Island Life in the US

Some December happenings

2012-02-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, yes, I know it is February, but I need to get these posts in, preferably before the baby comes. So, here are some pictures of things that happened in December.

McWane Science Center- a train and dinosaur exhibit. Our boys were in heaven.
We went with my cousin, her husband and two sons, my two aunts and their husbands and my mom and step-dad. A fun adventure for sure.

My cousin's son Preston. Nicholas and him loved making designs on these boards. Very cool.

They could have dug for hours I do believe.

The other little guy on the end is Parker, my cousin's other son.

Zip line

Zachary having fun with the light up pegs.

"May I drive you somewhere?"

Joshua loved this experiment.

Tug of war. I did try to help Joshua, but that picture may not be shown.

This was at the entrance. I do believe they could have watched this all day too. The museum is a very cool place to go. We will be returning there. You could spend forever there.

Pictures with Santa

Party at Mrs. Leann's to decorate gingerbread houses
Mrs. Leann had extra decorations out for the kids to use, plus provided us with a wonderful lunch and great company. It was nice to get together with the parents outside of school and Nicholas was excited to spend an afternoon at his teachers house. He gave her a big hug when we left. So sweet.

Birthday Parties

Jeff was able to get Ian to sit with Santa, but no such luck with Zachary even though he squealed when he saw him come in.

Enjoying yummy cookies with frosting to celebrate Ella Harding's bday.

He was content playing with Eli's toys while he opened his gifts.

Not too sure about diving in. He was very reserved.

Zoo lights with the Hemphill's
I don't have many pictures of the actually lights since the kids were of course running around like crazy, but it was a fun evening.

Zachary was not fond of sitting with Santa.

Christopher had a magazine full of trains to share with Santa.

At least we kind of got a smile out of Joshua. Nicholas didn't even want to sit with him at all.

Sophie was the most excited and the cutest of course. Love this little girl.

Church Christmas Program

2011-12-13T14:57:00.001-08:00

For the longest time Nicholas kept saying he was not going to participate this year. He really wanted his best friend Christopher to come see him, but his sister had a program the same night. He knew all the songs though and I really wanted to hear him sing. We didn't push it, but kept a costume for him just in case. Joshua was excited to be in it and be a sheep. Zachary was a little mouse. On the day of the program they were able to get Nicholas dressed in his costume and he went on stage willingly. He and another little boy sang to their hearts content outdoing everyone else in the loud department. Imagine that. He was great. I was so proud of him for learning the songs and singing them this year in his shephard's costume. Joshua on the other hand decided to be the one that wouldn't sit still or sing the songs, but he was still cute. Zachary did very well by just walking up and down the stairs or staring at the big kids singing. He was very well behaved until he got hungry. That is when I crawled after him to get him a snack and sat back on the stage with him. I am sure it was a funny site to see a pregnant mommy crawling after her son. The program is always filled with surprises and laughter and this year was no different. Love these kids.

During practice.

Zachary was ready to take the stage before the play even started.

Cute little black mouse.

Daddy and his boys ready for their entrance.

Zachary was enjoying everyone on stage.

You can almost see all three boys here if you try really hard.

Nicholas singing.

Zachary and Joshua hanging out.

Crazy Joshua roaming around.

Zachary checking out all the singers.

Jingle Bell Run/Santa Chase

2011-12-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, December 3rd, Burt went to run in the Jingle Bell Run. The boys and I caught up with him after his finish so that Burt could take Nicholas and Joshua on the Santa 1 Mile Chase. They were very excited and all decked out in their Christmas PJs and Jingle Bells. It was cute. I wish I had a picture of their finishes, but I was taking a video instead. They came in around 15 minutes. After the race the boys did some painting/coloring while we waited to hear the results of the race from earlier. They were very happy doing that. I am sure we will be doing this again. It was a great event for a great cause.

All decked out and ready to go.

Little trooper.

Waiting at the start line.

Nicholas almost to the finish line.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

We were graciously invited to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with the Armstrong family up at the lake. We had such a good time visiting with Brittny's parents, her siblings and having all the kids run around and play together. There were 7 little boys and 2 little girls, so you can only imagine what went on. We enjoyed great fellowship and mighty tasty food. We love this family dearly and were grateful we could spend the holiday with them.

Turkey rice crispie treats me and the boys made. They were more time consuming than I thought they would be, but they were a hit with the kids so it was okay.

Playing games on the phone.

Zachary with the train set all to himself.

None of the kids wanted to sit at separate tables so it was decided to just put a blanket on the kitchen floor for them to eat on. They still all bunched up together. It was cute.

Washing off the mud. The kids had on rain boots, but somehow Joshua got stuck in the mud and then Sophie went to pull him out and fell in the mud too. We had to strip them down. They had fun though.

Zachary watching intently wanting to go out there, but we wouldn't let him. Such mean parents right.

Let's play some street hockey!!! There were a few injuries, but thankfully nothing major and each time the boys got right back into it after a few tears of course.

Fun on the plasma cars.

Pretty good family photo.

Beautiful lake view.

Daddy and Zachary.

Most of the kids watching intently as Kyle hits some golf balls into the lake.

It was a wonderful day spent with great friends. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!!!

Our Little Ham

2011-12-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

One night after taking pictures of my pregnant belly, Zachary decided he needed to pose for some pictures. Silly boy. Too cute for words.

Veteran's Day/ Thanksgiving Feast

2011-12-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

On Veteran's Day, Nicholas' school held a program to honor the Veteran's and then had crafts and games afterwards. The Kindergartners got up and sang a song. Nicholas was the loudest of them all. It was too funny, but I am proud of him for knowing all the words and being confident in his ability.

The Friday before Thanksgiving their class had a feast where we all brought different items to contribute to the meal. We basically just hung out and ate, but it was fun nonetheless.

Pumpkin Patch Visits -picture overload :-)

2011-11-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

This year we ended up going to the Pumpkin Patch twice. This would be because the first visit we ended up getting rained on and received a rain check to return. We still had fun while the rain was just a drizzle mist, but once we went to get our pumpkins and it became really hard it wasn't quite as fun, especially when you weren't dressed for it. Thankfully the big boys had rain jackets, but poor Zachary did not, nor did the parents. We survived though. Wish I had a picture of all us drenched, but we were too busy drying off inside and getting lunch to do so. Good memories that's for sure. And just on a side note, there were other crazy families out there in the rain too, people we knew in fact. :-)

Before leaving the house (pre-rain). A rare picture with me and the boys.

"Here is a pumpkin I can handle."

"Oh wait, this one looks much better."

"It is a little heavy though."

"Guess I will go back to the smaller one."

Tractor riding

The cow train.

"Wait for me!"

Fun in the hay bales.

Jumping is even better.

Daddy braved the cow train with Zachary.

More jumping.

Trying to pick pumpkins in the rain.

Our second visit was a much prettier day and the Hemphill's were able to join us on this go around. The boys were excited to be able to do all the activities again plus more that weren't open due to the rain. Zachary loved the animals and would squeal in delight at them. It was cute. The older ones loved the bouncy houses of course and the hay bales they could jump on and most of all the corn boxes where they could "cannon ball" into or just throw the corn wherever they wanted. It was a lot of fun.

Pure joy!

Christopher is the one above Nicholas.

Cutie pie joined in too.

Duck racing.

Zachary and his favorite Aunt Brittny :-)

Superman Christopher

The three amigos

Zachary seems to like to ride these backwards.

Playing in the corn.

Tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.

Sophie and her pumpkin.

Zachary and a little pumpkin.

Brittny, Sophie and Christopher

Family photo op. At least all of us are in it. We tried.

Petting the animals.

Zachary was very happy.

Our little farm animals.

Zachary wanted to go inside there so bad.

The corn box. End of the road for the day.

Fall Fandango/Fairy Tale Ball/Trick-or-Treat

2011-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Wednesday before Halloween our church held its annual Fall Fandango. We have chili and hot dogs for dinner and lots of activities for the little ones. There was a cake walk, painting pumpkins, bouncy houses, Big Green Bus, hay ride, bonfire and Trunk-or-treat. Lots of families from the preschool attended which was great and Brittny brought Sophie and Christopher too. We enjoyed a nice supper and the kids had fun running about.

