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.

1 Corinthians 10:13

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Some encouraging words for all who need them. I love that God knows what I can handle...because I sure don't!

Our family has been busy! Kevin has been growing his Clear business, and he's doing a great job! I love this man!! God has helped him always provide for us. He also has a new "toy". He bought a live trap and the other night we caught something! It was a possum. This thing was gross, and not happy to be in there. Thankfully, Kevin was not attacked upon release...haha! And I don't know what we will do if we catch a skunk! I was kinda hoping for a squirrel or something cute like that...maybe some random turtle, I don't know!

Kaitlin lost her 4th tooth on Thanksgiving! Kevin made her eat a piece of turkey, she bit into it, and voila! Money in her pocket!! :) I do, however, have a new rule around here...No losing teeth on holidays! After all the excitment of the day, we were exhausted and completely forgot to put money under her pillow!! She, 3 years ago, figured out the tooth fairy isn't real, but we still do the $ thing. Well, she came out of her room this morning and let me know that her tooth was still there for some reason. I told her that I guess the "tooth fairy" would have to make it up to her tonight. Now, we just need to teach her her new theme song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"! We had a fun play date at my friend Shelbi's house and Kaitlin got to play with a girl her age who is also homeschooled...she loved it!

Pure beautifulness :)
Kiley is writing letters all the time! She probably writes her name 50 times throughout the day. She'll randomly write down letters and bring me the paper and ask, "What does this say?"...too cute! One time she accidently spelled BELT, and she was soooo excited!! She has been drawing people a lot lately, too! She loves to do schoolwork like her big sister, and I think Kaitlin likes having someone doing it with her. Kiley spent so much time raking this big pile of leaves, just so she could jump in it!

Ben loves to draw monsters!! All the time!! And I love it! :) He knows how to write a bunch of letters and he can even write his name!!! He has become my defiant child lately. Always punching me and his daddy (he's playing, but I think he's going to be the next Daniel LaRusso), picking on his big sisters, and even picking on his baby brother. :( He will take the toy that Noah is playing with and just stick it out of his reach...for no reason! But, he is very good at appologizing. Here's a picture of Ben rockin' his 3D glasses.

Noah has been taking steps everyday for the past 3 weeks! Every single step he takes and smile he gives me makes my whole world happy! For about a month now, Noah will clap and give high 5's when I tell him to! He's just too stinkin' cute! He said his firt word a week ago, DOG!!! Yay Baby Boy!! Look at Noah all big and standing up!

I don't know what Kevin and I would do without our 4 babies! They can turn the worst day into the best with just a smile! Kaitlin really wanted something the other day, and this is how she asked me for it!!:My best friend Meoshi (on the left) turned 27 and I just had to show y'all the cake I made her!

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house again this year! I love having it here. We had so much food...it was greatness! And I was told that Kevin sneaked about a dozen deviled eggs before it was even lunch time...so I think they were good. ;)

We did our family pictures a few weeks ago and got a bunch of cute shots! I can't wait to get our Christmas cards all mailed out! Noah is turning 1 in 20 days. This has been the fastest year ever. We're having a "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed party in 2 weeks. I bet he's going to LOVE eating cake!