Art

Several years back, Gepa got the kids a little kiddie art/ play table.  That table has gotten used and used.  We color at it everyday.  We paint at it.  We use it for eating when we have a big group and at parties.  We do "school" at it.  Recently, I painted it RED, and I love the color that it adds to our office/playroom.  I just love these pictures of the kids enjoying their table! I spend a lot of time wiping the table down and putting away crayons, paint, and markers, but I know that I will look back on these pictures as a window into our everyday life during this crazy stage that we are in right now!  It is such a sweet well loved spot!

 

Luke's Mustache Bash!

Our little man, Luke, is ONE! We had a small party for him with a few friends today. The theme was mustaches! It made for a lot of laughs and some great pictures! Here are Luke and I before the party got started. 

 

The weather was just perfect for an outside party, and I really enjoyed getting to use our backyard for it. With Caleb and Abby's birthdays being in March and February, we always do inside parties. Yah for a May birthday for Luke!  

Aren't we all so cute?  It was so interesting to see which of the kids embraced the whole mustache thing... and which of the adults. As you might imagine, Jon definitely embraced it!

After all our pictures, it was time for cake. Luke LOVED his cupcake and ate almost the entire thing! He did the whole first birthday cake smashing thing just perfectly.

   

Happy Birthday sweet little man (baby boy) LUKE! We love you!  What a joy this past year has been!

Awana Graduation

Caleb and Abby were both involved in the Awana program at our church this year. They loved going and learned a lot. Last night was their graduation. It is so fun to see them up on the stage with their friends!

  

The Puggles class heading on up onto the stage

Abby and her friends
 

Abby with her award
 

The Cubbies headed up onto the stage.

The Cubbies singing their song.

Caleb receiving his award. This boy is about to start kindergarten in a few months! I can't believe it!

Abby and Selah playing. They have loved Awana clubs!

Backyard Faces

We are loving playing in our backyard with all of the warm spring weather.
Everyone is keeping themselves busy and (usually happy) in the back.

  

Caleb making a silly face. I think that he didn't want me to take his picture.  

Abby playing in the pool. She is really loving swimming this year.  

Luke learning all about the sand and water table. Just look at those pudgy cheeks! Awe! I love him so much!

  

Luke playing in Abby's car. This is his most favorite new activity!

Easter 2012 Family Pictures

Abby's new dresser

Jon posted a pic and some nice thoughts earlier, but I wanted to post my own pictures of the final product. Here is Abby's new dresser that I refinished. I had been looking for one on Craig's list for a long time, and finally I found this Drexel French Provincial set. It was definitely worth the time and effort (and patience) that I spent looking for it!

Easter 2012 Part 1

Every Spring the kids enjoy a whole lot of Easter egg hunts. I think that we participating in5 this year, and we even said no to a couple. Here are some pictures of the Baylor Easter egg hunt:

We always meet the Ecklunds at this one. It is so fun to take pictures at it each year and to see how we have grown. Here are the posts for the past years: 2008, 2009, 2010. Last year the egg hunt was on the day that I was in the hospital in early labor with Luke. The Ecklunds were watching our two older kids, and they decided that it would be easier to skip the hunt. But, this year we were back!

Gianna tried hard to keep Kaiya in her lap, but right after this she did a dive into the rosebushes.

Caleb and Abby got exactly ZERO eggs at this hunt. They kind of stood there looking around when the hunt started and once they did start into the field of eggs, they just weren't fast enough compared to the rest of the kids. Awe, my non-competitive babies. I had to give them a pep talk about the rest of the egg hunts we attended. Jon has some work to do if he wants them to be into sports in the future! A couple of our friends kindly shared some of their eggs with Caleb and Abby.

I just love this rascally face. I remember Caleb making the same face when he was little.

Another annual egg hunt was at the Boyds "farm". Caleb and Abby did much better this time around, and as usual we all had a blast playing in the barn.

These were our attempts at a group shot: 2 five year olds, 4 four year olds, 2 three years olds, 2 two year olds, 2 one year olds, and 3 babies under one. Now that is a BLAST!

Hailey and Hayes: Isn't this picture funny!?

Lukey watching the action!

Grandma Peters joined us for a whole lot of Easter fun!

Lastly here is a sweet picture that my photographer friend Jennifer took of Luke at the hunt! Love it! Thanks, Jennifer!