Jack's Birthday

For Jack's birthday, we had a combo birthday/baptism party since Ava's celebration fell on the same day. Several months ago, Jack was really big into Spiderman & Hobby Lobby had cake pans on sale so I bought one. Well, time passes & little boys change FAST & so by the time his birthday rolled around, he was over Spiderman & into Transformers. BUT, I had the pan, so I convinced him to have a Spiderman cake & bought the rest of the party stuff in Transformers...it all worked. He got lots of Transformers and super hero toys which made his day...and he thought his cake was AWESOME!




The kids got to pick a pumpkin & decorate it for a party gift...the girls at the party had a lot more fun with this than the boys.

Sibling Friendships

I love seeing the friendships growing between my kids!

I remember wondering when Jack was born if he & Macy would have anything in common because they were brother & sister, or if they would play together or just fight all the time. I remember wondering when Lily was born if she & Macy would have anything in common because of their age difference, thinking once she wasn't a "baby" Macy would have better things to do. But none of that has been true-Macy & Jack do PLENTY of fighting, but really they get along better than most brother and sisters & they play together all the time, finding so much in common.

And, now that Lily isn't a "baby" anymore, she & Macy are connecting too...they have fun playing together, with Lily learning how to share & be a big kid & Macy learning how to be caring and kind to little kids.


Even though I would probably be more sane (ha!), I am convinced that the BEST thing you can give your kids is siblings!!

Picking Out Pumpkins

The kids & I went to one of the pumpkin patches in town when Macy had a day off of school. There weren't many people there, so we had the place to ourselves & the owner was very helpful. Lily loved riding in the wagon-she sat in it the whole time & didn't want to get out, we just piled pumpkins all around her! We bought quite a few, since they were to be Jack's birthday party gifts. It makes it fun when you get to pick lots-you can get skinny ones, tall ones, ones with big stems-a good variety!

The more kids we have, the more of a challenge some things are, but I'm determined to keep making memories with them, trying to not think of how hard it's going to be for me but how much fun is it going to be for them...and now that Jack isn't a "flight risk", I really have good kids (MOST of the time!) so it helps!

Ava & Mommy

Ava Patrice in October

Ava is working on rolling over, she can from tummy to back & can wiggle around on her back. IF I ever put her on her tummy for tummy time, she'd probably be better at something but keeping in mind that when I do put her on the floor she's fair game, I figure her safety is more important! Just today, I put her on the floor & Lily came right over & sat on her-I think she wanted a horsey ride. She is a very happy, easy going baby & laughs a lot. She's such a blessing!

Swing Shots

Sometimes you get a great shot-one that captures the pure joy of swinging!




Nana & Bop with the kids

Shhh!

Lily, in very dramatic form, puts her chubby little finger to her mouth & says "shhhh!" when she knows Ava is asleep. The sound is usually loud enough to get the poor girl to stir, but at least she means well. Lily has become quite the little momma lately & it has been adorable-she loves to carry her baby around, or put it in the carrier & hook it on her arm (like momma does). While I was on the couch feeding Ava, she climbed up beside me & put her baby on one shoulder & hooked the phone on the other & talked to Nana.

A lot of times Lily reminds me of an Australian Shepherd & not JUST because she has cute little dog ears most days...she's just so busy, always has a job, always moving something from one place to another.

Here she's waiting for her big sister to get home from school.