I'm behind, so here's a little photo update

I continue to try new recipes that my kids refuse to eat. Good news is that Jared and I thoroughly enjoy not sharing them. This is a German Apple Pancake, definitely a new favorite!

With Landon gone to school, we get bored pretty easily. The new swing set helps us through the day.

Miriam let me do her hair and wanted to pose for some pictures.Definitely a little ham.

Our amazing neighbor built his chickens a new coop, so he gave us his old one! We are going to paint it and get some chicks in a few weeks. Jared is also going to build an extension, so they have more room to run. I don't want them free-ranging until we get our yard fenced in. 

Ethan made the All A honor roll again! He works so hard and we are proud of him. Here he is with his buddies Jayden (above) and Elijah (below).

Weston enjoying his first pancake.

Bought this handy thing to organize my lids with. Definitely worth the $6.

Enjoyed a hike through the Hidden Waters Preserve with our friends, The Scroth's. We put our toes in the stream and explored a ravine. It was so fun and only minutes from the house.

 

Grayson has had the gross sickies twice in the last week. I got suspicious when no one else got it. Stomach bugs typically spread like wildfire. Pretty sure it is related to his lack of hygiene following the handling of our new baby dragon. Also, he admitted to kissing it a lot.  We've reviewed handling requirements and hopefully he won't suffer again.

Jared is a good guy and has been volunteering a lot with our church's Boy Scout troop. On this night, he is freezing his butt off in an airplane hanger on a pretty cool camp out. We are snuggled in our warm house, eating junk food and watching a movie.

Pinewood Derby 2016

Ethan participated in his first Pinewood Derby with the Cub Scouts. It was so fun! I was really impressed with the hard work every Scout (and their family) put into making the Derby cars. Ethan was so excited and had a great time. He placed 3rd overall! Not bad for a rookie.

I named his car Goldfinger after the classic James Bond film. He didn't get it, but I insisted. His car looked like it belonged in a bank vault. 

Huge crowd came to cheer on the boys!

Spring is coming

With Spring around the corner and our bank account padded by the IRS, we decided to do some planting in our spacious and empty backyard. On the southern exposure side of our house, we planted two pecan trees! I hope they produce nuts in a few years, but regardless they should grow to 50 feet tall and provide a ton of shade. I'm so excited! Nana and Granddaddy had a producing pecan tree in their yard. St. Augustine is further north and it was a source of many happy memories. I'm just happy to have a little bit of that in my own yard.

On the opposite side of the yard, we cleared an 8 by 12 ft plot for gardening. I have no idea what I'm doing! But, I've always wanted to grow our own veggies and fruits. I'm going to dive in and see what happens. We were even able to give away all the grass we dug up to a person from church. You can't see them in the photos, but we planted two peach trees near the plot. I really hope they produce! I love peaches. Ethan even says they are his favorite fruit AND his favorite snack! 

After the grass was gone, my dad helped me create some raised beds and the children and I planted cucumbers, lettuce, onions, carrots, watermelons, corn, canteloupe, and beans. We'll see what happens!

My Kids Can Really Hit My Funnybone

We had another family of 7 over for dinner. Every child they have matches in age with one of our own. Needless to say, they had a blast playing with friends and Jared and I actually got a grown up conversation in. As the family was leaving, Landon looked out from his Space Pod window (a large cardboard structure that looks like an Apollo Spacecraft) and said to their mom, "I bet you wish you could take me home with you."

Landon is at that age where he really gets some good one-liners in. The other day he came home from school with a Purple Behavior Day (Purple is apparently the best kind of day to have.) and said to me, "I had a Purple Day! I'm so proud of myself!"

Miriam found my stash of feminine products, brought me one and said, "These help your junk, Mom."

Leaving basketball practice, Jared apparently didn't get up fast enough to leave. Ethan says to him, "Time to get up and go, lazy bones."

Be Mine

I know I can be a total scrooge, but in the case of Valentine's Day I love it! 

I don't love all the candy the kids bring home from school valentines, especially when the Christmas candy has finally been eaten up. I love the spirit of Valentine's Day and trying extra hard to show love to those special people in your life. 

This year, I found this cute little mailbox in the Dollar Spot at Target (I think they renamed it to Bullseye's Playground. Lame because now, everything is not all $1.) Each day I put something in the mailbox: candy, a picture of a donut indicating that there were donuts in the kitchen, little heart valentines for everyone with things we love about each child written on them, etc. When the flag is up, there is a special something. It was fun!

