the bebe.

sister is three months now and had her first laugh. Matthew was practically ripping her arms off when i was saying, "be careful!!! you're going to hurt her!!!" and then the little monkey girl started laughing. That's always how it goes. They think their siblings are hilarious.... and what can I say... they are.

Matthew likes to bend over and shake his bottom up and down to get her to laugh, jack likes to smile REALLY REALLY big at her, and nate just says, "hi honey." They all love her so much.

Maybe one day she'll laugh at me, but with three fun and goofy brothers around I'm sure they'll be more entertainment! Plus, the other day Jack told me that I was boring... so it only makes sense that she laughs at them first.

create.

i can't deny the desire in me to create. and i'm so grateful to be a daughter of the greatest creator of all.



"You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.
What you create doesn't have to be perfect. Don't let fear of failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.

I believe that as you create beauty and as you are compassionate to others—God will encircle you in the arms of His love. Discouragement, inadequacy, and weariness will give way to a life of meaning, grace, and fulfillment."

waiting on summer.....

oh how they love her.

Today I wanted to take some pictures of charlie since she's almost 3 months!!!!!!! I can't believe it!!!! And the boys wanted to be in some with her, and they also requested some of her and their "stuff!"







This is really how she felt about the whole picture taking thing today. I think maybe reality hit her that she will have to do stuff like this for the next 18 years....

parable of the ketchup...

Looking at these photos here you'd think they were having a great day!! But they are actually in timeout. Why? Well, all I can say is ketchup. After I heard what seemed to be joyous laughter that can only come from a child I stepped out of the room to take a look... and not to my surprise they were up to no good.

Apparently Jack was the brains behind this operation, although he claims to have not taken any part in it... But anyways, Nate got out one of those big 42 oz. ketchup bottles from the fridge and Jack had the great idea to have nate jump on it. Well, how could matt possibly not participate in such a fun act, so he also started stomping on the bottle (this is when I enter the room...). So as I discover this there are streams of ketchup in perfect little rows all over my living room carpet. I line them all up, sit them on the couch, and tell them to get comfy cause they're going to be sitting there for a long time!!!! Right them I hear the garage door open and I thought, "perfect timing!! Your dad's home!! He's going to teach you!!!!" I got the teach you part... just not exactly how I had expected....

Most people think David's a hard dad, but reality is that he has alternative teaching methods... like this one for example. We like to call this the parable of the Ketchup bottle:

When David came in I said, "perfect timing dad... come have a look at what they boys were doing." He didn't get upset, didn't yell, didn't scream, just said," well, I'm really disappointed. I guess we'll just have to put ketchup on their blankets!!!" And if you know our boys, their world came crashing down!!!!! Not on their blankets!!!!! Those are their prized possessions. So, he laid out the blankets one by one, came to the first, put the ketchup bottle down on the floor and proceeded to do just what they did... step on it... only he didn't realize that he has much more force than they do and what do you know.... ketchup squirted straight across the floor and right onto the side of the couch too!!!! Haha! He looked over at me with a woops look!!!

It was pretty funny! luckily the ketchup from the boys and David came up with out a problem. There are no remnants of it... just a great memory and a funny story. So next time you decide to teach your children a lesson by doing exactly what they did, just to their stuff, remember the parable of the ketchup bottle... be just a little bit more careful than they were, just pick the bottle up and squirt it on their blanket... you don't have to actually step on it!!! Haha!

I"m pretty sure I might sound like this all day....

he's growing up..

What can I say? I love the guy! He reminds me so much of his dad. The other day they were playing "duck, duck, goose..", and all of a sudden jack say, "duck, duck, duck, california." So random and silly... just like his dad! He was letting me try out a few shots on his today. He's so good to pose for me if i need to test something. And these three describe him perfectly... happy jack, can we get this over with jack, and silly jack............

*while sitting here writing this I heard what sounded like "loads of fun".... so I got up to investigate.... and there were "loads of crackers" all over the floor.... cheese it's and wheat thins to be exact, which reminds me that I need to do a post about the ketchup... another food incident.*