Happy Birthday, Reed!

This adorable little fella turned 3. 

 Reed is a riot.  And a rage-er.  We have a lot of fun with him.  He is cuddly and all boy.  Reed LOVES transformers right now, especially the Rescue Bots from the TV show.  He also loves cars and balls and his Strider bike, which he has gotten really fast at.  Reed struggles with articulation so he's been in speech the last few months.  He likes to read books and play games.  He is always asking me to play "autobots" with him.  Reed adores his older siblings and loves to jump on the trampoline with them.  He can hold his own on the tramp, even when it gets rough.  Reed also adores Adelyn but he also loves to make her cry.  Reed and Adelyn's favorite game together is pretending that they're doggies.  I can still kiss all of Reed's owies better.  Reed's best friends are Isabel and Niko.  Reed is starting into the saying-really-funny/cute-things stage.  Yesterday he walked into the bathroom where I was straightening my hair.  He looked up at me and said, "You're booiful, mom." :)  We are so, so grateful for this sweet miracle boy in our family.

 Be still my heart!  LOVE this bunch SO much!!

 This is the tail-end of singing "Happy Birthday" - Alden's chicken part. :D  We have quite the unique rendition of Happy Birthday in our family.

 My mom loaded us up with a year's worth of birthday and Christmas gifts last August while we were visiting Canada.  Because she unexpectedly passed away 2 weeks later, we've been receiving "gifts from heaven" all year long.  Reed's was the last.  It was very bitter-sweet to pull it out of the gift bin.

 It was classic - an Old Navy shirt and a trinket.  The trinkets are always so odd to me yet the kids love them! :D

Happy birthday, Reed!!

Extra Curriculars

My handsome little scouts!

I'll be honest, I don't love scouts.  I recognize that it teaches the boys discipline and outdoor skills but...my boys haven't embraced it yet so it's just another thing for me to get after them to do. :(  But they sure do look handsome in their uniforms!

My sweet little dancer!  She loves dance but, once again, she resented having to go by the end of the year.

 Alden's soccer!

Aaaand I did not take my camera to one single game of Eli's. :( 

 It's a good thing this kid is always good for a few extra poses. :)

I super duper love grumpy, feelings-hurt, cuddly little soccer fans. :)

And let's be honest: This has been their favorite extra-curricular this year. Minecraft.

Happy 10th Birthday, Alden!

I probably star every one of Alden's birthday posts with, "I can't believe I have a _ year old."

But truly.  I can't believe I have a 10 year old!

 Alden is such an awesome kid.  He's smart as a whip - remembers everything he's ever read or been taught.  He does great in school and loves math and science.  Alden also loves building toys and was totally spoiled by his friends, who ALL gave him a Lego set at his party.  Alden likes to read, especially Diary of a Wimpy kid and especially the reading I do with them at night.  Alden also likes to save money and is building up quite a bank account. We've struggled with his ADD symptoms the last few years (inattentive, wiggly, chewing his shirt, spacey, not following verbal directions, etc) but I feel like maybe he's starting to overcome them.  They've never affected his grades really but they do affect his socials and this year they did affect his classroom relationship with his teacher and that made me sad.  

This year Alden chose a sports birthday.  I always give them an option between an outing with a couple of friends or a friend birthday party at home and he chose a friend party.

 Unlike last year, every person on his guest list was able to come this year!  We played games in the backyard, ate dinner and cake, and watched Rookie of the Year.

 Throwing a party is so much harder with Fussy-Mae hanging on my legs. :(

Happy birthday, Alden!!

Family Picture Sunday

One Sunday we were all ready for church early.  Which is saying something, since we have 7 people to get ready for 9 am church!  We decided to take advantage of everyone looking good by snapping some photos!

I LOVE THESE KIDS!! SO MUCH!

So incredibly blessed.