The Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

We are home from the wedding weekend, and Auntie Jenny was a beautiful, relaxed bride. I, on the other hand, was a not so relaxed mommy of a flower girl and ring bearer, even though Porter told me "I will do what you say mommy!" When they started walking down the aisle I quietly said to my sister, "They're doing it!" All four of the older cousins walked down the aisle together and I even got hugs when they came up front. I was so proud of them and could finally relax and enjoy the ceremony. Trey was asleep on Michelle (thank you!). Porter only stood up there a minute (then went off to daddy and got his new Wall-E toy. . thanks GooF), and Ainsley stood up there for quite awhile, then sat by Grammy and Grampa, and came back up at the end to walk back down the aisle. As she stood beside me during the ceremony I could hear her saying, "Kiss the bride!" She was so excited it was finally the day she got to wear her dress and hold her bouquet!

Thank you Auntie Jenny for buying the kids backpacks full of toys to keep them entertained, for the beautiful jewelry box for Ainsley, for loving me through my tears :), and for the relaxing morning at the spa. Thanks Jed for the food for Porter. . .you know what keeps him happy! Thanks Grammy and Grampa for buying and sewing for us and for our motel rooms. . the kids love motels!Sunday we played. . .went to the Mall of America, which was really fun, and the zoo, which we could've skipped since we had tired kids that wanted to be carried.
Here we are on the Dora Ferris Wheel, without daddy :)
Porter's favorite ride, "The Big Rig" Quite appropriate since the whole way to the cities in the car we got trucks to honk, even one with 180 pigs in it! Porter honked his trucks' horn the whole ride.

I got to go on the rollercoaster with the kids, and they both enjoyed their treats. A big cookie with frosting called "Double Trouble" for Porter and Dippin Dots for Ainsley.

Am glad we're home and the van is cleaned out. . .traveling with 3 little ones 4 and under can be tricky, but Starbucks and outlet shopping can help :) Welcome to the family Jed and am glad you didn't wear the plaid shirt like I dreamt Jenny :) Happy honeymooning in the outback!

Learning to Pray

Those of us who are parents quickly realize just how much our children learn by watching us. . .they mimic our behavior so early on! The last few nights at dinner, as we've said our prayer, Trey has folded his hands. We hadn't asked him to. . he'd just learned by watching/listening to us! Look at that face. . . He loves drinking milk like the big kids too (I know he's not a year, but close enough :) )
Speaking of children doing what their parents do, Porter and Ryan are currently changing the oil in the van. The minute Porter notices that Ryan is working on something in the garage he excitedly and intensely gets all of his toy tools (that he knows by name)/toolbox etc and is ready to help (like the other day when he woke up from nap, peeked at dad working in the garage, and gathered all his tools before we even noticed he was awake). Maybe this is just in his genes from Grampa Seth. Ha, and Trey got the praying genes from Grampa Pastor Bill :)

Then there's Miss Ainsley Brielle today. . .she had a guitar concert ready for daddy when he got home and even played for us singing Jesus Loves Me tonight (her version) This would not be something she learned by watching me since I can't play YET, that is. . .must come from watching Grammy and Grampa

The Big Dig

Well, the three amigas were signed up to participate in a "Big Dig" at a local park this morning. After all deciding on dresses :) they showed up and began by listening to a story. Then they dug for dinosaurs, and made a fossil (which broke when we pulled the dinosaur out). It was not quite what we imagined and Ainsley really didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped(probably should've opted for the princess ball through the parks dept), but here's some pics of our little archeologists.I think Ainsley and Taetum preferred "digging" out the sand or toejams between their toes :) There were photographers from the newspaper there, so we'll have to see what they write up about it, and if Ainsley's little friends got pictures in the paper!

In other news, I have been getting crafty and making "hair pieces" as my husband calls them for the little flower girls!!

And look at my little peanut. . .isn't he such a good helper/climber? I just love him!

7 Years of Wedded Bliss, etc

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. . now I'm breaking into song, but let me start at the beginning of our weekend. Friday night Ainsley and I went on a MOMMY DATE! I love them, because I am able to focus on 1 child at a time, which seems so easy when I'm used to 3! And although I usually try to spend time with each child individually during the day, on mommy dates we're usually out of the house, so I can't do housework, etc :)

We started by painting pottery (Ainsley chose to paint an ice-cream cone bowl and spoon), got french fries at her requeset, and then went to the Christian bookstore and cuddled up on a couch and read new books. Her favorite book we read was, "The Loud Family" (quite appropriate, right?) about Mama and Papa Loud on Sunday morning at church and they have a little girl, boy, and baby boom :)

I got teary as I read the end of The Mommy Date book "All I want is mommy time to make the moments last". . . ."you'll know how much I love you 'cause we took the time to play."

Saturday morning GooF took the kids to the grocery store and came home with a dozen roses (7 red :) ) and donuts of course. We went to the zoo and it started POURING, so when we got home, the kids splish splashed in the river in our backyard. . . and yes, then we took tubbies!