Why will they never smile at the same time?

So proud of his pumpkin he decorated.

Cutest penguin ever!!!

Trunk or treat

Hayride

Best friends

Thursday the preschool had its fairy tale ball. The kids were allowed to dress up, but Joshua didn't want to. Actually, a lot of the boys in the class didn't want to. I think Joshua was still upset I couldn't find his dinosaur costume from last year to wear. Oh well. All the girls had on their princess dresses of course. At the end of the day they had yummy snacks and music playing to dance if they wanted. It was cute. They also read about the parable of the pumpkin and how cleaning out the goo in the pumpkin is what God did for us and we are to be the light of the world (candle inside). It of course describes everything better, but that is a very slight glimpse of the story. I definitely need to order this book for next year.

Enjoying goodies from school.

Avery Jean cracks me up.

Zachary ate Joshua's leftovers.

This is what happens when Joshua takes over the camera.

Pretty princess

Handsome prince

On Monday we took the boys to Deer Creek to meet up with some friends to go trick-or-treating. It was more like running from house to house, but they were enjoying every minute of it. They loved being able to knock on the door and yell trick-or-treat. I had to get onto Nicholas for saying he didn't want candy with nuts in it though. Picky, greedy.... goodness gracious. When we said it was time to go luckily they did not complain. Their buckets were full and they were tired too. Thank goodness. They were still able to get to bed at a descent time which was nice. They are already looking forward to next year.

Most of the kids on Halloween night.

Trick or treating

The Zoo and Hanging Out

2011-11-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Three or four weeks ago Brittny and I took the kids to the zoo. The big boys were out of school so we thought it was the perfect time to go. The weather was great too which obviously the zoo folks thought about and had scheduled it to be a school day and senior day so it was a little crowded, but we still had a great time. We just had to keep a closer eye on the kids and couldn't let them wander as far which was challenging at times. Between the both of us we managed to get a few pictures here and there. I am stealing some from her, but you can see the rest at her post.

We walked around and saw as many animals as we could first, including the snakes, which are not my favorite, before stopping to eat lunch. We then took the train ride, visited a few more animals and then hit the playground. Thankfully by that time most of the school kids were gone so we could at least see our kids playing. Zachary was a trooper considering he woke up late and didn't have a nap before going and we didn't leave the zoo until 2pm I think. It helps he was entertained that's for sure. It was a great day.

We fed the camels first. Nicholas thought they were smelly apparently.

Look at that tongue!

Zachary the trooper.

He is very excited here that Aunt Brittny saved him from the stroller.

Yeah! The train. Always a hit.

Then, the weekend of the Florida/Auburn game we went over to hang out with the Hemphill's while Brandon was in town. The kids went back and forth between playing outside and inside and the adults were able to catch up in between keeping an eye on them. They play really well together so it doesn't take much looking after really except for Zachary. He has now discovered how to climb over the baby gate for the stairs so we have to rig it backwards so he can't use it to help himself over. Fun times. Brittny made taco soup and homemade guacamole which was delicious. The funniest part for me was being able to over hear a conversation between Sophie and Joshua. We always wonder what they are discussing and after hearing this I can only imagine what else they talk about. Here is how it went:

S: Joshua, what did you dream about last night?
J: blank stare, no answer
S: Joshua, what did you dream about last night? Was it me? :-)
J: No, I dreamed about my new house.

Sophie then proceeded to ask the same question to see if he would say her, but he still said his new house. It was so funny. I had to hold back my laughter. They are characters that's for sure. Love them!!!

It was a wonderful evening all around.

Go Gators, War Eagle. The kids were being taught both.

Baby #4 is a Boy!!!!!

2011-11-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are going to have four little Khan boys running around come March. It is sure to be a loud and crazy household, but it will be so much fun to have them all close in age. I pray they become the best of friends and get along great. Right now the three of them do pretty well, so I have a good feeling about the fourth. Some might think we are crazy having a fourth and now learning it is a boy, but I think it will be wonderful. Although Burt and Joshua were really hoping for a girl, it will be really easy bringing another boy into the family.

We went for our ultrasound on Monday the 17th, but we actually didn't find out what we were having while we were there. Instead, I had the technician circle the answer on a piece of paper and put the picture in an envelope with it. I then gave this to Brittny and she made a cake for us with blue inside. She did a good job keeping the secret for two days (and from her kids). On Wednesday night at church we cut into the cake with all our church family around to reveal the news to us and to them. It was fun. I wasn't too surprised at the news, but you could tell Burt was a little shocked and poor Joshua about broke my heart when I looked at him and his reaction. I truly thought he was going to cry which made me so sad. I am praying he gets over it and loves his little brother just as much as he loves Zachary. He was saying girl all along and said that we had too many boys already. Poor thing. He even told his teacher the next day that we were having a boy, but it was suppose to be a girl. Goodness. Even with all of that it was an exciting way to find out that we were having a boy. Now we just have to figure out a name for the little guy. This will be the hardest part since we have used most of the names we like for the three boys, first and middle. Let the games begin, well, after we move that is.....

Making the first cut with everyone eagerly waiting.

And it is blue!!!

Congratulations all around while we try to comfort Joshua. Can you see that sad face?

Our little Linus

2011-11-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

Zachary is definitely our blankie boy. It is a little strange since he is the first to really care about a blankie, but it is also really cute. He doesn't carry it around all the time, but when he wants it he will go to his crib and pull it out. He likes to sleep with lots of blankets too. He used to use the big ones to play with, cover his face and snuggle up with to sleep. Now, he prefers the smaller blue one that he can carry around with him easily. I have tried to swap them out with others which he is okay with, but he definitely prefers the one blue blanket the most. He also sucks his left thumb so when he is doing that with the blanket it reminds me of Linus. Precious. Don't you just want to scoop him up????

Zachary's first haircut

2011-10-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

We finally did it. The mullet was getting much to long and the sides were covering up his ears. We figured he needed a haircut before people really started to question if he was a girl (although I still get that sometimes). So off to see Heather we went. Here are some before, during and an after shot. So grown-up now. (It has now been about three weeks since we cut his hair).

Yes, all our boys must go through this phase.

This is his standard look. Pouty lips are in don't you know. :-)

The lollipop helped him sit still for just a tad bit longer, but sure did leave a mess.

We didn't actually take a picture after the haircut, but this was the next day. You can tell it is shorter, well, at least I can, especially around the ears.

Day at the Musuem

2011-10-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know all of these posts lately are totally out of order, but I still want to document them, so just bare with me.

Brittny and I met at the Musuem one Friday afternoon when the weather was beautiful and too nice to stay inside. It was a great decision. We packed a picnic lunch, sat outside, fed and chased the ducks/geese, played a little soccer, climbed trees and hung out inside the musuem for awhile before picking up the big boys. It was so much fun. We just love all the time we are getting to spend with the Hemphill's that's for sure.

Feeding the ducks

Getting a little closer. Do you think they like Doritos?

Get them Zachary!

Sophie, my little helper.

Climbing the tree.

Sleepovers

2011-10-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we had our first sleepover experience. Burt picked Christopher up after work and brought him to our apartment. The boys immediately went to the room to play trains while I made dinner- french toast and bacon. We all sat down to eat and then were planning on watching a movie. Joshua was the only one who ended up doing this. Nicholas and Christopher were too wound up and just went back to the room to play. Around 730 we decided to get them all ready for bed and had them in the room by 8. Nicholas and Christopher were being too rowdy so Joshua came out to see us. We decided to put him in our room to fall asleep and then move him once the boys passed out. Christopher started off on Nicholas' bed, but we quickly learned that would not work so we made up his palate on the floor. Around 845 the first cry happened because of a "stuffed animal" fight. Not a huge deal. They quickly went back to playing, laughing, whatever boys do. I thought for sure they would tire out at some point, but no. At 930 I finally decided they had enough fun for the evening and went in their to lay with them until someone fell asleep. By 945 they were asleep. They certainly took advantage of the sleepover rules I suppose.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast and then got ready for the soccer game. It was interesting trying to add one more child into the mix of dressing and getting out the door for a 9am soccer game, but we did it. It was crazy for sure, but we enjoyed it and are so glad Christopher felt comfortable enough to stay with us and not want to go back home. Brittny said he was so excited to come over that he kept packing more clothes saying he would be here until Halloween and then waited by the door for Burt to pick him up. Too cute.

