Weekend Randoms

I realized that there are several random pictures from the last few months that never made it here; life has been moving fast lately and the kids are growing quicker than I would like.  Just looking back over the last couple of months, I can see changes in them already.  Samantha is getting taller by the second (where did those long legs come from?); Sophia's hair is getting longer and longer; Jack is becoming both leaner and more muscular; and Jimmy is a complete toddler now.

Jimmy gets bathed every night.  He loves his baths, but now he takes a shower too.  Sometimes it is quicker to have both boys shower together and they love it.  And Jimmy's blue eyes just slay me.  I love them.

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St. Patrick's Day and a random picture of Steve and me together.  I am usually behind the lens, but asked my mom (who was in town) to take a quick picture of us together.

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Sophia was invited to a friend's birthday party where they were able to go to an art studio and paint a clay figurine.  She chose a unicorn (of course!) and she came home from school with it a couple of weeks later.  It's a bank and is up on the highest shelf in her room (because ... Jimmy!) and she loves it.  The design fits her personality perfectly.  I mean, honestly, it almost matches her outfit that day.

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Steve started to cut down a tree in our back woods one afternoon and it brought another one down with it.  It hit the playscape in our back yard and narrowly missed our back deck.  I shook my head in disbelief ... and then the kids ended up spending weeks playing on that tree.

It has been getting cut up slowly but surely, but at any given time, I can find the kids and their friends out there playing on it.

Enjoying a moment of sunshine:

Art time while sitting on the tree:

Jack, in all of his camouflaged glory:

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Jimmy received these Spiderman shoes for his birthday and has already logged many miles on them.  My boys are HARD on their shoes.

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Samantha had a friend over one afternoon and I always like to do a little craft project whenever I can.  I had these plastic containers in my craft closet and the girls used glue and white sparkles and a few other odds and ends to turn them into bunny candy containers.  I even had candy on hand for the kids to add to them.

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They boys eat lunch at home every day with me and I surprised them one afternoon by bringing this table and chairs in from the garage.  Somehow, lunch tastes better when you get to sit at a private table.  And yes, these days Jimmy likes to have two sippy cups with him -- one with milk and the other with water.

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Jack has learned so much in his second year of preschool this year.  He is more than ready for kindergarten this Fall, but I plan to make sure that he continues practicing and learning this summer.  His favorite activity right now is "dot-to-dot" books.

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Don't let his precious and innocent smile fool you ... this boy challenges me every single day but I try to stay at least a half-step ahead of him.  Sometimes I manage to do that and other days, I clean up more messes than I care to.  At the end of day, this smile still melts me.

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We had a little "Cinco de Mayo" party to attend in the neighborhood and I decorated some cupcakes to take with us.  They were a hit!

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Working on a Mother's Day card for Grammy.  Eventually, all of the kids made cards (and they turned out so adorable), but I broke them up into groups.  It's easier to work on them a little at a time, rather than all at once.  Sophia's hair was disheveled after playing hard outside, but she never turns down a chance to craft with me.  I love that about her.

The boys got the biggest kick out of painting the bottoms of their feet and the girls chose things that they love right now (penguins for Sophia and flamingos for Sam).

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The Downtown Park

I had a couple of errands to run downtown this week and the boys were itching to get out of the house.  The weather was beautiful and the thought of taking a walk in the subdivision was tempting, but ... right now, the boys want to take walks with me so that they can go down to the park at the end of our road.  And that means that they want to play in the sand ... and go in the lake ... and this momma is not ready to do that yet.  The water is still a bit chilly and their whining and crying (because they don't understand) just isn't worth it.  We'll have lots of days this summer to do that.

So, I suggested that we could go to the downtown park.  There are slides and swings and lots of things to climb on, and James is now at the perfect age to begin exercising his independence. 

They both raced to the top of this double slide and I snapped a quick picture just as they were getting ready to go down.  You can tell that Jimmy is a tad hesitant here, but he loved every second of it.

I sent some pictures to Steve and he commented back that Jack was wearing his "uniform."  Yes, his beloved Michigan State shirt, ripped jeans with a chainsaw patch on the knee and tennis shoes.

