The Mathews Family

Some fall photos

2011-11-02T22:16:00.002-04:00

Elise sitting in the sunlight.

A fairy princess, a football player (with Colleen's great handiwork on the homemade helmet), and a cowgirl.

Originally she was going to be Dorothy, but that dress was a little too big for her to use this year.

Titus appears to be more imposing than some of the current Kansas football players.

Titus is moving from a tractor guy to a football guy, though he still loves both.

The butterfly wings from her birthday party served as wings for this outfit.

Enjoying a little solid food, well as solid as baby food is.

A picture with each of their birthday stuffed animals.

Mr. Bear.

The cow

A little out of place here, but Titus with Poppa at the children's museum.

Primed

Painted. It's a blue/gray, though it's a little hard to tell in this light.

Elise's 6 month picture with her elephant.

Colleen's handiwork for Katelyn's friend birthday party.

I viewed it as painstaking and time consuming work, but Colleen seemed to enjoy it.

Katelyn and Titus enjoying Grandpa's lap.

Katelyn's friends at her birthday party.

Katelyn on her birthday morning.

Grandpa went and got Oram's donuts for Katelyn's birthday. Think she liked that?

Big brother with his littlest sister.

One half of the crew at the family birthday party.

The other half.

Katelyn trying on her new winter coat.

A live butterfly garden for a butterfly birthday girl.

New boots!

Nana and the three oldest raking up some leaves.

Lydia trying her best.

Nana holding Elise.

I'm not sure what this conversation was about, but clearly Titus is trying to make his point to Katelyn.

Elise wearing a birthday hat with Nana.

I don't know if she realized what was on her head, but she didn't seem to mind.

Nana reading to Lydia while Titus played the Indiana Jones game that was on Nana's phone.

Enjoying more solid food.

Lydia in an airplane at the children's museum.

Lydia caught the parachutes.

Titus put them in a bucket and pulled the rope to send it up.

Katelyn grabbed the bucket and sent the parachutes back into the air.

Wearing goggles in a wind tunnel.

Some sort of reflecting activity.

Lydia sitting on...something.

Lydia with cousin Breylynn

The three oldest playing with...something.

Titus squishing that something flat.

Katelyn doing a screen press.

Titus playing in the fountains.

Raincoat and shoes were provided.

Titus and his birthday gift

2011-07-25T20:34:00.002-04:00

Here's a video of Titus' birthday gift. Unfortunately the initial video of us giving him the gift and him going on his first ride is on our memory card that seems to have died. I can't get anything off of it, though I'm still trying. Anyway, here's another video on a new memory card, along with a couple pictures. Please be sure to notice the new calf high John Deere socks he's sporting, courtesy of Papa and Nana. His old ones were about 2 sizes too small and had multiple holes in them. And thankfully they had the foresight to get him 3 pairs so hopefully these will last longer, with them being worn virtually every day of course!

A few pictures

2011-07-16T14:34:00.002-04:00

It's a little hard to see, but we had a rainbow in our backyard after an afternoon rain. It was one of the coolest things. I've never seen something like that. I was at work, so fortunately Colleen snapped a couple pictures of it.

Apparently there really isn't at pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, though, as we would have had two of them if that were true!

A cute one of Lydia and Katelyn playing on the couch.

Lydia after playing in the sprinklers over at the Stivasons on the church grounds.

Titus showing off his muscles.

One of the toy sprinklers the kids were playing in.

The kids (and us) really miss playing out back with the Stivasons, so we try to make it over when we can.

We're grateful for the trips down that grammy and grandpa make. They are special times, and we wish both sets of grandparents lived closer to make these occasions more frequent.

Playing at the park with cousin Keegan. They had quite a fun time.

A little out of sequence here, but Lydia enjoying licking the spatula and making quite a mess of it.

Katelyn, Titus and Keegan on a tire swing at the park.

Lydia got her chance to ride it too.

A couple pictures of cousin Cayden.

Cayden and Elise, the two youngest grandchildren.

Grandpa enjoying holding his two youngest grandchildren, though I'm not sure how much Cayden is enjoying this!

Our three oldest peering down the slide at the park.

A sweaty Titus sporting his John Deere gear. Hmm, I wonder what might be in store for him when he turns 4 in a couple of days....:).

It was a cool rainy day and the kids wanted to watch the rain through the door. Not sure how this helped the bug population in our house, though.

Lydia absolutely loves watermelon. If we would let her, she could down 4 or 5 slices easily. We usually have to stop her from eating the rhine and everything. "Only the pink, Lydia."

Not that it is a surprise, but our kids so far have expressed quite a bit of interest in sports. Our garage is filled with balls of all kinds, and the kids usually are playing with them when they are outside. Titus here is showing off his throwing arm. Good pitchers run in my family, and Titus appears to be following in that line, as he has quite the arm.

Batting, on the other hand, he hasn't quite gotten down yet. He's got to keep that swing level instead of chopping down!

Even Lydia wants her turn at hitting, though so far she hasn't graduated from the batting tee yet.

Katelyn has proven to be a pretty good batter. She hasn't gotten her throwing down just yet like Titus, but she's become quite a good hitter.

Elise at her three month photo. I think she has been the smiliest of our four kids so far.

Titus, sporting the suspenders, and Lydia watching Katelyn hit the ball.

It seems this boy either has a tractor in his hand, or a ball (or two).

Here's Katelyn keeping her eye on the ball.

I've already got the boy pitching to me, and he does a nice job. For some reason the kids like to pick up the batting tee and peer through it when other people are hitting, hence Katelyn.

Not a great picture, but this visitor was rummaging through our trash the other night. It's a raccoon in case you aren't sure.

Katelyn helping Lydia catch a firefly. We've really had a pleasant summer so far and the nights especially have been quite nice, so this is a fun activity for the kids just before bedtime.

A good one of Titus ready to snatch a firefly. So far the kids have proven to be quite gentle with the bugs. Not too many casualties so far.

"Look Dad, see my firefly?"

Katelyn usually catches them for Lydia and passes them off. Lydia tries hard (see the video on the previous post), but they've proven to be a little too elusive for her so far.

Lydia looking down at one that Katelyn had caught for her.

Colleen tried to lay Elise down in the crib the other day (Lydia still sleeps in the crib with Elise in the pack-n-play), and Lydia was not amused. "Me crib! Me crib!" It won't be that long, though, before it's Elise's crib and Lydia will graduate up to the toddler bed.

Elise holding her head up. She's rolled over front to back, but hasn't been able to get that arm out of the way to roll back to front, though she's trying really hard!

