My kids!!! I love 'em SO much!!

I wanted to share some random photos that I took about a month ago... I think they are so cute~ of coarse they are of my four kids...THE CUTEST kids in the world!

Cole~ he is so happy and good-natured! He is currently crawling (and fast), and pulling himself up on things. He is pretty proud of himself. He "grew out" of the Amby Baby hammock and he is almost out-grown from the swing (sniff, sniff). He has officially graduated out of the bassinet, and is now in the crib (when not in our bed). He is eating baby cereal, and we grind up a lot of food with our Food Mill, too. We aren't too concerned with giving him lots of variety with his foods. He started clapping about a month ago, but now he can make the clapping sounds~ TOO CUTE! He also can go from crawling, laying on his stomach, to sitting up. It is so amazing how fast he is going these days! Cole just turned 7 months old. My baby is getting so big!

Caleb loves to dress up in the super hero ninja outfit. He is so funny, and keeps us laughing. He loves to draw people ~himself~ with crayons and chalk. He loves to play outside, and ride his bike. We really should take off those training wheels and let him go. He is my "ping-pong" ball, as I call him, because he is always on the go and loves to be doing something. He loves to learn new things, and can't wait for home school to start. He will be a pre-schooler this year. Caleb just finished Soccer with Community Ed. He really enjoyed the sport, and learned some great aspects/skills for the game. He is a sports nut, and we are going to let him try different ones to see which ones he likes best. It is good for him to put some energy into his sporting likes.

Future Fire fighter? If he has anything to say about it, Yes...he will! He wants to be like Dad!

So excited and full of expression!

Want a cowboy hat on? Ummm...not so much!

How about Dr. Seuss? This one is so cute on you!

Nathaniel has been really enjoying his summers. He is really getting into the "social years" with his friends. I think he has spent more time hanging out with his friends then he has at home. That is OK. I know that those friendships are so important! Nathaniel really enjoys being outside catching frogs, toads, salamanders, worms...you name it. He has always enjoyed the outside creatures that God has made. He has a pet Salamander~ "Sally" that he has had in an aquarium for 4 years. Nathaniel also enjoys his Pokemon cards, game boy, and his other video games. We also really enjoy our family game nights. Mostly it is Nathaniel, Terry and I playing the games after the little ones go to sleep. this is great one on one time that we get with Nathaniel. I will be homeschooling Nathaniel again this year, and we are looking forward to a good year, and the may Lord be with us! :)

Need a court jester? Caleb fits the position excellently!

I love this photo of Madelyn and Caleb.

She is all girl, through and through! She can run in heels! She loves her dress up clothes and shoes! Thanks to my friend, Anna, she has put many hours into this basket of fun! Madelyn is 2 1/2 and she is such a sweet little girl. She is so loving and sweet. Her love language is very much : Touch. She loves being held, cuddled, hugged, kissed, and she is our nightly co-sleeper. She is getting the last of her baby teeth (finally) and she is growing everyday. She is very petite but she holds her place in this family. She loves playing with Caleb, and doing art projects. She is my little organizer (I think). When she is playing with her toys or dolls, she lines them up all in a row. I always know if she was playing with something...especially crayons or blocks. Madelyn just finished gymnastics. She loved it so much! I think she was meant to do gymnastics. Funny story: We were finishing up the class one night, and I asked the instructor if she could do the splits and show Maddie. (Obviously I can't do them...LOL). Anyway, the instructor was showing her and started to go down to the mat. So, Madelyn copies her, but instead Madelyn goes all the way down into a Chinese Splits! We couldn't believe it! She is a peanut, flexible, and spunky. She is my princess~

Speaking of...

Caleb was cracking me up today, and good thing because when he wasn't saying something funny, he was getting himself into T.R.O.U.B.L.E with a capitol "T."

This morning while we were eating breakfast, Nathaniel made a comment about the very un-nutritious cereal they were eating.

Nathaniel: "They say that cereal has Vitamin D and Vitamin C in it, but if you eat too much you get a stomach ache." I told him it was misguided information and not correct. The company likes to put that on the box so it can look good to the consumer.

Then Caleb says, "Hey Mom, speaking of vitamin C, could I have a vitamin, please?"