Jack went down every single slide there.  Multiple times. 

James did not care for the twisty slide though.  It is encased and they bothers him.  He went down the other two slides, both with Jack and by himself quite a bit though.

I'm pretty sure that Jack was born with muscles.  He has the strength of a giant and could hang for hours.

Jimmy never stopped smiling the whole time that we were there.

And this boy too.  They were both living their best life that morning.

Brothers forever and friends for life.

I was done taking pictures for a while (and was just observing from the bench) when Jack called out to me and begged me to take his picture.  How can I resist that?!

Rock-climbing!

And look at this little man go!

And the highlight for me?  As we were walking back to the van, Jack stopped to pick me an entire bouquet of dandelions.  He's going to make a great husband some day ...

Dance Recital - 2018

The girls had their dance recital last weekend ... and it went perfectly.  Maybe it's because we have been doing this for quite some time now; maybe it's because they are much older/more independent/know what to do/have more friends there.  Whatever the reason, I can't imagine that it could have gone more smoothly.

The rehearsal was on Friday night, and I had everything all set out and ready to go by the time that they arrived home from school.  My mom was in town and she went with me and the girls (and their best friend next door) to get their dance pictures taken and to watch the rehearsal.  Steve stayed home with the boys.  Then, on Saturday afternoon, my mom stayed home with the boys and Steve went with me to the recital.

I tried to take some pictures on Friday night, but it's never very easy.  It's dark in the auditorium, the girls are constantly moving on the stage and I use my long-range lens for a better shot.  Regardless, my girls looked gorgeous on the stage and I can't wait to get back their professional photos.

The theme of the recital this year was "School Days" and most of the dances centered around activities/classes/field trips, etc. during the school year.  Each of the girls were in three classes this year and their costumes were incredible.

Samantha's acro class performed as the "Marching Band" ... lots of tumbling and acrobatics, hence the bare feet.  This was her favorite costume.

A semi-decent picture because they were all sitting still:

Sophia's acro class did a "Pajama Day" routine complete with pillows.  It was certainly fun to watch and the girls got to keep their pillows after the show.

The girls were in one routine together for tap.  Their theme was "Christmas Party" and they danced to Jingle Bells.  They heard the song so many times throughout the dance year that I am convinced that they may never want to hear it again.  Ha!

Sophia's ballet routine was beautiful ... breathtaking ... and emotional.  The theme was "Music Class" and she danced with just one other girl.  They performed four songs together, including America the Beautiful" and she just blew me away.  I hope that she never stops learning and dancing ballet.

Samantha's ballet class performed a special routine to "True Colors" as the "Art Class."  This was so fitting because she loves art.  In this picture, she was waiting her turn to pull the ribbons from the guest dancer's dress in the middle of the stage.  As they pulled the ribbons, they danced around and it was impacting, to say the least.

This summer, the girls will each do a dance camp in July (this is the first year that they are not doing it together -- they are separated because of their age now) and I'm excited for that.  They are too.  And then we'll make plans in August and decide which classes they want to sign up for again.  It's never easy to try and work out a schedule, but it's worth it in the end after we see how much they enjoy it.

A Tale of Two Brothers ...

If I were ever put on the spot and asked what the best part of raising four kids is ... I'm pretty sure that I know what my immediate response would be. 

The best part is something that I actually had no control over, and that is that I was given two girls born back-to-back and then two boys that followed. 

Whether they know it now or not, those pairings are the potential recipe for a lifetime of friendship.  They are truly the best gift that I could have given them, even though I can't even take the credit for it.  And watching them grow up together has taught me so much.  The girls are as different as night and day (both with their looks and their personalities) and I wonder if the boys will be the same.

Jack and James are brown-eyed and blue-eyed, respectively (just like the girls), and they continue to challenge me every day.  Jack is an all-around rough and tough guy who likes both working and playing hard.  No job is ever too big for him and he rarely stops moving.  And now his little brother is starting to follow in those same footsteps. 

I used to gently remind Jack that Jimmy was smaller than him; not to play so roughly.  And now I just bite my tongue because Jimmy can certainly hold his own.  There may be almost three years age difference between them, but I suspect that James may surpass Jack in height one day. 

