April Showers Bring May Flowers and a Kitten

Summer

Once again we are loving the color and beauty that Oregon summers bring.  Our trees are loaded with fruit, our raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry bushes are exploding, and I can't get enough of our beautiful roses.  It stays light until after 9:00 and currently we spend most of the day and evening outside enjoying the weather.  Seriously, nothing beats the summertime!

Minnie

Sadie has been asking for a kitty since last summer and we finally decided to give it a try.  At the beginning of the month Uncle Robert brought over a little barn kitten that Sadie named Minnie.  I like to call her Minnie the mouser in hopes that she'll take care of a lot of the mice around the property, but Sadie is adamantly against that!  So far she has been a great little kitten, very playful and sweet although she possibly gets more love than she'd like.  She has just recently discovered that climbing trees is her best chance at escaping little hands, much to the kids' dismay, but who can blame her for needing a break when the days activities include bike rides, riding in their cars, being swaddled, and so many other creative things they come up with.   Yet, all-in-all she seems to love them because shes always close by and continues to allow them to carry her around for a good portion of the day.

Mothers Day

I'm so thankful that I get to be a mommy to these little ones.  Although there are days when I think I might go crazy if I have to settle one more argument, or talk one more time about obedience, or carry one more tantrum throwing toddler to their room, I can't imagine my days without them.  They bring exceeding amounts of joy and laughter to my life.  They teach me to slow down, to love genuinely, to forgive quickly, and to PLAY, and they challenge me always to grow in selflessness and patience and love.  I most assuredly love these littles more than anything!!!

Picking Strawberries

The kids had fun picking strawberries although really Grammy picked most of the strawberries.  Seriously I don't know what we would do with out her.  I spent most of the outing trying to get Hazel to sleep, Hazel spent the outing being uncooperative, and the kids spent the outing competing over who had the most strawberries.  Oh well!  We shall try again next year.  At least the strawberries were yummy!

The Circus

A small circus came to Jefferson over Memorial Day weekend!  We decided to check it out with Robert and Amy's family and it ended up being just right for our little ones.  It wasn't anything to big but we got to sit in the front row, it had a tiger, acrobats, and a tight rope walker, and the kids were totally amazed!

Cooper Robert

Cooper really is such a clown these days.  He is constantly making us laugh with his silly faces and the things that he says.  He gets SOoo much enjoyment out of making people laugh and we can't help but laugh a lot of the time.  Yesterday, his thing was to throw his blanket over his head and say, "Hey, who turned out the lights?" and today he was out having a water fight and I couldn't stop laughing as Sadie and Wyatt would dump water on him and then I'd watch him laugh, scoop water in his cup, try to throw it but get himself instead, and laugh again!

Miss Hazel

Our Little Nut

Our little nut turned 3 months old in May.  

We have fallen into a pretty good routine during the day which is nice and she sleeps consistently from  8:30 pm - 4:30 am  which is wonderful!!  She loves to smile at all of us when we talk to her and is by far the most ticklish of my kids.  She's easy to get laughing and occasionally even laughs when I'm getting her dressed if I touch her wrong.  She sucks on her tongue and fingers to sooth herself, she demands that Daddy bounce her to sleep most nights, which works since that gives me a moment to read to the bigger kids before bed, and she still leaves in her hair bows much to her mommy's delight.  Sadie always pulled them out so I've been determined to get her use to them while she's little because they're just so stinkin' cute!

April

We welcomed the month of April and Springtime with new baby lambs at the dairy.  Uncle Robert decided to raise a dozen bummer lambs this year and the kids had so much fun, especially during the first few weeks, feeding and playing with them.

Wyatt is most definitely an animal lover.  He was so sweet and gentle with the babies.

A few of the lambs had been born that very morning so Uncle Robert had to do a lot of the feeding and keep track of which ones had been fed and which ones hadn't, and let me just say I'm glad it wasn't me because they all basically look the same.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

A big thank you to my kiddos who actually tried to cooperate so that I could take my Easter picture.

After church we headed to Grammy's house for Easter lunch and an egg hunt.  My niece Payton absolutely cannot get enough of Hazel.  She loves babies more than any kid I've ever met.  She literally comes running if she hears her cry, is constantly wanting to be close to give her love, and says over and over how we have the cutest baby.  She's also wished 3 or maybe 10 more on her mommy and daddy.

The Egg Hunt

Checking out their loot!

This is the kind of picture you get when you disturb the children from looking through their eggs in order to take a picture.

 And then when you start to bribe them with the candy in their eggs you get this.

 But a majority of them still end up looking like these.  Can someone please explain to me why sticking your tongue out for the camera is so funny?  There must be a scientific explanation because every one of them, including their Daddy, thinks it's funny!

Our Hazelnut

Hazel just keeps growing and changing.  She's smiling more and and more easily, definitely starting to recognize us and her name when we talk to her, and our favorite is when she coos at Daddy.  She is just starting to get vocal but Daddy is pretty good at getting her going.

2 Months Old

 She loves her hands!  Can't get her to take a pacifier of any kind, but she will work all day to get her fist or even better a couple of fingers into her mouth.

Cubbies

At the very end of the month we celebrated Sadie's promotion from Cubbies.  She worked very hard this year learning all of her verses and making a lot of new friends.  Her table leader Mrs. Smith was absolutely the sweetest and kindest, and her director Mrs. Lau was so wonderful too!  Every time I would come into their classroom at the end of the night to hear them praying and singing together I was so thankful for these strangers who were willing to invest in Sadie's life, teaching her about Jesus and helping her to grow.  

I remember vividly how much turmoil I was in deciding where to send her.  The program at Jefferson Baptist was bigger than many of the others in the area and Wyatt couldn't go because they only accepted children who were already 4, but it was also the closest to home and I felt like although it might be hard for Sadie to go all by herself it would probably be good for her.  I had taken her to the Doctor the summer before she started Awana's and realized just how shy she was without her constant companion Wyatt.  They do everything together, and up until now have pretty much always been in the same classes.  Even when we took her to Vacation Bible School they were in the same class, and that was actually the only reason she agreed to go.  Anyway, all that to say that this Mommy was worried about dropping her off in a place that we were both unfamiliar with, but we were so blessed!  She loved it and it was a great time for her, although I'm a little sad to realize how much she's grown up when I think about the year and how much confidence and independence she has gained.

A Few Random Memories...

The time we figured out that we could all ride horse Daddy at the same time.

The Time we dressed up in the silliest costumes we could think of!

And the time my baby couldn't stop smiling even though it was late and she was suppose to be sleeping.