Wheels off

Tonight was a big night for one certain five year old in our house.... training wheels have come off and she is now a two wheeler!! Yay Anna so proud of you! It was such a blast watching you speed up and down the street with a huge smile on your face! Your excitement is contagious!

Cookout

A couple of Jimmy's friends from high school (we missed you May's and Merrill's) came over this past weekend for a cook out. We had such a fun time. Their were SIX little girls and Ben... poor guy! Jimmy set up a massive slip and slide going down our big hill in the back yard. It was 25 feet long and 10 feet across therefore allowing all the little girls to go at one time... SO FUN! You have never heard more giggling! We didn't have any major injuries either... probably due to the fact that they are all little girls and very careful not to run into one another. Most like a far cry from how six little boys would have been on it! =)

After hamburgers and hot dogs and the ice cream sundae bar the daddy's went crazy over a simple little $4 toy I purchased at our local grocery store... a water balloon launcher. You would have thought I spent hundreds of dollars. The had a blast with it. In fact they had such a blast that they made a trip back to said grocery store for three dozen eggs to shoot out of it. We have two acres so it all stayed on our property, we weren't egging the neighbors but I'm sure that would have been more fun (I'm kidding, I'm kidding..maybe). Anyway, the $4 toy was a hit and Jimmy can't wait for the next group of people to come over an play with it. In fact our Sunday school class is coming over this weekend and he has some game cooked up about one person launching it and another person trying to catch it.... we shall see! =)

Overall though, the night was a smashing success and we hope to have everyone over again soon.

Back patio snack time

This is becoming an afternoon tradition in our house. While little brother naps the sisters eat their afternoon snack on the patio. Just some good old summertime fun!

Rivers Joseph

I can't believe I'm now 31 weeks and counting.... this pregnancy has FLOWN by so fast. It seems like it was YESTERDAY that I had a funny (yet familiar) feeling in my queasy tummy and saw the word PREGNANT on that test. After of course Jimmy resuscitated me from the shock... NOT bad shock.... but still shock none the less! Now here we are within just weeks of meeting our little boy.

Although I have many people asking me constantly if we are nervous or scared about having two little ones so close together I honestly have to say we really have a peace about it. Have we figured out how we are gonna take the whole crew of SIX out to dinner yet or how I'm gonna manage naps and feedings for one newborn baby and one semi-baby??? No, we don't have a clue... I'm a VERY organized person and yet I still have a total peace that this precious little man is just gonna fit right in and we will make it work.

Sleepless nights? Bring it on... they don't scare me.

Skipping a few showers? Been there done that, it's part of the new mommy territory.

The potential of THREE screaming children at one time (I mean let's face it, Serene is really still a baby herself in so many ways)? Not worried... patience is my friend!

There are a lot of unknowns about how we are gonna manage it all but there are lots of other things we don't worry about because we know they pass and baby's grow up and we will sleep again and have our sanity again! =)

One thing I am so glad about though is knowing our little boy before he ever gets here. There isn't a prayer time in our house that goes by without each person thanking God for Rivers by name. Anna draws me lots of pictures of my children and each one includes a drawing of Rivers with his little name spelled underneath his face. We talk to him and call him by his name. We talk about the nicknames he might have. We tell Ben all about the brother Rivers that he will soon meet. Jimmy talks all the time about the neat things he is going to do with his "boys"! I just love it. I love that we are taking the time to include him by name in our lives now. He is so real and precious to us already. We love you Rivers! You are our strong little man and we can't wait until we can hold you and see your handsome face! You are one seriously loved little boy!

Summer??.... not quite yet

Over the last few days I've been reading more and more about graduations and school being out and people relaxing their schedules a little and I have to say I'm a bit jealous. BUT, our time is coming. Jimmy has the second of three tests for his CFA designations coming up on June 5. He passed the first one in December and the 3rd one won't be given until June 2011. So, our evenings are spent having dinner and then mommy putting the little ones to bed and daddy studying. Honestly, due to the move Jimmy has hardly had ANY time to study for this test but as there are less than two weeks left before the test, it has become time to buckle down and get busy which equals no time with hubby/daddy right now.

I'm sooo excited for Jimmy pursuing such a high level designation and I know it will be so worth it for him in the end BUT right now I just can't wait until June 5 is over! Then it will truly be summer and we can relax and just enjoy life and await the arrival of our new baby boy!

Summer come quickly!!

BTW, I'm so proud of you JZ!!

The little ones

This picture captures a really special moment for me. These two are just so fun to watch together. They don't communicate through words yet but they do communicate. They sat on the floor tonight and ate their little snack and had the best time together. Ben is getting so grown up and really learning to be one the big kids... for now though they are both still my little ones.

MUD!!!