Smiling with Daddy.

Lydia and Titus playing on the couch.

A few videos

2011-07-16T12:30:00.001-04:00

We've enjoyed the nice pleasant summer evenings so far, and one of the things the kids have enjoyed is catching fireflies at night time in our backyard.

Elise laughing with Katelyn taking the video.

This is what we've worked on a little bit the last two evenings, and it didn't take Katelyn long to catch on. It's one of those fun moments as a parent but also a little bittersweet when you realize your kids are growing up quickly!

Elise laughing

2011-06-20T19:48:00.001-04:00

Her first laughs caught on video.

I don't know if that is a snort or a toot before her laugh. Sounds more like gas to me.

Lydia's Two!!!

2011-06-08T16:38:00.009-04:00

The plate Colleen makes for all the kids when they get to be 1-2 years old, including nieces and nephews. "Lydia Joyce Mathews ....Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14"

Lydia posing with her plate.

Sporting the Elmo PJs she got from Papa and Nana. She made out with pajamas for this birthday with three sets.

Loving her new pink shoes.

She had to put them on as soon as she opened them, and has wanted to wear them around everywhere all day. She even wanted to go to bed with them on last night.

Notice the Jayhawk sock and the purple sock. Maybe she is trying to please both sides of the Kansas family?

More clothes.

Present time is fun for all the kids, even if the older ones don't get to do the opening.

Getting ready to enjoy her Elmo cake.

Colleen's handiwork.

Lydia posing in front of the couch. She was running through the kitchen earlier in the day and fell and hit her face against the stove, thus the red stripe down her nose.

Sitting next to her giraffe that used to dwarf her 2 years ago.

She's always got a big grin.

Below is a few video clips of Lydia's birthday.

Soccer and other pictures

2011-06-08T16:08:00.005-04:00

Katelyn and her friend Alison were on the same team this year, so they were excited about that.

Holding hands during warmups.

They were the only two girls on the team, so they would always get split up when it came to game time. Their team always split into two teams and would play another team 3 on 3 or 4 on 4, so they were always placed on separate fields.

This is Titus after a fudgesicle. Apparently we forgot to tell him he was supposed to eat it and not smear it all over himself.

A side smile from Elise.

She enjoys her bouncy seat, although unfortunately the music has broken so when she kicks it won't play music anymore.

Another smile from Elise.

A profile of the little 2 month old.

Lying flat on the floor.

Katelyn soothing Elise with the pacifier.

Here's a video clip from Katelyn's last soccer game. Sometimes she is more offensive minded and does better at scoring goals, and some games she takes a more defensive position and lays more towards the back, which is what she was doing this game. Maybe she is taking after her mother who always seemed to take more joy in playing defense than offense.

Some more pictures

2011-06-01T19:56:00.012-04:00

These pictures are a little dark, but mowing time is the highlight of Titus' life right now. He is constantly asking if we can mow tonight, and he's always insinuating that "the grass needs mowed, dad."

He must be the son of a speech pathologist, as he's very concerned about the loud noises from the mower, thus the headphones. Dad, on the other hand....

It's not just Titus that enjoy mowing times, though.

Katelyn has started pulling Lydia around in the stroller in the back yard.

Colleen caught this cute pose of Elise sleeping.

A little closer up of the sleeping girl.

And a little closer.

Baby feet.

Elise is starting to smile a lot, though we've had a hard time catching the smiles on camera.

A little better.

A half smile.

Everyone still loves to hold baby.

Katelyn wore this same dress as well when she was almost 2.

Sucking on a lime on the front steps...a lime from Sonic no less.

This is a great climbing tree, and the kids love climbing through it. Unfortunately it is in our front yard, which means the kids are only allowed access to it when an adult is outside.

Lydia is not quite up to climbing status yet.

A little blurry, but grampa helping hold the football. In the off chance Titus isn't asking to mow, he's usually asking to play football.

Even Lydia likes to get into the football action.

Miss Elise stretching forward.

Katelyn posing in front of our beautiful flower bushes off the back deck. She was dressed up for her first birthday party. She went to a friend's house from church who was having a birthday party, complete with twelve 6-7 year old girls.

Posing again.

Lydia loves to give kisses.

All four kids on the couch.

And a couple pictures of the house, which continues to occupy much of our free time. With the weather warming up, we've been able to focus our time more on outdoor/landscaping stuff, though there is still much to do. But we just take it one day at a time, and slowly by slowly, things get done. Just as a reminder, this is what our house looked like when we first bought it.

And this is where we are at now. Much improvement, though we still haven't done much planting yet (obviously). But, like I said, slowly by slowly, it's coming.

A few recent photos

2011-04-20T23:34:00.008-04:00

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so. The weather has finally started to warm up a little bit, allowing for the kids to enjoy some time outside, between all the rainy days. Katelyn has been practicing her soccer in anticipation of another season, though her first two games have been rained out. And Titus has been quite enamored with his new football that Grammy got for him.

But we feel like we've been couped up in the house for the past 5 months. Spring has been very slow in coming.

A small grin from Elise.

Enjoying a lunch out on the deck.

If it is spring, it must be time to break out the mower. How little does he knows what awaits him in a few years.

Lydia with her pigtails.

Daddy trying, often in vain, to stop Katelyn from scoring. She's working on her "dragster" move.

Tractors aren't just for Titus.

Believe it or not, he was actually able to get some good kicks off with this method. I think the boy is right handed/footed, but he likes to use his left foot a lot.

Lydia trying to keep up with the soccer players.

The football is a little big for him to throw one handed, so he has to do a two handed toss. He flings the whiffle ball much better.

The Lamont kids (minus Carter who was running around) at the hospital the day after Elise was born.

So far no jealousy from Lydia for this baby girl that is hogging all of mommy's time. We'll see what happens when there are not grandparents around to play with.

The fun that a box from Aldi brings. This was their van and they played with it for quite a while one evening after I had brought home groceries after work. Apparently they traveled all over the country in it. Who knew an Aldi box could get out and back from Kansas so quickly?

A good picture of the kids. Can you tell which of our kids has the most "personality?"

Sleeping on mommy is always so comfy.

Titus really enjoys his new baby sister as well, despite the fact he's really outnumbered now. Fortunately at this age, gender just really doesn't register with any of the kids.

Katelyn's flute recital

2011-02-26T13:37:00.003-05:00

Katelyn received a blue ribbon for learning and playing her five note patterns.

Just a couple Christmas 2010 pictures

2011-02-11T17:12:00.011-05:00

Here are a just a few pictures of our mini family Christmas that we did after we returned from traveling. It actually didn't occur until early January, but the kids didn't seem to notice.