Trying to go to sleep.

Joshua fell asleep in our room.

We then moved Joshua to his room after the big boys were asleep. So peaceful.

Since last weekend went so well we told Brittny she had no choice but to send both kids home with Burt after work. She deserved a night off by herself and a chance to really sleep in. The boys went straight to the trains again while Burt took Sophie and Joshua to get the pizza and a movie. We ate dinner and then the kids went back to playing. Zachary tried to get in the mix too. We then attempted to get them to watch the movie to settle down. They did for a little bit and then just played. At 7 we got them all ready for bed and started to get them in their "beds" at 730. Sophie and Joshua set up sleeping bags in the living room where I hung out and Christopher and Nicholas were in the bedroom where Burt stayed for a little bit. I figured this would ensure the kids actually went to sleep at a decent hour this time. The boys still had some rowdy time, but were asleep by 815 I think. The "little" ones were asleep by 745. Good times had by all. I see lots of sleepovers in the future in our new place. We can't wait for the house to be finished.Big boys sleeping in the room.

Smaller ones in the living room.

Soccer games

2011-10-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

Nicholas started to play soccer in September. This is his first go at a team sport. It is so cute to watch 4 and 5 year olds play. They follow the ball in little herds mostly to begin with, but now they are getting much better at spreading out and playing. It has been fun watching the improvement of all the players over the weeks. Joshua doesn't like that he can't be on the field with Nicholas and Burt (he is the coach), but he is dealing. And Zachary is being a trooper with being strapped in the stroller most of the time and not getting a morning nap. I am very thankful for his easy going nature (well most of the time he is that). Oh, and Christopher is on the same team too. God is good. We couldn't request them on the same team due to the amount of kids signed up, but it turned out they were placed on the same team anyway and when they needed another coach and Burt decided to do it, their team was the one that needed one. Hmmm, coincidence??? I don't think so. Anyway, on to some pictures.

Waiting for their names to be called.

Nicholas seemed bored this first game and very distracted for sure.

Zachary just hanging out.

Saying good game to the other team.

Nice throw Christopher.

Coach giving a pep talk.

Nicholas going after the ball.

I believe he scored on this shot.

The cheering section for this particular game. Good times.

Such determination.

Brittny's Dad helping me out by holding Joshua for a little bit. He wanted to be on the field so bad with his Daddy.

Only two more games to go. It will be sad to see it end, but good at the same time. The kids have improved so much over the weeks. It is really neat to watch the team working together and the kids getting so excited about playing and scoring goals. It has been a great adventure and start to our team sports.

15 month check-up

2011-10-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so technically Zachary is 16 months, but that's okay. Everything is looking great for our big boy. He is a character that's for sure. I suppose you have to be in this group. It probably also doesn't help that as we have more children each one seems to grow up faster to keep up with the others. Zachary makes a bee line for the grass once we hit the bottom of the stairs and it is hard for me to keep up with him he is so fast. He loves to be outside. He also climbs up on the table so we now have to pull the chairs away to keep him off. He loves to hum to music and is really good at it. We can usually tell what the song is which is fantastic. Burt says he might be our little musician. He loves to spin around in circles, has the cutest laugh and smile, eats pretty well, drinks out of a straw, can throw a ball and kick it, now has 5 teeth, can scribble, say a few words and sign a few others.....etc, etc. He weighed in at 21 pounds 15 ounces (25%) and is 31 inches long (60%). The Dr. thinks this might be a little off, but we will go with it. So, there you have it. A brief overview of our little one.

This is where he started off. Looks innocent enough. Just a little coloring mommy.

Then I turn around and this is what I find. One little boy up on the table to get a better look. Hmm, this is when I started to move the chairs. I got tired of taking him off and saying no with no luck.

First Day of Kindergarten and Preschool

2011-10-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Nicholas was a champ on his first day. I was still pretty sick so my mom helped him with breakfast and getting dressed, but I did get up to see him off and take pictures. Burt took him to school, as he does everyday now, along with his best friend Christopher. They had a chapel service before class begun. Burt said I would have cried for sure during this since he even got choked up. He said Nicholas walked right into class with no problems at all. Such a big boy. Burt walked the boys up to class for the next week or so. Then they wanted to start having them walk up on their own. Burt wasn't too sure about this :-). I ended up taking the boys to school one morning and told them I wasn't going to be able to walk them up. Nicholas replied, "well, I wanted to walk up by myself anyway Mommy." Okay then. He is enjoying school and we are so grateful for a wonderful teacher and learning environment. There are only 8 kids in his class which is great and everything they learn has an emphasis on God which is wonderful. We are blessed to have found this little school.

Typical response to picture taking.

A little better, but not sure why he had to stick his bottom out.

Much better. What a big boy. He looks so old here.

Daddy and son off to work and school. Too cute. I love that they have this time together in the mornings now.

I picked him up from school and took him to get Nancy's Italian Ice. He told me all about his day while enjoying his treat. (A couple days later when in the van and I asked about his day he said "good" and that was it. When I asked if he would tell me anymore he said it was a secret unless I took him to get ice cream. Nice, bribery from a five year old.)

Joshua was pretty lonely without Nicholas around so I thought for sure he would be excited to go to preschool the next month. Not so much. He enjoys it once he gets there, although he tells me he didn't have a good day, but I know better. It takes effort to get him dressed and out the door and into the classroom, but I am praying this will get better soon (which it has). He likes to help the teacher so we are trying to have things for him to do to transition him into the classroom in the mornings. It seems to be working even though he still wants me to stay with him. We will see how long this lasts. At least I know he is in capable, loving hands. (He is doing much better these days. He likes for me to stay a little bit, but doesn't hang onto me when I leave and he enjoys knowing the activities for the day. His way of staying in control I think. He loves block time and when they do cooking/art with Ms. Kristy. He is always smiling when I pick him up so that is a good sign for sure.)

It rained his first day so he was able to use his rain coat, although he still insisted on wearing flip flops. We have lost one of them recently which he is sad about. He would go barefoot if he could.

Playdough is always a big hit.

Burt picked Joshua up from school his first day and took him for ice cream just like Nicholas, but that picture is on his phone.

Imaginary Parents

2011-10-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we all have heard of children having imaginary friends right. Well, Joshua has taken it to a whole different level and has invented imaginary parents. He is very adament in his discussions with us about them and about us, his real parents. Burt was thinking we should be worried, but when telling Shea Lea about this (our friend and preschool director), she said it is probably due to all the changes recently in a short period of time. Over the past three months we have moved out of our house and into an apartment, told him that we are going to add another baby to the family, Nicholas started school leaving him alone, and then he started preschool without his brother being across the hall. I am praying that once we get into our new house and are more stable that his imaginary parents will disappear or at least not be such a big presence anymore.

Here are some of the details of his "parents".
- Their home is in San Diego (well Joshua's too)
- There was a flood that damaged their home
- They went on a vacation while the house is being fixed which is why Joshua is staying with us
- Not sure if his parents know us since apparently they just found our number and called us
- Another version is that they floated away during the storm, but will be back and Joshua floated all the way to Montgomery
- Burt is suppose to fly to San Diego with Joshua with his tools to help fix the house
- They don't like Sophie (our best friends little girl) which is why they say he doesn't have to go to school, but he is allowed to have play dates with her (He even told Brittny this and she told him she was going to have to have a talk with his "parents" to which he laughed)
- He has three brothers and three sisters and two babies
- They live in a big enough house to have visitors (a one bedroom, but two beds, one for the adults to sleep in and one for the kids)
- Nicholas is either his friend or his cousin
- Joshua tried going back to San Diego, but he got lost at the airport so he needs someone to go back with him. Burt and I are not allowed to, but Brittny, Christopher and Sophie are invited to have this honor
- Anything we say that he doesn't want to do, or go to or eat, etc., his "parents" say he doesn't have to

As new details emerge I will be sure to write them down. I don't want to forget this. Burt wishes he had an imaginary friend, however, since it is hard to compete with his imaginary parents. Good times in the life of our little three year old. He keeps us entertained and on our toes for sure. Love him even if I am not his mommy, but he does still give me kisses :-).

