Summer Break!

I have to start this post out with the sweetest thing ever! Ben prayed for the first time last night!! For a while now he's been saying short prayers like, "Thank you God for this day.", but last night he said, "Thank you God for Wal-Mart, and Target, and Arbys. Thank you for my bike, my mower, my Power Wheels. Thank you for Kaitliny's (yes, with a "y". That's what they call her.) bike, and Kiley's bike." Then I told him he can say Amen when he's done. Then he said, "Amen. I love you God" How sweet was that?! I am one proud Mommy! I love what he's thankful for, and I don't have a clue where Arby's came from! LOL . I love hearing my kids pray, or "talk to God" as we call it. Kaitlin totally understands prayer and it always amazes me what she says.
Since summer break has started, we've been pretty busy. We've been to the museum, rode the train by the zoo, swam, gone to Louisiana, gone to Wichita Falls, run tons of errands, and just hung out around the house. Last summer I was pregnant and tired all day long and we didn't go anywhere, so I feel like I need to make it up to the kids. :) Tomorrow Kaitlin starts a summer musical camp, so she'll be gone from 9-2 this week.
I have decided to home school as well. I've heard that organized people do really well at homeschooling, so I'm hoping that I, a very unorganized person, can do it! I was EXTREMELY nervous about the whole thing, but with lots of prayer I feel a great peace about everything...now to get organized! :) I know that homeschooling is just what Kaitlin needs. I'm also excited that I will have time to teach Kiley and Ben too!
I need to give an update on all of the kids because they are changing EVERYDAY!!!
Kaitlin:
She has lost two teeth since December & has a very loose one right now! We're thinking this is going to be the summer she learns to swim! She is a GREAT reader and speller! Her teacher told us that when they finish kinder. they want them to read at a level 3 and Kaitlin was reading at a level 34!! She thinks that's a end of 3rd grade level...me and her Daddy are just a little proud!!! ;) Kaitlin is such a little artist! She could draw pictures all day long if I would let her! She writes songs, stories, and sweet notes for everyone! Sweetest, most caring personality ever! I could go on and on...love, love, love her!!
Kiley:
Kiley can spell her name!! She turned 4 four days ago! Every picture I take of her, she has to stike a pose! I love it!! She went through a stage for a while where she wouldn't even look at the camera. This girl is just full of spunk & sassiness!! She came in from outside tonight and said, "Ok everyone, the ballerina is back". This weekend while swimming, she did belly flops for hours (with a life jacket on, of course) & would say, "watch me do my big jump"! She LOVES her blanket and baby Bella, and there's no way she could ever go to sleep without either one of them. Tonight she told me, "Bella's teething" (just like her baby brother, Noah). I could go on and on about her too!!! Love, love, love her!!
Benjamin:
Where do I begin?? He cracks he up! He's got the silliest facial expressions, but my favorite is when he puckers his lips out & kinda squints his eyes a little (I am sooo making this face right now as I'm typing, lol!). Ben loves his Mommy! He needs someone to lay with him every night to fall asleep, and I truely love that!! :) He is rough and tough and always hurting his sisters...poor girls! While swimming this weekend Ben would say, "watch me do my big jump", and would do the cutest little hop into the pool. He's always getting into water and mud. I can never let him outside by himself or he WILL BE a mess! He loves to ride his Power Wheels. I love, love, love the little "big" boy he is turning in to!
Noah:
My sweet baby boy is getting big and it's making me so sad. June 6th he got his first tooth and the 2nd one popped in the next day! He can get up on his knees for a split second! Noah is always smiling!!! He always has his hand in his mouth with a big grin right behind it! :) He can roll over both ways like a pro! He's tried baby food a few times, but I think he'd much rather have what we're eating! He's also got quite the grip! :) His brother and sisters can make him smile just by looking at him :) But if they say "Boo Noah!", he laughs like crazy! His smile makes my days great! (along with the smiles from my other "babys"). His Jumperoo is his favorite thing! He jumps and giggles like crazy in that thing!! Love, love, love this baby!!!
Kevin and I have been so truely blessed! We could not have asked for better kids! I am so lucky to be able to stay home with them and be a part of every moment of their lives...the hugs & kisses, the screaming, the story times, the potty training, seeing them love on each other, and always having little helpers in the kitchen.
Yesterday was Fathers's Day. We made Kevin breakfast. Then we had my dad, Kevin's dad, my brother, his 2 brothers, and their ladies & "babies" over for dinner (lasagna, manicotti, salad, garlic bread, & Kevin's favorite chocolate mousse cake from Central Market)! It was a full house, and I loved it!! If I could have a party every week, I totally would! I love my wonderful husband. He is so good to me! :)
On the 12th we had Kiley's birthday party. It was a tea party theme and it was so much fun! My dad made 2 picnic tables for the kids and I love them (they think they're pretty cool too, lol)!!!! She had such a fun party and loves being 4! I, on the other hand, am trying to invent a "pause" button...when I do, I'll let you know! ;) It's such a good feeling to see our kids growing up, but it's all so sad at the same time. For her actual birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese (we do that for all the kids on their actual birthday day). Her friend Shiloh got to come with us and we met Joel and Eryn up there. I made her a giant cupcake and we ate some good ol' CEC pizza.
Kevin and I get to go on a date on Wednesday and I'm sooo excited! We really need some "us" time (a.k.a. "Mommy and Daddy time" to the kids). They love when we go on dates, and Kaitlin always tells us to be sure and kiss! Haha, she's great!

