Blue Cougs n Ham

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

My Five Year Old

We celebrated Drew's fifth birthday a couple of weeks ago! He had a great weekend both with friends and our family. Drew celebrated with his first friend party.

Drew enjoying the party(giving a big push)!

I had lunch and birthday treats at preschool with Drew.

My five year old.

Drew has always been a go with the flow type. Though lately we are definitely seeing a stubborn streak. Drew and I do a lot of hanging out together and I love it. He is so helpful and he has this sweet smile. He is very watchful of people, he notices the little things. I love how he notices the good in things. We love you Drew!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

11 months!

Today marks 11 months for Easton. I find myself mourning just a bit that my little baby is now all over the place, playing with toys, using his chubby little fingers to pick up anything and everything and insert into his mouth, and being mobile. Part of me clings to the little baby I brought home from the hospital nearly a year ago. That being said, Easton is a sweet little guy who pretty much goes with the flow. He loves his brothers and they adore him. He loves to be held and he refuses to hold his own bottle or cup. It must be fed to him and I have happily obliged this in order to enjoy those moments of holding and cuddling him.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Winter Break

Snow, snow, and more snow, and a blizzard.

Football with half-time entertainment

Hives consisting of lots of benadryl and very swollen ears.

Legos

Iowa's Childrens Museum

Learning to Ice Skate. I got to share something I learned as a kid (thanks Dad for all the shoveling you used to do on the pond so we could skate).

A Season of Joy

Christmas Eve

Easton's first Christmas - it's all about the paper!

The timing was perfect on this picture.

Christmas Eve we spent together doing our family traditions (a good mix of Mark and I's upbringings). It's always a very special time together talking of Christ and the gift of His example and love that He shares with us.

Christmas day was so much fun! I love being the parent and seeing it all through my kids eyes. As a kid I thought the fun was getting the presents, as a parent I realize the true fun is in watching my kids. We spent the day in our PJs playing and enjoying each other.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Snowed In

BLIZZARD!!!! So the thing you need to realize about these pictures is that yesterday morning none of it was there. See the 7 foot snow drift, when we had dinner last night, it was NOT there. We get this snow drift every year, but it typically takes months to build up - it took less than 24 hours this year. When I say snowed in, I mean literally...we cannot get out of our driveway. Until the city comes which may not be for another day or two we will be staying in.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Trick-or-Treat

Obi-won, Harry Potter, and a Clone Trooper geared up for a cold and windy night of Trick-or-treating.

Carving pumpkins a few nights before Trick-or-Treating.

8 months

Easton is 8 months now. He has these eyes that are so bright. When he smiles his whole face lights up. He loves his brothers. When ever a brother walks in the room he immediately gets excited. Easton cut his first tooth about a week ago and he is always tucking his lip so that he can feel that little tooth. I love going in to get him in the morinings when he wakes up. He just smiles and his whole body starts moving in excitement. He has so much to say, it is the perfect start to the day.

This picture says a mouthful!

Love those big eyes.

Brotherly love. Moments like these are what it's all about.

Stories to Share

I wanted a little space to share funny everyday happenings. So this is it ---

Dec. 3, '11 -- John Deere Water Chile had invited the John Deere Financial Chile employees and families to join them for their Holiday celebration. We traveled to the event which was about a 45 minute drive to a place we had never been to before. We took several detours prior to arriving and it was this day that Easton began to say "RECALCULATING". Sounds funny come from him instead of from Hailey, which is the name of the female voice on the GPS.

Nov. 14, '11 -- After arriving in Santiago and a long flight on Sunday, we were trying to get settled in our new home. We went to the grocery store to get the necessities and upon our return Easton declared the following. "I am not getting out of the car. this is not my house."

Sep. 21, '08 -- Then tonight we sat down and Mason announced that Mark needed to be president so that he could get all the candy he wanted for free. Priorities, priorities, priorities.

Aug. 12, '08 -- Yesterday I was doing laundry, seperating the clothes, and as I was checking pockets I pulled out a little stone from Drew's pants. This is one of my favorite things to pull out of my kids pants. I am always amazed and awed by my children. They find happiness in the things that I pass by everyday and fail to notice. The little things in life count and as I pull those rocks out of my kids pockets I am reminded just how much joy there is to find in this life. Thank you to my children and the inspiration they give me!

Jun. 19, '08 -- So I was upstairs and I heard Dallin and Drew go out into the garage. I went out there and they were playing in the car. I told them to get out and come inside. I then proceeded to tell them that the car was not a toy and to not go out there and play. Dallin looks at me and says, " Mom, it's a "TOY"ota Sienna, with a huge emphasis on the toy part. Really, a six year old should not be able to come up with that kind of comeback. I just laughed....

You had to have seen the Disney movie Cars to really appreciate this. So I'm running into the grocery store with the kids and as I am about to go inside Dallin and Drew stop and start pointing to something, while jumping up and down, laughing, and screaming "Fred! Mom it's Fred! Fred!" A couple of seconds later this large Ford Bronco that obviously weathered MANY Iowa winters and salt on the roads drives by. It is rusted all over, the place above the wheels no longer exists due to all the rust eating it away. The men in the Bronco had their windows down and just waved at the boys. I'm not sure they had any idea why my kids were so excited to see their car. I just laughed out loud! (Fred happens to be an extremely rusty car that is one of the main character's fans)