Still Alive!

I'm sure some of you were wondering if this was true! My Mom lovingly informed me that I've been slacking off on my blogging responsibilities (ahem...like a month ago), but I tell you what life is crazy! Not really crazy in the "I've spent the last couple of months traveling the globe like a high roller" kinda way, but crazy in a "I'm now babysitting 3 boys during the day-and I can barely contain the explosions that occur in my house" kinda way. So sorry! I will try to do better. Especially now that Little B is getting so smiley and fun! Here are a few I took to mark his first 6 months on the outside: Is he cute or what?

Can you see why I don't get anything done?

Yes, folks. I am ridiculously adorable.

Thanks, Mom!

Sweeties

A couple of Sundays ago we had a couple of minutes before we had to leave for church (Shocker! We're usually running out the door as fast as we can go.) and everyone was in the mood for a few poses. Do I have gorgeous girls or what? Every time I look at a picture of one of them, I'm shocked at how grown up they're both looking. I know I see them every day, and every day they are growing, but I just don't recognize how much they're changing until I sit down and look at the latest photo I've taken vs one a few months ago.

I love Abby's goofy grins and how much fun she has with everyday things.

I love how Anna tries to be such a good helper and really goes out of her way to make the people around her feel special.

And I love that my girls really love each other. I hope we can hang on to that as they grow!

The Fair

In case some of you were wondering what it was we were doing at this year's fair, here's a peek. We've started a new business called Crossfire Combat Games. Our mission is to use something really cool and fun to help spread our love of Christ. Something that can reach young people outside of the four walls of a church building. Hopefully, along the way it will also be a way to supplement the often turbulent seasons of farm income. Any-who, we had our first big event during the fair, and it was tons of fun!

Kids of all ages and families played together, and everyone had a blast (even though it was 100 degrees out there)!

Here's Ty coaching a team before a game...

Even the girls got in on the fun!

We are so excited that God blessed us with a great kick off to this venture, and we're hoping it's only up from here!

Oh, and here's another super cute pic of my babies snuggling on the couch. I never get tired of the girls wanting to love on baby brother and/or each other!
P.S. Ben has discovered his hand as you can see in the pic. I took 7 or 8 photos, and he looks exactly the same in every one! :)

ZZZZzzzz...

Fair. Exhausted. Cute picture of the kiddos snuggling on the couch.
Will post more soon.
ZZZzzzzzzzz.....

Look-alike?

Whenever a baby is born, it seems like everyone wants to talk about who he or she looks like. I'm no different, but when it comes to my own children, it seems I have a much harder time pegging it. So, I thought I'd let you be the judge. At different times I've thought Ben looks a little like Anna and a little like Abby. What do you think?

Here's Anna at 6 months (that's the earliest I had of her on my computer): And here's Abby at 3 months

Well what do ya think?

By the way, did I mention my baby is 3 months old? Ahh! More pics coming soon!

Harvest 2011

Well, we've survived it once again. Harvest. One of the best, worst, most exhausting, most thrilling times of the year. Everyone is out in their fields, working hard, and waving at each other as they drive back and forth to the grain elevators. People start getting giddy because harvesting their wheat means they might actually have some money in the bank for a few minutes. Children get excited because they might get to take a ride on the big machinery. Take Anna for example...She loves to ride around with Ty's Dad just watching the combine do it's thing.Here's Abby helping me take dinner (or out here it's called supper) out to our "new" big truck. Hard to imagine that one day she might just be big enough to drive that thing.

Harvest Time is also a great time to appreciate the marvel of God's creation. Spring and Summer create just the right conditions (most years) for the wheat to grow. Longer days means you can wait for just the right conditions in the wheat, and then still have plenty of time to cut before dark. Of course, the best part of Harvest is when it's over, and you finally get your hubby/Daddy back!

Last Tball of the season

Well we had our last tball game of the season on Friday. I love how into the games Anna gets, and I love how excited Abby gets about going to watch her sister play. That may just be because we usually get snowcones after, I don't know! Here she is batting. I think her swing is getting better and better!

