1 Fish, 2 Fish, 3 Fish 4......

Here's 4 little fish that I adore!!!

 And they always have to have a goofy pose!!!

I've never been one to take my kids swimming a lot and I had a good reason........Rylie and Owen would cling to me, they were not comfortable in the water and Rylie was too scared to do swimming lessons. And it was not any fun with two kids latched on to me......until recently! Finally Rylie was willing to do swim lessons so I signed them up for private lessons at our local pool. They were scared at first but once they went, they had sooo much fun and they are so much more comfortable in the water now!!!

I'm super proud of them, Rylie even went off the diving board.....ONCE, she wouldn't do it again and I had to ask the lifeguards to quit pressuring her to go again because she was starting to not want to do swim lessons because of that.

 They lasted for 4 days, you can tell how hot it was by looking at Evan and Katelin....the 3rd and 4th day weren't too bad even though it rained the last day!

So after that we went swimming quite a few times and they had a blast everytime, we went to the aquatic center most the time but once I took the kids and picked up Haylie and Dylan and we went to their neighborhood pool. Of course I have pictures...............

I bought Rylie and Owen each a pair of goggles and they love going under water with them and Katelin got a princess pool ring, she kept saying "look at me" and she would jump from the pool step into the water!

The big kids were all over the place, I practically had to beg them to stand still so I could take a picture of them.

I couldn't even tell you how many times Katelin went down this slide.....she LOVED it!



My sweet Evan in the cutest little swimsuit EVER.....I tried so hard to get a pic with the hat on but he wasn't having it! Evan loved the water especially the little fountains at the shallow end!

 We are taking a mini vacay in a couple of weeks for my brother in laws wedding and I found a hotel with a really cool pool with a waterfall and slide so the kids are super excited, let's hope the weather holds out for us!

ARG!!!

No i'm not a pirate just a frustrated mom with a teeny weeny bit of a control issue! I'm mean seriously I don't consider myself much of a control freak but I do have a tiny hint of being one!

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love and adore my children and I believe they are incredible kids and overall they are pretty well behaved. I don't have an issue taking all 4 of them with me to run errands. What I have learned, however, is places such as walmart, the grocery store and such are not a problem. Why? Well we are continuously moving so they have something to do.....walk!

Today.....I picked them up from school and we went to a shoe store, this is where problems tend to arise! I am trying to help 1 kid and the other 3 get antsy because they are expected to just sit still and well.....that's just not easy for them. So I was frustrated with the situation!

Then there is 1 other issue (this is where my teeny weeny control issue comes into play), 2 of my kids are getting older and getting their own styles and their own opinions on what they like. Therefore, they want to buy what they like and not what mom likes. And while I am all for them expressing their own style, this can be very hard for me when I don't like that style but I bite my tongue and let them get what they want because I want them to be able to express themselve how the want to!

Evan I still have full control, Katelin it's so so.....I kept pointing out shoes and she would say "those are not pretty"......yet the BLACK tennis shoes with BRIGHT purple on them were pretty, I refused to buy my 3 year old daughter hideous black tennis shoes, we had to go to a second store but we found a pair for my princess.

Rylie kept trying to try on boots and I kept yelling at her reminding her that we were there to buy tennis shoes not boots and she finally picked out a cute pair. My oldest son.....he found a pair and that's what he wanted, did not even want to look at others. I kept pointing out others and he wanted nothing to do with it, so he tried them on and they looked pretty good so were all happy then...........he says, " I don't want these". Yay we will get a pair mom likes, No.......he finds a pair I really don't like and that was it, that's what he wanted so that's what he got.

So that's what we got, I know they are just shoes and i'm dedicating an entire blog post whining talking about them but I feel a little better and i'm greatful that this is the biggest issue in my life right now. I still have to get Evan a pair, I didn't find any I liked that didn't cost over $40 and I just refuse to pay that much especially for a 1 year old.  If your reading this then Thank You for listening, I really do feel better. My kids are all SLEEPING (thank goodness).... peacefully in their beds, happy and healthy and for that I am so very blessed! I sure do love them but I soooo enjoy my down time while they are sleeping ;)

Evan's 1st Birthday Party!!!