Biscuits Baseball Game

2011-09-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

While my mom was here we ventured out to the baseball game with the big boys. It was super hot that evening, but once the sun started to go down it was nice. They seemed to enjoy it. They loved being able to try to run after the fly balls that landed in our direction even though they weren't fast enough to get one. After the game was over they were able to go out on the field and run the bases and give MO a high five. Nicholas went super fast while Joshua took his sweet time swinging his arm, typical. It was funny. Overall, a very nice outing.

Eating hot dogs of course.

Trying to cool off.

Isn't he so cool???

Oops, fell off the chair.

Much better.

Waiting for a ball.

I wonder what they were talking about. So cute.

The last three months....

2011-09-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been forever since I have posted on here. I have some serious updating to do that's for sure. I might have to work backwards. We will see. For now I will give a short synopsis of what we have been up to. It all started the first of June when Zachary and myself made a trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming for my Grandma's memorial service. We then returned and had to pack up our house within a week and a half and move into an apt. We then unpacked and in between there celebrated Zachary's 1st Birthday. We snuck in some time with the Hemphill's before Brandon left for Korea, went swimming, to Pump It Up, the park on a not so hot day, had playdates, went to the Children's Museum and went bowling. Then we prepared for Kindergarten, crazy, and went to San Diego for 5 days to see my Dad be installed as the new Kiwanis Governor for his district.

It seems as though the summer was busy, but in reality I wish I was able to do more with the boys. In the midst of it all I ended up getting sick. This is actually the biggest news of the summer by far, maybe even surpassing Nicholas starting Kindergarten. This is because I was and am still sick due to......drumroll please......Baby #4 is on the way. Yes, you read correctly. We are expecting Baby #4 around March 4, 2012. We are very excited and can't wait to find out if we will be adding another boy to the bunch or a little girl. I will keep you posted of course. Joshua would like a sister and Nicholas wants another brother. One of them will be happy. I think secretly Burt would love a little girl, but is scared to death. Only time will tell. Either way we will be happy and look forward to the future. So, there you have it. Our summer in short. I will be posting more later with pictures now that I am feeling a little better and am able to be on the computer. For now I will leave you with pictures of the newest Khan to be.

A night away....

2011-07-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

All by myself that is. It was wonderful and a great surprise to say the least. Burt decided to book a room at the Renaissance for me on Friday night. I have not been able to do this for the past year since I needed to be here for Zachary, so he thought this was the perfect weekend after many weeks of craziness around here. I did not object. He came home a little early and sent me on my way. First stop was to the spa for a massage. The spa is so nice. You could actually stay there all day if you wanted. They have a steam room, a quiet room with whirlpool and snacks and drinks for you to indulge in. The massage was great and the quiet room was bliss. I sat there for many a minutes for sure. I then went back to the room to freshen up to meet Burt for dinner. We enjoyed a nice meal and conversation before we headed our separate directions- me to the room and him to the apartment. I stayed up watching tv a little bit and then headed off to bed. I still woke up around 6am, but thankfully I was able to go back to sleep. I slept until about 8:30 or so and then kind of woke up so that when my room service came at 9ish I wouldn't look too horrible. :-) I ate a big breakfast while watching tennis, took my shower, dressed and then headed back to the spa. I hung out in the quiet room, falling asleep I think, until it was time for my pedicure. Yes, I was spoiled for sure. After the pedicure I sat in the quiet room a little while longer and then decided I had stayed there long enough and left to go run some errands before heading home. It was such a nice surprise and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to my sweet husband for setting all of this up. Love you!

Zachary turns 1!

2011-06-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 11th our baby boy turned one. All I can say is wow. What a year it has been. Zachary is such an easy going little guy. I suppose you need to be when you have two older brothers to deal with. Don't get me wrong, he definitely has developed a little temper when you take things away or you don't pay him enough attention, but for the most part he is a go with the flow kind of kid. He puts up with us taking him where ever and when ever, which is very helpful. He sleeps great, eats great and is just all around fantastic. I love his smile and can't get enough of his laugh. Is there anything cuter than the sound of a baby laughing??? I am not quite sure. He took his first steps the Tuesday before his birthday. He is getting better and better as each day progresses. I am sure he will be walking in no time. He is also signing a few words when he wants to and from what we can hear, others might not agree, he is saying "da da", "all done", and "hi or hey". He loves to push his little car around, boxes or chairs or be on his knees pushing cars or trucks and he is starting to play more on his own when he is not trying to chase his brothers around or is being chased by them. What a joy he is to us all.

On his birthday we had a party for him. We couldn't go without celebrating even amongst the packing. We knew our friends wouldn't mind navigating around the boxes. It was so nice to have some of his little friends over to hang out and play with us. We had finger foods, drinks and cake, talked and let the kids play until meltdowns occurred letting us know it was time for naps. It was a lot of fun seeing them all interact and have adult time too giving us a break from the chaos of moving. Zachary's new car was quite the hit with all the kids. Hopefully the excitement of it will last for Zachary. All and all it was a great party and we are so blessed by the friends we are surrounded by. Thank you all for joining us in this special occasion and for the presents. Zachary loves them all. :-)

Happy 1st Birthday Zachary. We love you!

Why does Zachary have the same confused look on his face when taking a picture with us??? And I look pale, pale.

Not a home made cake, but it was cute none-the-less.

Chowing down on a pig in a blanket after already eating three, plus fruit and milk. (Recognize the shirt Brittny? It is a tradition now.)

Ian and Zachary

Aislinn and Zachary

Before cake time. Trying to get a good picture.

Yeah!!!! I am one.

Love his tongue sticking out. He definitely wasn't too sure about the cake thing.

Trying to get him to at least taste it.

Okay, now he gets it.

Still not sure he likes it though.

Slowly, but surely he gets into it.

Zachary was done at this point and started to lift the cake and throw it on the ground. That would have been fun.

Whoa, too much sugar. Classic.

Nicholas, Elijah Brooks, Teagan, Joshua and Aislinn enjoying cake. Ian and Ty were off playing I think.

Zachary loves his car.

Opening his gifts with a little help from his brothers.

Good times!

Easter- Take 2

2011-05-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Easter was a wonderful day as always. We started the morning off with a yummy breakfast made by Burt and then the traditional picture before heading off to church. The service was wonderful. We listened to testimonies, beautiful praise songs and a sermon on what this day really means. It was a little tough at times for me to hold it together since my Grandma passed away the day before, but if you can't cry at church, where can you???? It was exactly what I needed this Easter Sunday.

After church we headed to the Roberson's. They are gracious enough to host families in their home that don't have family in town. We always have a great fellowship time and food of course. The kids couldn't wait to do the Easter egg hunt, but we held them off as long as we could so we could eat our meal. We then let the kids "out" so they could hunt eggs and eat candy. Zachary and Addison watched intently and then played with empty eggs in the grass. After the egg hunt we took our group picture and family pictures and then hung around a little more to talk and let the kids play. It was another wonderful Easter. Oh and what was even better was listening to Joshua tell us the story of Jesus dying on the cross and Him being resurrected on the third day and Nicholas singing the new song he learned in regards to this. Priceless. Burt said he had to hold back his tears. We never want the boys to lose the true meaning of Easter. It was a glorious day indeed.

Family picture before church. Can't you tell the boys love to do this? Ha.

Mommy and her boys.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Roberson's. Claire and Joshua got a head start on the other kids.