James is the more giggly one of the two, at least right now.  And Jack is the protective one, always looking out for James and offering to drive him around on the four-wheeler.  If Jimmy cries, Jack comes running with Jimmy's soft blanket and immediately attempts to comfort him.

I can't wait to see what the next couple of years bring, as their personalities develop even more into the people that they will become.  It's an honor to play a role in that ...

Easter 2018

This might be one of my most favorite Easter holidays to date.  I'm not sure because we certainly have had some memorable ones, looking back at the pictures through the years, but this time signified a year where every one of the kids was completely absorbed in the egg hunt.  James understood exactly what he was supposed to do (we have always had one child each year that wasn't quite ready for the game) and then I know that I'll blink and Samantha won't be that interested in it anymore.  So, I relished in the moment that morning and tried to capture some of the memories.

We gave Jimmy a head start but quickly figured out that he didn't really need any advantages.  He held his own just fine.

Sophia raced around like a busy little bunny and stopped for a nanosecond so that I could capture her excitement in a photo.

Sam was in charge of any of the eggs that he up high and she excelled at that.

Sophia shared a few of her eggs with Jimmy and he was more than happy to add them to his bucket.

After a few minutes, I found Jimmy at the table opening some of his eggs.

Ready to join Jimmy at the table to open their eggs.

The Easter Bunny did something different this year ... in lieu of candy and coins inside of the eggs, he chose to put puzzle pieces.  Sam figured out pretty quickly that the pieces needed to be put together to spell out a message.

Opening his eggs and adding the puzzle pieces to the collection.

There were 110 eggs in total that we hidden, each with one piece inside, throughout the house.

When it was all put together, it told each of the kids where to go to find their Easter Baskets.

And that is when I had to stop taking pictures for a moment ... the kids were off in different directions, running and squealing, and I just stopped to take it all in.

They brought their baskets back to the table in the Family Room and set to work opening them and showing off their goodies.

I'm pretty sure that Jimmy's favorite part was the candy and fruit snacks inside.  He kept pulling them out, one by one, and showing all of us.

Two of Jack's most prized items: his Batman hat and nerf gun.

My immediate family came over for a quick lunch (smoked turkey!) and then we headed down to the park for a COLD egg hunt -- it was 30 degrees and so windy.  The looks on my kids' faces while waiting for the festivities to begin pretty much sums it all up.  It was downright frigid.

There were over 1000 eggs scattered about ... more than the kids at the park could even gather.

On a mission.

Chapped cheeks and partially-filled bags:

Smiles for miles.

Coloring Easter Eggs

When the kids were younger (and we didn't have all four of them), we used to do a lot of holiday traditions at the kitchen counter -- carving pumpkins, decorating Christmas cookies, coloring Easter eggs, etc.  But as our family has grown, I've modified things and we now set up a table in the Family Room with a plastic tablecloth for those memory-makers.  We started doing this last Halloween and I can see us doing this for the next 15 years!

I put Steve to work preparing the solutions, while I got the kids set up at the table.  It's always nostalgic for me because the glasses that we use belong to the punch bowl that was my grandma's.  It was one of the many things that I asked for when she passed away.

Set up with trays and a disposable tablecloth, and a two-year old that couldn't sit still.  Bunny ears were optional.

Samantha, as the oldest, went first.

Jack was very gentle and put a lot of thought and planning into his eggs.

James, wow.  Steve supervised, but I will admit that I was about 99% sure that we had at least two eggs that cracked when he practically THREW them into the solution.

(Later, I didn't find any that were cracked.  It was an Easter miracle).

These holiday traditions are Sophia's 'love language."  She lives for things like this.

Towards the end, Jimmy was just beginning to understand the point of all of this.  He's also the one child enjoys hard-boiled eggs; the other kids don't really appreciate them yet.

Patiently waiting for the eggs to develop:

Partway through, the kids started getting more creative with their designs and mixing of colors.

The finished eggs -- bright and colorful with a patriotic one thrown in there too, courtesy of Steve.