Birth Announcement

The one that made the cut :)

The "Okay, everyone squeeze in" one.

The "The girls are smiling, the rest of you hurry up and smile too!" one.

The "The girls are getting giggly and wiggly, try to hold it together for a few more shots!" one.

The "Livie is past the point of no return, I think we are done." one.  :)  (This one almost made the cut, it is pretty funny, but Livie kind of took the limelight so I thought I better pick a different one since it is Noah's announcement... he sort of gets lost in there doesn't he?)

Funny Business

Real Life at our house. :) Baylee with no shirt, Brenna screaming in the background... but too cute to pass up, especially after how long it has been with no post. Life is good, just busy, hope to catch up soon!

Aubrey hitting Daddy

Aubrey loves tennis. His favorite part is when he hits Tony with the ball. :) I love that little laugh!

Tony and Brenna have this game they play. She totally knew she was being taped and stopped doing it as loudly as she usually does, but she sits on his lap and leans forward (meaning: lift me up!) and he lifts her up and she screams. She then turns around and makes sure I saw it and says, "Dada." Like, "Dada is so fun." :) We think she is so funny, they do this every night and it never gets old!

Jaden's Birthday Wisdom

I took this of Jaden at breakfast on his birthday. He had already been talking for about 20 minutes before I thought to grab the camera. It is a regular occurrence in our house that Jaden blesses us with every thought that enters his head.

I thought it would be fun to share with you. :)

Just for fun

The kids always make sure that the girls are entertained. I walked in the room the other day and had to do a double take!  It was so funny to see them both staring at open books.  My kids crack me up.  :)

Arizona Day 4

Our last day here was pretty low key. We spent all morning at the pool. The kids had a blast, and I got very "tan". :) Jaden got to play with his friend Lila (not Layla!) as we found out, and Baylee made a little friend too. Aubrey mostly hung out with me, as usual.

 Afterwards, it was naptime!  Tony, Aubrey and Baylee crashed, and Jaden and I snuck away to look for souveniers and hunt for Arapaunas in the river.  :)  We had a nice time, just the two of us, talking about all sorts of interesting things.

When everyone woke up it was nearly 5:00.  We ran down to the pool one last time and played and got dinner.

This one was up to his usual antics tonight.  The waiter came by and asked him how his vacation was going.  His reply: "Well, my bacation is good, but, do you know what I hate about this place?  I really hate that slide because it spits me out into the fast water and it is 6 meters taller than I am!  (the waiter starts to comment...) And, do you know what else I hate?  I really hate all of the bosquitos here.  (mosquitos)  Yeah, I really hate when they stab you and they put their larvae under your skin."  Their conversation went on about 15 minutes, they covered just about every topic and I was laughing so hard through most of it that I can't even remember what all was discussed.  I know he warned the guy about the arapauna in the river, and asked him "where are all of the Indians anyway?"  When the waiter asked him what the stars on the flag mean he said, "They mean that you are in Bakersfield.  Bakersfield, California."  :)  I love this boy.

Kid Quotes

Tony brings a guy over to introduce to us and Jaden asks him, "Are you the waiter? Where are you from? Do you have any children? Well... haven't you found a wife yet?"  The poor guy finally left and said, "Man!  I can't handle all of the questions!  I'm going to make sure he finds my girlfriend tomorrow night and he can talk to her about all of these things."  :P

Kid Quotes

Aubrey sees a Mexican family sitting at the table next to us at lunch and informs me that "those Indians are thinking of a plot to kill us." This, I'm afraid, is going to be the theme of our vacation, the kids are all a little nervous about all the Indians at our resort... too much Jim Elliot? Probably.

Easter

What does it take to get a decent family picture when you have 5 small children? Don't ask me, because we haven't figured it out yet! This one was almost perfect, until Aubrey decided to be superman and fly away.

Tony tries to restrain him, and Baylee and I tell him to put his hands in his lap.

Unsuccessful. He stops flying and begins punching an imaginary bad guy. I love Tony's hand, like he is saying "Look at this child. Oh well, I tried." More likely, he is waiting for those little hands to get close so he can snatch them and hold them down.

Finally, a "bald eagle" flys by. Probably a hawk, but I wasn't really paying attention. It seems I was the only one not impressed. Well, maybe next time. Or, maybe when they are all over the age of 5! :P

Girly Things

Baylee has always been interested in girly things, but especially lately. She is starting to notice her clothes and have opinions about how her hair is done. I absolutely cannot keep her out of my shoes. Lately though, it has been all about the high heels.

I grabbed a few pictures of her lining up all of her favorites of my shoes. :)

She has also been very into her nails being painted. This all started when Anne started a tradition of painting her fingers and toes everytime she stays there. (every other Wednesday) The other day she thought of a "great idea!" She used markers to paint them herself, taking advantage of the fact that I never let her do red with the real polish. :) She always wants red. Is that a bad sign??

Why I love my Jaden

I asked Jaden to "be the waiter" one morning, (in our house that means taking the food to the table and everyone fights over who gets to be the waiter at every meal.) When I got in there, I found him waiting to pray with his food in front of him and a festive little umbrella in his milk. He is so funny, he got this umbrella at school and saved it until breakfast the next morning. He is always full of surprises. :)

Pre-Thanksgiving Photo Shoot

This is all I get anymore when I take pictures.

At least we are out of "running away from the camera and Medusa-like eye contact avoidance" stage.

But come on, what is with all of the funny poses? Aubrey is trying to be a tough guy, Jaden is being a Knight doing some sort of strategic, defensive pose and Baylee, well, we are just not sure about her all together.

I know, it is probably good that I will remember them how they actually are rather than how I think they should pose, all looking ahead smiling and keeping their hands to themselves. *Sigh* We are just a "candids only" family, at least for several more years. Right when they get into that awkward teenage stage, then they will learn how to sit and smile nicely. :)

Christmas Program

Jaden was in a little Christmas program at his school last night. It was very cute. He was incredibly excited about it and sang with enthusiasm and a huge smile! He keeps saying/screaming/singing, "Mystery Christmas! Mystery Christmas! And a Happy Two Ear!" Also, "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells All Da Way!" He was a little rambunctious. When I say a little, I mean that Miss Bonnie had to scold him over the microphone in the middle of the show. :)However, he did about as well as we expected and surprised us with his excitement and not an ounce of stage fright. We were proud of him, and it was a lot of fun!