Let the break begin!

This is our first Spring Break to actually look forward to (since we've always had all the kids at home with us). But, since Kaitlin is in school, we actually want to "celebrate" this week. I would like to do something fun everyday for them. Tonight after soccer practice (I'll get to that later), we ate at Mark Dean's BBQ with Kevin's side of the family. Love, love, love every one of them. It was late so Noah wasn't in the best mood. Lately he's been going to sleep around 7-7:30 and we got to the restaurant at 7...so, Noah got to be held the entire time. :) I have finally accepted the fact that Noah is colicky. Car rides are no fun, beacause my poor baby screams the whole time. At home, when he's awake, I usually have to hold him. I LOVE to hold him, but it's hard to do things and spend time with everyone else when I have a baby in my arms. Hopefully I can get all of our baby toys out of storage soon. I'm sure something bright and colorful that makes lots of noise will entertain him. I just pray everyday that this colic will go away.
Kaitlin had her first soccer game last weekend, and they WON! Go Incredibles!! She's so cute the way she just bounces around the soccer field.
After her game, I took Kaitlin to a NAM interview. NAM is National American Miss. It's a beauty pageant that isn't about dressing your daughter up to look like an adult. NAM is more about inner beauty and teaching children interview skills for later in life. My little chatter box should never have interview problems. Well, I got a call a few days ago and her interview went well! They would like to have her for a call back in April!
Later that night, Kevin and I went on our first date since before Noah was born. We went to Olive Garden and then saw 2 movies! It was a well needed date night. I sure have missed my alone time with my favorite man! It's nice to feel like just a wife sometimes...
On March 8th, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversay. Every year we go to Texas de Brazil! This year we brought all of the kids, and boy was that interesting. Thank goodness they have an elevator to get to the bathroom, because with 4 kids there were a lot of potty trips! I'm glad we got to have a date night a few days before, because there was nothing relaxing or romantic about our dinner that evening. Haha!
Kaitlin is about to lose her first tooth! She's so excited! I remember when I was little and had a loose tooth, it was all I could think about. Everytime I look at Kaitlin she's wiggling that thing! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I can't believe how fast they are all growing up! Noah will be 3 months old in a few days! He LOVES smiling and "gooing" right now. We have little "conversations" all day. His face just lights up when you talk to him, and he always has so much to say back. Ben is really into counting lately! It's the cutest thing ever to hear him count everything. While we're reading, he'll just randomly start counting things on the page. We have such smart kids. Kiley is my little dress up princess right now. As soon as she wakes up, she'll pick her first princess outfit for the day. She'll usually go through 3 different outfits everyday.
How did Kevin and I end up so blessed? We have the sweetest, most beautiful, loving, caring, and well behaved children! Thank you God for trusting us with these special gifts!

A BIT OF A LONG ONE....

It's been 3 weeks since I've updated this thing! A lot has happened! We had our second snow of the winter! Aside from our power going out and having to spend 2 nights at my mom's (that part wasn't bad), we had a great time! We, mostly Kevin, built a giant snowman! And Kaitlin finally got to build her first snowman! It was amazing to have as much snow as we did. After the snow melted, 2 days later, it was time for Valentine's Day. We brought the kids to ChuckECheese, and oh my gosh, that place was busy! The kids made Chuck E Valentines and left them on the stage for him (since we left before he came out). We totally owe the kids another trip, because we left after 30 minutes! We had dinner with Meoshi, Shiloh, and Nash at Boston Market...YUMMY!

