Let the creative juices flow

I have wanted to get a kids table for our living room for a while but could never find the right one.

Turns out, the one I finally found is perfect. There has been more coloring since we got this table than ever before.

Help us to seek you, Lord

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord,

have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10

Some days you just need a little help...

...To make it through the day

Solution for 3 year old woes

Due to

A: the overwhelming comments of frustration from a certain 3 year old at a certain 1 year old in his room and destroying his railroad creations

and

B: the cries and screams of a certain 1 year old about being constantly pushed from said room

We, the parents, have decided to make our lives just a little simpler by adding gate time.

Every day Noah can have 30 minutes of gate time in which he can play uninterrupted and then any other time Breven wants to come into his room, he can't complain or try to push him out. So far, its actually worked really well.

The only thing I didn't really realize:

...he ends up spending the whole time looking over the gate at his brother

Family tattoo day

Because of Uncle Robb's generous love for Noah, we have a bunch of fun tattoos and thought it might be fun to have a family tattoo day.

(I sure hope that sentence doesn't come out of my mouth in 20 years because those might not be so temporary:))

Noah's modeling his monster truck

(take note of the pajama's still on in the middle of the day...definitely a great day at home:))

B and Daddy model their own tattoos: a sherrif's badge for Daddy and Breven declares his love for Mama again.

Now on to find a great place to show off all our tattoos...

(Note from the editor: while Mama did participate in the family tattoo day, as she is the main photographer, her proof will just have to rest in the multiple witnesses Sunday who thought the tattoo was real)

Different expressions for different situations

Hey, Mama. I wanna show 'em somethin'. Can I?

Sure, B. What do you want to show them?

This is what I normally do...

This is what I do when I don't like what's for dinner...

Wait, Mama. My turn. I wanna smile for the camera too.

This is what Noah just did.

This is my "I have to clean up all my toys and I really don't want to" face.

And this one's just because I love you!

It happens so fast

I was going through pics the other day and came across this one of B in January

I think all the running he's doing these days is taking all the baby out of him.

Silly boys

And these are just pics from our trip that made me laugh....care to add any captions?

If I look at this long enough, its gonna open up, right?

Mama, the table grew!

My boys are destined for work in construction.

5 cookies from Papa and counting.

Yeah, that's right. I rock this hat.

All boy

We went to the zoo today and after touring all the different animals, I asked Noah what he liked best about the zoo.

His answer:

"I liked the backhoe (working around the zoo), choo-choo and skid loader."

Huh. Maybe I don't need to spend money going to the zoo. Rather, I can just drive a couple of minutes, pull out some folding chairs and let him watching all the construction equipment working down the road-for free.

Friends

Everytime we go for a visit, I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family to visit. Here are just a couple of the shots of our times together:

We rode in Steph and Dustin's truck so all the boys could ride together. They LOVED riding in a truck. And at one point, I looked back to see them all holding hands.

And they did really well playing together.

Uncle J with Beau and Breven. Practicing for the future, J?

2 of the 3 college roommates and friends and their boys. Yes, they all have boys! All that's missing is Dustin!!

Did you enjoy that Smore Uncle Flip Flop gave you?

And I think we wore Mason out!!

Family

We were able to have several different opportunities to see Uncle Robb, Auntie Melissa and Lily. And our times with them are always filled with fun things....

like sitting enjoying the pool while watching all the airplanes land at the nearby airport

Yes, Breven? Do you have something you want to share?

My favorite was the snuggle time I got with my niece!

Noah's become pretty good at babyholding. He loved singing to Lilly, although I'm not so sure Lilly understood why the song was all about fire trucks.

We even visited a car show where all the boys could drool over all the cool cars.

Uncle Robb is such a great uncle. He and Noah were talking about tattoos the first Sunday we were there and Uncle Robb told N that they even made fire truck tattoos. N didn't believe him so Uncle Robb told him that the next time we saw him, he would have some for N.

And sure enough, the next Saturday we went up to visit and he had the tattoos! Uncle Robb found some amazing tattoos perfect for N and he loved them.

Here he's helping Mama put on a tattoo too.

Uncle Robb and Breven also got in on the tattoo action.

I think he enjoyed getting right up in Lily's face thinking that if he got enough face time with her, she wouldn't forget about him.:)

Watching a movie together

Isn't she a doll?!?!

I spotted this gnome out in my parents garden. Think I can take him home?

Yeah, you can tell she loves me:)

Meeting Uncle Aaron

This is why I love my brother and sister so much-they make my boys feel important!

While they were there that last weekend, Uncle Robb introduced Noah to buried treasure. Robb would hide a penny and Noah would dig it up. Or more accurately, he'd have slave Robb dig it out for him. Noah loved the game and accumulated quite a few pennies.

I love this picture because I saw my Dad do this alot while we were there.

Yep. Still digging.

Robb also had an impromtu photo shoot with the boys and came away with a couple really good shots. Check 'em out:

Blondie

I don't even want to know what's going through that little mind.

Everything looks so much more cool from up there.

Noah...be honest. How do you feel about having a new cousin?

Cousins

Do you know how many pictures it takes to get a good one? Too many to count! And this is as good as it got. Esha-such a good sitter just taking in the crazy boys, Noah-the crazy one with a chair on his head, and B-with a goofy grin trying to do things his own way.

I think we're all gonna be in trouble in 15 years!!

Could they be any more opposite?!?!

And I just had to put this pic in because it makes me laugh. Love that lower lip.

I love this family!!