BENNETT IS 5!

I can't believe that my little Ben Boy is 5 today. He is the greatest kid- so, so sweet and so hilarious.... and smart, and handsome, and everything a mom wants her little boy to be. We are really thankful for him.

Again- a surprise from Isaac......

Again, it happened as I got out of the shower....

I went into my room to get dressed and reached to open the drawer where my unmentionables are kept, only to find there is no knob. We have a dresser with round knobs that are shaped like a ball, and there was no ball. I looked around the bedroom for the knob and saw no sign of it. The drawer was pushed all the way in so I had to take another drawer completely out and reach into the stuck drawer and push it out from the inside. Got dressed and then went and found Isaac. I asked him if he knew where that ball went and pointed to the missing knob area. He smiled and got on the floor, looked under the dresser and moved his chubby little arm around until he felt it and got it out. He knew right where he had put it. What will be next?

3 Things.....

1. We just had an enrichment meeting last night about grocery smarts and couponing. It is a system where you use the sales at stores combined with manufacture coupons and get groceries really, REALLY cheap. Does anyone do this? I am thinking about trying it out but don't want to waste my time if it doesn't really make a difference. I'll let you know how it goes.

2. I woke up this morning and talked with Isaac in my bed for a while (he is SO cute in the morning), then I went downstairs to make breakfast and left him in my room watching Diego. Isaac came down when it was over to eat. I then went back upstairs to a separate bathroom and took a nice shower, then went to my room to get dressed only to find that the door was locked from the inside. This door knob has NO key and this has never happened. So, there I was in my towel with no clothes to wear or anything! It was 8am and we leave to take Jackson to school at 8:45, and I still had to get the kids dressed and make J's lunch. Oh dear. To make a long story short, I ended up wearing just exactly what I had slept in and taking Jackson to school. Don't worry we didn't walk him up, we did drop off. And, it only took me 30 minutes to figure out how to disassemble the doorknob, unlock it, and then reassemble it without pushing through the other side.... yeah.

3. I get to hold Stephanie's baby in less than 2 weeks!!!!!

Third Child Syndrome

I keep having moments of realizing that we are not doing the same things with Isaac as we did with Jackson and Bennett. I always have thought that I want to have a big family but not so big that I can't follow through in raising all the kids the same, generally. Well, apparently that happens for me at 3 kids. We are always wondering why Isaac is doing something and then remembering that by this age we were more strict with the other two and that is why they were easier and more well-behaved. So, this week I have cracked down on this 2 1/2 year old boy (sounds worse than it really is) and it is working! Surprise, surprise- kids do respond well to boundaries and rules and follow-through. Maybe 3 kids is a big family......

p.s. go check jackson's blog for a cool video!

Happy Birthday and Congratulations Stephanie!

My youngest sister had her second baby on Monday night.... and today is her birthday! Her baby is SO cute and I want him... but that is a whole different story. She has a two-year-old and lives in Hawaii. Here is a link for more cute pictures of baby Asher: stephanielovesthomas.blogspot.com

The Coolest Fort

Sunday afternoons are boring when dad is not around, so I let these boys and a couple cousins use anything they wanted to make a fort. Including the camera. I did not take any of these pictures. They were very serious and worked for about an hour and then played forever in this deluxe fort they built. Here it is:



Perhaps the living room or maybe a bedroom.



Football storage area? Including the nerf football that needs to be thrown away.



Another football and a bug observatory.

The garage?

Definitely the kitchen.

The playfood gave it away... and the cups.

Jackson also took this picture and you can see that Isaac is tired of me kissing him all the time... but I can't get enough of him! He is growing up too fast.

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom- You are great and we love you!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday and we can't wait to see you soon!

Jackson's Baptism

Jackson was baptised this weekend. It was a really great baptism and confirmation and he is such a sweet and smart little boy. He totally understood everything and did a great job. We did not do a great job, however, with pictures. We got good ones of Adam and Jackson and that is about it... we had a lot of people at the baptism and then at our house afterwards for lunch, and no pics of anyone. Oh, well. But, thanks to all who came and made it fun.

Here is Jackson with some of the cousins that were there. A few are missing here.

Zac and Jackson

Four out of five looking at the camera was the best we could do.

Handsome father and son.