Chase's Birthday

Chase turned 7! He opened presents in the morning...

And played with them until it was time to catch the bus.

He celebrated that evening with a trip to the free Lego build (fun coincidence) at the Lego store and some ice cream.

 Then on Saturday, we had a houseful of kids over to celebrate his birthday with a Lego party.

The only things he requested for his party were a race track and a cardboard Emmet that he could put his face through. (So... wow.) When Graham saw the Emmet, he said, "You painted this? I thought you were the worst painter in the world!"

I think it's safe to say that Chase had a good time. (It's also safe to say that we were glad when it was over.) Happy Birthday, Chase!

Painting...

We don't usually take on home projects that can't be fixed if something gets messed up. Paint, curtains, etc. are all fix-able. But this time, we painted the brick. You can see for yourself... Luckily, we are pretty happy with the finished product, 'cause there's no going back.

Before:

After:

And sometimes these two act like they get along with each other:

Caution: Caffeine

As we were riding to church yesterday, Chase wanted to spell the word "volcano". Then, as they usually do, the kids took the conversation to another level.

Chase: Let's spell 100 words of things that are dangerous to walk past.

Graham: Volcano! Mount Rushmore! Mountain Dew!

Superstars

The kids have been throwing a lot of parties for us lately. Led by Gabriella, they usually include notes, glasses of water, gifts of coins and erasers in old purses, and concerts using homemade instruments. And a lot of loud singing.

Thanksgiving/Christmas

We headed out to my parents' house for Thanksgiving this year. For a full week prior to leaving, we passed around a nasty stomach bug. I caught it the night before we left, but we all powered through and had a wonderful time with my parents and my brother's family.

Opening presents with Madeline and Olivia. If you can see her, Rebecca is on Skype in the background.

Dad was trying to hide Caleb's present in his shirt...

Dad organized a crawlspace treasure hunt for the kids. He gave each of them a flashlight and hid a "treasure" box for each one down under the house. The kids had a blast... might have to repeat this someday.

Once we got back home, it was time to decorate our own tree. And everything's better in Batman underpants.

Looking forward to a fun holiday season with these three munchkins. We hope yours is just as wonderful!

Happy Birthday, Gabriella!

Gabriella turned 6 this year... Can't believe this sweet little baby with a mohawk has suddenly turned into a beautiful little girl with a crazy head of red curly hair. She is fiercely independent but has the most caring heart I've ever met in a little kid (she spends her recess playing with the handicapped girl on the playground). We can't wait to see how her life unfolds!

And yes, my mother-in-law and I made that Barbie cake. It was so bad that it was hilarious, but Gabriella didn't care. She celebrated with a quick party that night with her neighbor friends and a new big girl bed. (She is so small that she was still sleeping in a toddler bed.)

Fall Pictures

The kids have had fun playing outside this fall and doing all those things that you're supposed to do when the weather turns colder.

Graham tried rock climbing at the Fall Picnic. It's more convincing when the picture is vertical.

They even played in the leaves without hurting each other and had a fun Halloween.

I was able to chaperon field trips to the pumpkin patch for both Chase and Gabriella.

We made a quick trip in to see Will's family when the kids had a day off of school.

And Will's dad taught the kids how to make cider.

Uncle Rodney was nice enough to take the kids on a tractor ride, and Emily & Susan brought out Tina Marie for them. Our kids have the kindest relatives they could ever ask for.