Titus was quite enamored with his mini tape measure. It's the little things.

Joyce reading Lydia "Llama Llama Red Pajama," which has become Lydia's favorite book

Katelyn showing off her picture album Aunt Joanie sent along that had photos of the time Katelyn stopped by to see the hospital where she worked.

Titus quite excited about his John Deere hat. If it says John Deere on it, he'll like it, whatever it is.

Lydia opening one of her gifts.

Katelyn showing off her new sweater.

The sisters with similar hats.

Since we didn't go to New York this year, we got a real Christmas tree for the first time since we've been a family. It was quite fun for the kids.

The kids posing in front of the Christmas tree

Thanksgiving in NY

2011-01-26T17:15:00.015-05:00

Katelyn decorating turkey cookies

Titus decorating turkey cookies

Lydia eating the turkey cookie frosting with some graham crackers

Three happy faces peering over the couch.

Lydia has become attached to this night shirt of Colleen's ever since she was a baby and now carries it around as her blankie

I will crush you daddy!

All of our kids love having books read to them.

Cousin Joyce reading a Bearenstein Bears book, a favorite series of our kids.

Grammy and Titus looking at a book on the steps.

More books...do you see a trend?

Lydia bundled up

Katelyn running around the edge of the tennis court. Taking after her mother?

Lydia trying to keep up, but those little legs just can't do the job compared to her long-legged sister

Titus doing his best to keep up, quite well actually

Standing on the flower pots next to the brook

Lydia seems not so interested

Everyone loves the John Deere tractor, even the sisters....

But no one loves them quite as much as Titus

Fall

2011-01-19T10:43:00.016-05:00

Some random shots from this past fall.

We loved this vibrant Japanese maple tree in our front yard.

I decided a field trip to the zoo was in order on one particularly beautiful fall day in November. It was the first time I braved it with the trio on my own and was thrilled with how well it went. Needless to say, the kids had a blast!

Here they are under the polar bear exhibit, watching the polar bears play in the water. It was awesome and so fun to see their reactions.

At the zoo:

We love having so many trees on our property, but as a result, had LOTS of leaves to rake this fall. A great excuse to be outdoors!

Titus

My helper, Lydia. The girl loves to help out, whether it's raking leaves, emptying the dishwasher, or sorting laundry. Just hoping that trend will continue in the years to come!

All three of my helpers:

Katelyn was thrilled to discover that she can climb one of the trees in our yard, and spent much of her time in this position.

We used a wagon to transport the leaves the backyard where we'd dump them over the bank. Lydia and Titus enjoyed the rides back and forth.

Yes, it's been awhile...

2011-01-17T22:13:00.031-05:00

Sorry about that. While we won't try to catch you up on everything that's been going on in our lives, we'll at least give you the highlights.

We are very happy to report that after house-hunting for several years, and placing bids on numerous houses, the Lord has graciously blessed us with our own home. It was a rental and in desperate need of some TLC, but we saw the potential and are thrilled to have a place to call our own. We did a lot of work on the house, (and by "we" I mean primarily Chris) for 4-5 months before we moved in. Here are some before and after shots:

Bathroom - Before:

Bathroom - After:
Katelyn & Lydia's Room - Before:

Katelyn & Lydia's Room - After:

Titus's Room - Before:

Titus's Room - After:

Master Bedroom - Before:

Master Bedroom - After: (Not to fear, we kept the guy in the "before" shot, he just wasn't available for the "after")

Living Room - Before:

Living Room - After:

Dining Room - Before:

Dining Room - After:

Kitchen - Before: (looking towards Dining Room)

Kitchen - After:

Kitchen - Before:

Kitchen - After: (again, we kept the cute guy from the "before" shot)

Front of house - Before:

Front of house - During removal of trees:

Front of house - After removal of trees and replacement of door and windows:

There is still work to be done, primarily in the basement family room, guest room, & guest bathroom, and we will try to post updates as projects are completed.

Soccer

2010-10-19T19:50:00.010-04:00

Katelyn is playing soccer for the first time this fall and loving it. We've been having a great time watching her and the other little ones on her team. If you've never watched 5 year olds play soccer, I highly recommend it - it's extremely entertaining. Titus & Lydia have also enjoyed the opportunity to be outside, even if it does mean having to sometimes share a seat.

The Purple Club

2010-10-19T19:33:00.008-04:00

At the end of August, poor Miss Lydia fractured her right ring fingertip when she got it stuck in a moving bicycle chain. OUCH!! Thankfully, no stitches were required, and it did not affect the growth plate, but she did have to be casted for four weeks. We were very surprised (to say the least), when the doctor stated the cast would have to be extended above her elbow! Even though it was just her fingertip that was injured, the doctor explained that little ones are pretty adept at wiggling out of casts so they often cast further up to prevent that. Lydia managed very well with her cast, even occasionally using it as a weapon! Needless to say, we were all very thankful when it was removed. :)

Summertime...

2010-09-14T15:52:00.048-04:00

Some video clips of Titus' birthday

2010-07-20T23:14:00.002-04:00

Dancing

2010-07-16T15:24:00.003-04:00

Katelyn & Titus find Lydia's dance moves very entertaining. Apparently, so does Lydia.

An update

2010-07-10T17:18:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures for the first time in a couple months (I've mainly updated facebook recently). Fireworks, swimming lessons, and a visit from cousin Keegan and Grammy and Grampa.

Allergies

2010-04-14T23:28:00.004-04:00

At the ripe old age of 2, Titus is already bothered by spring allergies, particularly itchy, swollen eyes. He must get this from me as I have allergies, though mine are fall allergies and didn't develop until I was probably 10. So it's been a rough couple of weeks since spring arrived and the pollen in the air shot up.

Easter egg hunt

2010-04-14T22:52:00.003-04:00

Spring pictures

2010-04-10T23:03:00.006-04:00

The Wedding Dance

2010-02-27T20:51:00.007-05:00

For those of you that know Colleen and me, you know we've always enjoyed dancing, especially at weddings/events, etc. Though we don't get the opportunity to do that much anymore, it seems the enjoyment we get from dancing has rubbed off on our kids. If you haven't heard of the JK wedding dance, it was a YouTube sensation for a while, where a wedding party dances down the aisle instead of the traditonal approach, and the first video below is their video, which our kids request to watch (and dance to) most nights. Our kids are copying all the dance moves from this video.

