Happy Birthday, Caleb and Levi!

Caleb and Levi's birthday is always exciting, as we go to visit grandparents (Grandma's birthday is on the same day) and get to see cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well! Daddy doesn't usually come with us, so that means a second party when we get home :).

Caleb has been wanting a castle, and had no request for a cake so I made him a castle!

Levi also had no request for a cake, and I realized that he's never had a construction cake, and he still loves playing that he is a construction worker or a builder. He told me this is "the best cake ever!" so I guess it was a good choice :).

They got a castle, and baseball caps! Caleb, especially, was thinking it was very unfair that Ian had a baseball cap and he didn't. He's very happy with it, and wears it a lot of the time. He said that this is "the best birthday ever!"

And I took this picture with their baseballs. Daddy bought them baseballs after they were born to take pictures with, their heads were nearly the same size as a baseball when they were born. In the pictures they are holding, they were 3 weeks old, the first time we took their pictures with the baseballs. As babies I took their picture every month as they grew. While they are still very small for their age, they have certainly come a long way from those little, tiny 2 pound baby boys!

Ellie eating

July 2013

The biggest event of July is, of course, Caleb and Levi's 7th birthday! But that will get a post of its own. All three boys took swimming lessons, and finally did really well. None of them really like the water all that much, but they all made some good progress so it was worth it.

These are out of order, but oh, well. Near the end of the month we went to visit grandparents, since my sister from far away was visiting, and my boys like to celebrate their birthday with their grandma, with whom they share the day. And, two of my brothers live nearby so that was an added bonus :). I won't put up pictures of all our fun times swinging, swimming, building with blocks, visiting the doughnut store to watch them make doughnuts, and all the fun things we did there, but I did figure out how to blur a face because I had to put this picture on here. I made Ellie and her 7 month older cousin matching skirts, and they were so adorable together! Makes me wonder what having identical girl twins rather than boys would be like.....too cute! It was fun taking pictures of them, as well as their 6 older brothers all dressed up and looking sharp for church. Just imagine it, as well as all the silliness that comes with!

"The pretty pink pirate plays the piano peacefully" or something close to that is the sentence the boys made up for this picture.

Levi got his first bee/wasp/hornet/yellow jacket/some kind of stinging insect sting :(. It got swollen up (he's putting ice on it) but felt better andit  looked better pretty quickly, thankfully.

Ellie's Fourth of July hairdo.

We went on a hike on the Fourth of July around a nearby lake. It was really pretty, and the hike was easy enough for small legs, and for daddies who carry even smaller legs on his shoulders :).

This is John working on the floor. The hardwood near the front door has been dirty and yucky looking since we moved in and for Christmas John said he'd help me re-do a room. So I painted the entry way area, but we waited to do the floor since we'd have to go outside and around the house to get downstairs while it was drying. This is his tent to sand under so the dust wouldn't spread. It was super hot and yucky under there for him, but nice for me to not have to clean everything in sight like the last floor sanding project. He was able to varnish it while we were out of town, meaning we didn't have to go outside with the laundry and every time we needed to go downstairs  - what a nice guy!

And we were able to go on our first family bike ride! Levi and Caleb did really well, we went on a bike/walking trail near our house. And Ellie did well with her first time in the bike trailer. All around, it turned out great, so now I know we can do it again, even if Daddy isn't home (at least on the bike trail, not sure I'm ready to take Caleb and Levi out on the open roads just yet).

June 2013

Along with Caleb and Levi learning to ride bikes, June started off with a visit from John's brother and his nearly-16 year old daughter (she only stayed overnight). The daughter had a conference in a nearby town so his brother stayed a couple of days with us rather than driving home and back again. Ellie still talks about him, even weeks after he left. It was fun having more company!

School ended near the start of this month, too. We were ready for it! The very next day we started our first mile walk on our quest to walk 50 miles this summer. Sounds like a good goal, right?

Ellie likes wearing all her hats. She has three, the white one must have fallen off. But look at that playing in the sand - no sensory issues with dry things on her hands, at least. We still need to work on wet.....

Ellie having herself a little indoor picnic. She likes to pretend with food, she puts spoons and forks in her mouth. I'm hoping it will translate into real eating one day.

Happy Father's Day!! Happy Birthday, Daddy!! Daddy's birthday was the day after Father's Day this year, so we got to celebrate him for two days in a row :). We're sure glad to have him, and are grateful for how hard he works for us.

She really likes shoes, along with her hat. She can get her church shoes on herself, and this time they were on the correct feet, even!

Starting when school ended, our library has a summer reading program. They had to each read for 10 hours. It's nice that now both Caleb and Levi can read to themselves, although they like being read to as well. They each got a new Magic Tree House book of their very own for finishing the program. I think they've read most all of the books in the series this month. Ian got a mystery book. They all read a lot this month, even after finishing the program.

May 2013

May started out with a two week visit from grandparents who came to help while I had surgery to implant a pacemaker, whose purpose was to raise my heart rate and give me more energy. It was so nice to have their help in so many ways! Along with cooking, laundry, lifting Ellie, making boys' lunches, and day to day household things like that, they helped chop down a tree, build a fence, read to little boys, package the 35 pounds of dried onions I had bought, and many other little projects. Then we got to have my sister and her cute little three year old visit to help for nearly another week and that was very fun! I won't put any pictures of them up, even though there are many!

Ian also participated in the district 4th/5th grade track meet. He was in the tug of war and a race. We saw the tug-of-war, but had to miss the race after two little girls had had enough of sitting in the sun at a track meet during lunch/nap time. But he had fun and was happy he participated!

This is Caleb and Levi's climbing adventure while the big tree was getting chopped down (to provide more sunlight for our garden).

Ellie is starting to play more with stuffed animals and dolls (this is her Tiny Baby).

My parents wanted a picture of them all before they left - they were much more cooperative for their grandparents than for me :).

I love Ellie's curly hair right after it's been washed! I know that someday it might not curl any more but I love it!

Ellie on Daddy.

I love this picture, Ellie kept putting on Caleb's sunglasses and she was checking herself out in the mirror.

And look at this - not one, not two, but four goldfish crackers in her hands with a willing tongue to lick them! Thank you, nursery, for helping her love goldfish crackers! She'll even go to the cupboard to get them out. She's really licking/tasting more foods. No chewing yet, and she still doesn't like to eat, but putting things in her mouth willingly is a big step!

Lots of teeth have been lost around here! Levi (orange) lost his two front teeth and Caleb wiggled and wiggled and let Daddy pull his out. Levi is missing four teeth, Caleb three. A little early for Christmas, however :).