Here are the rest waiting and now ready to grab as many eggs as they could find. I love these shots.

Kathy looks like she might trip over Dawson's leg if she isn't careful. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Not sure what was so funny, but Burt obviously thought it was. Zachary not so much.

Surveying the goods.

Sweet Addison enjoying the grass and trying to eat it.

Zachary really wanted the egg Addison had.

The whole crew. The Roberson's are so gracious to allow us to bombard their home on Easter. We love it and they must love us!

All the kids. We added two more to the bunch this year.

Second attempt at a family photo. One day the boys will smile on command. :-) I do love the pictures though. It is always nice to have family photos of any kind to look back at.

Another wonderful Easter to add to the books!

?????

2011-05-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

My Easter post has mysteriously disappeared from the blog and now is in draft form again. I now have to redo it. Ugh!!!!

Joshua's Bday party

2011-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Better late than never :-) I have had this waiting to post and figured since I just posted about Nicholas' birthday this would be a good time to add this on here.

We went low key on this one. It is hard to think of things right after Christmas and when it is cold out. So, we decided to invite Joshua's friends from church to join us at Burger King for lunch and cake. It was perfect. They were all able to play while us adults could sit and chat a bit. Win win I think, plus no real clean up. We had a few balloons blown up too that were quite the hit. All and all a pretty good 3rd Birthday Party I would have to say. And on his actual birthday we went bowling. It is becoming a tradition.

Enjoying his cupcake.

The slowest ball ever, but it did the trick.

Happy 3 year old.

The wonderful design job by Burt. Joshua loves his dinosaurs.

Who knew balloons would be such a hit. The little things.

Aren't they cute eating at the little tables with party hats????

Wish I had a close up of the candle. It was a dinosaur too. Very cute.

Blowing out the candle.

Gift time.

And this little cutie pie was also there.

Can you guess what was going on here? So glad to catch it on camera, haha.

Cute dinosaur tattoos.

The birthday boy. Precious. He is Dino Mite. Love you Joshua!!!!

Nicholas' Party

2011-05-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure for the past year whenever someone would ask Nicholas when he was turning 5 this is the response they would get---"I will be 5 on April 12th at Pump It Up." It was the funniest thing ever. Can you guess where we had his party??? That's right, Pump It Up. We decided that for this special year we would go big. He was a little confused, however, when his actual birthday came around and all we did was take cupcakes to school and go bowling. He thought for sure that is when we would be going to Pump It Up. It was hard to explain we had to wait till Saturday for the party. Many other children had the same issue so I was glad it wasn't just me. In anycase, he was so excited for his party he couldn't stand it. Saturday afternoon couldn't come fast enough. It was nice for us too since I didn't have to clean the house before or afterward. We did make his cake and goodie bags, but that was pretty painless. We had about 13 kids and their parents and everyone had a wonderful time. Burt took Zachary down the slide once, but he didn't like that so much. We raced the boys on the obstacle course, went down the slide and played basketball. Boy did we get a workout. The kids were all pretty sweaty by the end of it. It was nice being able to go and play with Nicholas and not worry about anything else. After playing we headed to the party room where Nicholas was able to sit on his "throne." Barrett and Sam kept asking him what they should do. He commanded them to sit and eat cake. I think that was pretty nice. He loved sitting there, getting all the attention, being served and opening his gifts. It was a wonderful 5th Birthday Party if I do say so myself.

When I asked Nicholas what he wanted on his cake he said trains, aliens and dinosaurs. Two out of three aren't bad right? I think this was a pretty good idea to incorporate the themes.

I wish I could post the whole series of these pictures. Hilarious is all I have to say.

His Majesty

Best attempt for a family shot.

Nicholas loved the party, his friends being there and all the gifts he received. Thank you everyone for making it such a special day for him.

Nicholas turns 5!!!!

2011-04-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my, oh my. How is it that my little boy is 5 now? It seems he has grown up overnight. He is developing into such a little man before our very eyes. We are so proud of him. I just can't believe that he is getting so big and will be starting school in the fall. Scary. He certainly keeps us on our toes these days with his questions, his expanding vocabulary and reasoning skills, mathematics and jokes galore. He does, however, still snuggle up with us :-), makes us laugh and loves to laugh and will twirl anyone's hair, including his own. He is also a great big brother (most of the time) and a great bowler. We took him bowling this evening and he scored a 107. Way to go. We also enjoyed chili cheese hot dogs (his favorite and choice for dinner) and cupcakes. He also took cupcakes to school to celebrate with his friends. Sounds like a pretty good way to spend a birthday wouldn't you say. What a fun day indeed. We love you Nicholas. Happy 5th Birthday!!!!!!

Eating dinner. My Aunt and her grandson, Parker (our cousin), visited for the week so they were able to join in the festivities also.

That cupcake must be good.

I wish this was in focus, but it is too funny. I wonder what they were telling each other.

Nicholas was so excited. I think this might have been when he got a strike. Yes, that's right, a strike.

Now, you can't count Parker and Joshua's score since we, meaning, Nicholas most of the time, finished their rounds, but it is true I had a lower score than my 5 year old son. He also bowled over 100. What a champ. Burt said he might have to take this up again since Nicholas enjoys it so much. Better save money for that hobby :-)

Birds eye view

2011-03-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures from the boys viewpoint. Some of them are pretty good actually, while others are good attempts or just strange.

Grandma and Grandpa

2011-03-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa for four days the end of February. This was their first meeting with Zachary. He took to them right off the bat, but didn't have much of a chance to play with them since Nicholas and Joshua monopolized most of their time. I did get them to back off every once in awhile though. We played at the house, went to the zoo, played more, ate at Saza's and played more. It was a fun filled few days. The boys loved having them visit with us and we look forward to seeing them again in August.

Our little monkey watching the monkeys.

Feeding the giraffes.

Cheryl and Joshua taking pics of each other. We didn't get the pictures of Cheryl with Zachary off their camera so this is all I have. Sorry Cheryl.

Enjoying the swings. This was Zachary's first time I believe.

Playing "Guess Who" with Grandpa. Nicholas would have played this all day every day if he had the chance. A kids meal toy that was actually useful.

Grandpa and Zachary.

We could not get all the boys to sit together for a picture, but they did give hugs and kisses goodbye which was huge. Maybe next time we will get one. I need to try earlier when they are not expecting it. I always forget until the end though. Oh well. We had a great time and maded some great memories.

Right on track

2011-03-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well, as per Nicholas and Joshua, Zachary's first tooth broke through at 9 months while we were in Trinidad. The second one started to come in too the last day which made for an unpleasant take off and landing on the way home, but not too bad thankfully. He also had lots of college gals to flirt with to distract him some. They didn't mind playing along. Fun times. More on our vacation later....

Imagination

2011-03-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

I love how Nicholas and Joshua are old enough now to create stories and act them out together. Before it was Nicholas telling Joshua what the story was and him following, but now they can play off of each other. It is so fun to hear what they come up with and what they use for their stories. Anything from their plastic animals to couch cushions. I love it and love that their relationship is growing stronger as brothers. Yes, they still have "those" moments that aren't the best, but I choose to focus on the great ones right now and embrace their creativity to the fullest. I will try to write down and take pictures of one of their stories next time so I can fully remember the craziness and how they make me laugh and smile. For now this will have to do.

Christmas

2011-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

*I realize the next posts are totally out of order and late, but I still wanted to get them on the blog.

What a great day. The gloomy weather outside made it a perfect day to stay inside to open gifts, play with new toys, snack all day, watch movies and stay in our pajamas. We had a blessed Christmas Day for sure. It was so much fun to watch the boys. Each year changes how they respond. This year Nicholas opened a gift and then wanted to check it out for awhile, Joshua wanted to open all gifts, for everyone, all at once and Zachary just enjoyed the paper and boxes. Good times. Love them all.

Love how our star is tilting.

Goodies in the stockings.

Family photos under the tree become harder with more members.