On Monday evening it rained hard for about 30 minutes which left some super fun mud puddles that just could not be resisted by two certain little girls! They asked first before getting covered head to toe but once mom and dad gave permission it was a free for all. They had the best time. I'm grateful for times like this when children can be children and just let loose and have fun!

Picnic

Last Sunday afternoon Anna made her and Serene a little picnic to have on the back porch in her little picnic basket. They had apple slices, cheese slices, raisins and blackberries. It was really sweet to watch!

Ranger game

Our Sunday School class went to a Ranger game together a few weeks ago. The girls didn't just LOVE sitting and watching the game but they did love the hot dogs, Sprite and cotton candy... =)

Cam and Ben

On Mother's Day evening we had one of my best friends and her family over for dinner. We had a lovely time and our little boys had a great time playing Legos. Our girls had lots of fun too BUT, I forgot to take their pic... sorry Reese, Anna and Serene. =)

What I love the most about this picture is thinking about that Linds and I met in SEVENTH grade... that was TWENTYY... yes TWENTY years ago. Who would have ever thought that we would still be hanging out all these years later and how much fun is it that we've got these precious children and amazing husbands too! So fun!

Mother's Day 2010

This picture truly captures the moment. Serene had just woken up from a nap that was way too short (on Sunday the nap schedules are always thrown off by church schedules... UGH) anyway... she was not happy and did NOT want to get her picture taken. I think it is hilarious!!! It was a wonderful day though celebrating motherhood to four incredible children... I'm just assuming Rivers is wonderful just like the other three! =)

One small step..

Our little man took his first step last night. Can it really be true that my little guy will be ONE YEAR OLD in just one month and he is starting the process of walking?? WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?? I've been through this two other times and I know the time just flies by that first year but I have to say that this seems to be the fastest it has gone yet. In one short month we will be celebrating Jimmy and Ben's birthday together (Ben picked his daddy's birthday to be born on... very cool!!) and then just a few weeks after that will be the arrival of our second son. This is going to be a fun summer with lots of exciting times in our household!

For today though it's a big congratulations to Benj for his first step towards the freedom of walking! You go big man!!

BTW, adding to the excitement of our summer will be my little brother and his wife having their first child. Such happy times!

No more diapers...

Well at least not for child #2. =) I forgot the most exciting news of last week...Serene is POTTY TRAINED! She has done so great and I'm thrilled to say that we won't be doing three in diapers this summer! (Jimmy is quite thrilled too) We even took her to a Ranger game last night and she did great. I'm so proud of our little lady. I think I have Anna to thank also... having a big sister who uses the potty helps a little sister who wants to do everything her big sister does!

Good job Serene!!

At home with Daddy

Jimmy took several days off last week and Monday and Tuesday this week and boy was that some needed down time for all of us! Daddy surprised the girls and brought home a slip-n-slide to kick off our little vacation. They were thrilled and played until they crashed every day! Jimmy put it going down our big hill in our backyard and they had the best time flying down it.

On May 7th Jimmy and I celebrated our 6th anniversary! He took me to one of the restaurants we had one of first dates at. We talked all about how different our lives look after only six short years of marriage and how blessed we feel to have each other and our precious children. We actually went on a couple of dates over the weekend so it was really fun getting out just the two of us! We love taking our children out to dinner and we often do but there is nothing like some time just to sit and enjoy a meal (cooked by someone else) with just Jimmy and I.

Mother's Day was also part of this weekend and that was a nice relaxing day of church and time with family. The lovely flowers in this picture are from my children and Jimmy! My favorite I might add!

All in all we had a GREAT 6 days and I have to say that we are missing daddy a lot today! When Serene woke up and realized daddy wasn't here she started sobbing. She kept repeating "daddy not go work, daddy not go work".... poor girl.

I'm just glad it's not too long until the weekend! =)

Life in the country.. in the city

I just have to say how incredibly in love we all are with our little piece of country in the city. We are five minutes from Target, Wal-mart, Market Street, clothing stores, tons of restaurants, a bookstore and various other shops. Yet, we are sitting here on two acres that are connected to at least seven other acres that look out over trees, rolling fields of wildflowers, ponds and an overall view of God's mighty and incredibly creative hand! It is peaceful and quiet and the only sounds you hear are the occasional tractor mowing another piece of land near by. The kind of "country" living this girl was cut out for!! =) Ok, for all my friends who really live in the country... don't make fun of me!! =)

I'm watching my children take turns riding the new (to us... thank you to my dad who hunted down a super deal for us) riding lawn mower with daddy. They love it and I even took a spin around the back half of the property. I know it must be quite a sight watching a 6 1/2 month pregnant momma cruise around on it. =)

I'm taking a break from the outdoors right now while Ben naps to write this post but most likely the rest of the day light hours will be spent playing outside with my amazing family!

BTW, I finally put up a picture of the outside of the house!