I asked all my kids' teachers if I could come to the class party. Only Ethan's said yes! I was a little bummed to miss on the others, but it was fun to do something special with Ethan.

On Valentine's Day, Uncle Tony visited with a special surprise! He gave us a bearded dragon. Ethan named her Alexandra. She is so cute and we all think she's super cool. Thanks, Uncle Tony.

Ethan is especially smitten! He loves hanging out with Alex and she is the first "person" he wants to see when he gets home from school. 

Jared surprised me with flowers! My real present was new linens for our recently painted downstairs bath. Best present ever! I love having soft towels for our guests. 

s

A Daughter

I am definitely a boy mom because my daughter falls flat on her face in the street, gets up without tears, and keeps on running. She's one tough little girl, but she has a tender heart.
I love that I was given a daughter. She is one of my greatest gifts.

I love how she wraps her little arms around my neck to give me kisses. I love how she is quick to say "sowwy, mommy" when she makes a mistake. I love how she is in tune with the needs of her family. Recently, Weston was playing on the floor and had acquired some nice-sized boogers on his face. Before I even realized what was happening, Miriam had tromped upstairs where the tissues were and returned to wipe his little face.

Today, my daughter turned 3! It always happens and I always struggle to believe it. The last couple of nights, she has wanted to "read" on her own, like her big brothers do before going to bed.  When she'd fallen asleep and it was time to turn out her light, I stood at her door for a long time with a heart full of gratitude.

Disney Done Right

We love the Cottle's for so many reasons! They have moved from friend status to family status. Earlier in the week, we were able to do a Disney day for Miriam's upcoming birthday. My mom (it was her actual birthday), Stacey, and Noah (his first visit ever) came with us. We had so much fun. The kids were super in to it and that is always my favorite part. Thanks for making this happen, Rachel and Brad!

 So it begins! I carried this baby 95% of the day. Our new friend, Anna, gets a shout out for the generous gift of her old Ergo. It has been saving my life lately.

Baby Devin is like, "This old place?" Hahaha. He's already a Disney pro.

Birthday girls!

First timer!

It was also Weston's first visit. The last time I was at Disney was in August 2014. Brad, Rachel, my four older children, and I were there. I had actually just found out I was pregnant the day we went. 

Too bad that crane is messing up my perfect shot.

Dumbo ride! My mom has a photo of her and I on this when I was Miriam's age. I need to track it down.

Babies' first Dumbo ride. Caught this photo while Devin was it the middle of a sneeze. He's so cute.

My boys are too impatient for character meet and greets, but Miriam really wanted to meet Minnie. We also got to meet Goofy, Donald and Daisy.

Noah hugged on Minnie for a little while. It was adorable. Noah is so cute! It was fun having him all on his own today. He predicted our visit would be "So Fun!" and he was right.

All she wanted to do was meet Minnie and then she was so starstruck when we had our turn. The hug was so quick, I didn't get it.

Jared didn't like these because he said Miriam looked too grown up. She does look grown up, but I love these because I can actually see her beautiful face. Girl won't let me put her hair up, so it's always hiding.

Despite little sleep. This guy did swell.

Birthday present from Gigi.Such a cutie.

Last week she was so sad to send Landon off to school She told me all she needed was a backpack and then she could go to school. As she received a backpack from Gigi on her Disney Day, she was ready to go the next day. Such disappointment that she couldn't go. I am definitely not ready for that!

The Big 5!

This sweet little guy turned 5 last week! I can't even believe it! I really need to embrace my children growing up. Every stage is fun and exciting. I love the people they are becoming. Thankfully, our Chromecast on the TV is synced with my Google Account where all our pictures are stored. So, whenever I sit down to watch TV, I always spend a little time looking at the randomly selected photos Google puts up. The kids love to play "guess that baby?" It is great.

Anywhoo... We took Landon donuts (his all time favorite) to school at lunch time. The three boys have overlapping lunches, so we all got to eat together and that was super fun.

Landon requested pizza for his birthday feast! We got to try out some of the new toys my dad sent me. It felt like it was my birthday!

Best pizza I've ever made! The crust was perfection.

Happy birthday, Landon. You are a joy to have in our family. Your optimism, hope, kindness, and love are a true gift to each of us. We love you and are so proud of you!