"Chillin' with my homies"

Baby Blessing Day

2011-02-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 16th, GracePointe honored the families in our church with new babies by dedicating them with praise and prayers by our elders and church family. It is such a wonderful tradition our church has to show us how much they care for our families and that they support us and will guide us in raising our children. What a wonderful way to show God's love for us when we look out into the congregation and see our "family" looking back at us and agreeing that they will be there for us. I love it. Robyn put together a wonderful slide show with pictures of all the new babies and a tear jerking song to go along with it. Many in the crowd were in tears. It is so fun to see the different stages of all the babies. Then all the families went up front along with the elders. Each of our families was prayed for by a different elder. We were honored to have our dear friend and elder, Philip Black, pray for Zachary and our family. It is a blessing to have someone that personally knows our family pray for us and be able to add those extra touches to the prayer that mean so much. He was able to give personal antidotes and didn't mind that our two older boys were at his feet doing who knows what :-) It was a special day indeed.

"Why are you making me take a picture. I am hungry and tired. Poking my eye out sounds more appealing to me, but hey, at least Mommy and Daddy look great."

Our friend and elder, Philip Black. Zachary cooperated a little more for this photo op.

Zoo Lights

2011-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Wednesday before Christmas we were able to spend the afternoon/evening with the Hemphill's. We had such a good time. We hung out at the house for a little bit; playing, opening gifts and eating dinner and then we headed to the zoo. It was the perfect time to go. The weather was pleasant and there weren't many people there. This allowed for the kids to run ahead of us without getting lost in the crowd and we could walk at a leisurely pace. It was so much fun to watch the kids looking at the lights and hear their excitement when riding the train. We even stopped to talk to Santa.

Burt looking cool with Zachary attached to him.

The boys wanted to sit with Christopher and Sophie. Aren't they cute.

Nicholas loved the zoo map. I think he is telling Christopher where they should go next.

Sophie thought the train was too loud.

Cheesy smile once again, but too cute. He was much more cooperative at this visit with Santa and I love that he was able to sit in his lap and talk to him.

Nicholas telling Santa how much he loves trains.

Our fearless leader.

The whole crew.

Trying to see if the train would squash a penny left on the track. They weren't that close when the train went by in case you are wondering :-)

Trying to get us all in a picture.

This one taken by Brandon and Brittny is the best.

And that is how we ended our night at the zoo. We were so glad we got to spend it with our best friends.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

2011-01-03T19:09:00.001-08:00

(Photo taken by AME Photography)

Sweet, sweet Joshua. How can it be you are already 3 years old? So crazy. You are such a character and your personality shows more and more everyday. You certainly are your own little man. You crack me up with your facial expressions and funny sayings and at the same time can make me crazy with your whining, but I love you so very much. Right now you love anything associated with dinosaurs, games and your little brother Zachary. You would touch him and love on him constantly if I let you. It is the sweetest thing. You can definitely be strong willed and test the limits, but at the same time you break down if someone looks at you wrong. Oh the drama you can bring :-) But you also bring such joy and laughter to our household and melt us with your big green eyes. What more can we ask for except that you grow everyday in the Lord and never forget how much your mommy and daddy love you. Happy Birthday Joshua!!!!!

School Christmas Party

2011-01-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Burt was able to attend Nicholas' Christmas Party while I was at the dentist. I would have gladly traded places, but it worked out great since he normally misses these activities. I made it to Joshua's party later that afternoon.

Filling up his bag with goodies.

Cheesy smile once again

Singing for the parents

Waiting patiently for cookies.

Looking at his goodies.

Very excited look.

Zachary eating

2011-01-01T23:01:00.000-08:00

We finally started to feed Zachary "real" food the beginning of December. He seems to like it better now that he is eating fruit and not just cereal and veggies. Go figure.

Using his thumb to help push it in.

Christmas Decorating

2011-01-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the kids decorating the tree and the final product. They did a pretty good job. I had to fix a few that needed to be on sturdier branches, but overall they were great helpers and loved doing it. They were very excited to hang ornaments and used "non-ornaments" to decorate the tree also such as hanging monkeys, string and crafts from church that probably should have gone on a door. Such a festive tree indeed.

Gotta love the brighter lights on top.

The boys kept rearranging the figures in the manger so I decided to just leave it be. One of the sheep climbed the ladder. Smart one he is.

Five stockings this year.

Hanging their ornaments from the ornament swap party. Joshua is very intent on finding the right branch for his treasure.

We also decorated a Gingerbread House. The boys really enjoyed this.

Cheesy smiles with their sides of the house.

And a just because picture. This is his genuine smile. Such handsome little boy.

How....

2010-12-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

do we go from this
to this

all within a weeks time????? He is trying to grow up way too fast. Thankfully he hasn't started to crawl yet, but he does get up on his knees and throw himself forward pretty well. He doesn't even really like to just sit and play much. He either turns to climb up on me or lay on his belly to get in the crawling position. I better get prepared.

Church Christmas Program

2010-12-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Annual Christmas Program.......this year Joshua was a donkey and Nicholas was, once again, a cow. He wasn't very happy about that, but he cheered up once he saw all his friends were cows too. Nicholas actually sang some of the songs, whereas Joshua, on the other hand, just played with his donkey ears and pretended like he wasn't there. He is a character for sure. I even sat up there for a little bit with Zachary until he got fussy. The program is always a lot of fun to watch and this year was no different. The kids are very precious. Love them all.

Getting ready to go on stage.

Don't they all look excited to be there?

Classic Joshua

Ian and his mommy Robyn

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! Now that cards have been sent I wanted to share the Christmas card I had made from Shutterfly. I think it turned out pretty good and was very happy only to pay shipping for them. Any and all savings are appreciated this time of the year. I was not able to get a shot of all three of them for this card, but their solo shots are pretty cute. Hope you all have a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mod Snowflake Flurries Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Oh Christmas Tree.....

2010-12-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Tree a hunting we went last weekend. It was actually still fairly warm that evening in comparison to this week, brrrrr. It was also the perfect time to go since most people were in their homes watching the football game. We went to a new place down the road this year, smaller, but they had some beautiful trees. I found one I really wanted, but it was way too big for our little house. One day maybe. The tree we did find, however, is just as beautiful. The boys enjoyed running around and playing hide and seek for a little bit. Good times. I love the smell of fresh Christmas trees.

No nap sleepy boy, but we did awaken him.

Zachary was enthralled with the trees.

Nicholas wanted to be in the picture too.

Hide and seek

Our Christmas Tree

Nicholas didn't want to smile so instead he did crazy faces. Not sure where he gets this :-)

Joshua did his best at holding Zachary. He sure does love "touching" him.

Just Joshua's size. He wanted to take this one home.

The Christmas tree's home inside our home pre-decorations.

Birthday Party

2010-12-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Zachary and I headed to Ella Harding's first birthday party. Amanda, of course, was the hostess with the mostess. We had a wonderful brunch and Zachary enjoyed playing with Ian and Ella Harding.

The birthday girl getting ready to dig in.

Ian and Zachary. Zachary had just started to sit up on his own for brief periods of time.

Ella Harding had to investigate who was laying on her playmat.

He wasn't quite sure about her poking at him, but she is cute so he went with it :-)

Picture Day

2010-12-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots I took of the boys the day I went to have their pictures taken for Zachary's 6 month, Joshua's 3 year and a few Christmas shots.

Love the pockets on this outfit.

This picture is just funny with their white undershirts and jeans. So styling. Burt was trying to pose them all "cool", but you see how that went.

Christmas Card Giveaway

2010-11-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, since three of my friends have now posted regarding this great deal, I am finally getting to writing a blog post about it too. Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards to any blogger who writes a post about their services and which new designs for Christmas cards you prefer. This is such a great deal in my opinion, especially since I have used Shutterfly before to order pictures and to make photo books and I love sending out Christmas cards. We have a rather large list of people we send cards to, so receiving 50 of those free is very appealing. Don't we all love free stuff!!!!