On a sad note, later that evening we found out that Kevin's Aunt Becky had passed away. She was a beautiful lady. Family was such a priority for her and it shows through her wonderful children. Her funeral was just as she would have liked it. All her friends and family were there and it was standing room only. :)

Kevin's dad went in the hospital the day after the funeral. That was pretty scary. The hospital couldn't figure out what was wrong. He came home today and seems to be doing ok. I am so happy everything ended this way! Vernon's gonna be around for a lot longer! :)

I get to be an aunt again! After what seems like forever, Lee and Tera found out they are going to have a baby! Sooo exciting!

Earlier this month we were at QT, because my BIG boy Benjamin said he needed to go potty! I was too excited because this was the first time he ever asked to go while we were away from the house. He's 100% potty trained at home, but he's a little scared to go on those big public pottys (he thinks he is going to fall in, poor thing!). Well, as I was paying for my hot French Vanilla yumminess, this sweet man in line next to me asked if my kids could each have a pack of M&Ms! I just love random acts of kindness!! And, now that my two younger ones know there is candy in gas stations, I'm sure I'll never be taking them inside again, haha! Wal Mart is hard enough. You have to wait in that long line with all that candy just hanging out next to you...even I can't resist sometimes, I can't imagine how hard it is for a child!

On February 20th Noah rolled over!! Twice!!!! It's so cute to watch him pick that little leg up and roll on over. I haven't gotten a picture of him in action yet, because everytime he does it I either don't have my camera or I just can't take my eyes off of him to snap a picture! But, this is him right before he rolled today! What a big, beautiful baby boy! (and there's his proud big brother!)

Kaitlin, my big 6 year old, had her first school project! The theme was dinosaurs. She did such a good job. She is such a creative, smart, caring, big girl. I just love, love, love her!

I had this "great" idea the other day to buy some shaving cream and let the kids play with it. You know, be creative? Welllllllll, bad idea! Don't get me wrong, the kids loved it! But I on the other hand got to clean it all up. Oh, and Ben apparently thinks he is going to fall in kitchen sink holes too! Haha, I put him in the sink to get rinsed off, and he started crying and saying "fall in Mommy!!" I'm horrible, I couldn't stop laughing! He freaks out if cups and silverware get near the sink holes too. He cracks me up! Silly little guy. But, other than the mess, I can't wait to let them play with the shaving cream again...outside!

Now for the sad part...

This Saturday Ben busted his head open. He jumped on Kaitlin's back while she was laying on his new bed (oh yea, Ben has a big boy bed now!) and she pushed him off and he hit his head on the wall at the corner of the window. I freaked out. Kevin freaked out. Ben was calm. After we calmed down a little, we were both still shaking, Kevin shaved a little spot on his head and put a butterfly "stitch" on it. It is the hardest thing as a parent to see your baby get an ouchie! Sooooo, he got two Blockbuster movies and some chocolate chip cookies! I think he's got a few more weeks of spoiling ahead of him. My poor baby! The next day we had to take him to Cooks Childrens Hospital because he vomited 3 times! The doctor said it had nothing to do with the head injury, but I disagree. Mommy's always right, right?! He was so nervous and so was I. Then, they gave him a Mickey Mouse shirt and a car...he liked that part! He is getting better everyday.

Sunday we had my dad and Missy over for dinner. Before they were here 5 minutes Kaitlin had Pawpaw dressed up as a Princess! And Missy was next!

Kaitlin is supposed to have her first soccer practice tomorrow if it's not too muddy! We're all excited! Here's a few random pictures from the past few weeks!

Grand Prix Racing

2 weeks ago today my baby boy started smiling!
This is the only picture we could get of him smiling that day...Kaitlin took it! It's from the side, but it shows just how cute he is! My new problem lately is holding Noah. I've always wanted to hold him all day, but now that he's smiling it's nearly impossible for me to want to put put him down! We all love this smiley little boy sooo much! Kiley calls him Mr. Smiley Boy. I love when the kids are running around the house like little crazy people, and then out of nowhere they'll pause for a moment and give Noah a kiss. I have the best kids ever!

Today Kaitlin had a Grand Prix race at church. She came in 5th! We are excited for her, but she is sad that she didn't get a trophy. :( It's totally breaking our hearts...there was even tears from our sweet little Princess. She did have a great time though! We can't wait 'til next year! And next year Kevin gets to make 3 cars!

I am at a loss for words today, so I will make up for that with some pictures!

Can you believe it...

Two blog posts in one week! Yep, that's the new organized me! This has been a fun week, despite the rain. I found out a few weeks ago that Neil and Tiffany will be moving to Wichita Falls in May or June! We are sooo excited! I'll finally get to see my cute 'lil nephew all the time (and take a bunch of pictures of that smiley baby too!). I've been looking around for a Mother's Day Out/Preschool program for Kiley and Ben. They either have no openings or will end up costing us $300 a month. Which really isn't too bad...but, if you know me well, I'm a little cheap! Kiley is ready to get back into a preschool program. She's been asking me for months to put her back in school. I love that my kids love to learn!