Also, just to clarify, at about the 3 minute mark of our video, you see Titus sticking out his tummy and trying to bend back. To understand what he is doing, you have to watch the original video at the same point, and you'll see a man standing on his feet but leaning back and laying almost completely horizontal, despite the fact he is still standing.

You can actually watch both videos at the same time and if you can sync them at the same time, it gives you the full effect. To sync them, start the orginal video first, and about at the 28 second mark of that video, start the kids video, and then mute one of the videos so that the audios don't mess each other up.

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Snow, snow, and more snow.

2010-02-24T21:57:00.009-05:00

The below pictures are a sampling of some of the pictures we've taken over the past two weeks. I don't know how much snow we ended up getting, but it started with 2 feet, then a couple days later we got another 10 inches on top of that, followed by what seemed like a couple inches about every day for the next several days. I'll start off with a few pictures of Lydia since she isn't in any of the outside photos.

Yes, she's licking up some sort of liquid on the dishwasher. She is enamored with the door.

Lots of standing (and falling), but no steps yet.

Our baby is growing up.

Lots of smiles for momma.

This picture you can actually see her two bottom teeth, the only two she has so far.

Snowball fight!

Not to be outdone by her little brother.

Tromping through the snow, although he was light enough that he didn't sink in like the rest of us.

He seemed to skim right along the top of the snow for the most part.

We don't have great sledding hills on the property, but good enough for the little ones.

Titus pulling the sled back up the hill.

Almost.....there.....just....a......little......farther......

Needless to say, they quite enjoy their time in the snow.

The sled is obviously not moving as fast as she would have preferred.

So we moved on to snowman building.

A team project for the three of us.

They're becoming quite proficient at building snowmen with the winter we've had.

The builders posing with their hard work.

Titus working on the nose. He didn't want to dig for rocks, so he tried to use a snowball.

Some of the snow piles left over in our parking lot.

The kids are slightly dwarfed. As much as we are ready for spring, we also realize it will likely be a long time before we see this much snow again, so we're also trying to enjoy it when we can make it outside.

I don't think the kids quite realized how much the snow was truly built up.

A particularly big chunk left over by the plows.

Katelyn almost completely engulfed by the snow.

We had built some tunnels in the snow piles that you could actually crawl through. This picture was a few days later after the tunnels had caved in some.

A picture one morning after a snow.

Enjoying more time on the snow piles.

No need to make snowballs when you have chunks like this sitting around.

This was our road the morning after the 2 feet of snow.

The big snow piles were obviously a big hit with our kids.

Another picture the morning after the big snow. I shoveled out a lane to get to the van, and as you can see, the snow is almost up to Titus's shoulders.

Katelyn burying herself in the snow, a task that is not very difficult with this much snow.

This was a picture taken out of our basement door, as the main door was completely drifted over and couldn't be opened. Yes, that is our Honda mini-van in the picture, and as you can see (or not see), my Toyota, which is parked on the far side of the van, is completely under snow. Combine 2 feet of snow with a decent wind, and you get drifts that look like this.

Another picture the morning after the big snow, shortly after the snow plow had come through. The nice thing about the big snow was as soon as it finished, bright sunshine and blue skies came in and we ended up spending most of the afternoon enjoying this once in a decade (or once every 25 years?) snow.

Snow, snow, snow

2010-02-05T22:54:00.007-05:00

We're currently in the process of getting one of the bigger snow storms Pgh has had in a while. We've gotten probably upwards of 20 inches in about 12 hours and the storm has yet to end, so when all is said and done, I'm guessing some areas will be upwards of 2 feet. It's the most snow I've ever seen since we got 36 inches of snow on Christmas day in Walton in 2001 (? I think that was the year).

Anyway, these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago from the last big snow that we had (only 10 inches compared to this weekend's snow, though). They were taken over two days, at dusk on one night and then the following day when it was sunny. Colleen took all the pictures. The icicles you see were hanging off our gutter and Colleen was able to snap a couple pictures that caught the melting drips. The first one was taken at dusk, and the others were taken during the following day when there was more light. I think they are pretty cool. We really like our camera and some of the closeups and quality pictures it captures.

Colleen put Lydia in her car seat and put a blanket over her, and she seemed content to take a nap.

Katelyn posing.

Titus working on the snowman. Colleen was able to get an upwards angle of him.

Titus and Katelyn giving their snowman a little love.

I think they were both proud of their work.

I know mommy helped with it some, but the two kids did the bulk of the work.

Titus trying to do his part to keep the driveway clear.

This is one of my favorite pictures with the sunset in the background and Titus neatly following Katelyn in the plowed area.

Think everyone was having a good time?

Red nose and red cheeks, but it didn't seem to faze him.

Once of those closeups that we really like with our camera, runny nose and all.

You can't play in the snow without making a snow angel.

Katelyn's attempt at one. She's done it a few more times than Titus has.

Titus was excited when he first stumbled across the neighbors lawn mower in the snow. He loves to push the thing around, but quickly realized that was not going to happen in 10 inches of snow, much to his displeasure.

Here he is trying to pull the mower through the snow, without much success.

Here he is when he first uncovered the mower.

Lydia again snoozing under the blanket.

Can you tell we like the color pink?

Katelyn attempted a snowman the first day, but had better success when the sun was out and the snow was a little wetter the following day.

Another one of the closeups we like. It picks up the snow in his face as he tries to turn away from the wind.

His poor strap doesn't quite stretch over his chin, although I wonder if he likes it that way as it gives his mouth a little coverage.

Titus making Lydia laugh

2010-01-21T22:57:00.007-05:00

Holiday photos

2010-01-21T21:27:00.009-05:00

Here's a selection of photos from our holidays in Kansas and New York. Colleen also has some very good photos of the kids when they were playing in the snow a few days ago, and we'll try to get them posted soon. Some of them really are excellent.

Sorry, there's too many here to put any captions, but you can probably figure them out!

2009-12-15T16:32:00.008-05:00

A few pictures to hold you over...

And she is off...

2009-12-02T21:08:00.002-05:00

I guess it was inevitable with the way she's been up on all fours, but still, less than 6 months seems a bit early to me. Who knows if it signifies anything? All I know for sure is that it is that much sooner she can get into trouble!

I've tried to tell Colleen...

2009-12-01T20:02:00.003-05:00

That she needs to be a little more controlled when she watches football games, but alas....

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:49:00.014-05:00

A silly face from Lydia.

Titus looking over the edge of the wagon down at the farm.

Katelyn waving.

Titus smiling.

Titus walking back across the field back to the farm with the barn in view.

Mommy and Lydia going over the bridge down at the farm.

