A Successful Day of Shopping

My mom and Kelly and I took advantage of a lazy Saturday and headed to Spokane. I found these little treasures at a discount Disney store.

I was beyond excited when I found this red "Belle" dress. I probably would have paid excessively good money for it as it was the first red Belle dress I had ever seen, and a classy and well-made one at that (without the usual tacky Belle brooch or other such nonsense). But, even better, it reversed to the yellow side, which is the model Kayte is wearing. An $80 dress for $25 - score!

I was then frantic (as I was late to meet K and mom) to find something equally cool and exciting for the boy. Which I did! A Captain Davy Jones costume, complete with dreadlocks! It was a costume straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, one of our favorite Disneyland memories.

A very big Thank-You to the kids' great-grandma and great-grandpa from California who helped fund this little surprise with money from their Christmas card. It was a huge hit!

Breakin' the Law!

Ben had his eye appointment in Spokane this morning, and as it was not naptime, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try Ben out facing forward in his seat. He loves it! (Will would be particularly interested in the fact that this is not 100% legal as he is only nearing 11 months. Will likes to know every single law and what happens if you break it. He would also like to know all the laws that you can go to jail for. A very intriguing and frequent line of questioning. He is extremely disappointed that neither Joe nor I know every single law on the books).

Before.

And after. Such a cool dude! (Riding legally in his cramped little seat!)

They had to dilate his eyes for testing so they gave him some cool little shades to wear outside that he actually kept on for a whole 7 minutes!
Turns out Ben has perfectly perfect eyes, just as we expected and hoped for! Plus we got to spend some one-on-one time with the little guy and that is always a lot of fun! Good day!

P.S. If any of you out there know any fun new laws that we could share with Will we would appreciate knowing about them. Our list is getting a little tiresome. . .

Sara Kisses

Sara is so full of life! She is always dancing or singing or spinning. Her kisses are the best!

It was about 11 am the other day and Sara wanders in and says, "I'm hungry!"
"Me too!" says I.
"Me three!" says she with a big grin. But wait a minute, "I'm not threeee! . . . . . .I'm two! . . . You're three!"

Worms in Dirt

Will was in charge of bringing treats to his class on Monday to celebrate his birthday. It is the one time that he is allowed to bring cupcakes, but as I share his teacher's disdain for the unreasonable mess that cupcakes make, I decided to plan something different.
This is kind of tricky as my kids are extremely picky, even about treats, but what boy wouldn't love "Worms in Dirt!"?
I was thrilled by his reaction of "Yuck, that's gross!!!"
He thought it was a fun little joke.
Proud-Mom moment!

Drop-Dead Handsome!

I finally wrestled Ben to the ground to give him a little trim around the front and sides.
How's it look? . . . I know, I can't take my eyes off 'im!

The Little Boys' Party

We invited four little boys, and cousin Jack, to celebrate with a smaller, just-for-boys and sisters party. It was a lot of fun actually!

I was pretty proud of the decor, dripping with Cars :) Will was very complimentary as usual!

We had tater tots and hot dogs and the boys talked non-stop!

And of course, more presents. Boys always know just what to get!

And we dressed them up as pirates with spy glasses, eye-patches, daggers, and guns, then sent them on a treasure hunt all around the house. They played the part well!

Presents!

Sara even wrapped her gift - which, incidentally, turned out to be Will's favorite of the day - a small dagger and gun from the dollar store!

Posing with the Casebolt presents.

Cupcakes - what a mess ;)

I love this cool skulls bandana, it really completes the pirate look for him!

More cousins!

We spent Sunday lunch at the Casebolts to celebrate Will's birthday - we were happy to find even more cousins there. . .

This is a tough one cause they look super-alike in this photo. I have to think about it!

Here all the boys, and Sara, gathered around to say good-bye to little Anthony.

Ben is becoming a bit aggressive with the babies (he's already taken a bite out of Hudson and he was attacking a poor little doll just the other day.) We had to keep a close eye on him around the twins, although it seems that Anthony is safe for some reason. He is a bit smaller and less threatening I suppose!

