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!

Squeezing in the fun

Sine school is starting in exactly one week, the pressure is on to squeeze in every last drop of fun for the summer! So we have been busy doing that. Last week I let the kids make Peanut Butter Balls. They are nutritious, delicious and easy to make. Actually, I picked them because the kids could do the majority of the work!

Delaney was confused as to the function of the measuring cup. She was convinced it was a hat.

They each got to measure and pour stuff and while there was some quarrelling as to who got to do what, they were all very happy to be involved.

Look at those adorable faces!

After the pouring, I mixed it up and then they got to roll them into balls. I was surprised that they did every last one. I didn't roll any after showing them how!

They really had a good time and I didn't care if they snitched dough, because it was all healthy stuff!

And at the end, they all got to eat one.

(They lasted about 3 days.)

This week, I introduced Rylee to Oreos. Actually, I was eating them and she wanted some, so I shared. I think she liked it!

I unpacked some boxes in the basement and the girls had a marvelous time with them.

Who knew a box is all you need for fun?!

I finally took the kids to see the battlements at Ft Hunt Park. We've been to the park a lot, but I have never checked out the monuments there. Pretty cool stuff! And the children had a great time running amok and climbing on everything.

Is it a stage for dancing? Nope, it was for big guns, I think. But Callie and Delaney have given it a more peaceful function.

There is a huge set of stairs to the right, but Marian found a better way to get down! I had some tuckered out kids after all that climbing. Yay! A successful outing!

In case you wanted to know, the Peanut Butter Balls Recipeis:

1 cup honey

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 1/2 cups powdered milk (dry)

3 cups Quick Oats (uncooked)

1/4 cup Wheat Germ

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

(I added 1/4 cup flax seed as well.) Mix all together. Form into balls. Freeze on baking sheet till firm. (Mine were pretty firm already.) Store in fridge in Ziploc bag. Makes about 50.