Cub Scouts

At some point there are going to be a whole lot of random, out-of-order posts in some sort of effort to document this year. I have not been great about pictures, but there are some. I will slowly be going through them.

In July, when Benny turned 8, we entered the world of Cub Scouts! It didn't take long for him to earn his Bobcat. 

Benny has been really excited for this and every week wears his uniform and has his book. He has read through the whole thing multiple times by now. And whenever he has anything to be added to his shirt he makes sure to ask me until I am able to get it done. 

A friend took pictures of us at the pack meeting when Benny was advanced. I just need to get the pictures onto the computer. Will have to add later. 

We love our scout and are excited to watch him go through this program. I think it has been good for him already! 

Community Helper

A while back Andy had community helper day. He was able to dress up like a doctor thanks to his dad!

Today he brought these papers home from school:

The paper says:

“If I could have any job in the community I would be a doctor. At my job I would help people feel better. I would help people by helping them. This is an important job because it is rely rely helpfol. Being a doctor would be helpful.”

And here is our future “rely helpfol doctor”:

Clothed

Anne loves Beak. Her pink bear. Yesterday (I didn't get a picture, unfortunately), she kept asking me to tie and re-tie some baby washcloths on Beak for clothes. She had a shirt and a skirt. Anne loved it. She was so sad when she lost the original washcloth at the grocery store yesterday. I, however, was not as we have so many of those things that end up scattered all over the house. I assured her we would find a replacement, which we did before lunch. 

This morning Anne was asking for a re-tie and I thought I could do something a little more permanent. 

Anne loves it and she has informed me that Beaky loves her new dress, too. 

And I love felt for quick projects!

It has been so fun to see Anne and how happy she is about Beaky and her dress. 

Morning farewell

What I wish I could record are all the things they all yell to Spencer as he drives away for the day. In this case they were farewells for the night as well. Spencer is on call tonight, but we love that that means he will be home tomorrow! And an even better treat is that Spencer is taking Friday off so we will have a five day weekend with the holiday on Monday! We are looking forward to a fun time with a quick overnight trip to Ohio to visit some very dear friends. 

First day of school

We now have three kids in school! I can hardly believe it. Benny, Andy, and Lilia have all been so excited to start school for pretty much the whole summer. 

I remembered to make signs as we were ready to head to the bus stop. It took four different markers to get them done since apparently all of ours are about out of ink. 

Janie gets to join us at the bus stop, now!

The day before school started, Spencer texted to suggest I take the little girls to the children's museum or the zoo on the first day of school. I knew I would need to do something, but, quite frankly, I did not want to set the bar too high!  We settled on a bike ride to the park. 

Janie's first ride on the merry-go-round. Despite what it looks like, she did love it. 

She also insisted on a solo ride on the "big girl swing."  This little girl thinks she is a big girl and ready to keep up with her big brothers and sisters! She's just about there, too. 

And this beautiful girl loves any chance to swing in the little kid swings. I don't ever put her in them, but she has a friend we met there to thank for this ride!

After getting home we had lunch followed by nap time for the three of us at home. Even Anne slept (I am hoping for more of that this year)!! I must say, it was a great first day of school for everyone!

Princesses

This little girl:

loves princesses more than anything. Her favorite game is "Princess the princess." Her own invention. Here she is watching "Tangled." I love watching Anne watch her princesses. She gets the cutest looks on her face. 

Overheard

Lilia (while Benny was reading stories for story time): "Benny, you're a great big brother."

thing 6

coming November 2014.


to clear any confusion, see here, here, or here.

Zombie bride?

Anne started walking around saying, “I'm a zombie!”

February birthday catch-up: Andy

We had a fun day for Andy's sixth birthday! E did have school that day, but I think it was fun for him to go. For his birthday dinner Andy requested spaghetti with meatballs. “With real meat!” Benny called out from the other room after Andy made his decision. Yes, we had real meatballs. Next time, though, I need to add more breadcrumbs to help them stick a bit better. They were quite tasty, though. I also tried my hand at making French bread. That turned out quite well, also! It was a nice dinner. 

Opening and being excited about his Lego Star Wars set!

It doesn't look like it, but he does really love the Captain America and Iron Man action figures he got. 

Birthday cake with Optimus Prime and a small Bumblebee. 

The next day we went to The Children's Museum to celebrate Andy's birthday. One of the kids' favorite places. Here we are at the fossil digging section. 

Janie had a great time, too!

Benny and Andy were very good “helpers” in the playscape area for kids five and under. Since Andy was just older by a day I didn't have too much of a problem letting him play a little. He did keep coming to the edge of the climbing section to “check” on Anne who was playing in the sand section by me. 

Everybody loves making music!

Who doesn't love riding a carousel?!

We had a great celebration for Andy's birthday! Andy is great at being six. He loves to play with his siblings and is great at watching out for his younger sisters and making sure they don't get into things they shouldn't. Andy really enjoys being a kindergartener and is doing really well at school. He is loved by all who know him. Church included. 

I especially love that Andy is so tender-hearted. He cares about things. And he likes to feel secure. Benny would love it if he and Andy could go to the bus stop on their own every morning. They can, but Andy always asks that I go with them. I do almost every day. I know that some day that will stop. One of my favorite things is that sometimes when I am walking by Andy he will reach up to hold my hand. Another thing I know won't last forever. Nor should it. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying it when I get it. 

Happy Birthday, Andy Dandy Dooby Doo!!

February birthdays: Anne

I think these first two are a repeat, but this was the morning of Anne's birthday. She came in initially complaining that Andy kept saying she was three. I said she was three. “No, I not. I two,” she replied. We finally convinced her she is three and she loved all the happy birthday singing all day. 

This was one of our snow days for the kids and Spencer was home, too! We were all able to take it easy. 

I wish this picture were better, but we were watching Sleeping Beauty as a family (Anne's favorite) and Anne just loved it. 

The other spectators:

After the movie we made party hats! The kids love these. It has been a fun, if sporadic, tradition. 

The roads were clear enough that we went to Chicago's Pizza for their lunch buffet. The kids love it! We had a great time. 

Most of us had our party hats on still, and at one point the manager came up and wished the birthday kids a happy birthday. Then he told us we could go to the adjoining frozen yogurt place and request free frozen yogurt! He came back a little later and said he already talked to the owner/manager over there so we could just head over. It turns out we all got a free frozen yogurt! It was very generous and we all. Enjoyed it.

Anne's birthday dinner: quinoa with beans, peppers, cilantro lime dressing, and I think we even had avocado. Delicious!

And here she is wearing Lilia's Snow White dress – Lilia's birthday present to Anne. 

The group. 

Still don't have the camera pictures yet, so the cake pictures will come later. Here is Anne with her favorite! A Sleeping Beauty dress with some necklaces. She has worn that dress most days since her birthday. Luckily grandma and grandpa's present that came a little late had a duplicate dress! She has been able to trade and occasionally even share with Lilia!

Our February birthday kids!

Happy third birthday, Anne! We love your many faces, your smile, your laugh, and all your different mannerisms. One of my favorites is your love of a dancing dress and all things princess. We love you, Annie Banannie!