Hello and chill - video

I just LOVE the way this little guy says hello!! Amber taught him to say CHILL while she was here visiting a couple of weeks ago.

And check out my DIY project...

Misc. Pictures from the park

Hunter, Zac and Jake(My boys all did their own hair for pictures...including Zac:))

Zac and Jake feeding and trying to catch ducks

Ryder

The beautiful Lawson Family

Last, but not least....sweet Kenzie!

Hunter loses his first tooth

Hunter FINALLY got his first loose tooth a week or two ago. He told me about it, but it was a day or two before I actually felt for myself how loose it was. I told him we could probably pull it, if he wanted to. He decided that we should tie some dental floss around it and pull it out. He pulled once and then the second time....I heard his little tooth bounce on the wood floor. I couldn't believe it and neither could he.

Favorite Teething Toy

Ryder has a new favorite teething toy:) He has all 8 of his front teeth and is now working on some a little further back. Anytime he finds a hanger that one of the kids has left on the floor, it goes STRAIGHT to the mouth.

Well, I'm off to replace the battery in my smoke detector so it will quite chirping at me and to tear apart my oven to see if I can tell if it is the baking element that is out...you can read more about that here.

Can this kid hold still?

NO....I don't think he can:) I can not seem to get a decent picture of Ryder lately. He is CONSTANTLY on the move!! I am photography challenge, SO that doesn't help. I think I need to adjust my shutter speed? Come on all of you camera masters...let me know the secrets:)

Ryder is beginning to conquer all kinds of fun new things...feeding himself(utensils optional), climbing and descending stairs, walking(only 2-3 steps at a time), and busting out lots of teeth:) He is keeping me running.

Sorry about the blurry images, but don't say I didn't warn you.(see paragraph one)

I am LOVING that my baby is finally learning the stairs. He is doing really well and I am not SO worried about him falling down them now.

The other night we had spaghetti for dinner. This is Ryder's way of entertaining his brothers during dinner. He just kept smashing his plate against his face and then trying to lick the spaghetti off the plate. The more they laughed, the more he did it and the more he laughed.

One of the biggest reasons it is SO hard to get a picture of him is...that he is ALWAYS trying to get the camera.

Pinewood Derby

I only have a couple of minutes to blog, actually I don't really have a couple of minutes....but I'm doing it anyway:)

Last night was the Pinewood Derby. Jake won 4 of his 6 races and won second place for best of show. We had a great time!!

What am I?

A short-order cook....I guess!

I love to cook...breakfast and dinner that is. I wish we could just skip lunch all together! Lunch is just such a pain. It seems like I have just finished cleaning up breakfast and it is time for lunch. AND I know dinner will be coming soon. Oh well, my kids think it is important that they eat lunch, so I put aside my feelings and make them lunch.

Yesterday Hunter told me that he would really like some tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. SO..I got busy.

I gave him his sandwich to start on while I put the soup in a bowl. When I handed him his sandwich he said, "Didn't I order soup with this?"

Why yes he did....he ended up eating 1 1/2 sandwiches and 1 entire can of soup.

He was happy and SO I was happy!!

After the shower....

and ready for church....

Gotta love that face, even if it does have a constant drip from nose or mouth:)

Baby LOVES the Snail Shower

Ryder loves to crawl up into our shower. Yesterday Jake was showering before church and started yelling, "Mom, Ryder is crawling into the shower."

Ryder's jammies were soaked. Since Ryder hadn't taken his bath yet, I stripped him down and let him shower with Jake. He LOVED it!!

getting ready to crawl in

peek - a - boo

This IS as fun as I thought it would be:)

LittleTeeth

**PLEASE excuse the messy nose!! We are TEETHING and enduring the NEVER-ENDING winter cold

Ryder got his first tooth on New Year's Eve and the second tooth not too long after that(probably a week or two). I live little baby teeth. Now he is cutting FOUR teeth on the top. He(and we) are loving the teething thing. Makes for a cranky baby:)

MMM...This looks good!! Should I taste it?

Yes, I should!! Just because.... I LOVE to taste EVERYTHING!!

