All Boy

These pictures probably say enough by themselves. Lake has hit two fast and furious. Complete with tantrums, hitting his sisters, tackling them and the occasional biting incident. He has developed an aversion to shoes and likes to say "No" to everything. He still has a little bit of a soft side though. There is nothing sweeter than a hug from your little boy.

Summer Fun

Lake and Meredith get along amazingly well. Merdi would do absolutely anything for him. We have had a hot summer, so cool entertainment is sought anyway we can find it. They have fun just playing in puddles or with any kind of hose attachment we can find. Check out Merdi's outifts. Not a care in the world!

Chicago Trip

Josh and I were able to get away for a weekend and headed to Chicago. The trip started out a little bumpy with my nephew falling out of a tree thirty minutes before we were to leave, but we still headed to Quincy to meet the train. We arrived in Quincy only to watch the train pull away. Luckily we were able to cancel our hotel reservation in Chicago and spent the night in Quincy under a tornado warning! We were able to get on a train early Saturday morning and had a great time once we arrived. Thanks to Josh's aunt and uncle, we were able to go to the Vince Gill concert while we were there. Thanks also to his mom and dad for watching the kids.

Hannah's First Communion

Hannah received her First Communion this morning with her cousin Foster. I have to preclude this by telling a funny story regarding Hannah's preparation. Two weeks ago, Hannah had her interview with the priest. We had the questions she had studied throughout the year in her religion classes and looked them over the night before. So we are sitting across from Fr. Chris and he asks Hannah what sacrament she has been preparing for? She looks at me and starts crying and says, "You forgot to study that question with me." Fr. Chris tried every way possible to get her to come up with the answer and she just couldn't. He finally just gave up and told her it was her First Communion. Well, she passed anyway and today was the big day. I'll have to cherish this picture of her in a dress with her hair down because it was a miracle!

Hannah with her friend Sydney who came to watch Hannah receive her First Communion. Scary to think I might be taking this same picture again in a couple of years, but instead it will be for their first dance.
Hannah and Foster getting ready to receive their First Communion.
Hannah and Meredith before Church.
Hannah-so grown up!

No Staging Here

I couldn't stage these pictures if I tried. I seriously could take a picture like this each morning and they would all capture this image. It truly is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I hope this friendship continues as they grow older. There are several pictures of my brother and I like this when we were kids and we grew up very close, so hopefully this is indicative of great times ahead.

Pictures Galore

I haven't had much time to post in the last month due to birthdays, set-up of a softball team and starting a new job. I hope I can start blogging again. I really want to be able to print it off yearly for the kids so that they can have a keepsake beyond their scrapbooks. But for now, here is a couple of months of pictures. Enjoy!

Lake could care less about collecting Easter eggs. As soon as he found candy in the first one, he was done.
Merdi loves to pose for the camera.

It would be a miracle if all three kids ever looked at the camera, smiled or posed together.

I never noticed how much Lake puts his tongue out until I took pictures. I love taking pictures of him though. Just so stinking cute.

Meredith and Lake LOVE each other. This is how they look pretty much every morning. They are also starting to play together so well.

Lake and Uncle Jeff going down the slide at the zoo.

Hanging out with the goats.

Lake wasn't sure what to think about the goats. He would reach over and touch them and then quickly retreat.

Hanging out at the zoo.

This was worth a picture. All three kids doing the same thing with no fighting. Miracles do occur.

Hannah's birthday at the Depot Inn Swimming pool.

Hannah had a couple of friends spend the night at the hotel before her swimming party.

Happy Birthday Hannah and Merdi

Hannah turned nine on Sunday and Meredith will turn five tomorrow. Meredith celebrated her friend birthday party with a friend from school who has a close birthday. Hannah is having her friend birthday party this weekend. We also celebrated with a family birthday party since my brother and niece share birthdays with the girls on the exact same days. It's hard to believe how much the girls are growing up.

Meredith opening her presents. We had her birthday party at my school and the kids had a great time.
Meredith and Camryn's luau cake. Heather did such an awesome job.
The family birthday cake. Hannah was born on my brother Jeff's birthday and Meredith was born on my niece Elizabeth's birthday (Meredith and Elizabeth were even born at the exact same time 2:58 AM)
Hannah wanted Band Hero after playing it on Spring Break. I think Josh may be having just as much fun as her.
Of course a gun or fishing pole was in order.

Beach Bums

I love this picture from Florida. They look so professional, yet were so far from it. The boards were used mainly to sit on, as the girls were too cold to go in very deep. I plan on a longer post this week with many more pictures to come, but it has been a really long day!

Hip Hop Dancing

Hannah and her friends performed this hip hop dance for the school's talent show. For those of you who know Hannah, this is very surprising. Hannah hates to have attention brought directly towards her. She also does not take dance lessons like her friends. They worked hard on the dance and did a great job! Hannah is second from the left.

Lent 2010

We decided to do something as a family this year for Lent. We discussed several options and then voted.

We voted on two final choices: only water to drink with dinner or no dessert.

In the words of my four year old "Yeah, water wins and dessert loses".

Not Me Monday-Ash Wednesday

Wow. Where to start this week?

I did not remind my husband last Wednesday to remember to fast and make arrangements for church that night only to find out it wasn't really Ash Wednesday until the following week. I am way more organized than that. Upon realizing that it wasn't really a day of fasting, I did not pretty much eat every snack in sight.

On a recent snow day, I did not send the two youngest to day care and then go back to bed until 10:00. I am more responsible than that.

I did spend Valentine's Day at a candle lit dinner with my husband followed by a romantic stay in a hotel where I found rose petals covering the bed. -OK not really. Instead I cooked three lasagnas for my husband to take to a family dinner while I stayed home with a sick child.

Lastly, I did not throw my two youngest in the shower with me this evening so that we could be done in time to watch The Bachelor. Who watches that show anyway??

Snow Day

I am not a fan of snow at all. I think it is pretty when I am watching it fall from inside the house, but I dread having to go out in it. However, today I told the girls I would build a snowman with them. They had their doubts about my ability and kept asking what time dad would be home. We put on our ten layers and headed out to the yard. I picked up my first handful of snow to get started and it blew right out of my hands. The same thing happened to the girls. The snow was like powder and there was no chance of a snowman. A snowball fight was out too. Next best thing? Snow Angels!

Itty Bitty Shoot

Lissy Early took the kids pictures last week. It was quick and low key. I love how she captured their true personalities. Check out her great site: http://www.missprissiness.com/

My Little Diva

Meredith is such a little girly girl. A huge difference from her sister Hannah who is all things not girly. Hannah never had a choice when she was younger. I always put her in dresses, bows, etc. Then she got old enough to say no thanks. Meredith on the other hand loves purses, bows, pretty dresses and playing with her babies. She was so excited when a friend gave her this purse. She immediately filled it up with her play cell phone, chapstick, lotion and all of her money. She is always asking me to take her picture and really hams it up for the camera. It is going to take some thought on how to proceed with the things she wants to do, such as dance class and cheerleading. These really aren't things I have been involved in so it will be a little more difficult to schedule and find out how she can get involved. Hopefully she'll eventually want to get involved with sports, but if not I will try to find activities she enjoys and support her just as much as we do Hannah and sports. Let the tutu buying begin (is that even how you spell it?).

So Sweet

Isn't this just the sweetest picture. It's amazing how they just pick up on these things. We bought Lake tons of 'boy' toys for Christmas, yet he likes to play with his sister's dolls. He truly is one of the most loving babies I have met; always giving hugs and kisses. Don't misjudge him though-he can pull hair, hit and throw things with the best of them.