This one is a better video of Anna playing first. She gets so excited and proud of herself when she gets to play 1st. The rest of the time the kids all kind of dog-pile the ball, and she's not so into that. So this is the only time she gets to catch and throw during the games. I really should take a video of the dog-pile next year. It's a hoot! PS. You might want to turn your volume down for this one. I didn't realize my "encouraging yells" would be so loud on the video! ;)

Now, I think, our summer can slow down a little. No more harvest. No more tball. Just lounging in the sun. Maybe? Maybe?

More T-ball

Here's a short video of Anna playing 1st base. I didn't get much, because they totally took me by surprise. Usually, they only let the older kids play 1st, but this game, they started rotating through all the kids. Anyway, here it is.


Memaw and Uncle Will made it to this game.
And just for fun, here's one of Ben. Can't believe how quickly he's growing. Up to 10 pounds already!We're right in the middle of harvest at the moment, so once the dust settles, I'm sure I'll have some more pics to share. Hope you all are doing great!

IV - Did you say 4?

Holy Moley! Can you believe my little Anna has gone from this... to this!

Here she is on her FOURTH birthday. Ahh! We started off the day like every other; holding Ben. I think they have some special connection. They'll coo and talk to each other, and Ben even gave her his first grin!

Lookin' good with little sister too!

Of course, we had to open a couple of presents.

And don't forget the cake and ice cream! Here's hoping for many more wonderful years!

Sing!

Yesterday was Vacation Bible School Day at our church. I LOVE VBS! I love watching kids come in and get excited about Bible stories. I love watching kids sing praises to the Lord. I love watching "long time" members (ok, they're like 10) and visitors giggling together and planting the seeds for a life-long relationship with Christ without even knowing it! Since I was there working, the kids were there too. Even though Abby was technically too young to participate, the lovely Kathleen was kind enough to take her around to everything since she was the only one her age hanging around. I guess she was paying attention.

Is she cute or what?

Game #1

Ok folks. I know this is what you've all been waiting for. Tball season! Here's a quick video I got before my battery died. I love how giggly and excited the kids are this year. You can hear them cheering for Anna in the background.

This is my first video upload, so hopefully it works. Enjoy!

Rain, rain

Last week t-ball practice was canceled due to the threat of sever weather. So what did we do? Go out and play in it of course! By we, I mean Anna. Abby had no interest, and I mostly stood under the porch and took pictures. Can you believe this is the same girl who didn't want to get wet from the sprinkler?

Sprinkler Fun?

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday. It really feels like I blinked once since her 1st birthday, and here we are a whole year older. I found this fun little caterpillar sprinkler thing that sprays water out of all its legs, and thought it would be perfect. As soon as the wrapping paper came off the box, the begging began. "Pleeeeaaaase can we go outside now? We want to play with the sprinkler, pleeeaaaaaaase!" But it was chilly that day, and we had church the next. Finally Monday came, and it was warm and beautiful and a perfect day to play in the water. So, we got it all set up-got swimsuits on-got sunscreen on-went potty one last time-and finally we were ready to run out and have some fun!

And then this is as close as I could get them to it...
They literally stood there staring at it for less than five minutes, with my Dad and me trying to prompt them to run around and get wet. Then they came back over and said they were ready to go inside.

I know what you're thinking. Best. Gift. Ever! I can't wait to give Anna the other sprinkler thing I got along with Abby's for her birthday. I'm sure she'll love it...

Super Girls!

Grandma made the girls Superman capes, and they love running ("flying") through the house yelling, "Super Anna! Super Abby!" Then they strike this pose: Notice the knee pop? Where does she get this stuff?

Of course, Abby is in "do whatever Anna is doing" mode these days:

So if you're ever in a jam, you know who to call! Super Girls!

Ben

Wow! I'm realizing that it's been a while since I posted, and I'm thinking you can guess why. I've been a little busy with this beautiful little boy...Benjamin Leo
born April 15
6lbs 3oz, 19"He's adorable, and everyone is loving him already! This labor was by far the easiest (in case you were wondering), and I've been amazed at how much better I'm feeling this time around. Of course it helps that my Mom and Dad have been here helping keep the girls occupied and the house from falling apart, but we won't talk about how they'll be going home soon. Ok?

