Photo Contest

My SIL entered a photo contest of a picture she took, so I thought I might as well follow suit. I love this pic of James, someone even asked me if I would try and duplicate it when she gets married...I am so not thinking that far ahead. Let's just keep her at eight right now! This is the raw image, no editing...and I love it!

Humanity

I love it when humanity surprises me....for the better that is.

Let me explain:
Our kids love to go to the driving range and hit golf balls. It is good for them to do this together and also to learn respect and etiquette of golf. The other week Grant went into work a little late, so that morning we took them to the driving range. Grant took the older four down while I went into the pro shop with the baby to buy the bucket of balls. As I walked down I saw the four sitting nicely and quietly on the bench. As I got close to the kids an older gentleman looked at us (our circus show as I call us, you know the act when clowns just keep coming and coming out of the car...that is how I feel). He asked if they were always this well behaved, to which I quickly replied NO....but for the most part they are good kids. He made a few other kind comments and then we were on our way. We took the kids all the way to the other end of the range in hopes to not bother any of the other golfers. It is an adventure keeping them contained, quiet and respectful, but we try. About half way through the bucket of balls, that same gentleman approached us with another large bucket of balls. He set them down and said, "You guys have five kids, the last thing you need to worry spending money on is a bucket of balls, here these are for you. Besides you can never have too many balls to hit."

Considering all the bad we see on the news and in the world, moments like this make me smile, happy and want to be a better person to all around me, even strangers. He made my day, and probably did not even really realize it.

Back to the pool

It is that time of year again when swimming is what we do. Last year the weather did not cooperate until mid June, and even then it was not all that warm. This year is proving to be a little better, so we took advantage and headed to the pool. When Grant got home from work he was asking the kids how it went and what pool they were in. I gave him the low down, who went in the big pool, who went under water, who was scared of the floaty and who did not want floaties on her arms. Asher piped in saying, "Well I met two girls." I do not even have any words for this!!!!!

Do you ever

Do you ever have one of those days where you are just off and can never get your mood right...that is me today. Hopefully tomorrow will be brighter!

First Birthdays

My favorite part of the first birthday is letting the kid go to town on their cake (or cupcake). It is fun to watch their reaction...first pick at it, get a bit of frosting on their finger, lick it and get a little taste. Try for a little more next time and quickly move to grabbing, then dig in and stuffing their mouth. Oh the mess, so fun! For this kiddo, this was my favorite picture! Gotta love it.

(courtesy of my awesome new Nikon my husband bought me)

Brothers

These two have some similarities and A LOT of differences. One thing that is exactly the same is that they have the same mom and dad...hence they are 100 % brothers! They do not always get along, see eye to eye, and often drive each other nuts...but they will always have each other. What more could a mom ask for, two boys looking out each other and taking care of one another. These two boys, they have got to stick together!

(Today Asher bonked his noggin and the started to cry. Caleb when right over to him, wrapped his arms around him and patted his back while Asher cried on his shoulder. It was soooo sweet! And someday I will tell Caleb how Asher was watching out for his big brother and saved him!)

Kiddos

I know everyone thinks their own kids are adorable...but seriously I think we have done pretty good! They each have something that just melts me and makes them so dang cute! These kiddos are what it is all about for Grant and me!