Welcome to our blog

Even though I am starting 4 years into the process, I am going to document my experience with raising a family. After finding out that you can print your blog into a book, I decided this would be one of the best gifts I could give to my children and to myself. The moments are precious but life is moving at such a fast pace that I just don't have time to appreciate it all. I want my kiddos to know how much they are loved even when life is crazy...Enjoy.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Eli's Third Birthday!!!

Well, Eli took his third trip around the sun and he had a very good time doing it. Considering, he found most of his birthday presents early he managed to act surprised. He started off his birthday weekend with a little dance party with his girl, Stella, our good friend Katie's daughter. They whooped it up and to some kid's CD about Bee's. (wish i could remember what it was but I don't). 
 Oh, did i mention that it was  NAKED dance party?


Stella and Katie gave him his first doll which he loved.  A boy doll that was anatomically correct.  He went to town changing his diaper and making him pee on a potty, and giving him a bottle.  Very cute.   The next morning was the big birthday.  He started off the morning enjoying his new trampoline which we acquired from someone whose children were grown and out of the house. 





Next, he got open one of his presents that he already found.  He managed to do a good job acting surprised.  I appreciated that since I underestimated my 3 and 4.5 year olds abilties to open up boxes and laying on the ground.  Keith was very unimpressed with my ability to hide the gifts.  Eli's g-parents came over before his party and to give him his gifts and to help us get stuff to the party location.




Real knight garb.  Life just got way more exciting...


"Your stick is no match for out swords.!"

Backyard is starting to look like a playground...The trampoline was the newest addition put up last Tuesday...

Sweet, excited face.


This is from Mima (Keith's mom) . Very good to keep them busy and now they can wheel their toys wherever they desire.

Hudson becoming THOR!

Then we went to the pool, swam, ate, played.  It was  great day for my little guy... Most of his cousins were there including the ones that live in Ireland and they took amazing care of him.  It's really great getting to be the baby, sometimes.  I really didn't have to keep a eye on him.  They were all over him. I couldn't get back if I wanted to.  I can now see the case for having 10 kids.  Not that I could afford that.

Grandee in from Lexington

Eli into eating the corn chips more than swimming in the pool...

Carri and Lou's daughter Josie

Autumn, Eli's buddy.

June Apple and Mama Katy.  June Apple makes Eli feel like a "Big boy"

Huddy's best buddy, Jonah and his mom Sara

Tristan in from Ireland

Theo (Irsh crew)  chasing Hudson

Danielle, playing in the spray.



Madeleine in from Ireland

Hudson with his Aunt Nicole

Kallista cousin in from Lexington

Danielle, cousin who lives in Loveland

Benjamin, Eli's cousin who's birthday party was later that eveing.  They are 8 years and 2 days apart.

Mom and Karen being fashionably, unique?

Poppy in from Lexington


Theo becoming THOR!

Eli's strawberry and whipped cream cake.  So yummy!

Happy Birthday, Eli... We love you!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Swing sets, jackhammers, and parades

Last weekend, we started a swing set and dug 2- 3 foot deep holes (which proved to be more fun than swinging for the boys).  They were unbelievably excited to help with the process.  They had their own shovels and worked with us  and of course, got into the holes...  This weekend (4th of july) we had to finish filling those holes with concrete.  The 9 bags we filled it with weren't enough so mixing another 10 was, let's just say, really fun...  Keith and I just kept saying, "This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be".  I guess you can say, that when we do all of our necessary house projects, we expect them to be hard, but  a swingset, that should've been a blast.  Whew!  Glad to be done and the boys love it. Its fun to just sit and take a million pics of them whooshing in the little moments of their childhood...




  After a few hours of curing, we were off to a great Saturday with lots of swinging fun before Huddy's playdate at his buddy Jonah's house...











Next, we weren't feeling tired enough, so Keith's buddy brought over his new jackhammer attachment.  Okay, I think, let's tear up 6 tons of concrete this afternoon.  I mean how hard can that be. We have bobcat.   So, we do this:
And you see those giant chunks of rock.  Well, we have to pick all of those up and put them into bobcat bucket.  It just couldn't scoopem' up right.  I likened this task to that of building a pyramid without a crane or any heavy equipment.  Eli, was a cheerleader and he helped us all day. I couldn't believe it.   Huddy was at Jonah's playing lego starwars and he was loading rocks into a bucket and he loved it.  We took him for Indian food afterwards and he kept telling the waitress.  "I help."  He is sooooo like a little Keith and Hudson is soooo like a little me.   We managed to get the backyard back to homeostasis.


 So we got to feeling a little bored with ourselves. I mean who wants to lay in a hammock on the 4th of july weekend. Not us. So we decided that it was time to cover the soffet in the kitchen. I mean, we've only been looking at exposed pipes for a year in the kitchen. Why do it one more day? So out comes the chop saw, sander and router. Luckily, for the boys I am not a die hard. I weedeated the front yard and got to making cookies, setting up the sprinkler and making lego star wars out of toilet paper rolls and tissue paper...While papabear did what he does best. BUILD!





Boys were cracking me up. They didn't want to get wet in the sprinkler, so they used their unbrellas.





This is so obviously, YODA!

Clone trooper, yo!


So Monday, the big day came and we were up at 9am at he Pancake breakfast fundraiser for CAIN (Churches Active in Northside). Then we crashed in on our friends John and Fernanda by 10:30am. By 11:30, we were at our house getting ready for the parade we were going to be in. We joined these guys:
Huddy Buddy and Eli got their drills on Friday and started practicing early:
We all got into the Men's Drill team this year and it was a LONG, hot parade.  Luckily, their were Mojitos at Liz and Fred's, Hawaiin Shaved Ice at the festival and we ended the evening with an impromptu dinner party with Hudson's best buddy, Jonah's family...  And to think the boys say they are bored, today....


Happy Fourth of July!!!