Later on this morning, we were down stairs and Caleb said he was a candy eater. (I am not sure how that came up). Anyway, he pipes up, "Speaking of candy, can I have some candy, please?"

Then, we went over to Candace's house to babysit Claudia, and we were playing with the kid kitchen "play food." Madelyn handed me a cloth "pretend" piece of cheese. I said, "This is cheese. Can you do the sign for cheese?"

Caleb says, "Speaking of cheese, I think it is time to have some supper."

It was so funny! I am not sure where he got it from, but I am loving it! I told Terry about it when he got home, and he said that Caleb did that one other time, too, and it was pretty funny.

OH, Speaking of funny (ha ha), well...kind of weird. Yesterday, we had a flying visitor in our three season porch yesterday. Caleb and Maddie called me into the living room to see what was in there. We had a bird in our porch. Our screen door is currently broken (kind of). So, with it being cracked open slightly, and the wind blowing....the bird rose to the occasion to pay us a visit. It was pretty freaked out. I finally got it to go over to the door to make bail, but the poor little thing probably had mild heart attacks.

Here are some fun new things.... and some fun facts of my darling children!

Madelyn loves playing dress-up, and this is one of her favorite costumes. Thanks goes out to my dear friend, Anna, for the clothes she gave us!
I have the Tupperwear ball with all the shapes (love this toy!!) and Madelyn is really enjoying the challenges right now. I am impressed with her skills at putting the shapes into the correct spot. She even knows when the shape isn't quite in the correct angle, she needs to move it one way or the other to make it fit. I think that is impressive for being just "newly" two years old. She also likes to line up her crayons in a row, nicely and organized. I am not sure what the "experts" would classify this as, but I think it is adorable that she likes to line up the crayons.
Caleb makes a great head, body, legs and arms when drawing a person. He even draws the eyes, nose and mouth. I scheduled him for his pre-school screening in a few weeks, and I know that a person is something that they need to try drawing. So, when we had his birthday party (which I still need to blog, ahem....) I was drawing a person on the sidewalk in chalk. So, I called Caleb over and just showed him what a person needs. He was all excited and started drawing people. Now, when we are coloring or drawing, he is making people. He made a great looking person today over at Candace's house. He wanted Candace to have it, so it had to stay there. Caleb loves climbing trees so much, too! He also loves to "pee" outside on the trees, too. There is something about going outside that is so much fun!
Cole tries to sit up now. He will sit for a few minutes before he starts leaning over to one side. He loves to laugh at his brother, Caleb, who thoroughly loves getting him to giggle. It is so precious. Cole is drooling like crazy, and has been more spit-upy (I know it isn't a word, but it works). So, I am thinking he may be working on teeth. I could be totally wrong, though, because I think that with every kid, and I am usually calling that one too early. Cole loves his Jumperoo from Fisher-Price (totally the best jumper) and his exersauser ~which he can walk around in circles (another totally cool baby item). I had Cole in for his 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago, now. (told you I am behind a bit with blogging). He was 4 months and two weeks for his visit. He was just over #13 pounds and ranking the 88% percentile for his height. I don't have all the calculations here at my desk, but I was impressed with his growth and where he fit in the national percentiles....not that I weigh too much on the stats. He is a happy and healthy (big) boy.

Nathaniel came back from visiting his dad this weekend, and he creatively made a bow and arrow~ BY HAND! He carved a stick, removing all the bark, and formed it into a bow. Then, he shaved another stick down into an arrow. He said he had a fun time working on it. His Dad helped with the arrow, he said. It is pretty impressive, and of coarse, I had to take pictures of him with it. I think he was pretty proud of it, and he should be. I think home school has been a great start to his educational road to learning. :)
Isn't he handsome? He is getting so tall and growing so much! I can tell he is nearing the puberty stages. They already watched "THE MOVIE," as he calls it. It is a movie where they talk about the changes boys/girls go through when they reach puberty. I know they show this because many don't get the information from their parents, but I do think that parents should be the source of teaching these life lessons. So, we had some talks about all that.
Nathaniel only has 2 more days of school for the end of the school year for 4th grade. He has a field trip tomorrow (all day) and an all-school picnic with games, relays and food on Friday. He is really looking forward to summer vacation. I am really proud of him with his grades! He has done a great job bringing up his grades this year. He is challenged with spelling and essay writing, but we will work on that more in home school. I am thinking we will be homeschooling him next year. (more prayers....please pray for our direction on this). Nathaniel has scored phenomenally on his NCWA testing and MCA testing. He is in the high 90's for percentiles in Math and Reading. I am really proud of his scores, and what he has learned. I firmly believe that his 3 years of home school have greatly impacted his education and learning.