Here's Anna being a great big sister. She loves to hold Baby Ben, and he gets a ton of kisses from both big sisters daily.
Both big sisters are loving it, and I feel so blessed to have been given another perfect angel to love on!

Budding Photographer?

A few posts ago, I posted about Anna's budding guitar hero talent. While getting those pics off my camera, I found a whole bunch of other random photos on my camera I'd totally forgotten about. Since I also posted one of the pics Anna took of my growing belly, I thought I'd share one of her other recent intrests. "Photography." She LOVES to take pictures. I have to be careful even leaving my camera in sight because I'll be baraged with a hundred requests to take pictures. I love that she's such a creative girl, and I can't wait to see what things interest her as she grows.

This first one fits into more of the "artistic" genre. I must admit, that an ode to ketchupis right up my ally.

These are actually from way back in January on our trip to TX. We stopped at Steak n Shake for a snack, and found these great accessories.Ok. I may have helped with this one, but I wanted to share one of my sweet girl and me. Love her!

Belly Time!

Well, since I shared some of the not so nice parts of my pregnancy with you before, I thought I'd be nice and share something a little better this time. I LOVE big round pregnant bellies. Even when they're mine. Even when they make my feet freakishly large. To me they sum up the beauty/awesomeness of God's creation, and the blessings He gives to us all in one. I love how excited Anna is about this baby! Last time around, we barely mentioned it because she was so little. I just hope both girls share as much love with #3 as they have with each other. Have I mentioned that it's kinda difficult to take you're own picture in the mirror. I was trying to get something cute and sweet without seeing the my head covered up by a big box of a camera.

Ok. I didn't take this next one. Anna begged me to let her take some, and she actually did pretty well.

Can't wait 'til I can share some pics of the newest member of our family!

Can you say "swell"?

And I don't mean as in the phrase, "Hey! You're really swell!" I mean it in the my feet are swelling to a blimp like state sense. Before I go on, I just thought I'd put out a little warning for those who don't like pictures of really weird/kinda gross you out things. Sorry if this is too freaky for you to handle, but I know so many of you out there are just dying to know I'm doing, so here we go. Of course, if you've known me during either of my other pregnancies, you know that swelling is not new to me. What is new to me is the ridiculous way that Kansas seems to cling to winter weather. At a time when flip flops would be great for my little tootsies, IT'S SNOWING. At the end of March! I'm not asking for summer or anything, but is 60 degrees too much to hope for? Luckily, once I get my foot crammed into one of the few pairs of shoes I can still cram my feet into, it's not all that uncomfortable. It does create some interesting bumps and creases on my feet, though, so at least it's interesting to see what my feet are going to look like when I take them off. Just in case you're having a hard time picturing things, here are some pics from yesterday when we got home from our weekly church/grocery shopping adventure to Salina (yes it was snowing most of the time): I think it looks like I'm arching my foot in each picture, but I'm not.

Don't know if the pics do it justice, but there you go. Next week, I start weekly appointments and progress checks. Can't believe I'm so close already! I'm sure you're excited, because then you'll get pictures of a cute little baby instead of yucky old feet!

Guitar Hero

Last week, we had a fun game night with our peeps at church. The kids had a fun time "playing guitar". Anna really loved it. Of course, Abby had to help out even though we were trying to get ready to go (hence the pjs).

She really gets into her music as you can tell...

Just thought all our College Hill friends would be proud. Who knows? Maybe I have the next rock star living in my house!

Truth...

according to a 3 year old.

During breakfast a couple of days ago, Ty made a little joke, and the following ensued (imagine Anna using the most "duh mom" voice you can):

Me: Isn't Daddy a silly person?

Anna: Mom, Dad's not a person!

Me: He isn't? What is he?

Anna: He's a boy!

What could I say?

PS. Here's a pic of them trying on the dress-up gowns Ty's aunt brought down from cousin Zoe.

Abby said, "Princess" loud and clear!