Titus enjoying playing on the tractor wagons on the farm.

The light coming through the old barn.

This is what 40 zoom (10 regular zoom x 4 digital zoom) looks like when looking up at the moon.

Looking out of a window on the bottom floor of the barn.

A view looking up at the old barn down at the farm.

Trying to crawl. She has actually taken a couple steps so far, but hasn't quite got the drill down yet.

Lydia laughing at her big sister.

Lydia enjoying watching her sister play with the pom-poms.

Titus playing outside.

Lydia grinning.

Katelyn posing on one of the many rock walls.

Titus helping Grampa trim the blueberry bushes.

Titus carried the branches away that Grampa cut off.

Titus and Katelyn helping Grammy in the kitchen.

What happened to our little baby girl?!

Katelyn helping Mom make some dough for the pies.

Titus and Daddy watching the KU basketball game on the internet.

Gotta have some football at Thanksgiving time.

Grammy reading a book to the kids

Pretty in pink.

Sitting on some balls out on the tennis court.

There's no fun like tractor fun!

Eating a little lunch while watching TV (on the couch no less!)

Playing with the toys at Grammy and Grampa's

Katelyn's first flute recital...

2009-11-21T14:45:00.002-05:00

Here's a video of Katelyn's first flute recital. Each student played one song, and Katelyn played jingle bells. Most of the students were at least 8 and up and have been playing for a while, but with Katelyn only being 5 and only playing for a couple of months, she had a fairly basic piece to play. We knew it might be an adventure, as Katelyn is painfully shy being up in front of people. This is actually the third attempt you are seeing. The first attempt she walked up with Colleen and as soon as she got up front and realized all these eyes were on her, she melted and started burying her face in Colleen's lap and crying. So we let a few more kids perform and then she tried again. This time she at least got started, but after just starting and playing a couple of notes, she again got overwhelmed and had to stop. So they went back and sat down, but her teacher was very persistent, so after a few more kids went, she had Katelyn come back up a third time, and she finally made it through! I had told Colleen before hand that I didn't think she would make it through, knowing how I have to practically drag her up to the front of church for the children's message each week, but I was proud she eventually toughed it out. It's a good experience for her, even if she didn't hit every note like she often does at home practicing.

Trouble, she is a coming....

2009-11-20T21:07:00.002-05:00

A new camera

2009-11-13T21:03:00.011-05:00

We finally got around to upgrading our camera. Our Sony Powershot had served its purpose well, and while it still works, it was 6 years old and in camera years, that's pretty old. It was a 3MP 3 Zoom camera, and after getting a new camera from my folks for last Christmas that had to be returned because it didn't work, we finally got around to deciding on another one, after a lot of research and reading. Trying to decide on a camera is a little overwhelming in that there are so many features, options, brands and ratings, that no 2 people review the same camera exactly the same, it seems. Regardless, the majority of people we talked to and things we read seemed to rank Canon the highest, so we decided to go that route. We also decided that we wanted something with a higher zoom, which meant that the camera is slightly bigger than most of the standard digital cameras that are now on the market (although it is very similar in size to our old camera), but still small enough to easily fit in a pocket or bag. So we settled on the Canon Powershot SX120 IS, which is a 10MP 10 Zoom camera. We waited for it to go on sale at Best Buy, and when it was reduced $50 from its regular price last week, we decided to go ahead and get it. We're still learning with it, but so far we really like it, especially the zoom. It really provides some nice closeups.

As you'll see, Titus seems to have gotten the majority of the pictures this week, though most of them involved him playing in the leaves outside. He seemed to be content to play in the leaves all afternoon if we had let him.

Katelyn and Titus had their yearly checkups this morning. They were supposed to be done last month, but the doctor's office had to reschedule us. Both are healthy and doing well. Neither enjoyed their shots, but both enjoyed the pretzel sticks and stickers they received afterwards. Katelyn continues to grow like a weed. She is still in the 95th percentile for height, at 46 inches. The Dr. says that puts her at the average height of a 6 1/2 year old (she just turned 5). Her weight was in the 75 percentile, which both those percentiles are pretty consistent with where she has always been. As far as Titus, the boy is actually growing! He's still a little guy, but he's getting bigger. He's in the 25th percentile for height, and almost 50 percentile for weight. I realize those aren't that "impressive," but considering he's always been in the 5th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight, they both represent some significant growth for him. Maybe there's still hope for the boy that his sisters won't tower over him (Lydia also is in the 95th percentile for height/length). As he currently stands, he's still a good 3-4 inches shorter than Katelyn was when she was 2.

Videos

2009-11-03T22:30:00.002-05:00

Videos

2009-11-03T22:06:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's been a while

2009-11-03T21:13:00.009-05:00

Football

2009-09-19T08:38:00.003-04:00

Here's a video of Titus describing his first Geneva football game. So far football games seem to be the highlight of the fall for Katelyn and Titus, as Katelyn asks almost daily when the next Geneva home game is.

Some more pictures...

2009-09-18T22:09:00.006-04:00

These two dresses were made by an 11 year old girl in our church!

The tie that Titus is wearing was also made by the 11 year old girl (can you say talented?!)

Daddy helping Titus put on his first tie.

Lydia enjoying some tummy time.

Sticking her tongue out.

A 3 month picture with the giraffe.

Snoozing outside in the shade of her car seat.

Enjoying the slide in the backyard.

It's been so beautiful outside lately that we've been trying to take advantage with outdoor time.

The swings are a popular place with our kids.

Katelyn watering the plants.

Titus LOVES his mower. I'm convinced I need to come up with some sort of kid-safe mower that actually cuts grass. If I did, he'd mow the whole yard with as much as he pushes his around.

Don't worry, Titus, you'll get plenty of chances to mow with a real mower when you get a little older!

Colleen caught Lydia with this really cute pose. It's one of our favorites so far of her.

A half smile from Lydia.

They've been doing some ground work on the back edge of our property for a couple months now and the kids, especially Titus, love to go out and look at the big machinery at night.

The big red dump truck.

Titus would be happy to stay and play all day.

Katelyn playing the flute

2009-09-12T07:49:00.009-04:00

The wife of the assistant pastor at our last church approached us a couple months back about giving flute lessons to Katelyn. This woman is a fairly accomplished flute player and she wanted to do some videos of lessons given to a young child, so if Katelyn was interested she would give her the lessons. So Katelyn has been getting a flute lesson once a week for a month or so, and the below video is one that this lady took of Katelyn and posted on the internet.

http://www.youtube.com/user/katieblocki#play/all/uploads-all/0/15uP2nuXkn4

A few final pictures of our vacation

2009-09-03T21:06:00.006-04:00

Well, these of Lydia aren't from vacation, but still worth posting.

