Fun in the Sun...in the backyard

Here are the kids warming up after swimming in the pool. The whole family was out there but the hose water was way to cold for anything but my feet. Forgive me if I don't post any pictures of me in my suit...4 weeks post-partum is best forgotten.

Mae "Graduates" from Pre-K

Well...school is out. Mae is finished with Pre-K and is moving on to Kindergarten next year. It is full day and she will be riding the bus which means she will be leaving around 7:50 am and won't be home until 3:30---doesn't that sound like a long day for a 5 year old? I think so, but there really isn't much I can do about it. Mae is excited though, riding the bus is what excites her most.

The pictures above are of her teacher Mrs. Strickler and the bottom is Ms. B giving her her diploma and award. She really loved her teachers this year, and I am glad she is learning to love school.

This may prove to be a very long summer. Brad won't be home much, so I have armed myself--I hope; we bought a little plastic pool for the kids and is has a slide which has been a huge hit, and the playground and sandbox are still fun. I am thinking if we can grow some grass to cover out dirt, we may even get a slip and slide before the summer is through. Can you tell I don' t want my kids inside?

Reason #273 for why we need the grass to grow in our backyard:

Well, I have managed to keep Brad Busy...

He has been a big help lately--which is good, 'cause I have needed a lot of it. He and Ian worked extra hard the other day to finish the second retaining wall (which looks great), and he also worked for a couple of days on our master bathroom putting up beadboard and painting--it looks great too, and I will post a picture later.

He also helped me with painting and wall-papering our master bedroom (something I have wanted to do for a loooooooong time). I will post pictures later--after I get things cleaned up.

Yeah, I know--we should have done it earlier when we didn't have an extra kid in the house, but Brad was VERY busy with school. Having a month off has been nice and it will be tough to get used to three kids at home when Brad goes back to school this summer.

The Foster Parents Visit...

My Mom and Dad came to visit baby Noah over the weekend, and we had a lot of fun while they visited. Me, Mae, and Ian picked up my parents at the Oklahoma City Airport and went straight to Chucky Cheese (My parents were dying for some really cruddy pizza after their long flight). The first thing Ian saw was a big monster truck "ride"--and he couldn't get enough of it. He did take a little break for pizza, and then it was straight back to the monster truck--he even learned a new phrase: "More money, please!" Here is a quick video of he and Mae in the truck--note that Mae looks a little nervous (because it was her first time), but Ian, a veteran of the monster truck ride, is kicked back and cool.




After Chucky Cheese we headed off for the Hotel and a nice swim at the pool. We had previously decided to stay the night and keep the kids out of Lindsay's hair for a couple of days just to allow her some quality time alone with Noah. The hotel was nice and the kids loved swimming. The next morning we got up early so that we could visit the memorial for the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. It was really cool--definately something to visit if any of you ever make it out to OKC. The grounds were very nice--until they were overrun with two bus loads of students on a field trip. Here are a few pictures:



After visiting the memorial we went to a huge science center/children's museum so that the kids weren't bored all day (Mae called the Federal building memorial the dead person museum--lots of pictures and sad stories). The kids loved it, but it wore me, my Dad, and my Mom right out--we thought that two bus loads of kids on a field trip was bad, but at the children's museum there were about seventeen bus loads--the place was absolutely CRAZY!

Like I said, the kids had a great time there, and would love to go back some time. Ian spent the bulk of his time in the cab of a John Deer tractor (even though there were many other kids who were in and out while he played). Mae and Ian loved the rock wall, the gymnastics center, the trains, the clubhouse, and teeter-totter--they even got to sit in the cockpit of a jet (just TRY to get Ian out of the cockpit of a jet--I dare you)!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to everyone.

We are very greatful for all of our wonderful mothers who love us, love our kids, and teach us all how to love and respect each other!

Many thanks to Grandma Terri!

Thank you sooooo much for coming to stay with us, Terri! While I was off to school 24/7 after Noah was born, Terri held down the fort for us--taking Mae to school, cleaning the kitchen, changing the boys' diapers, picking Mae up from school, cleaning the kitchen, cooking us dinner, etc... It was a HUGE help and I really do not know what we would have done without her.



Thanks again, Terri--come back ANY time!

No, he isn't being abducted...

...it is a baby tanning bed. Seriously. We thought that he was a little pasty when we brought him home so we decided to add a little color to him. We had to put the little baby goggles on him so that he wouldn't get UV rays in his little baby corneas. Okay, okay...it is actually a bili-light bed. Noah was a little jaundice-ridden and we had to bake him for most of every day--poor kid. However....


We think he looks pretty good now.


Here is a quick video of some Ian/Noah interaction. We are pretty impressed with how Ian has taken to baby Noah. He is always asking to hold him and makes SURE to give him a kiss when he is ready to go to bed.