We're growing!!

Yep, we are adding an addition to this already awesome family! We found out on May 24th! This cutie pie should be here sometime in early February! The kids are all excited! Kaitlin asked if she could name a baby if we have twins....I said sure! (cuz there's no way there's 2 babies in me!). She's been making lists and lists with her name ideas. :) Kiley is already hugging and kissing my stomach! :) Ben puts his hand on my stomach and back all the time and says, "I can feel the baby kick!" "I can feel the baby's leg/arm!" So cute!! Even after I tell them the baby isn't even an inch long yet, he still says all that. :) I'm kinda nervous, but I'll get over that!

The way we (the kids & I) told Kevin was: I had my friend Sarah sew some shirts for them and when he got home from work I handed him Noah, who had on his "Big Bro" shirt and told him Noah needed to tell him something. He looked at his shirt and said, "No way! Are you serious?!" :) Here's a picture of the proud big brothers and sisters!

Time to catch up on what else has been happening!

May 12 & 13 the girls had their ballet recital! They were precious & did such a good job!

Kaitlin had a tea party and she planned it all by herself! Down to the invitations and food! We'll definately be doing this again! The girls were so funny because as soon as the tea party was over, they all went and dug in the dirt for worms...how ladylike! :)

Later that day, we celebrated their best bud Shiloh turning 4!! She had a pink party!

The next week, my Uncle Richard and Deb came to town from Massachusetts! We took them to the zoo, the nature park by our house, and the Stockyards!

Kiley graduated from preschool!

2 of Noah's favorite things...his rocking horse and Veggie Tales! :)

The girls were in a talent show at church with their friends. They did their ballet routines! Kaitlin and her friends did such a good job! Kiley and her friend were so silly! It ended up being a comedy routine! :)

Our Kiley girl turned 5 on the 17th! She had a cute princess party! :)

My nephew Aiden turned 2 the next day! He had a Sesame Street themed party and I even got to make the cake!
We've been having lots of pool time, running errands, the girls have taken 2 craft classes at Joann's, having a fun summer! I'm not looking forward to school starting!

Part one... :)

Since I can't get my card reader to upload my pictures to the computer, this will have to be a 2-parter!
On the 27th of April we went and picked strawberries at Fall Creek Farms in Granbury! It was so fun! We ended up with more than 7 pounds! It was pure joy watching all the kids pick strawberries! Even Noah did a good job. There were hundreds of strawberry plants, in rows upon rows! This will definately be a yearly tradition! My Uncle Mike and Aunt Lisa joined us too! The kids before the pickin'! Kiley and her strawberry!
Kaitlin pickin' her strawberries!
Kiley helping Noah carry the berries!
Benjamin's basket! Bright red berries!
The next day we all went to PuttPutt...Kevin and I are not good...at all. I did get a hole in one, but just by pure luck, not skills. Ben did play every hole with us though! Kaitlin would get her ball in and move on leaving us behind. Kiley, well, she didn't care too much for the whole golfing thing. Noah just ran around throwing the ball and chasing it down. We did the batting cages next and I LOVED THEM! The kids had wanted to play video games, but we didn't. Soooo, they left sad. I left happy because we weren't coming home with the junk they get from the tickets. :)Mother's Day was a few weeks later. Neil, Tiffany, and Aiden came into town. Rena, Tiffany's mom, also came and stayed with us! We took Rena, my mom, and Missy to the Dallas Aquarium Saturday. It was beautiful! The animals were amazing! My favorite was the anteater!! Kaitlin, Kiley, and Ben each fed a bird! There were so many different nimals to see: manatees, birds, monkeys, sharks, fish! It was much more than just an aquarium.

Ben feeding the bird!

Noah :) Me and my beautifuls!

We finished up the evening at the Stockyards! We ate at Jalapenos, went to the candy store (because no trip to the Stockyards is complete without the candy store!), and rode as many rides as we all had quarters for! :) It was a great day!

My brother Neil, my mom, and me.

Neil, my stepmom Missy, and me.

