What a Day!

I don't usually blog quite this frequently, but today just had some great pictures that needed to be shared. So, here are the noteworthy things:

Marian actually wanted her picture taken this morning. She did look quite cute. You can't tell, but she has a ponytail that is braided and has a super-cute daisy in it. And she was giving me her normal face, not the usual blank stare she does when I pull out the camera. I like this shot because it is such a Marian look.

And check this out! A smile! An actual smile! She was adorable this morning, so I had to share. This smile picture was posted especially for her grandparents.

I looked over to see Dan helping Joshua with his tie. It was a sweet moment and I had to ruin it by grabbing the camera! I love the eye roll there from Joshua. Note the fabulous tie there, as well.

I know, bike riding on the Sabbath?! Well, It went like this......

My friend Lanie came by this morning to drop off some things before church. One of those things was this little red bike her boys had outgrown. I put it in the carport. Fast forward a few hours to after church. I was busy making a cake for Joshua's birthday and Dan called out that I needed to come outside. I went out and there was Callie, riding this bike!! She had decided she wanted to and off she went! Well, mostly, off she went.

Sometimes she fell down.

But for a kid who has never really had or ridden a bike, I'd say she's not doing too badly.

And to be honest, if she would just focus on riding the bike, rather than mugging for the camera, she'd do better! She was fine when she wasn't trying to look at me and smile! I was quite impressed. She cannot wait to ride her bike to school with the big kids.

Joshua is having a Lego Birthday party tomorrow. He wanted to decorate his cake, and I said, Okay. He wanted a green cake and he wanted to just decorate it. I found these nifty Lego-brick candies and he was delighted. I frosted it with the specified green colored frosting and he got to work. He even let Marian assist.

This was his final result. Pretty great, isn't it?!

And the I made them brush their teeth and go to bed.

Name that Baby

I was feeling obligated to blog about Joshua, and upon feeling the pressure, immediately decided I didn't feel like it. Since I was already looking at pictures, I started looking at all the kids photos from when they were about a year old. Can you guess which kid is which?

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

Photo #4

Photo #5

Photo #6

Here is your answer Key:

1 is Marian

2 is Joshua

3 is Joshua again. This one looks more Rylee-like.

4 is Rylee

5 is Delaney. I know, sneaky with them in the same shirt!

6 is Callie. I don't have any of her at the right age. Not on this computer.

This and That

Rylee is so doggone cute! She is walking very well, and has been for over a month now, so I don't notice how tiny she is to be walking. She turns one in 2 weeks.

Yep, SO cute!

She is always smiling and grinning and having a good time, but I can't seem to catch her big gummy smile on camera.

Yesterday as I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the big kids being gone at school, Delaney squealed that I needed to get Rylee. I thought Rylee was in the cupboard again. She wasn't.

This is what she was doing.

One nearly full cube of butter was smeared on her face, gleefully wiped across the counter, squeezed onto the stool, splattered onto the floor, covered her shirt and coated her hands. Ug. This oily mess occurred less than 24 hours after she managed to spill half a gallon of vegetable oil on the floor. She's on a roll! And very happy with herself.

This picture is to describe one of the things I love about our new house. I was quite resistant to the move, but I love, love, love our new house. I love the neighborhood; I love our street; I love our neighbors! The other day, the 5 of my children and 3 neighbor kids were all in our front yard, trying to climb up this tree. I love that we have kids almost next door to play with! I even like the walk to school each day. Who'd have thunk it?!

And today, somebody had a birthday. Joshua has a party coming up, so today he just got to be the special boy. Tonight he got his favorite dinner (Enchilada Ring) and his favorite dessert (Chocolate Truffle Pie). This pie is the most amazingly delicious thing ever invented, and these 3 thought they were so funny!

Joshua got to open family presents and he made quick work of one of his Lego kits.

Life is good

Dan took the kids to the pool on Monday. It was the last day of the pool and somehow, Dan has managed to make it through the summer without ever going to the pool here. The kids had a great time, and this was Delaney, as soon as they got home. She napped here for over an hour, despite the pokings, proddings and loud volume from her siblings.

Yesterday was a most glorious day! School started! Finally. The kids were so ready for it. All 3 of them were impatient and excited, and ready to go well before it was time to leave.

This was last year's first day of school. Don't they look so cute? I think they look a lot younger too. Go back and look at the previous picture and see how different they look.

This year we get to walk. That means I walk and they race ahead on their bikes, and scooter. Here is Marian on her bike.

Joshua's bike riding ability came just in time and he loves riding it to school. It was a little tricky to figure out how to ride the bike with a backpack and a lunch box!

Here is Callie, speeding along on her scooter! She is SO excited to be in kindergarten.

Callie let me walk her to class and take a picture of her. She was less shy than I expected her to be. She wouldn't even talk to the teacher last week at Orientation, but yesterday she was feeling pretty confident. And she had a good day. They all had really good days and were raring to go again this morning!I love it!

Early Birthday Present!

Joshua turns 9 next week. He is very excited. Even more exciting is the milestone that he FINALLY met. Can you guess what it is?

Yes, Callie is adorable. If you look in the background, you can see Joshua. What is he doing? He is riding a bike! Yes! He finally learned to ride a bike!

Look at him go!! He is so pleased with himself. I know it is blurry. He was going pretty fast! This is his new bike. He was so thrilled to be able to ride a 2-wheeler, I let him pick out a bike today, even though he has another week till his birthday.

Yep, he's confident enough to take one hand off the handlebars now!