Caught in the act

Look what I caught my firefighter husband putting on the fire....with his son watching! You think he would know better than to show his 4 year old son something like that. He didn't know that I was getting all of this on camera...

A closer look/proof
Oh, I think somebody got caught!

Hauling some wood

Standing by the fire with daddy

After all of the "playing with fire is dangerous" lectures, you would really think that he would be a little more careful. If you are going to put gas on the fire, as least HIDE IT from your son! I think I'm going to have to sit them both down for a little talk. Why do I always have to be the responsible one? :)

It's a girl thing!

My sister in law Michelle and I have been having so much fun making our girls some "hair bling"! We got together the other night and drank some Margaritas, swapped ribbon and taught each other some new tricks. She's selling some of hers for Relay for Life if anyone's interested. :)

Ava is so excited about it and loves picking out bows to match her clothes.

This is the new bow holder that we hung in her room.

One of Ava's favorites

This one took me 2 hours!

Confessions of a Clutter Bug

The other morning after getting the kids onto the bus, I started my every day cleaning routine. As I was clearing the breakfast dishes off of the table, I found Ava's "stash". I caught myself getting irritated because I am CONSTANTLY relocating this child's clutter, but then stopped. I stopped and remembered, this little girl is going to grow up so fast. She is going to go off to college, get married, have a family, and be whoever she is going to be. When that day comes, my house will probably be free of clutter, but that means she will be gone too, and I know that I will wish that I had savored every moment of her childhood. So instead of getting mad, I'm going to hold on to every moment, and be glad for this amazing little girl that God has given us. Be glad that I have her clutter here to surround me. Be glad that God has a sense of humor and gave this neat freak mom a clutter bug daughter!

---Ava brought all of these things to the breakfast table. Why? I don't really know, I guess she needs them all!---

The top ten weirdest things that Ava feels the need to save:

1. The Lunchable's plastic tray to "organize" with.

2. I find rocks in her pockets or backpack EVERY day.

3. A spider egg sack.

4. Her orange peels. because she wanted them for a craft.

5. After playing in the park, I made her empty her pockets. What was in them: 4 pinecones, sticks, lots of rocks, a few leaves and some moss. (I'm not kidding either.)

6.Her yogurt containers to "keep stuff in".

7. Every piece of paper that she has ever colored on, drawn on or written on.

8. Crayon paper and pencil shavings.

9. Her friends know that she's a collector, so they are always giving her little trinkets. Her friend Hailey gave her a mini M & M container that I got in so much trouble for almost throwing away!

10.Anything and Everything that she can get those little hands on!

Please tell me that it's just a phase, and that she's not going to be a hoarder when she grows up!

BOYS BOYS BOYS...just because they are so stinkin' cute!

This is the adorable Weston that we all know and love. Don't let those baby blues fool you!
This is why the Jumbo pack of Nerf Bullets has dissapeared so quickly! What are you lookin' at?

Time flies

How far we've come in 18 months!

THEN-6 lbs. 7oz. and 5 lbs. 9 oz.------NOW-27 lbs. and 29 lbs.

THEN- Our size 1 shoes were double our foot size---NOW-Our size 6's are getting snug

THEN- Preemie clothes were pretty baggy------NOW- We're in 2T!

Scrappin' Along

So...here's an update on my page total for the year: (For those of you who don't know, my New Year's resolution is to print out my first digital scrapbook this year, and maybe more!) I am guessing that I've done at least 50 pages since January 1st, but I have a feeling it might be around 60! Nick has been working soooo much, so I've had a lot of down time after everyone goes to bed. I posted one of my favorites for each kid. I think I have around 50 pages done for each of them. Half way to four 100 page books!

One of my favorite Weston pages

Coleson's first smile page
Carter's page from last month

Miss Ava in the snow

Sister or 2nd Mother?

These 2 little boys are so lucky to have such a great big sister! (Carter left the room for these pictures, so that's why he wasn't included.) It's so funny how big sisters automatically assume the role of disciplinarian, caregiver, peacemaker, referee, entertainer and friend. She scolds them, comforts them, spanks them :), loves on them, plays with them and is so proud of them! She still talks about wanting a sister, but the truth is, she wouldn't trade all of these boys for the world!

Be smarter than the braid...

Ava and I have been trying to conquer this "twisty braid" for a few months now. I've tried and tried, but just couldn't get it. She would ask again, so I would try again, but I wasn't getting it! Finally she asked again the other day, and to my surprise, it worked! This was the first successful twisty braid that I did! Now I have it figured out, and we've done twisty braids every day since! (They are now looking better than this first one, but this is where it all started.) I guess you just have to be smarter than the braid!

Got it!

I guess I'm going have to use the candy bribe every time. This was a one in a million shot because he NEVER has his eyes open with a smile on his face while looking in my direction. This picture is what I would call Lucky! :) I actually did get a few more...I might stick them on my photography blog later, but there's something about this one that makes me smile.

This and that

Well, our little bathroom renovation is done, and I have some before and after pictures! Okay, this is actually a before picture of our other bathroom because I didn't exactly get one of the Master Bath before we tore it apart. Anyways, they were pretty much the same...you get the idea.

Alright, drum roll please!

Before picture

Finished Product!
Backsplash and Counter

OUT and ABOUT

Nick and I took the babies to the park today. It's really the first time that they've played at the park, (besides the swings last year) and it was so fun watching them. They are so curious and take everything in. They explored every inch of that park and thought it was the coolest place!

Weston about to go head first down the slide

This was what Coleson's face looked like the whole time we were there!

West

"What's this?"

"Here you go mom, you take it."

FINALLY GETTING OUTSIDE

The kids have all been playing in the backyard the last few days. I couldn't get a decent picture of Carter to save my life, but here's what I got. Doesn't he just think he's hilarious!

So much to see in the backyard!

Wet n' wild

Weston and Coleson run to the bath the minute they are out of their highchairs after breakfast! Even if we aren't planning on a bath, we still take one as to not dissapoint them! I took these pics to show how stinkin long their hair was....and the sad things is that we waited about 2 more weeks before we cut it. They were looking pretty shaggy!