Lydia smiling

More Lydia

On our way home we went across Highway 17 which goes across the southern part of New York. About 30 minutes before you get to Erie you cross over a beautiful lake, Lake Chautauqua. Lydia was ready for a feeding as we were nearing so we found a park just off the exit and the kids and I played for 30 minutes while Lydia was fed. The park had a dock that extended out into the lake which allowed for some neat views. Here the kids are watching some boats zoom by, although the camera didn't take in time to actually see any of the boats.

Katelyn and Titus standing on the dock

Here the kids are standing in front of a little light tower in the park.

Titus enjoying the dock

Katelyn and Titus looking out on the lake. In the background is the long bridge on the highway you go over when going through this area.

A cute pose of the kids.

A few more final vacation pictures...

2009-08-31T20:38:00.009-04:00

The last Saturday we were in Walton we rode up to a little shelter up on a tall hill down at the farm and had a cookout with all the family. It was really an enjoyable time. Grammy drove a tractor up with most of us in a wagon behind it. We parked once up at the shelter and the boys especially had a fun time playing on the tractor.

Titus and Keegan on the John Deere

Keegan found another fruit he liked and gobbled the watermelon right up.

Katelyn quite enjoyed her hot dog.

As did Titus, who dove right into his hot dog middle first.

A family photo of Joel, Shana, Keegan, and the dogs.

Katelyn and Keegan playing in the bucket.

Joel and Grampa cooking some hot dogs

Grammy and Joel talking while Grampa was working on the fire

Colleen holding Lydia

Titus was apparently driving on this joy ride.

The kids enjoying the shelter

Enjoying the wagon ride up

Titus looking silly with the brim of his hat flipped up

Lydia smiling

Titus and Keegan enjoying some grapes out on the deck

Grammy doing some laundry with Lydia lounging

A closeup of Lydia's posh accomodations

Titus enjoying sitting in the truck

On Thursday morning Grampa and I did some cutting and loading of firewood. We got quite the workout, and here was Titus giving Grampa some company during a break up in the sawmill.

Loading up some logs in the back of the truck

Grampa doing some cutting

Lift with the legs! (My arms were quite sore after this morning workout)

Titus and Katelyn playing on a dirt mound near the barn

Some how some of the dirt managed to make it down to the middle of the driveway...

Baby Breylynn

2009-08-26T22:05:00.002-04:00

We visited my brother and his wife and their new baby daughther, Breylynn, this evening. Below are a few pictures from the hospital.

Only 10 weeks difference between Lydia and Breylynn, but there's certainly a difference in size.

Eyes open a little bit.

Katelyn holding her

Titus getting his turn holding her.

Another day at the fair

2009-08-19T15:01:00.015-04:00

We had intended to go back down to the fair last night for the firemen's parade, but two smaller but quite strong thunderstorms rolled through about the time the parade would have been going on, so we decided to stay home. Katelyn was disappointed, but we assured her we'd go back down again in the morning. So we went down along with Joyce from about 11AM to 2PM. The weather was much nicer this time, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures a more enjoyable 80 degrees or so.

Cousin Joyce holding Lydia at the fair.

Katelyn and Titus playing some instruments listening to some music.

They really had quite fun with this and wanted to stay longer.

More playing with the noise/music makers.

Here's a video of them listening to some of the music.

Here was a video their first taste of cotton candy. Colleen was quite excited to have the kids try it. Unfortunately, I don't think Katelyn gave it much of a shot. She acted as if she had put hair in her mouth or something. I think it was a texture thing. Titus, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy it quite well. We made sure to get our cotton candy from the folks who also run the Miller's chicken tent where Colleen had worked when she was younger, and the same cotton candy stand where Colleen's sister Anne had worked.

Titus certainly was enjoying his cotton candy, complete with a little bit of a cheesy smile.

Katelyn, as you can tell, wasn't quite as interested. Titus had no problems finding a spot for the cotton candy in his mouth.

Sitting on a bench holding their balloons.

No trip to the fair is complete without sampling some food, so we had a nice lunch together. Pizza isn't exactly unique to a fair, but it's always fun sitting under a tent and enjoying lunch together with all the sites, sounds, and surroundings.

Katelyn enjoyed her pizza as well.

Without a doubt this was the highlight of the day for Katelyn. Right next to the horse's rink where they were showing horses, there was a petting zoo, and I noticed that they were offering horse rides. I thought they were free at first (silly me, they were actually $5 a ride), so I asked Katelyn if she wanted to go ride a horse. She was a little timid at first but did acknowledge she would like to ride one. So we went over and paid our money. The lady led the horse in a small circle for maybe 3 minutes, so it was very short, but it was well worth it. Of course as soon as we got close to the horse Katelyn suddenly became less certain she wanted to get on, but her desire to ride one eventually won out as I lifted her up onto the horse. In the above picture she was trying to convince me to hold her hand and walk with her, but after a few steps I let go and she was on her own (with the guide leading of course), and her face instantly lit up. It was very short, but it was all she could talk about the rest of the day, including a couple of requests for more rides.

Katelyn quite enjoying herself.

No fear, just fun!

Here's a short video of part of her ride.

In the petting zoo they had 9 little piglets that were only 6 days old. Titus especially seemed to like them and watched them for quite a while.

This was towards the end of our time at the fair today, and as you can see from his face he was past his nap time, though that didn't seem to faze him too much. He kept trucking right along.

Here are the piglets feeding. It was quite funny. When we first got over to the pen, all the piglets were sleeping. After a minute, one of them woke up and went over to start feeding. But as soon as the first piglet started nursing, the other 8 immediately woke up and sprinted over to feed as well, and then it became a free for all. Piglets were climbing all over each other to get some milk. After a couple minutes of mayhem, the mother pig finally got annoyed and rolled over on her belly preventing any of the piglets from nursing. Noises and squeals ensued as several of the more ardent pigs began jumping into the side of the momma, butting their heads against her in hopes of getting her to roll back over, but nothing fazed old mom. Feeding time was clearly finished.

Titus also found the baby chicks and ducks quite interesting.

And no trip to the fair would be complete for Titus without at least a little play time on the tractors. Here he is on an old antique Ford. While Titus has enjoyed all of the fair, throughout the day we'd hear pleas for "more baroom baroom?" (Titus speak for more tractors).