The next day was Mother's Day! Kaitlin made me breakfast in bed: frosted mini wheats & a glass of milk. She got up super early all by herself! :) We all went to lunch at Boomerjack's, dessert at Yogurtland, and then Tiffany's mom went home. Tiffany, me, and the girls went and got pedicures. It's was Kaitlin and Kiley's first time and they loved it, of course! Kaitlin even told me, "Mom, they do a better job than you!" :)

Well, that's part one! Now to find out what's going on with my card reader...

Easter

We've been keeping busy around here! Going to the park, eating ice cream, going to Yogurtland, trying to keep the kids busy! They keep me laughing all day!
I took them to the park by our house and took some pictures, and I LOVE the way they turned out!!! We had a family reunion on March 27th. It was so nice to meet a lot of Kevin's family! Here's the Lavenders!
Kaitlin wrote a letter to President Obama and in March she got a letter back from him! Here she is reading it to all of us! She is such a great reader and reads all the time. We will get her 7 books at the library every week (chapter books!), and she will read them all twice before we bring them back a week later! Her love for reading amazes me. Kiley told me, "Mommy, when I grow up I am going to be a cowgirl." Ben followed up with, "When I grow up I'm going to be a alligator"...see? These kids keep me laughing all the time!
We took the kids to the drive-in in early April. They had such a fun time...as usual! All 4 of them would race to the screen and see who could make it back first. They drank root beer, ate junk food, and enjoyed the warm (finally!) weather! How cute is Kiley's outfit?! ;) She picked out her outfit all by herself! Stripes, plaid, and leopard print...perfection! Oh, BTW, how cute are they?!?!! Everywhere I go I get asked if they are twins! We visited Neil and Tiffany 2 weeks ago and stayed Friday through Sunday. Kevin had an extremely busy weekend ahead of him, I knew we wouldn't be seeing him, so we packed up and headed to Wichita Falls. We all had such a great time! The kids played outside a lot, we went to a nature center type place, and Neil even watched all the kids so Tiffany and I could go antique shopping! I got a new photo. prop...a green chair! I just know it's going to photograph beautifully! Now, to find some time to use it! :) The girls with Nina: Kaitlin lovin' on Noah! Pure preciousness (is that even a word?). My 2 blue eyed blondies! My mom, the kids, and I went to Shaw Kemp Ranch's open house. They open their beautiful farm up once a year. We went 6 years ago when Kaitlin was a baby and took pictures of her in the bluebonnets. They've got old cabins, seesaws, and lots of "old stuff" to look at. We did pictures in the bluebonnets, but it's so stressful trying to get pictures of 4 kids. I got a bunch of great ones, but I've only edited one. :) But, before we left, Kaitlin and Ben picked me some flowers!! Six years later, to the day!, since we have taken bluebonnet pictures of her and so much has changed! She has grown into the most caring, honest, beautiful, and loving person I know!
We had an Easter egg hunt at church and Kaitlin found the prize egg! She was beyond excited!! She ended up getting a cute little green frog. :) We had a little Easter party for our Gopher Buddies at church on Wednesday. I think they had a good time! Neil, Tiffany, and Aiden came in to town on Saturday. We did some shopping, ate frozen yogurt, and finished up the day eating cajun food at Boo Ray's! The next day was Easter! The kids woke up super excited! We finished cleaning the house, the boys and kids rode jet skis, and then we came home and got started on the cooking. Kevin and the kids dyed eggs. :) The grandparents got the kids cute little Easter presents! They have such great grandparents! It was so nice to have everyone over the Easter, and the kids loved having the egg hunt at their house. Their was soooo much food! Good food! Their were tons of eggs and I think everyone had a full basket! I had such a great time. After the egg hunt, came the silly string fight!! Ben thought this was the greatest thing ever! Noah would aim the bottle at people and make a squirting sound like he was spraying people, haha! I think he'll be a pro like his big brother by next year. :)

Noah is loving "playing" hide-and-go seek! He puts his head on the ground, says 1,2,3 and then stands up (and in his own language) says ready or not here I come! He can repeat just about any word I say to him! When I get him out of the bathtub he kicks his feet to get the water off and says, "kick kick kick"!!! He learned it by watching me get Ben and Kiley out of the tub, because I always make them kick their feet to shake off some water and I say kick kick kick while their kicking. :) He's such a big boy! He learns so much by watching his brother and sisters. He is amazing. They're all amazing! God is so good!

