A Winter Zoo Day

Okay, so we decided to do something for President's Day that we've never done before. We took a trip to the Hogle Zoo. There's been hardly any snow at our house (not unusual for a place by a lake) but the zoo had a foot on the park where the kids HAD to play! Ah well, they had fun.

There weren't too many animals out and about. All of the African animals (elephants, giraffes, primates, etc) were put away for the winter and we couldn't see them. Well, that is except the ostriches. Weird, if you ask me. But the tigers were lazing around and the Amur leopard was pacing. So, at least the big cats were actually doing something. Normally, they just lie in the shade and pant during the summer time.

Jack walked most of the way, choosing only inopportune times to get out of the stroller while I was pushing it. But he had some fun this time and wasn't left home to nap. The zoo wasn't even that busy. We got front row parking! It's amazing I got some good shots, since I the sun was so bright and I couldn't see the display on my phone! I was just hoping they turned out okay.

Happy Birthday, John John Man!

Has it really been six years since John John entered our lives? I'm probably going to say this about all of my kids on every birthday they have! Oh well. He's gotten to be such a big boy and so fun to have around. He's starting to want to plan his own parties more and invite people to them. Maybe next year I'll remember to include him more on the plans (and limit how many school friends can come...I mean, I can only accommodate so many seven year olds then!).

For those of you who don't recognize the cake, it's a Bakugan (Japanese cartoon series) that John has fallen in love with. He has never really seen the show but he loves the idea of creatures being captured in little balls and then transforming to fight battles for their owners. It's rather like Pokemon (if you know what that is) with a more fierce twist.

But John had a great time with his cousins! He was so happy to see everyone that came and then to open the gifts they gave him. We missed everyone who couldn't be there, but John says "thanks and (sheepishly) says I love you."

John loved all of his gifts! I have never seen a kid so excited about the variety of gifts. He was just as excited to get stickers as he was to get new school shirts! He has poured over the Japanese comic books called Gon. Everyone wanted to "read" these at the party (even those who can't read can understand these because it's a comic book without any words). Quite impressive!

I don't know what happened to pictures of the R/C truck he got, but John also loved the newest remote control addition to the family. He loves anything that flies or shoots, and has since driven the truck through some soft snow just for fun. He loves all of his presents and all of you who thought of him on his birthday. Thanks a bunch!

Happy Birthday Bekah!

Our Bekah Mae Mae has just turned 3! Really? It doesn't seem like she's only three. She acts so big (and she's quite tall too!) that it surprises me sometimes that she's still so "young." Ah well. I guess that's what happens when you try to do everything your four and a half year old sister does. What a big girl!

When we went to the store to pick out a special birthday cake, Bekah wanted three different cakes, "Because I'm three," she said. Shawn liked this thinking but Mommy squashed the idea. With just us celebrating together this year (sorry if you felt left out...but I didn't feel like hosting after such a difficult past couple of weeks), I knew we would barely be able to handle this little cake, let alone three! Bekah and Kelsey didn't fight much over the rings: each got two and they were content.

Both of her gifts were a big hit, although I'd say the Mr. Potato Man was the best loved by everyone. Even Jack wanted to try on the glasses-- to be like Mommy and Daddy. But Bekah has loved the baby doll more than I've seen her love any other baby doll. Yeah! Thanks to all of you who love and support our little Bekah!

Number Five is on His Way

Surprise to y'all! The battle of the sexes has been somewhat won--for the time being. John has convinced Kelsey that having a new baby brother really would be better than getting a new baby sister. I think Bekah doesn't really care either way. She loves playing with Kelsey and a new baby wouldn't be someone to play with for a few years anyway.

But anyway, in about five months, we should count seven in our household. That's how many seat belts we have in the van. Time to upgrade?

I love little baby feet!

Autumn Leaves and the Kids

It's been a pretty mild Autumn this year and the leaves have been pretty slow to fall near our home. The maple trees across the street have finally all turned yellow and are dropping their leaves. But the sycamore trees in front of our house are barely starting to turn brown. We'll see how quickly that changes after the next couple of days when the cold storm finally hits.

The kids have loved going across the street to pile up leaves and jump in them. Jack loves to run through them and listen to the crunch! Kelsey and Bekah pretend they have bouquets of flowers and they love to throw them in the air to see them fall again. It's been lots of fun to see them playing.

Shawn and I were remembering back to our first home with the Box Elder tree that dumped bags full of leaves on our lawn. We had such fun piling them together to let John play in them. Ah well. Memories and photos are what we keep of that. But it's great to see all of the kids enjoying the changing seasons.

Happy Halloween

To all of you ghosts and ghouls, we wish you a Happy Halloween! It's a few days late, but here's some of the highlights of our kids' experience. I have to say, it turned out better than we expected...since it was thundering and pouring at 1730 when we had planned to get started. By 1800, it had cleared enough that we thought we'd get a few houses in before the rain would start again. Luckily, it didn't rain again while we were gathering candy.

John forgot to wait for his sisters and Jack was always at the rear. But we had Jack trained by the end of the night to say "thank you", in his own way. It was fun and we got quite the haul. Poor Bekah's handle on her candy bucket broke it was so heavy! Sorry, no pictures of Jack in his frog costume. But I'm sure if you checked out last year's pictures, you can see Bekah in the same costume Jack wore this year.

The kids picked out their own designs for the pumpkins and I got the privilege of gutting, cleaning, and carving the jack-o-lanterns. Not too bad...since I had kids bumping and hovering over me during the sawing process. Jack got the bat and the moon; Bekah's became the owl when Jack broke the frowning jack-o-lantern; John chose the flaming pumpkin; and Kelsey chose the witch. It was fun! Hope you had a fun Halloween too!

War Paint

Chalk art is always an adventure with our kids. It usually gets all over their clothes and then just brushes off. Add an artist to the mix, and you get even more unusual results-- not bad, just unexpected. Jack got the inspiration this time. Doesn't he look like a "native?" I think he went around town like this for a few hours...and he still brings smiles to our faces.