We had Evan's birthday party on Sunday (his bday was Monday) and it was awesome! Besides us and Grammy.....Brandin, Natalie and the kids came over, Mandy and Chad and their family, Amy and her boys, Monica and her family, Angie, AJ and Abby and Grandpa and Grandma Farage. 

We went with a giraffe theme and I found these adorable invitations.......

and of course the cake had to match...........

 My sweet boy with all his party stuff...........

 He even had a cute little giraffe shirt that matched everything else!!!

 He didn't get to into opening presents....lucky for him he has a big sister that was more than happy to help! He got lots of great toys and he has been playing with all of them!!!

 I love the bday parties and all of our friends and family coming to enjoy the day with us.....it's loud, chaotic and wonderful....I LOVE it!!!

 All of Grammy's grandkids.........sure do love all 7 of them!!!

Katelin kept asking me when she could have cake and I kept telling her in just a little bit, her response "I want it now"....my response "too bad so sad"! She wouldn't let me take a picture until I told her.....no cake until I get a picture, I got my picture right away after that!
                          
 Evan had his own little cake (If you order a 1st bday cake from HyVee, they give you a free smash cake).....here is a before and after picture of Evan's smash cake! I know why they call it a smash cake!

 Mmmmmm.............this is good stuff mom........

 Love this picture of him.............

 And the Thank you cards I ordered and sent out..........he had a great day, thank you so much to everyone who helped us celebrate the first of many many birthdays for my baby boy!!!

Back To School!!!

The kids are back in school.....No.... not all of them but in my house Rylie and Owen are "the kids"! I asked Katelin what she was and she said "a Katelin" and I asked her if that meant she wasn't a kid and she assured me she was still a kid but she's to be called Katelin! That kid (oops I mean that Katelin)............I tell ya!!!

Anyway.....Tuesday was a half day for Rylie and Owen my 4th and 1st graders, crazy crazy crazy!!! I won't know what to do with 2 of them in school all day. On our way to school Rylie said she was nervous and that she had butterflies in her tummy. Abby's in her class so that helped. Owen didn't say much but I could tell he was a little nervous. I walked them both into their classrooms, they did great even though they were nervous.

My pretty girl on her 1st day!

My big 1st grader Owen.

All ready for school.

 Wednesday was the first full day of school and the first full day for Owen ever....this had me a little bit worried. I walked them into class again today, Owen was still unsure exactly where his room was. I may walk them in another day or two but after that they will get dropped off in the car loop. I took pics again today since it was the first full day.............

So Beautiful!

Handsome guy!



Boy do I love these kids!!!



My attempt at a group picture.....didn't work out so well, they sure are cute though!

So I was very anxious for 3:30 to find out how the kids' day went.....Rylie had a great day and she LOVES her teacher, this is her last year at the elementary school (yes they send them into middle school in the 5th grade which is insane to me) but I think it will be a great year for her.

I asked Owen how he liked his full day....his response,"I hated it". I asked why?...."it was too long, I had to learn to much." He did play with the same boys he played with last year so I am glad he reconnected with his friends right away. His favorite parts of the day were "recess, the other recess and lunch". When I was tucking him in he told me that he was "barely scared" at school today.

My kids aren't exactly "social butterflies"...they are quiet in unfamiliar situations and have anxietys with certain social situations so I am so very very proud of them, I think they are doing awesome and I hope school becomes a little more fun for Owen, I was worried he would be in shock after 3 years of half day preschool and kindergarten I know the full day is quite a change.


Evan Wade - 1 year!

Yes, you read it right.....my sweet baby boy is 1 year old today, man time flies! I have shared all the kids' birth stories on their birthdays this year but I shared his on his 6 month blog so if you are interested you can check it out Evan's birth story.  I had him all natural and it was definitely the most painful (most likely due to him being face up instead of face down) but it was overall my best birth experience....it was such a good laid back environment!!!

We had an awesome party for him yesterday and I will share more pics from that very soon but for now....let me tell you how incredible little Evan is!!!

He loves to eat, loves to play and loves his bottle! He is weaned now and as of today he is on whole milk, no more formula.....when he sees his bottle he starts to act like a little junkie, even sucking on it long after it is empty and while playing with his toys! He says "mama" "dada" and "de du" (thank you) when you hand him something or when he hands you something. Also when he puts a phone to his ear he says "ha" (hi)!

