Amber's Baby Shower

 We had Amber's baby shower a couple weeks ago. It also happened to be my brother, Billy's, graduation party so we were able to do it on the same day. We had the baby shower in the morning, so we had carmel rolls, fruit, egg bake, coffee, and juice. We played some games, chatted, and then Amber opened presents. This is when it got funny!

 What kid doesn't like opening presents? When Amber started, my three rushed up to the front to "help." They started grabbing presents left and right. Amber was trying to maintain some sort of order up front but she was outnumbered. ;)

 For those of you who know my sister, you can see why this was funny. She's very organized and very type A. She was trying to thank each person as the gifts were opened but the kids were throwing the cards to the side and gifts were being opened 2-3 at a time. Again, it was funny watching Amber. I really really wish I would have video taped it. You may be wondering why I didn't go up there and grab my kids? I really don't know why. I think I was having such a fun time watching Amber.

 Mia is running off with a gift. Amber held her cool. I later asked her why she didn't yell at me. :) She responded, "there were too many people there."

 My 90 year old grandma bought these shirts for Evan. My grandma is pretty spunky.

 Jude is so dang cute when she smiles.

 Oh yeah, I had the girls' hair cut off. We were all sick of brushing it. They cut about 8 inches off of each one. It's so much easier washing and brushing it.

 The girls and Uncle Shayne. They had a lot of fun playing with him.

My nephew Evan. Isn't he cute? I think he really looks like Shayne.

Birthday Pictures

 Here are some pictures from Mike's birthday. I only took a few, it turns out. Mike requested a rainbow cake. I made him a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting in case you're wondering why he has a pink cake.

The kids had to help blow the candles out which means they spit all over the cake. :) Uncle Mark didn't want a piece but we made him have one. :)

Jesus is a Pilot

Ethan and I somehow started talking about dying. I told him that when you die, you get to see God, Jesus, and Mary in heaven. He said he wanted to die right now and go see them. I told him that you want to be really old when you die.

He then asked where heaven was. I tried to explain that it was above us. He wasn't quite grasping it so I told him it was above the airplanes that fly above us. Ethan asked, "is Jesus on airplanes?" I told him, "I'm sure he is."

After our conversation, Ethan went down to see Mike who was just finishing up with work. Mike came upstairs and said to me, "Ethan told me that Jesus flies airplanes." I laughed and laughed. Mike looked at me and asked, "why would you tell him that?" I laughed some more and then explained the conversation we had.

I love that what he remembered from our conversation on death, God, Jesus, Mary, and heaven was that Jesus flew airplanes. I love how innocent they are!

NOT proud

I've been telling the kids how proud I am of them when they are behaving well or do something nice. I guess it's starting to stick with Mia...

I was helping Mia change into her jammies. I was trying to get her shirt over her head and it was a very tight fit. As I was pulling, her eyes were distorted so I started laughing. She started getting mad at me. And then, the shirt got stock on her earrings and pulled them a little. She was not happy with me at all. She looked at me, squinted her eyes, and yelled, "Mom, I am NOT proud of you."

Meeting Baby Evan

The kids were finally able to meet "Baby Evan." Amber and Shayne came to visit us. The kids talk about Evan all of the time, so it was neat when they first saw him.

They were very curious in everything that had to deal with Evan. They surrounded Shayne when he was feeding him.

They were able to inspect him closely when he was laying on the ground. They like to pet him. :)

Everyone was curious when it was time to change his diaper. Our three kids plus Jude and Noah.

Petting him some more. They love him so much! Amber and Shayne did really well with the kids touching him non-stop and wanting to be near him.

They were patiently waiting to hold him. Even Jude is smiling! They all wanted to be the first one to hold him.

Riley tried giving Evan various toys. They also tried giving him chips. :)

Amber put Evan in Jude's doll carriage. The kids had a blast pushing him around the house. His feet were hanging over the edge but otherwise, he looked pretty comfortable in there. He actually fell asleep at one point.

Our kids talk about "Baby Evan" quite a bit. The newest thing that Mia likes to tell people is, "Baby Evan eats boobies." You've gotta love little kids!

Happy Birthday

Happy 33rd birthday to my wonderful husband! My dad and brother came down to spend the weekend with us. We grilled out and invited my sister, Sarah, and her family over. We had a pretty good time!

On Sunday, we went to the new "Avenger's" movie. It was really good. The kids behaved during the movie, though, between Mike and me, we went to the bathroom 5 different times. They need to learn to hold it! Mia almost ate an entire bucket of popcorn herself. All in all, it was a great weekend!

The Kids Like a Good Party

The kids went to their friend, Finn's, birthday party. They had it at a park which was a good idea. The kids were able to run all over the place and burn off some energy. Each of the kids scored a balloon, which made their day. It's funny how something so simple can make them so happy!

They had an Elmo pinata at the party. I've noticed that our kids are not aggressive when they're around other little kids. When the pinata broke, our three kind of stood there while the other kids were getting the candy. I had to tell them to hurry up and pick some up or it was going to be all gone. Riley didn't get any candy, so our friend, Mandy, gave her some out of Finn's bucket.

I hope they keep their gentle little spirits. They also share very well. A lot of people have commented on this when we're out and about. I guess that's one advantage of having three kids that are close in age. They share everything!

Look at that bed head!