TOO MUCH TWO

Specimen A: Mommy's lipstick Sam walked into Nevi's room with my back turned towards him saying, "Beeg Mess Mommy!" I turned around to this face. Why do I leave my lipstick just lying around? That's where the first dining room chair comes into play. He was trying to get the candy from the pumpkin on top of the buffet by moving the chair over, and he got side tracked by my tube of lipstick.

Specimen B: The pumpkin PatchHaving a GREAT time going down the slide at the pumpkin patch

He got so excited, why go all the way around the hill to get back up? He just took off up the hill, lost both his shoes in the mud, but there was no stopping him from going back down that slide. It took two adults to get him unstuck, and me down at the bottom laughing and shooting pictures. What could I do??? I was holding sweet Nevi...

Specimen C: The Tootsie Roll

I found this scene on our dining room buffet, with yet another chair pulled up along side it. When I walked in the room, he cocked his head sideways, squinted his eyes really cute, and said "Candy, Mom!" while brown drool poured out of his mouth. You may be asking why I just keep knives lying around - that's where another chair comes into play... along side our knife drawer!


COULD WE BE IN TROUBLE????

TWO

Our little guy turned 2! He was quite aware of all that was going on in honor of him, and quickly learned to say "Knife" every time he opened a gift (Knowing that it would, at the very LEAST, take a knife to get the toys out of their packages!) Last week (Sam's birthday was a few weeks ago) a package arrived at our house and Sam said, "Birthday, knife?" Unfortunately for him, it was an assortment of jelly (Thanks Uncle Paul!!!)

Geneva Grace

Nevi, Nevigail, Nevers, ... She smiles for any of these.

Reasons to love her:

1. She rarely cries

2. She sleeps 12 hours a night (FINALLY!!!)

3. She will smile any time you talk with her.

4. She likes her car seat - 4th child HAS to.

Car pool, ballet and piano... She goes to it all!

5. When Sam sits on her head (It has happened

more than once) she doesn't fuss.

6. She never argues about the clothes I pick out for her.

7. She looks just like the other three kids that I love.

TEDDY BEAR PICNIC

The whole gang out front for the annual group shot

Elli's bear, Emily, getting checked and bandaged

Sam loved every minute of the check-up

Our little Nevi worn out from the whole affair!

One of our favorite local events is the Teddy Bear Picnic. The kids bring their favorite bear for its annual doctor and dental check-up, play games, and run around the beautiful botanical gardens. Despite the humidity, it was still a great day!

THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

Janie kept herself entertained for a long time with this silly sprinkler that I traveled to all four Targets to find, paid full price for, and then found on clearance in every store the following week. Even though, after one use, most of the squirmy things were dead, I still think it was worth it for this picture.

NEW JEANS

Elli is a creature of habit. She finds something she likes to wear, and you might as well throw everything else away, because she's not going to wear it (Hmmm, where does she get this trait? I've been known to buy the same pants or shirt in EB or Bass in every shade I can get so that I can wear it everyday)

Anyway, last year she got these jeans that wouldn't come off her body... 100 degree heat - she still wore them. Eventually the knees had holes, and she put them aside to have grandma make into shorts. She was so sad, because she knew she would never find another pair as wonderful. Well, thank goodness for Gymboree - we found some, AND they were on sale. I should have bought more...

A Long Wait

My friend Joni says that you should ALWAYS have a toddler in your house: they may be trouble, but they are always good for a laugh or tender moment. I've notice that many of my blog entries are about him these days, but he is so hilarious, it's difficult not to share!

On this particular day, Elli got him dressed for school, and he kept saying "Backpack!" So, Elli went and got his, and he proudly dropped the girls off for school. Every day since, its been the same routine. Poor guy, four years is a long time to wait for the real thing...

BEWARE OF GRAPHIC NATURE!!!

Superman had a little accident Friday night. Luckily, Daddy has more of a stomach for such things than I do, and immediately took him to the ER (Which he eventually left due to a terribly long wait). Four hours later, with a sticky face, a belly full of sweets, and five beautiful stitches, he was feeling great! Thanks to Dr. Kim, or as Sam calls her, "Mommy", he didn't have to wait any longer, and instead got the stitches on her kitchen counter.

SCHOOL DAYS!

With much anticipation, the first day of school finally arrived! Janie was a proud kindergartener, and Elli was sooo excited to stay all day as a first grader. As you can judge by the picture, Sam would love to be in school. He got right in line with the kids, and didn't enjoy being pulled out. He stayed and waved to each one as they exited the gym!

Janie was pretty shocked that not ALL of her classmates had to wear school shoes (ugly brown mary-janes that mom thinks look the best) as I had told her they would be. Shame on those other mothers! Now what leverage do I have against her black sparkly ones? Or the black wedge heeled ones?

As I left the building with the two little ones (22 months and 3 months) it made me laugh to think I was right back to where I started a few years ago when it was just the girls and I. Some days I thought they would never leave for school (So that I could relax or go shopping by myself.) Today, I feel happy that I'm not alone. I hope the next five years don't go quite as fast...

SWIMMING

Sam is just getting brave enough to go off the board

Janie loves flying off the swing!

Nathan torturing Elli!
These pictures are for you mom!