Titus on another old John Deere. Most of the antique tractors on display, and they probably had 30 or so, were from between 1920 and 1950. I'm sure Titus didn't have any appreciation for how old these tractors were, but I found them quite neat and fascinating. Many of them had been restored into excellent condition.

On our way out there was a tent that had some live country music being played, and Katelyn couldn't help but dance a little while we stopped.

We were on our way back to our car and we weren't more than 50 yards off the fairgrounds when Titus fell asleep. It had been quite a busy and fun late morning and early afternoon, and he was about 2 hours past naptime, so this wasn't surprising. He and all of our kids have really done very well and have been enjoying themselves. Even Lydia has done quite well.

A day on vacation

2009-08-17T19:07:00.019-04:00

Waterfight:

It started so nicely...

With Katelyn helping Grammy water the flowers

In front of the barn, but it quickly turned into...

Dinner at the Hendersons:

Uncle Bruce and Aunt Linda had us over for dinner on Sunday night as Zac and Emily and their family were in town.

Our kids with Zac and Emily's kids, Wyatt and Lizzie.

Katelyn and Wyatt running through the corn in the Henderson's back yard.

Lizzie is getting bigger.

Titus enjoyed playing T-Ball in the Henderson's backyard.

Lydia with a smile!

Tractors:

The kids enjoying riding in the wagon with grandpa driving.

Titus would have been content to ride all day long. He LOVES tractors (barroom barroom as he calls them).

More tractor fun.

It's not a tractor, but Titus got to ride with grampa in the truck up to the sawmill to pick up some wood, and as you can see, he was quite thrilled. (I should add that the sawmill is on Grammy and Grandpa's property and thus this ride required no road driving, only driving the truck about 25 yards up the hill!)

Titus thought the animals were OK at the fair, but when he found the tractors, he was in heaven. He wanted to sit on every single one. There were too many to do that, but there was a really neat antique section.

Turning the steering wheel.

Sitting on the Minneapolis Moline.

Sitting on an old Farmall.

Sitting on another old Farmall, this one not as shiny.

And we couldn't pass up a chance to sit on an old John Deere.

Animals at the fair:

It was actually a pretty warm first day of the fair, as it got into the low 90's, which is very warm for Walton. We went in the morning for a couple hours while it was still in the upper 80s, but even then it was quite warm. We purchased the week's pass as we anticipate going down at least a couple more times.

Katelyn helping hold a baby bunny.

Looking at some baby goats in the petting zoo.

Dad and the kids watching the horse's rink where there were some show competitions going on.

Watching some baby ducks and chickens. Titus found the cows, sheep, and pigs, a little intimidating up close and personal.

This little girl won the best of class for the under 12 group. She couldn't have been much taller than Katelyn. Katelyn actually took this picture, so it's a little blurry, but it still was pretty neat.

Titus wasn't so sure about holding the bunny.

Picking Blueberries:

When we first went up to the patch, Katelyn knew what was there, but Titus didn't. So when he got to the patch (mind you Titus LOVES blueberries), he looked at the first bush a little quizzically. I picked a blueberry and gave it to him, and after eating it, his eyes looked around at the whole patch, got very big, and he began jumping up and down and clapping his hands. After eating quite a few, I told him it was time to go, and he started yelling "No, No!" and ran deeper into the patch. I tracked him down and picked him up and began carrying him back down the hill, and he started screaming bloody murder!

The morning dew on a patch of blueberries

Katelyn turned out to be a very good blueberry picker. She ate a few, but filled her bowl quite well.
Katelyn smiling with her pickings.

We gave Titus a bowl, but all of his picking consisted of hand to mouth. After Colleen told him he needed to try to put some in his bowl, the below video occurred.

Grandpa playing in the brook with the kids. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in the brook.

Grandpa standing in the brook.

Swimming lessons

2009-08-02T17:43:00.006-04:00

Here are some pictures and videos of Katelyn's first swimming lessons. She started out the week fairly timid in the water and towards the end of the two weeks was fairly comfortable, though she was still not crazy about getting her face in the water. "Lessons" is a pretty loose term for the sessions. It was really just a time for the kids to get familiar with the water, and it provided some good father-daughter time which we enjoyed. She's already looking forward to next year's lessons.

Lydia smiling

2009-08-02T14:36:00.003-04:00

Some updates

2009-07-31T21:30:00.005-04:00

I just thought I would pass along a few updates on the kids.

Lydia is doing well and getting bigger. She'll be 8 weeks on Sunday. Her colickiness is starting to fade somewhat. She still tends to be more fussy in the evenings (aren't all small kids, I know Titus still tends to be?!), but those evenings of intense screaming for an hour or more seem to be lessening. She still has an occasional screaming period, but they're not as regular as before. She is also sleeping a little better as well. She has some good nights and bad nights, but she seems to be stretching out a little. She'll usually have one longer stretch, anywhere from 4-6 hours each night, so we're getting there. Occasionally she'll wake up in the middle of the night and decide she doesn't want to go back to sleep, so that will make for a long night, but we feel like she's making progress. She certainly much better than Titus, who was pretty slow to catch on to the whole stretching out thing. Lydia also smiles a lot more and her eyes are starting to follow things a little more. They change quickly at this age, as Colleen's parents have seen her a couple of times now and each time they see her they comment on how much she has changed in just a couple of weeks.

Titus is our little man. He turned 2 this month, and when we measured him on the growth chart in the kids bedroom, we found that he was over 3 inches shorter than Katelyn was when she turned 2. If you follow those internet growth prediction formulas on the internet and such, he's on pace to be about 5'6" or 5'7"! I guess that's what happens when you are continually in the bottom 10 percent for height and weight. That said, considering his dad is 6'3" and his mom is pushing 5'7", I'm quite confident he'll hit a growth spurt at some point and stretch on up there. But he's definitely on the short side. He's talks a lot, but he's still pretty hard to understand. He's putting words together and so certain words and phrases are identifiable (especially for mom), but for the most part he gets a lot of confused looks (at least from his dad!) when he talks, which only frustrates him. I think I've gotten about a thousand of those "Dad, don't you understand what I'm saying?!" looks so far. He continues to be very affectionate with Lydia and loves to give her lots of kisses. Of course, he's not particularly gentle with her, but he's trying to be very loving. He continues to be all boy and continues to have more bumps, bruises, scrapes, and cuts every month than Katelyn has had in her whole life! He loves big machinery (don't all boys?), and he especially loves tractors (burrooom, burroooommm as he refers to them). Colleen will sometimes take him to a tractor website and just let him click on the pictures of all the different kinds and colors of tractors. He just loves it. And when myself or someone from the church uses the riding mower to cut the lawn, it's a can't miss event for him.