Their site is very easy to navigate and their products always look great. The photo books I have created from them are wonderful. I am in the process of creating a new one from our trip to Disney World if I can just par down the photos that is :-) That's the hardest part. If you are looking for other gifts to give they can do that too. From calendars to mouse pads, you name it. And their new collection of Christmas cards are fantastic. They have so many to choose from, which can make it difficult for some, including me, but I think I might be able to do it. They have card stock, glossy, flat or open card, no pictures or multiple pictures. Whatever your heart desires I am sure you can find it. Some of my favorites are:
Starlight Snowflakes Christmas Card,
Classic Modern Wreath Christmas Card,
Elegant Cross Religious Christmas Card,
Modern Chocolate Wreath Christmas Card

There are so many more great choices. I have my work cut out for me. Hope you enjoy browsing their collection.

So, if you are interested in receiving 50 free Christmas Cards from Shutterfly click here. Happy searching and I look forward to showing you our final product once I make a decision and find the perfect picture or pictures to add to it.

Gotta love these boys

2010-11-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

This was a conversation had by my boys and Burt one day while they were out on one of their adventures. I believe they were getting ready to come home when this occurred.

Joshua- "Let's go to target."
Daddy- "We don't need anything at target."
Nicholas- "Daddy, let's just go and Joshua and me will pick up what we want."
Daddy-*sigh*

Guess what happened next.....they went to Target of course and brought something back.

P.S.

2010-11-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

The balloons made it home from our long journey from Disney World and Zachary was very happy to be out of his car seat and in his bed.

Disney World- Day 4

2010-11-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hope you all aren't tired of hearing about our trip :-) Not to worry, this is the last day and then I will move on to fall fun.

We ended our Disney World fun by heading to Animal Kingdom. Our first stop was the Safari Tour. Everyone enjoyed this trip. It was fun watching Nicholas look at the pictures above us to see what he should be on the look out for. Joshua couldn't wait to see the elephants and to play with Zachary.

Lathering up with sunscreen. The kids decided to switch off sitting with each other.

Not sure why Nicholas is so mad.

Joshua loves to touch his brother.

After the tour the adults rode a roller coaster. It made my stomach turn a little bit, but was lots of fun. It had a surprise built in of going backwards for a little bit. Fun times. We then headed to Dino Land for a little bit before going to see the Nemo Show. We were excited to have Joshua go to Dino Land since he is in love with Dinosaurs. We had to wake him up though since he ended up falling asleep on the stroll over there. All the fun caught up to him early this day. The boys went and played while Zachary ate and then we all rode a ride together. It was then off to the show. I wish I had pictures of that, but you can't get good ones in there. Joshua was mesmerized the entire time. We had great seats up front too which was a lot of fun for us all. Definitely better than being up top. Joshua would have gotten on the stage I think if we let him.

Joshua was very excited that he was able to control the dinosaur.

Zachary was holding on for dear life.

Sophie and Zachary. Isn't she precious.

He's pretty cute too.

We then went back to ride the roller coaster again and ate ice cream. Once we finished that the boys went on the water ride. Joshua started to cry because he couldn't go. It was so pitiful. He wanted to go with Daddy and big brother. So, Burt took him to see if he could make the height requirement and apparently he did because he didn't bring him back to me. So, Brittny and I took Sophie and Zachary to the bridge to see if we could catch the boys coming down the ride. We missed them the first time, but caught them the second go around. Joshua didn't want to go again so Burt brought him out to me. He was a little wet, not scared, just didn't want to get wet again I guess.

I love how excited Christopher was.

After that we headed back to Dino World until the park closed at 5. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We picked up a few souveniers and ended our journey. While waiting for our bus the kids ran around and played with their toys. We then decided to pay for a taxi to get us home. It was much more pleasant than fighting with all of our stuff to get on a bus with tons of people. We made it back much sooner too. We ate a great dinner, played one more round of putt-putt, bathed the kids and got them to bed at a decent hour. We were then able to sit down and relax and talk a bit ourselves before packing up. It was a nice way to end our vacation. We had so much fun with the Hemphill's and look forward to the next time we can vacation together.

Princesses and Dinosaurs- who says they can't live in harmony.

Disney World- Day 3

2010-10-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

We headed to MGM or Hollywood Studios as it is known now. Our first stop was to get the fast pass for the Toy Story Ride. It wasn't for another couple hours, so we decided to wait in line to go on it so we would get two chances at it. It said an hour wait, but thankfully it was only about 20 or so minutes and there is so much to look at on the way that it goes by very quickly. The ride was fun too. We got to play little games along the way shooting at targets. Nicholas loves to do this.

After the ride Joshua and Sophie wanted to meet Buzz and Woody so we stood in line to do that. Along the way were picture spots which helped to entertain the kids a little bit. Once it was our turn to meet them Joshua became shy again, of course, but he still went up there with me. Nicholas didn't really care to meet them.

Our little monkeys, Sophie and Joshua.

Don't they look excited.

One of my favorite pictures. Such a geniune smile.

Brittny and Sophie

An executive decision was then made to just head back to the room to take naps/rests since it seemed all were getting grumpy and restless and we wanted to see the fireworks later that evening. So, on we went. We took the bus back over to Magic Kingdom to catch our bus back to the resort. While we waited Burt went and bought a few things for the kids and a birthday pin for me. I got many birthday wishes all day from strangers wearing this. Fun times.

Cool bus we had to ourselves almost.

Back at the room we got Sophie and Joshua to fall asleep and Brandon and Brittny took a little snooze too. I tried to, but then Zachary woke up. Burt took Nicholas and Christopher to the pool. They were going to try out the water slide, but apparently you have to know how to swim so no go there. After they tried out the pool/spa they headed back to play putt-putt and hit the playground. I think it was a good rest time for everyone, well, maybe everyone. Burt probably would have liked a nap himself. What a trooper.

Not too sure about the spa, so he is just chillin' instead.

The water combined with Christopher's life jacket pushed him around in circles. It was pretty cool and he thought it was very fun.

We then packed up to get ready to go back to Magic Kingdom for the evening. On the way in there was a show at the castle so we watched some of that. We then went to eat dinner, at the same restaurant we ate at a few years back. It is very kid friendly and entertained the kids while we ate. We then went on a couple of rides before finding our spot to watch the fireworks. We had a great view of them and everyone enjoyed watching the show. It was a very nice end to the day and fireworks for my birthday, very cool. We headed back to the room and got everyone asleep and then enjoyed a little adult time before passing out ourselves. It is hard to stay up late after long days and knowing the kids will be up bright and early to start the fun all over again, but we wanted to be able to chat and catch up too, so we did and it was well worth it.

He gets so focused.

Dinner time entertainment.

" Ha, ha, I got back here where I am not suppose to be and what are you going to do about it?"

Joshua was not happy we made him come back over.

My boys getting ready to take off.

Brittny and Christopher enjoying the Dumbo ride.

Running out some energy. A benefit of it not being too crowded.

Cute pictures of the four kiddos in their matching shirts Brittny bought for them.

I'm outta here.

And then there were three.

Waiting for the fireworks to begin. We gave them lollipops so they would sit still for a second when it started to get crowded.

Almost firework time.

Attempt at a family picture in front of the castle. Zachary makes me laugh with his two fingers over his nose.

"Hey Christopher, aren't the fireworks cool!"

"Yes, yes they are."

Sweet little Zachary and me, the birthday gal. Too bad my birthday pin was not visible.

Disney World- Day 2

2010-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

The families ventured on our own this morning since Brittny and Sophie had a date with the Princesses at Epcot. This was probably a good thing as poor little Zachary ended up having a blowout before we left and we had to change him and give him a bath before heading out. Fun start to the day I would say. After all the commotion we hopped on the bus and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We headed to get fast passes for the Buzz Light Year ride so that I could take the boys on it this go around.