He cries when he's told "no" and will often cover his ears too, he has 2 teeth on top and 2 on bottom with a third one coming in. When he does something and gets attention for it... he gets the biggest grin on his face and does it over and over again! He loves his daddy and loves watching daddy fix things. He has become a bit of a grammy's boy lately, he gets excited when he sees grammy! Of course he is still a Mama's boy!!!

 He loves loves loves bathtime.....and we recently took him to the pool for the first time and have gone several times since and he loves that too!!!

Evan is usually in bed and asleep by 8pm. We used to rock in his room while he drank his baba for bedtime but he would fall asleep and I need to put him to bed awake or he gets too used to being rocked to sleep so now we sit in the living room where there is more commotion and he stays awake while he drinks his bottle.....then we go to his room, rock for a minute, usually we sing "the itsy bitsy spider" then hugs and kisses and he is off to dream land for the night! He gets up usually around 7:00!

There are no words to express what a blessing my sweet baby boy has been! Happy Birthday Evan.....Mama loves you more than you will ever know, bigger than the moon, farther than the stars...forever and ever!!!!

A Sneak Peek......

of Evan fantabulous 1st birthday party!

It was a wonderful day for my wonderful sweet baby boy, it's hard to believe he's going to be 1 tomorrow!!!

Little Dare Devil!

Look what I can do Mom.....and with no hands!!!

Oh.....this kid, I tell ya he is such a little daredevil! He just may be the one that ends up a regular at the emergency room (let's hope not)! Not even 1 yet and already climbing on everything!

But look at that ADORABLE little face........man I love this kid and see the cute little tushy in the background of the middle picture..........my funny little Katelin, she would live in nothing but undies if we would let her!!!

My Beautiful Diva!!!

The other day I took the kids Back to School clothes shopping at Kohl's and I spent a little bit okay a little more than a little bit of money but they made out pretty good. Rylie is my little fashionista diva child and wanted to put on a fashion show so I made it fun by being the papparazzi.....................

Isn't she Gorgeous???

Yeah I think so too!!! And she has incredible taste in clothes, I love everything she picked out!

An Old Fashioned............

Windmill Raising!!!! Ever been to one???

Yeah, I hadn't either.......we live on a deadend gravel road and at the beginning of the road is a house with an old school house next to it.....well Old Man John (as we like to call him) lives their with his wife. He is a very funny, very kind old man.....him and Chet like to shoot the breeze. He has at least 20 cats that just reproduce like crazy and the kids love to visit the cats. He keeps telling us he would keep the cute little blond, he doesn't believe us when we tell him he'd be sending her right back!

We enjoy visiting with him.....he is 80, his wife is 75 and they have been together for 60 years. They lost their only child, a daughter, to cancer several years back and have 1 granddaughter. I can tell they enjoy seeing our kiddos. Anyway.....he restored an old windmill and had a party!

 I'm not real sure how a crane/bucket truck qualifies as "old fashioned" but we'll go with it!

 The big kids weren't all that impressed and were ready to go home, it was a very very HOT day but with shade and a nice breeze it was very tolerable.

 Katelin kept herself busy with the dirt!

 Evan....well he was just all over the place but having a good time!

We didn't stay too long but I am very glad that we went! 

 A few more pics that I took....the 2nd one I edited some and thought it turned out kind of neat!



Pro Photographer.....I am not.........

but I do give it a try every now and then! I recieved a really cool....well actually 4 really cool Christmas gifts last year.........I just had to add pics and I finally got around to taking those pics!

The kids and I had fun........they were being goofy and well here are some of the shots I got:

Rylie.....

Owen.....

Katelin.....

Evan.....

 While I love the goofy shots, I did manage to get some good shots that I really love and here's what made the final cut...........

 And of course I took some group shots and my beauties hammed it up......

 Then I got a shot that I absolutely LOVE......all my babies happy and smiling and looking at the camera:

So these Christmas gifts I got.............are you dying to know what they are????

OK, so maybe you already guessed they are picture frames but they aren't just any old frames.....they are very special ones...............

Like I said i'm definitely not a pro but I was very happy with how these turned out!!!