AG Turns 11

April 2 marked 11 years since AG arrived on the scene, beginning for us this wonderful and wild experience of parenthood. I remember bringing her into our house in her carseat and sort of wondering just what to do next! Definitely a unique experience as I look back on it! She has, since that day, grown into a lovely, bright, fun girl who brings so many valuable qualities to our household. She is a beloved big sister and has gained levels of creativity, thoughtfulness, and independence that bless us daily. We are all so thankful for this sweet, precious gift of a girl! We celebrated with her grandparents and Uncle D the Saturday after her birthday with lunch and then all had a ball going bowling. What fun! I, for one, was thankful for the guard rails:). Then later in the week her sisters accompanied us to get her ears pierced! She did great...before and after pictures are below.

Spring Arrives!

The azaleas peaked here around the end of March, just a week before Easter. I've learned over the years that they come and go surprisingly quickly, so we got some pictures of the kids with them while we could! And in capturing these background blossoms, the timing allowed us to also record evidence of a (thankfully) brief event for LL, her (barely) broken arm! After three weeks in a cast she was healed up nicely:).

Boys!

They are so much fun and so busy! Here are a few views of them this spring: IS in tub and with phone (saying, "'Lo!"), SA in a favorite set of pjs with his "bear an noah" and in a typical self-selected outfit, and RL with the bunny train and wild hair!

Holidays and Winter

Time waits for no blogger, and though I have lots of recent celebrations and pics to post, I will post a few from the holidays and other winter festivities: Boys at Thanksgiving, IS on scooter, Christmas stockings, mustaches with PopPop, Christmas at Grandpa and Nana's, T and girls, IS sliding (before and after!), Mardi Gras parade, and SJ's 1/2 b'day date.

Happy New Year!

SA keeps asking, "When will it be the new year?" I am having the opposite experience: January's already almost gone? Whoa. All's well here, but boy do the days speed by. We got a new camera before Christmas and have been enjoying it, but haven't stopped to upload many pics yet, so here are a few from the first batch...Christmas card photo day. Tonight AG was playing with IS after supper and told me, "You have to blog before he grows up." Point taken! He is too adorable to miss these days! He has grown alot over the last 6-8 months and is a cuddly, playful not-so-little guy! His favorite new words are fish (which sounds like "she" with a cute little question-like inflection) and choo-choo, which he just started saying today. In his more somber moments, he becomes very straight-faced and focused: left thumb in mouth, right hand fingers twirling the hair on the back of his head...it is serious business. However, he also likes to tease me when he knows we're playing and will stare me right in the eyes and dramatically put his thumb in his mouth, challenging me to playfully pop it out which brings wild giggles! He started walking at about 15 months and is sort of like an (incredibly precious) old man plodding around. We are all just loving him!

Summer

Can it already be late October? Needless to say, I haven't really caught up and I doubt I will, but life is coming so fast these days I can hardly keep up with the real thing, much less stop and record it with any consistency. I want to, though, so here's another round of pictures, this time from summer. We had a great one, filled with slower days at home but also plenty of fun: swim team in June, VBS and overnight camp for the girls in July, and a beach trip in August (pics of that yet to come!).

Making a Comeback!

It's been a while! We are still here and all is well, thankfully, just busy! I want to go back and catch up on a few big events since I last posted, but for now, here are a few family photos from the last few months. (In order: we went strawberry picking, scored a corner booth, enjoyed the girls' piano recital, and captured a grocery store memory!:)

2,4,6,8...

we have so much to celebrate! Our middle 4 have birthdays within 7 weeks of each other, and this year they were turning 2,4,6,and 8, so we decided to do one big party. On September 28 we had the joy of welcoming PawPaw, all four grandparents, many great- aunts and great-uncles, cousins, and friends for the birthday extravaganza! We are so thankful for these precious girls and boys and really can't believe how fast they are rolling through these birthdays! Here's a little update on the birthday kids: LL turned 8 on Oct. 16 and is having a good year doing 3rd grade at home. She loves reading Nancy Drew mysteries, watching LHOTP, playing imaginative games with her sisters and brothers, and jumping on the trampoline (the big birthday gift!). She is excelling at piano this year, has fun doing gymnastics, and is learning to enjoy public speaking through speech club! LL is quick to offer help with baby IS and SA and we are thankful for her compassion and energy. She is an entertainer around here and knows how to have fun! SJ turned 6 on August 29 and is a first grader this year! She is quick with math and can sit down and read a whole picture book or reader to anyone who'll sit still long enough, or often picks up a chapter book her sisters checked out and goes for it herself! She's enjoying gymnastics and, like her sisters, is a huge LHOTP fan. She continues to be a late riser and a night owl...like she was born with a teenager's internal clock! We are so thankful for her sweet smiles, good questions, and how she loves her family and friends. RL turned 4 on October 23 and has become a madman on a bike! He loves to build with Legos, color with markers, do workbooks, help in the kitchen, "play school" with his sisters, play outside, work with his Daddy on projects at home and give IS kisses while saying, "He's SO cute!" He goes all day long but often initiates his own bedtime, saying, "Will you put me down?" We are so thankful for this busy, bright, fun, sweet boy! SA turned 2 on September 29 and is always on the go with a big grin! Right around his birthday he moved into the toddler bed and now shares a room with RL, and he likes to present encores after bedtime these days, but we are working on that! :) His talking has totally taken off and he is putting together words now, to tell us things like "Watch me" or "Hold it" or "Stop it" (which I wish I could honor when he says it at diaper-change time!:) He's finally gotten a real haircut (though he didn't like it) and likes to climb onto the trampoline and run around. He is still very attached to his lovies and his thumb, and we are glad he's still a willing snuggler! We're so thankful for this bright, bubbly, fun boy and enjoy seeing him blossom every day!