Handsome Fellas!

Ben and Hudson are hanging out in the nursing room together! They are really growing fast!

Party with the cousins!

Will, Madison, and Ava have birthdays within 6 days of each other! We used to take the tour to each other's houses to celebrate, but now we have streamlined birthdays to our usual Sabbath Night gatherings. So, we had three little people to shower this time around! I remember celebrating little Ava's first birthday and then going into labor with Will the next night. They are all pretty close in age. . .

The birthday kids! Waiting to blow out candles on their individual cakes.

Will's was an oreo cookie ice cream cake!

Opening the birthday gifts is like a mini-Christmas morning. They don't mind at all sharing their day with their cousins, I think they prefer it that way! I know for sure that Kayte wishes she had a February birthday (Well, at least in February that is what she is thinking. She doesn't mention it come October! :)

Snuggle Bug

Ben was in the mood to snuggle on Saturday night, and he snuggled with anyone who held him! Must have been tuckered out - he usually saves all his cuddling just for me!

Happy Birthday Will!

He sure is getting big! (And handsome!)

Will is always fun to be around - you just never can tell what he might say next! But he makes us laugh all the time!
He takes his role as a protector very seriously, although he isn't really big on the idea of letting girls go first all the time. But he is very fast with the spider-killing or holding his little sister's hand when we cross the street.
I love watching his imagination run wild, he is always on some kind of adventure, like hunting "Jumpy the squirrel" in the back yard. He can be a pirate, Peter Pan, a cowboy, a super-hero, a dragon, a lion, a car. . .whenever he likes. He is hardly ever just a boy!
He easily makes friends wherever we go, but he is terribly shy when he is put on the spot.
He gives the best hugs.
He sleeps super-hard, it is almost impossible to wake him before he is ready. And if you succeed, he needs an extra half-hour to become fully concious.
I love it when I'm getting ready to go somewhere, he is full of compliments on my dress, my hair, or my shoes. I asked Joe one time if he thought I should go back to being a real brunette, and little Will was shocked, "No, I love your hair - it is beautiful!"
He dreams of being as tall and as smart as his Dad. He is already well on his way. I'm always shocked by the way his mind works and he can always come up with a solution to a problem.
He loves it best when he has your undivided attention.
He is full of life, tender-hearted, sweet and loves to test his limits. We are so blessed that he is ours!
Happy 5th Birthday Will! We love you!

Happy Birthday Ava Blythe!

Love the sweater Ava, very chic!

Miss Ava turns 6 today - I can't believe it! I remember the day she came into this world, all rosy red. She has always seemed so grown-up, but this year she has really matured into a kind and friendly person! She is always interested in every little story that the kids have to share and she always asks the most thoughtful questions. She has been so fun to watch as she grows up, a little bit like her dad, and a lot like her mom! I love seeing the two of them show up in her!
Have a wonderful birthday Ava! We love you!

When daddy's away. . .

. . .the kids will play!
I had all the kids all to myself this evening while Joe was meeting with the school board, so we were just playing around in Ben's room and I happened to have a camera, so. . . I decided to get all of them squeezed into the same frame for some candids!
It is so much easier without the coordinated clothing (or a hairbrush for that matter!)
And actually kind of fun!

We did lose Sara about 30 seconds into my little project. Notice she is still dressed as Belle. She wears this dress every day over whatever I originally put her in that morning.

Will, running the show!

At some point in the evening Sara asked me where Joe was. "Is he at work?" says she.
"Um. . .yeah." says I, not wanting to take the time to explain about where he was exactly.
"No he's nooot!" says she, "He's at schooool. . .silly milly!"

No matter what they may say. . .

. . .they really are best buds!

Fuzzy, but totally worth it!

Big Sis

Sara is always begging to get into Ben's crib to play. I finally gave in. . .

She taught him all kinds of tricks, like jumping up and down. . .

. . .and the most useful trick of all - escaping!

She was my only child that ever managed to get out of the crib on her own before we moved her out. . .so she probably has some good tips.
He obviously thinks so!