Katelyn, unlike her little brother, continues to stretch right up. She's still hanging around the upper 10th percentile for height. She's taller than almost all of the girls her age, and is even as tall or taller than some boys her same age. She continues to be quite a gentle and loving spirit, eager to help her mom. What a contrast she is from her brother's rambunctuous, rough and tumble nature! She loves to read her books and watch Sesame Street. Even though she doesn't turn 5 until October, we are going to start home schooling her this year. If she was in the public schools, they wouldn't allow her to start kindergarten until she turns 5, but she is clearly ready to start and has already leared a lot of those beginning subjects. We don't know how long we will home school our kids (we certainly aren't planning on going through high school, but maybe through elementary school, we'll see), but we think we'll at least try them the first couple of years at home before we decide when to put them in a more formal setting.

We enjoyed a brief visit from Colleen's folks for a day as they passed through on their way home from Kansas, and are EAGERLY looking forward to a full week up at their place in two weeks (not that we are counting down the days or anything). It will be fair week (a huge deal in their small town). They'll have rides, games, animals, tractors (for Titus!) and good food, plus Colleen's folks' big blueberry patch will be at its peak, so we will load up on those little blue goodies, of which our kids love, and which are good for them! Titus especially loves them, and we envision him wanting to stay up in the patch and eat all day if we let him. Blueberries everywhere!! Colleen's brother and his family will be up for part of that week as well, so that will be fun. Unfortunately her sister's family from Kansas won't be able to make it, but we sure are excited to head up there. It will be the first summer up there for fair week and blueberry week in 3 summers. It's the sort of event that we try to do every year, but the past couple of Augusts we just haven't been able to make it up for.

The magic birthday card

2009-07-22T22:29:00.003-04:00

The McCready's (Joel, Shana, and Keegan) sent quite the birthday card (along with a gift, but who really needs a gift with a card like this?!). Not knowing it played music, I wasn't ready with the camera for his initial reaction, but here is a snipet of a little how it went, except with more excitement:

Some birthday pictures

2009-07-22T22:09:00.009-04:00

Titus lining up some of the many cars he received.

Titus smiling in front of the fire engine he received from Papa and Nana

Some cars from the Boyles

Think someone enjoyed his cake?

A road-work cake

Birthday balloons with Katelyn

Enjoying the birthday cake batter beaters

More enjoyment!

Birthday videos of Titus

2009-07-18T20:01:00.006-04:00

We celebrated Titus' birthday a day early. Saturdays are much easier on our schedules than Sundays, so we did his 2nd birthday today. Here are a few videos. He loved his cake so much that he thought it was one of his toys, and he began to complain quite vehemently when Colleen attempted to cut it up. He just wanted to play in it and drive the cars all over it. Then, when the cake was taken back into the kitchen, it became quite the traumatic moment, complete with big tears and wailing cries. But he quickly got over it.

A few pictures...

2009-07-13T21:07:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. We just haven't taken very many lately. Seems things are a bit busier around the house these days. And videos have been even more sparse. But here's at least a few to tide you over.

Lydia's one month now...

2009-07-09T22:49:00.004-04:00

Hard to believe. The days are long, but they sure move by quickly ("the days are long, but the years are short" is a saying I've heard that seems quite true). Lydia is a month old now and it seems she just was born. She had her 1 month checkup yesterday and she is doing well. She is up to 10lbs, which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight, and she's in the 60th percentile for length at 21.5 inches.

So she is doing well, although she has become a bit of a colicky baby. Katelyn was that way as well. It doesn't happen every night, but more often than not she has a crying spell for about an hour in the evening, and boy, does she have some lung power. I don't remember Katelyn being so loud when she was colicky, but Lydia flat just screams sometimes. We often wonder if the neighbors are being kept up by her! Katelyn's colicky period lasted about 3 month, so we hope in another month or two, this phase will pass also (hopefully sooner) for Lydia.

She's still pretty consistent in her sleeping. Most of the time she is about 3 hours in between feedings. Occasionally she'll just make it two hours. So she hasn't started to stetch out too much yet, but that will come in time too.

Titus has become quite the affectionate brother with his little sister. He loves to hold her (his holding consists of us laying Lydia on his lap, with pillows supporting her, while he holds his hands behind his back and stares at her with a big smile). He showers her with lots of kisses and hugs, and though he tends to be a little over exuberant in those hugs and kisses, they are very well meant.

And Katelyn of course is a wonderful big sister. She holds Lydia on her own. She still isn't too comfortable yet when she begins to cry, and she's quick to call for help when she starts to fuss, but she's become quite the helper around the home, keeping an extra set of eyes out for things that need done and brothers that need kept off of bookcases, dressers, etc.

We have enjoyed having some of Colleen's family (her father and her brother's family) in town tonight as they pass through on their way to a family reunion in Michigan. We would have liked to attend this reunion also, but decided against it with Lydia so young. We went to the park tonight and it was a beautiful evening. Almost felt a bit cool once the sun went behind the trees. We've been blessed recently with some very nice weather, a little on the cool side for June/July. Tomorrow it is supposed to get into the mid to upper 80s, but most of the days recently have been in the mid to upper 70s. So the kids had fun tonight playing in the park and having a little Sonic food for our picnic at the park. Sonic is a favorite of ours, especially now that they have their dollar menu.

What's a trip to the hospital cost these days...?

2009-06-29T22:57:00.006-04:00

We got our statement of benefits today in the mail, and I'm always curious to add up the costs to see what certain hospital visits cost. Colleen's recent trip in to deliver Lydia cost right about $13,000. It's no wonder insurance costs so much with charges like that. That was for roughly a 36 hour stay. Fortunately our insurance covers most of those costs. We have what amounts to a $1000 deductible, so we figure that's not too bad for our little girl.

The correct answers are...

2009-06-19T17:13:00.004-04:00

Auntie Anne got it correct on her second guess. The first is Lydia, the second is Katelyn, and the third it Titus. Don't worry, even Colleen studied them hard before getting them right, and even then she wasn't positive about them.

And I only knew because I took those pictures. Otherwise, I probably would have been guessing as well. I realize babies often look similar, but I do think ours seem to have some striking similarities, though. I guess there's no doubt they're part of our family.

Who's who?

2009-06-16T22:06:00.004-04:00

Can you tell who is who? I think I definitely see some similarities, especially being dressed in the exact same outfit. Each picture is one of our 3 kids when they were just days old.

1st

2nd

3rd