While we waited for our time to go we headed back to the Dumbo ride and the Carousel. While the boys went on those rides I headed out with Zachary to find a place that had funnel cakes. They met up with me and we enjoyed our treat, well most of us did. Joshua didn't find it too tasty. Why? I have no idea. Very strange indeed. He said it was yucky. Nicholas kept saying, " just try it, you will like it", but he didn't. Instead he drank most of the chocolate milk as his treat and was just as happy as the rest of us. After our pit stop we made it back to the ride. Me and the boys went on the ride and shot the aliens while Burt hung out with Zachary. I am glad I was able to go on it with them this time so that I could experience the joy Nicholas had from the day before when he went on it twice and got a high score.

After the ride it was time for Zachary to eat. Nicholas wanted to go back to the ship and playground so onward we went. There were benches for me to sit at in the shade so it was a perfect pit stop. Nicholas and Joshua ran, screamed, and played to their hearts content with all the other kids there. Burt told them to stop being so loud, but then realized we were outside, at Disney and a million other kids were doing the same thing. Fun.

After our playground time we met back up with the Hemphill's. We took the Jungle Cruise, the adults rode Thunder Mountain and Burt took Christopher and Nicholas on Splash Mountain. Us adults enjoyed our big kid ride while the boys loved their ride. They were so excited. Wish I could have seen their faces. Sophie and Joshua hung out with us gals and ate some lunch/dinner/snacks and somewhere in there took naps. After the boys were done we headed back to the room to have dinner. Joshua spotted the balloons once again on the way out and had to have one. I had promised the day before and after not getting it when we first entered I had to get it now. He was so happy he could hardly contain himself. I loved seeing the pure joy on his face. He enjoyed that balloon to its fullest extent. We made it back to the room, ate, played some putt-putt and enjoyed some cake before getting the kids into bed. The cake was an early birthday surprise for me. They brought the cake outside to the putt-putt and sang to me. It was cute and a nice way to end the evening. Once we got the kids to sleep we were able to sit and talk for a little bit before we headed to bed ourselves. Everyone needed their beauty rest.

Having fun with a fruit roll-up. Gotta love the goofy fella in the background.

Our sweet little ones taking a break.

On the jungle cruise.

Best friends. Aren't they just the cutest? They did this all on their own. We almost missed out on capturing it on film, but thankfully we didn't. I love it.

Joshua wanted in on it to, but hey, watch out for that lady in front of you.

The kids loved pinching Zachary's cheeks. Not too sure if he was keen on it though.

Joshua with his prized possession- a Mickey Mouse balloon.

Zachary- 4 months

2010-10-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

I took Zachary to his 4 month check-up on Thursday. All was well considering he ended up having three shots and an ear infection. Not to worry though, he didn't get a fever this time around and he is now on medication for his infection. Dr. T was going to have him ride it out, but since he had a stuffy nose already from his brothers he figured it was better to take care of it with the medicine. I agreed. Besides that he said he is perfect and doing great in all areas. Of course he is :-)

Here are his stats: 14 pounds 1 ounce (50%), 24 and 3/4 inches long (50%) with a head circumference of 16 and 1/2 inches (40%).

He is definitely more interactive these days. He is "talking", smiling, laughing, playing with toys some, can pull himself up while I am holding his hands, rolls from stomach to back and half way from back to stomach. It is so much fun to see the new things he is learning. It never gets old from child to child and I love that. He is such a trooper and pretty easy going until he is pushed to the limit. He has to be I suppose with the schedule we run with his older brothers. I am so thankful for his temperament and as always, look forward to what is in store next.

Disney World- Day 1

2010-10-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Once the kids woke up they were ready and rearing to go, to do anything really. The putt-putt course was right outside our back door so that looked good to them. They ended up doing this pretty much every morning and evening when there was a spare minute. It was very convenient. So, since they were ready, us adults had to get ready too. We got dressed, packed our lunches and caught the bus to head to Magic Kingdom. We were all pretty excited. The kids loved riding the bus and the monorail (or bullet train) and laughed so much on the way there. It was too cute.

Once inside we made our way too see Minnie and Mickey. On the way a parade was about to begin at the Castle so we stopped to watch. Perfect timing I would say. Nicholas even got out of the stroller to dance.

Waiting for the parade start.

Castle shot

Cool guys on stilts.

Mr. Incredible

So enthralled

After the parade we made our way to the Goofy Roller Coaster. Nicholas remembered this from last time and was excited to go again.

First time on the coaster. Very excited can't you tell.

Zachary and Joshua hung out with me until the next go around.

My turn to ride with Nicholas.

Then Joshua took a turn with me.

The whole gang. Brittny, Sophie, Brandon, Burt, Zachary, me, Joshua, Nicholas and Christopher. What a bunch we are don't you think. So fun.

Joshua kept putting his Mickey sticker on various parts of his body. He thought it was hilarious. It ended up on his forehead as you can see.

Hi or stop, no pictures please. Love the lollipop in his mouth too.

Zachary loves his fingers.

My turn at the bumper cars. I told Nicholas to say "go speed racer, go" while we drove and so he did. He was so excited because we actually passed another car on the track.

Notice the change in driver.

We then stopped to eat our lunches and everyone went on the Buzz Lightyear Ride while I fed Zachary. Then the adults were able to ride Space Mountain. It was nice being able to trade off watching the kids so we could ride some cool things ourselves. We then headed back over to ride Dumbo again. By this time Joshua and Zachary fell asleep so I hung out with them.

I was trying to get a picture of Brandon and Christopher and he happened to be taking a picture of me hanging out at the same time.
Silly photo of Brandon.

After the rides we had to get a snack of course. We can't be deprived of treats at Disney now can we.

Enjoying some ice cream.

Poor Joshua missed out since he was snoozing.

Our sleepy head. Thank goodness he would nap in the stroller. What a blessing that was.

He looks so relaxed.

We then went back to the "ship" because Nicholas wouldn't stop talking about it. All it is is a place to run about and get wet, but he wanted to do it, so we didn't stop him.

Pure joy.

Our silly boy for sure. Hmm, do you think Burt posed him for this shot???

It was quitting time soon after this. The boys and Brittny rode on the train while Brandon and I took the little sleeping ones closer to the front of the park so it wouldn't take as long to get out when we needed to. I fed Zachary once again while we waited. Since all three boys were awake when we were leaving I wanted to get a picture of us in front of the castle. It didn't quite work out as imagined, but here they are anyway.

It was a great first day. Oh and I think Nicholas was pouting because he thought we were leaving for good. We had to keep reminding him we would be back. We were just leaving to go home for dinner and sleep and we would be returning tomorrow. So sad don't you think.

Disney World Bound

2010-10-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we headed to Disney World to spend the week with our best friends, the Hemphill's. We had an awesome time, tiring, but so much fun. Brittny has already started to post about the time so if you want to see her commentary please click here. Plus you will see different photos since I don't have the ones they took right now and she is way faster than I am.

So, I knew going into this that the drive was going to take us awhile since we had to stop to feed Zachary and let the boys stretch their legs. Having this mindset ahead of time made the trip less stressful for sure. Nicholas and Joshua were terrific the whole time. They watched movies, played with their trains and dinosaurs, colored, took a little nap and talked. It was fun seeing the differences this go around as compared to two years ago when we went. I wish I had a picture of their back seat set up, but I wasn't that smart. Oh well. The funniest thing Nicholas did was saying "are we there yet" or "how much longer" every couple of minutes it seemed. It wasn't in an annoying way, but Burt thought kids don't really say that and wondered where he learned it. It made me laugh. Zachary on the other hand did what any four month old would do being cooped up in a car seat all day long. He slept a little bit, cried some and ate. When we would take him out of the car seat he was so excited to stretch his legs that he normally wouldn't bend them. It was funny. It did pretty well though under the circumstances. We ended up making three stops, all at least an hour long, which made it a long day, but everyone stayed happy this way so I didn't care. We finally made it to the timeshare around 9:30 or 10pm I think, got everyone into their pajamas and off to bed. We had to be ready for our first day at the Magic Kingdom.

They loved putting coins in here to race and see them spin. Joshua now thinks to "spend" money means to go round and round, as in "spin".

So happy to put coins in and drive the car.

Focused on driving.

Ride 'em cowboy.

Entering Disney World. Definitely blurry, but had to get it.