I always have a new "favorite" that my kids are doing/saying! Right now, Ben is saying "Nummy, Nummy!" (in 2 year old, that's "Yummy,Yummy!"...love!! Kiley is loving on her baby, Noah. She always tells me, "Mommy, I love your baby."...love! On a side note, when Noah was still growing in me, Kiley would kiss and hug my belly EVERYDAY and say "I love your baby" and "I can't wait 'til your baby is here". It's so precious to see the love my big girl has for my baby. This week Kaitlin has explored spelling her middle name. She has been able to spell her first and last for some time now, but for some reason we never taught her anything about her middle name! She was at the table last night writing Kaitlin "Meshel" Lavender. Kevin was telling her that it's spelled Michelle, but instead of her listening to him, she argued "'cause that's not how it sounds, Daddy!" Darn phonics! We told her that we gave her that name, so we would obviously know how to spell it...I don't think she agrees!

I will leave you with a picture that I captured from the girl's bedroom window a few days ago. I love where we live and that the kids can see deer in their own yard! (& some other favorite pics!)

A New Year, An Organized Me!

It's been 8 long months since I have even thought about blogging! The main reason I wanted to start a blog was so I could remember different phases in our kids life. Since my last post, we have added a new baby boy, Noah Lee, to our family!! It's been a crazy adjustment, but I can't imagine life without him. The kids absolutely adore him. However, at the hospital when we asked Ben if we could bring Noah home....he said no. Now, he just wants to kiss and hold him all day. I can't wait to see the bond that develops as they get older. Kaitlin is in kindergarten...and she's such a smarty! She can read just about any book you give her. It's amazing! Her handwriting is beautiful. She is such a social butterfly! She never meets a stranger. Kiley is a little chatter box these days! And, she loves to do whatever her big sister does. Benjamin is 80% potty trained! He has no accidents at home, but I haven't brought him on any long excursions in underwear yet...maybe I should, but I would probably have a melt down if I was out with 4 kids and he had an accident! LOL He's so proud of himself! And so are we! He talks so much these days. I love that he can finally tell me what he's thinking! Noah will be 7 weeks old in 2 days! It's gone by so fast...he's out of his newborn clothes,in size 1 diapers, and eating all the time! At his 4 week check up he weighed 10lbs 6oz! I see a little bit of each of our kids in him. He has Kaitlin's blue eyes, he looks like Kiley's baby pictures, but he looks like Ben now. A week ago he started smiling and cooing. Everyone keeps asking us if we're done...maybe 1 more!

Kaitlin will be playing soccer soon and Kiley and Ben want to do gymnastics. I love that they are so active and full of energy! I have been looking for a Mother's Day out program to put Kiley and Ben in, but I'm not having any luck...they really need some kids their age to play with.

Kaitlin had such a fun 6th birthday! We had a cooking party. The kids got to make pizzas and decorate cupcakes. I sewed them all aprons, and they looked too cute wearing them! We're so proud of the person Kaitlin is growing to be. She is so positive and loves everything about everything! She has a heart for God, and it shows!

I wish I could catch up on the 8 months of blogging I didn't do because so many wonderful things happened! Tomorrow I start organizing our paperwork. This is a big deal, because it is not fun, so I really don't want to do it! My plan is to get Kevin's paperwork in perfect order...and keep it that way! I would love to have all of this done by Friday, but with my other job (being a Mommy), I could have some delay. But, if I'm going to be organized, then I can't let anything get in my way. Hmmm, maybe the kids would like to have a "filing party"...I'm sure I can find some way to make that seem fun! After the business stuff is all organized, then I plan to start getting our schedules organized. I would love to have activties for the kids planned out and have meals for the week planned too! I think things would be so much less stressful if I could have little things like that planned out ahead of time.

I'll be so happy once this crazy cold winter is over...we have been couped up in this house for way to long! I mean, temperatures in the 'teens!!!, I am not made for that!

Summer Time!