PAPA & GRAMMIE VISIT!

What a chunky monkey Nevi is getting to be!!!
A shot, with the sun in their eyes (My fault) at a restaurant, with both sets of the kids' grandparents!

At times this winter and spring, I thought my mom would never make it back to our home for a visit, but by God's grace she was able to come last week and she walked off the plane! We had a wonderful week

AM I CRAZY?

GREAT TO BE A BOY PART II

MY DAD

Great Memories of Life with my Dad:

• Mickey Mouse pancakes on Saturday mornings



• "Trying" to keep all the women in your life organized - taking monthly trips to each of our desks to clean them out - I can still hear Jodi screaming!



• Jodi and I coloring in our seats at the ballparks as you worked to fulfill your dream of visiting every stadium in the U.S. - and keeping us engaged by buying Jodi pennants and me sun visors at each stop (Why would I have liked wearing sun visors????).



• Listening to you talk your way through making Grandma's jello salad every Thanksgiving Eve - and having you take the grinder down to your workbench in the basement so that you wouldn't "Nick the Table"



• Rolling Jodi and I around the yard in your army barrel - I wish I could still fit in that thing!



• Your flare for the dramatic when you get an injury - "Ahhhhh, paper cut, I'll be alright!" Knowing that every scratch that was ever inflicted on your body, was going to have to be observed by all of us on NUMEROUS occasions until it was healed - "Hey Heidi, have I showed you where Clifford's leash scratched me?



• Playing hours of croquet with you in our front yard.



• Listening to you count your swimming "laps" every time you pushed you way to the other side of our very small pool.



• Knowing that if you ever had any criticism for someone, you always ended with a compliment.



• The summer you made a chart to regulate Jodi and my social life - "You can go out 3 nights per week, have friends over 2 nights per week, and the rest will be spent enjoying our family."



• The contract you made Jodi and I sign saying we wouldn't turn the car radio volume up past a certain number.



• All the wonderful trips you took us on in the pop-up camper - some of the best times of my childhood!

There are so many more, I could go on forever . Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you so much!

IT'S GREAT TO BE A BOY

A WALK IN THE PARK

Nathan took the girls to church with him Sunday night, and I took the little ones on Nevi's first walk in the stroller. I wish I had brought my camera, because Sam kept saying, "Hi Bayee (Baby)" and held her hand most of the walk.

To all of you who read my blog, thanks for writing comments! I would love to respond, but seem to have difficulty knowing how. Thank you - I love hearing from you!

SHE'S HERE!!!

Friday, May 11th at 1:54 pm, "Little" 9lb 3oz Geneva Grace entered the world! The delivery went well, and it was a wonderful day surrounded by friends and family as we celebrated her arrival. The girls were beside themselves with excitement, and Sam is still trying to figure out what to think - although, he does enjoy stealing her pacifiers!

She has many nicknames at this point (GiGi, Nevi, Geneva Grace, Geneva College (Janie told the neighbors to come in and see her new baby sister, Geneva College!) and Gracie) In sticking with our tradition of naming our girls something meaningful (Grandmother

s names) and them calling them by a nickname that is not derived from that name (Eliza to Elli, Janis to Janie), we are going to call Geneva Grace something else. Our leaning is toward Nevi, but the jury is still out! Stay tuned.

BIG BROTHER?

Any day now this little guy will be a big brother - I don't really think he looks ready.

ICE CREAM MAN

The ice cream man LOVES our street because of the large number of children that inhabit it. Sooo I couldn't resist treating the kids to the first ice cream of Spring - there is actually one type that Elli can have on her diet, and that's what they all enjoyed. Sam was fascinated by the whole event, as he LOVES anything sweet or prepackaged!

CRAFTY GIRL

The girls both LOVE crafts. These days, I am kind of tired, and am usually putting them off, but the other day Janie came to me with her

Princess Craft Book and really wanted to make this "Princess Headband" Of course, I couldn't resist, and now that I have finally admitted to myself that I am not a scrapbooker, I happily donated all my paper to her cause. We had so much fun.

EASTER

It happened to be freezing on Easter Sunday, so you can't really appreciate the girls outfits, but here they are anyway!

MY LITTLE GIRL

Janie has always loved anything miniature. She loves to draw very tiny scenes and cut them out, loves little books, and uses a miniature silver spoon to eat. The other day when I was washing some baby clothes, she snuck away and came back with this 3-6 month outfit on. She wore it the rest of the day!

GREAT COMMUNICATION

The last three weeks have been very difficult ones... Mom's stroke, influenza for the whole family, a sinus infection, and then the stomach flu and VERy dreary cold days. As Janie loves to sing, "I feel blohooooooo, blohooooo, blohooohooo, I'm so blue I don't know what to do (Madame Blueberry)

Anyway, after going to church by myself Sunday night, I walked in to the dining room to the sound of many giggles. Upon further inspection, and to my absolute horror, Sam stood there bald! Nathan thought it would "cheer" me up to give Sam a buzz cut. Needless to say, I was not cheered up at all, and when the girls saw how upset I was, they declared that they too didn't like it - Nathan accused them of being traitors, and we all had a good laugh.

It's been a few days, and I think it is actually starting to grow on me!