Sunday morning we went to church and then had our "Lovers Day" :) to ourselves! Mommy Dates are great, but I must say I love Daddy Dates too! A huge thank you to Grammy and Grampa for taking the kids for the day. We went out for lunch and even sat and enjoyed dessert! Then we went to the waterpark and laughed at the fact that all guys either wear swim trunks with stripes down the sides or flowers on them. And we were entertained by the loud college boys on the lazy river. Did I mention I love the lazy river? We also both love the go-karts, so raced them over and over and laughed as my husband peeled out on all the corners and caused me to crash :) And laughed that his go-kart was slower than mine :) Remember babe, NO BUMPING!!!!! After our date GooF took Porter out to ride the gokarts and then the kids went to Bible School at my parents church. Thanks Porter for taking our picture. . .(no, I'm not still bent over due to a sore back :) )Happy 7 years GooF. . .only 68 more to go :) I loved spending quality time with you on our carriage ride 7years ago and I loved spending time with you yesterday

Every year on our anniversary I try on my wedding dress (I was able to squeeze into it on our first anniversary and last year when I tried it on I was 8 months pregnant). I wanted to post a picture from every year, but I'm not that tech savvy (no, we didn't have a digital camera 7years ago), so sorry, no pictures.

"And that will bring us back to. . . ." Trey's awake ha I'm still singing that song

Bathing Beauties

After Ainsley found out Taetum was going swimming BEFORE nap, she talked me into it. . . it didn't take much to persuade me! Our little bathing beauties. . .

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this pic of Trey "Standing on the word of God" today :)

Bent out of shape

Although a still photo can't quite capture my look tonight, my husband took one anyway. You see, every once in awhile I bend over and lift something heavy (today it was Porter) and for the rest of the day I can't stand up straight!!! I really am a sight and every time GooF looks at me he laughs! I felt like my dad tonight as I layed on the floor and asked the kids to "walk on my back." Shortly after this picture was taken they played doctor on me. Finally after a steamy bubble bath I could stand straight again. Did I mention I ran through pouring rain, actually you could call it a downpour, today with the double stroller and when I got into the mall the cup holders were filled with water and we were drenched?! The night ended by thankfully laying flat in Ainsley's bed with her and Porter and giggling while making hand shadow puppet shows on the wall. Now I'm afraid to get off my computer chair for fear that I won't be able to stand straight after sitting to type. . . .

And since I can't just post a picture of bent over me, here's some pics of the kids I took while SITTING in my lawnchair. . .

Spray Park

We had a pretty stressful morning here (went to a fun puppet show but then had TIRED kids) so when the kids woke up from nap I had fresh choc chip cookies and a bag/cooler packed and swimsuits layed out to go the Spray Park! And the best part was that daddy was meeting us there!!!When the temp in the van read 97 this week, we cooled off in the water. . .

Then we came inside for a "movie night" where we made popcorn and orange julius and the kids got to buy tickets and the food! And just because kids are kids. . .what is this invention Little Miss Ainsley?

And just because he's my baby. . .he waves and claps, and he kisses his books about other babies :) They sure do look sweet in pictures don't they? :) They are, but it's been a day!

Thank you God

I already deleted this post once, because I really didn't think I'd ever want to reread it. But after being urged by a friend to put it back on the blog, maybe someday Porter or I will want to reread it, so here we go. . .

"Last night I needed to give Trey a bath and put him to sleep, so I asked GooF to take the kids on a bike ride around the block (which they love to do). They are both really good at stopping when we say stop and staying by us. Well, last night, Porter was about 1 house in front of GooF and Ainsley, and GooF bent to pick up his water bottle he dropped and when he looked up Porter and his bike were laying behind a car and he was crying. Evidently, there was a camper and truck in the driveway and the car pulled out from behind them. Thankfully the girl driving was going SLOWLY and hit Porter just enough to knock him over and then she stopped. She felt horrible, as you can imagine. The driver couldn't see him and he couldn't see the car pulling out, but we're thanking God he only has a few scratches. Every night I pray over my little ones and every night I ask God's protection over them. Last night as soon as he got home we prayed and thanked God for watching over Porter. And thanks too to those of you who pray for us and our little ones. I layed in bed and prayed for all of our childrens' little friends last night, and it was a great reminder to me to always SLOWLY back out of my driveway. We love you Porter and are so glad that you're safe!"

OK, so now I reread it and I'm teary again. And I've been SO overprotective with the kids and cars this summer. Am not blaming anyone though. . .accidents happen so fast. . we're just glad he's safe! I'll say it again. . Thank you God

"Take me out to the ballgame!"

My husband has now taught our children how to yell funny things loudly at sporting events, such as "Throw 'em the Heater," "Big Hitter," "No Batter," and "Curve Ball!" I think his coworkers got a kick out of it! We took the kids to their first baseball game today. . .Porter wondered if we got to play :) Thankfully I didn't have to play. . .I got to enjoy a yummy lunch and icecream bars bought by Ryan's employer and sit back (well kinda) and enjoy the game (for sure!). We even got to see a HOME RUN!!! We only stayed for an hour of the game, since it started during naptime. . . the kids did great, but were hot and tired. Their favorite part was seeing the MASCOT!!!!! That's all they wanted to do. . .over and over. . .well, besides yell loud funny things :) I'd have it no other way, babe :) Enjoying a ballpark dog!

Ainsley was brave enough to meet "Cagey" only after her brother did it :)

I'm not so sure about that big yellow bird!!!