FYI...I promptly removed the eraser from his hand and mouth after taking these pictures. It sure made him happy to have it for the pictures. AND it sure made him MAD when I took it away.

Handsome Hunter

Today I went to Hunter's class to help out with the Valentine's Day party. I had a great time and the two little boys were pretty good!

One of the girls in Hunter's class told me that everyone likes Hunter.

When we got home I was telling Hunter that it was so nice that the little girl said that everyone like him.

He said, "Mom, everyone DOES like me."

I said, "That is because you are SO nice."

He said, "and I'm handsome. That is why everyone likes me."

bread at church and chores

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan's dad invited us over for hamburgers and hot dogs and to watch the Cardinals football game.

Zac only ate 1 or 2 bites of his hot dog so his Aunt Amy asked him why he wasn't eating.

Zac said something like this, "I'm not very hungry, they fed me bread at church."

FYI....I did watch him take the sacrament and he only took ONE piece of bread:) He'd like to take a handful, but I monitor him very carefully:)

A couple of nights ago, I was having a conversation with Zac while Ryan and the older boys were reading Harry Potter. I asked him what kind of chores 3 year olds do.

He said, "kiss Moms."

Sounds like a good chore to me. I make him do several chores everyday. Usually he tells me, "I did my chore to-morning already." (meaning this morning)

I love 3-year olds!! It really is one of my favorite ages(even with all the fits)! They say the funniest things, they are always willing to give you a hug, love to help with EVERYTHING(sometimes not a good thing:)), they sleep through the night(most the time), my 3 year olds have all been potty trained, the good things go on and on:)

Our Family

Christmas Fat

The other day I was carrying our rabbit, Peter, from the garage to the backyard(in his cage). I was also carrying Ryder. I told Hunter to run and open the back door for me because the rabbit was HEAVY!! He was taking his time, so I said, "hurry Hunter, Peter is heavy."

I set Peter down outside and came back in. Hunter asked me, "Mom, is Peter really heavy?"

I said, "yes!"

He said, "then you can do that(carry the rabbit around in his cage) to lose your weight."

I said, "what weight Hunter."

And he said, "you know, your Christmas fat."

I guess that Hunter had been hearing A LOT of people saying that they were gaining too much weight eating all of the Christmas food and treats and that they would need to start dieting to lose their 'Christmas fat' after the holidays.

We're in trouble...

This little guy is into EVERYTHING!! He has started trying to climb the stairs. He tries to climb into anything that is left on the floor. He climbs into cupboards. He has started opening drawers and then closing them with his fingers inside. He is standing up against things, but not quite sure how to get down and has the red marks on the face and head to show it.

I had forgotten how HARD it is to baby proof things where there are older brothers around. I am constantly finding him chewing on the kids homework that they leave on the floor. He usually has a nice piece torn off and is attempting to enjoying a meal full of fiber:)

His favorite place to crawl to is the bathroom. If he sees that the boys have left the door open, he heads there as fast as possible. When he sees me coming after him he goes full speed with a HUGE smile on his face!!

He turned 8 months old last week. I'll try to get a good picture of him today that shows off his new tooth.

Mighty deer hunter

Jake's Grandpa took him to a National Wild Turkey Federation Conservation Banquet Fundraiser dinner awhile ago. At the dinner Jake got some tickets that he could enter into different drawings for prizes. OH BOY!! He is one lucky kid! He won several COOL prizes. One of the prizes that he won was a guided doe hunt in Texas.

A couple of weeks ago, Jake, his dad, his grandpa, a couple of cousins and a couple of uncles all headed to Texas to enjoy the prize and the hunting experience together. Jake didn't get a deer, but he had the time of his life!! He had a great time spending quality time with family. Here are a couple of pictures of him dressed up warm by his 'hunting blind'. I guess it was SUPER cold in the mornings and evenings, but very nice during the day.

Win a Silhouette craft cutter

Christie over at Simple Finds is giving away a Silhouette craft cutter. Go check out Simple Finds and leave a comment to be entered to win.