Reed's love for Jacob.

The boys watching a demonstration with Patrick the gorilla.

Early Spring

We have really enjoyed the spring-like weather that started in January/February.  Playing outside is probably our favorite thing to do and it helps keep everyone happy.  Boys need to run and play, especially my three boys!

We finally got some patio furniture which I've really enjoyed.  I love reading my Bible and drinking coffee in the morning on the back porch while the boys play.  I hope the beautiful weather continues and the super hot weather stays away for a while.

Beautiful Day

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day!!!  I would give up swimming and all of the "summer activities" if our weather could be like today all through the summer.  But, unfortunately it's not and all too soon it will be 110 degrees so we are enjoying every minute of these beautiful days that God blesses us with!  The kids played outside from 7:30 until about 2:30 with only about a 1 hour break (for my shower and lunch).  We enjoyed breakfast on the back patio.  Actually this was breakfast number 2....they woke up super early and ate and then were hungry again at about 9:15.  : )  I'm posting all of the pictures I took of their patio breakfast just to illustrate how impossible it is to get all three kids to look and smile at the same time!  : )

Exploring

I love watching kids, especially toddlers, explore.  Granted, it usually means a mess, but who could stop such obvious interest and curiosity?!?  I watched Reed dump these fuzzy balls and pull apart a pad of post-it notes.  I would give anything to know what was going on in that little head of his while he was doing this!

Then, he's done....and he moves on to the next adventure (aka mess!).  : )

Bath Time

Bath time gets a little wild and crazy sometimes.  This one got a little bubble crazy.  Actually, we didn't pour any soap in the bath, but they decided to turn the jets on and this is what happened.  Bubbles up to their heads!  : )  They had fun making "bubble hair" and "bubble beards".  : )

Hunter's Birthday

We recently celebrated Hunter's birthday and Hunter chose Yoda as the theme for his party.  The kids were THRILLED that he chose Yoda.  The cake was super yummy, but Yoda didn't look so great.  : ) I decorated the entire cake in about 30 minutes....so this is what my 30 minute Yoda looks like!  : )

 Eli lighting the candles....Hunter usually doesn't like candles...He says he doesn't like to eat anything that has been on fire....but he went along with it since Eli recently learned how to light candles and was SOOOO excited about doing it!!

For gifts, Hunter got a book (of course!) a Yoda heart box of chocolates (actually supposed to be for Valentine's Day but Chase is not good at keeping secrets!!) and a stuffed Yoda.  Reed carries Yoda around the house saying "Yoooooo-Dah" in a very deep voice...so cute! 

Happy Birthday, Hunters!!!!!  : )