So, that is some updates. I promise to write up the blog post on Caleb's birthday (SOOOO....belated). But, I really want it to be a great post. I will also put up a contest or two tomorrow, too! Stay tuned!

Plain Tales new releases

PlainTales series, which offers classic stories on CDs that can be played on any player, any time (goodbye, long, boring trips this spring break!). The series is now expanding with the release of new collections, PlainTales First Tales and PlainTales Explorers, available on CD March 10, 2009.

The PlainTales First Tales collection includes:
“The Gingerbread Boy and Other First Tales” – Enthrall in the stories of the naughty Gingerbread Boy, the clever Billy Goats Gruff, the enchanted Frog Prince, the stalwart Little Red Hen and the courageous Bremen Town Musicians. Perfect for the littlest listener.
“Paul Bunyan and Other American Tall Tales” – Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Davy Crockett are some of the roughest, toughest characters ever to blaze the frontier. Clever as the crack of a whip and strong as a wildcat, these tall-tale heroes each left a legacy of larger-than-life deeds that have captured the American imagination for over a century. Three rib-tickling tracks tell the whole story.
The PlainTales Explorers collection includes:
“Animal Tales: Raccoon, Bear and Coyote” – Finally on his own, a young raccoon named Lotor needs to finds a new home before a predator finds him. Osa the brown bear builds a perfect winter den – with less-than-perfect results. And to survive a bleak winter, Hazard the coyote must find food for his pack, even if it puts him in grave danger. These stories about fictional friends are rich with detail about real animal behaviors.
“Johnny Appleseed and Other American Legends” – What makes an American legend? Find out in these fascinating stories of national treasures, including Johnny Appleseed, whose apple trees bore the fruit that fed a nation of pioneers; Sacagawea, the Native American woman who bravely guided Lewis and Clark on their westward journey; and John Muir, a valiant protector of the West’s natural wonders and founder of the Sierra Club.
PlainTales, created by writer, entrepreneur and father Brian Keairns, was started with the mission of providing great audio stories for children and their parents, believing that hearing the world’s best stories read aloud is a great way for youngsters to develop language and thinking skills, all while being thoroughly entertained. Fables, fairy tales and original stories inspire, educate and encourage creative thinking, and the ones featured in the PlainTales series are chosen for their rich language, cultural significance and pure enjoyment, allowing families to share something special, together.
PlainTales storytelling CDs are recommended for ages 5-10 and are available for $14.95 each.

A couple funnies

I forgot to mention these funny incidents...and I thought I would share.

When Nathaniel was about 4 years old, I was with him and some friends of mine at a Mexican Restaurant to celebrate my birthday. This is a tradition with my friends to celebrate our birthdays there. I had a Mega Margarita, and Nathaniel was trying to get at my glass to try some. I pulled the Margarita away from him and told him, "You're not that lucky!" What I was unaware of, was the waiter had just come to check on our table. He just got done asking if there would be anything else...when the response he got was, "You're not that lucky!" He was so embarrassed and turned red. Everyone started laughing, and told me what happened. Needless to say, I was just as embarrassed and wanted to crawl into a hole. Every year on my birthday I am reminded of that statement. Good times!
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Just a few weeks ago, Terry, the kids and I went out to a local Italian Restaurant for pizza. Caleb started reaching and grabbing a piece of pizza. I said, "You put that down right now!" I was a bit stern with my voice. The cashier was at a nearby table, and she had just picked up the booklet with a check and tab for the waitress. She froze, and dropped the booklet back on the table. She was stunned! She thought that my voice was the waitress's voice, and she thought she was in trouble! How funny is that! I was laughing so hard I had tears.