Green eggs???

Kaitlin and Ben eating cake pops!

Kiley, Shiloh, and Kaitlin at The Cheesecake Factory after going to Sweet & Sassy for Kaitlin's birthday! Kaitlin chopped off 11 inches for Locks of Love!!

Kiley got her ears pierced!

ALL 4 kids helping me make cookies! LOVE!!

Snow day!!

Mommy's boys!!

Zoo day!

Our awesome family!!

Gorgeous!

Silly!

The crew! (plus Shiloh!)

I am in amazement! Everything I tell Noah to do, he understands! He can say and do so many things too! He says, "Duck, duck, goose", "1, 2, 3", "dog", "hello", "Kaitlin", "Kiley" (he said both of their names one day after another as we picked the girls up from ballet! He ran toward Kiley and yelled "Kiley"!!!), and he can mock just about anything I say. When he sees someone brushing their teeth or when he's doing it, he'll spit! Just like a big boy! He LOVES to kiss!...and bite. He loves Bella. Noah can finally entertain himself and play in his bedroom with no one else in there. He likes to eat so many different fruits and vegetables too! If he could play outside all day, he would. Anytime I make him come in, he crys. :( He's been sleeping in a big boy bed with Ben for 2 months now, and I even took his crib apart this week.

Benjamin, Kiley, and Kaitlin are loving this warmer weather and being able to play outside all day too!

We, so far, have had an eventful Spring Break. Birthday parties, visiting family in Granbury, going out to eat with family, having my brother & his family over for the weekend, the zoo (during SB, ahhhh!!!) with my sister in law Tera and my 3 nieces, celebrating my niece Joel turning 13, Eagle Mountain Park, and lots of sleeping in!

This morning, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, we had green eggs, green waffles, and green milk. Ben would NOT eat his eggs...they just weren't the same. Haha! Everyone else enjoyed it all!

Happy New Year!

I can't remember the last New Year's I actually stayed up to celebrate, but I almost made it last night. Kevin is out of town for 8 days, and we're all sick (except Ben). Sooo, I get to try to get myself and 3 kids better. Oh, and try to somewhat keep the house in order. Blah!

Kevin and I went Christmas shopping together one day while my mom watched the kids and one of the things we bought was for Kaitlin. It was a remote control dog because she wanted a puppy so much! Well, after leaving the store we drove by some Bassett Hound puppies for sale! Kevin and I have always wanted one because they're so lazy. :) So, we got her and have had her for 4 weeks now. The kids named her Bella, and they are all doing a fabulous job taking care of her!! She gets pretty crazy at times, but that's just the puppy in her. Tonight Ben was wrestling and running around with her. Noah's slowly getting use to her. Anytime he sees a dog coming toward him now, he immediately puts his hand up in front of his face to block the dog from licking him (Bella licks him any chance she gets, and he does not like it...I can't blame him, I don't like dog kisses either.)

The kids and I are camping out in the living room by the fireplace tonight. It's so peaceful watching them sleep. It's one of my favorite things to do. :)

We made smores a few weeks ago, and Kevin put his down and left it unattended...

Haha! I look over and Noah had almost eaten the whole thing! And then a few weeks later I found him in the kitchen sneakin' cookies!! :) He was so proud of himself!

Our church put on a kids Christmas choir concert/play/dinner and Kaitlin got to sing and even had a line, "We want you to know that God loves you very much". We loved it and she did such a good job singing! And the kids LOVE to dress up, so they were super excited to get to do that too!
Noah turned 1 on the 16th! We had a The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party for him.