Well it looks like we are actually going to have an eventful summer...for the first time ever! We are back in Fort Worth (have been for about 2 months)! It's so nice to be "home". We had a few (ok, few is quite the understatement) spiders when we moved back, but they are pretty much only outside now. Kevin has been working on our yard a lot, which is great! The kids and I love to go hang out with him outside. Oh and the best news EVER, I am pregnant again!!!!!! Yep, 12 weeks...only 28 more to go. We went to the doctor yesterday and got to have a sonogram! YAY! I'm thinking, girl. We'll know for sure in 8 LOOOONG weeks. I seriously can't stand the wait! Every night Kaitlin prays "thank you for letting my Mommy have another baby" and Kiley prays, "thank you my Mommy have another one baby". I am so excited that they're so excited. I can't wait to meet this little one. Maybe a bigger house will be a necessity soon (I don't think the 1400 sf we're in right now will comfortably hold 6 people). This house is a lot easier to clean though! I've been trying to get some baking in lately (my fave thing to do)...but we're just so busy, and I'm sooo exhausted. The morning sickness is over, but I get incredibly tired while I'm pregnant. Well, on to our adventures...The kids and I have been to the zoo a few times, and since we got season passes, we'll be going a lot more! Yay for the wonderful Texas heat (hmm, maybe those season passes weren't such a great idea after all). Last weekend we went to Hurricane Harbor. We had such a good time, which was quite a surprise having all 3 kids with us. Ben and I hung out in the lazy river and wave pool a lot, while Kevin attempted to get Kaitlin and Kiley to ride some rides. So, we got season passes for this place too. Now we've got a very fun place to go on weekends and splash in the water! Kevin "borrowed" (my words)/"is test driving" (his words) a boat for the weekend. It's soooo much fun, and we all love it, but I just can't see us having a boat...at least without a bathroom :) Kiley turns 3 on the 17th! I cannot believe it! We are having a ladybug themed birthday party, it should be fun! Neil, Tiffany, and us are going to San Antonio in 5 days! Tiffany is a trooper! She waaay pregnant, and she's still making the trip. Yay Tiffany! It should be lots of fun, we've never brought the kids to SA before.

Ben, Kiley, Kaitlin, Eryn, Joel (my 2 nieces!)

"Somebody's gotta drive this thing!"

I'm back!

Ok, it's been a loooong time, and soooo many things things have been going on. About a month ago we had Meoshi's baby shower, and a few days later we got to welcome Nash Carlston Roberts! He was born more than a month early, but he is doing great! He's THE cutest little baby. Kiley always says "Teeny tiny Nash" and "Nash is sleeping"...yep, that's all he does! Ok, well he's too cute, we all love him! And the weekend after that we had Tiffany's baby shower. My lens broke (everyone have a big cry for me!), so the only pictures I got to take were with Neil's and Tiffanys friend's camera. I did take some before pictures of a couple of the things I made. It was such a fun time, and she had quite a turn out. A few weeks ago they found out they are having a boy! Yeah! It's so funny to hear Neil talk about baby stuff. I think this will be the most over-protected child ever. But that's good, he will be a great dad. The kids are growing up so fast! Ben's got this funny thing he does with his lips, he looks like he trying to kiss, but he does it all the time: when he's thinking, mad, making noises, see something exciting, yea all the time. Kiley is acting so much older suddenly. She and Kaitlin are really getting along and pretending together all the time. Ok, I had so much to say, and now I can't think of anything that's happened in our lives...Kevin's dad got married this weekend. Saturday we went to my mom's and she showed us a borrow with baby bunnies, so, now we have an "Easter" bunny. Kaitlin named it Sparkles. You've got to love that name...there's nothing like hearing Kevin tell people our bunny's name! :) The kids are so in love with this bunny. Easter was so much fun, and we had the best weather EVER! We went to Kevin's Aunt Becky's and ate lunch, hunted eggs, and had a silly string fight! That was definately my favorite part. Ben suprised everyone with his egg hunting skills! He was just as good as kids a year older than him. He'd be walking around carrying 3 eggs to his basket. Everytime he saw an egg he'd make some silly sound that kept me and Kevin laughing. Kiley was all about the hunt this year too! Kaitlin got to hunt with the bigger kids, and I think she was a little confused as to why the eggs weren't laying out in the open for her, but she still had so much fun and got so excited when she'd find one. After the egg hunts came the silly string fight! I think that will definately become a tradition...it was so much fun. We are moving back to Fort Worth on Thursday. It will be nice to be back home, although Rockwall has been wonderful. Ok, now for some pictures! I'll have to get some Easter ones up as soon as I get them off my camera! Meoshi's diaper cake

Benjamin's new best friend, NashAll of us meeting baby Nash and seeing his happy parents!

Tiffany's diaper cake

Ladybug cookie pops, a bit of her ladybug themed baby shower

I'll get more pictures later!

MAUI

Here are some pictures from our vacation!

Kevin and me after spending 1/3 of our day on an airplane.

Gettin' some sun. Riding horses.

Eating at Bubba Gump. Beautiful sunset. Standing in front of a banyon tree as big as a city block!