Touch of Sun - I Heart Faces Challenge

This week is the Touch of Sun theme over at I Heart Faces. I know I just posted this photo, but I iimmediately thought of it when I saw the theme. I haven't been doing much entering because life just kind of takes over, but since I had just shot this photo, I figured I would try and put it in. Of course, I have tried to publish this entry more times than I can count, so I'm not even sure if it will post at this point. Crossing my fingers and pushing "Publish!" Hope this works!

Head on over to the I Heart Faces webite for more sunny photos - www.iheartfaces.com

Aiden is ONE!

Today, we have a ONE YEAR OLD! A whole year has gone by since this little guy has come into our lives. I can't even imagine what our lives were like before this energetic, smiley, loving, cheesy-grinned, little boy showed up! One thing is for sure, our family is better by having him and we will have fun watching our 3 boys grow up together!

Aiden, your Daddy and Mommy love you very much! You may be the third boy in our family, but each of you come first in our hearts. You are going to be showered with both love and wrestling moves and tackled with hugs and kisses. You're going to be a tough little boy, it's almost a requirement with the 2 bigger brothers that you have! You have already shown that you are ready and willing to bound right in there and take them on! You love them though, and it shows in the way that you light up when you see one of them.

Today, we no longer have an infant. Instead, here stands a toddler. Ready to take on the world!

Invisible

Tonight, I read an article that was shared on Facebook. It really hit home because I often feel invisible. Just someone here to do things. Cook, clean, tie shoes, make lunch, turn the TV on, lay out the clothes for the day, etc, etc, etc. It was a negative thing to me...until today.

I suggest you read the article right now. It's amazing how something like that shows up when you need it to, isn't it? Today, I have gone from being bitter about everything I have to do on my own, to being proud. It is all for the greater good. My kids will grow up knowing that Mommy can do anything she sets her mind to and hopefully will model that and be able to do anything they set their mind to! Plus, even if they don't seem to see it, God does. I'm thinking that He has a special place in Heaven for us Moms. I'm thinking spa-like, with beautiful aromas, calming music, and a place to sit and just be. :-) Of course, by the time I make it there, I'm hoping I have lived a long life and won't really need the spa-like atmosphere. I'll probably want the chaos of children around me again.

I'm building cathedrals...3 very rambunctious cathedrals, but cathedrals nonetheless. It's an important job and I will try to remember that as often as I can.

Proud

I haven't blogged about it, but Austin was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of the last school year. Brian and I have known that this was a possibility for a while, but was hoping we would be able to help him cope with it without going to medication. This just wasn't in the cards.

Kindergarten is supposed to be a fun year. Kids are supposed to like Kindergarten. Not our son. It was too hard, too boring, not fun, and any other reason he could throw at us. His teacher wasn't having any behavior issues with him, but had said that he was awfully slow at getting his work done. He was always one of the last to get done. I later found out that if you didn't get done with your work, it was set aside and you'd try to get it done during a free time. Undone work accumulated all week and was done while the other kids did "fun centers" on Friday afternoon. This would probably be the reason why it was hard, boring and not fun. He was constantly working to keep up and didn't have a chance to have any free time. I'm sure there were times when he finally caught up and got to have fun, but I'm not sure how many times he had to work vs. have free time with his classmates.

Without going into a long story (because I know this will be long enough...I tend to ramble), his neurologist nurse practitioner noticed some signs just sitting in the exam room with him and asked me if we struggled with focusing, impulsiveness, etc. I had already seen the poster they had on the wall and said that we could probably check all of them but one or two. Our plan was to make sure that he wasn't having focal seizures by doing another EEG and then talk about medications.

Now, Brian and I know about the medications associated with ADHD. We weren't thrilled with the side effects and were apprehensive about them. The biggest reason is that they are usually stimulants, which increases Austin's chance of having more seizures. However, we were becoming more open-minded about them as the school year progressed and our son grew more and more unhappy with school. At our follow up appt after the EEG (which had the same results as the EEG he had last September), he was tested for ADHD using the Quotient test. The results broke my heart. Out of 15 minutes, he was only attentive for 30 seconds, two different times. He was either impulsive or distracted for most of the test and the last 4 minutes of the test had completely given up and was disengaged. The neurologist (the doctor this time) said there was no wonder he didn't like school...Austin couldn't focus long enough to do much of anything and was constantly trying to keep up and was still not successful despite his hard work. I wanted to cry. I had let it go the whole year, hoping it would get better. Why didn't I do something about it before?

After a month on one medicine, we switched him because of extreme stomach aches that he got from the meds. He had 2 seizures at the end of that month as well, which were attributed to him out-growing his seizure medicine (since he IS a growing boy!). The next medicine seemed to work pretty well, with no stomach problems. Until about 3 or 3:30. Then, our little world fell apart as the medicine started to leave his system. I've been told that they feel very weird and their body is apparently going through quite a bit as the medicine wears off. He was moody, sensitive and would snap at the littlest thing. It was the worst time of the day for us. There was no way we were going to get through homework time with him like this at that time of the day! He didn't even get home until after 3:40 most days! The doctor switched things again and we are now trying a patch called Daytrana. We are hopeful that this one will work.

SO, all that back story to finally get to the proud moment! :-) Yesterday, I had a conference scheduled with Austin's first grade teacher. She decided that instead of trying to talk to every parent at length at open house, she would schedule these meetings to talk about their child and see what she can do to help them this year. WONDERFUL!

I get there and I am schedule 30 minutes...we filled that 30 minutes and I walked out of there grinning from ear to ear! Basically, although it's only the 3rd day of school, Austin seems to be doing the complete opposite of last year! Mrs. Hume had no clue he was ADHD because he seemed so focused. He's been getting his work done and has even been one of the first kids done in some instances and with GREAT work to boot! Nice penmanship and great work. She said that he is one of the best behaved kids she has and is very caring and friendly towards the other students. With everything he is dealing with, he is doing GREAT! I could have seriously burst at the seams, I was just so ecstatic! She assured me that she would keep an eye on him as we switched his medicine and that she wasn't a teacher to let things go very long at all before getting with the parents if there was an issue. If he's having issues with the amount of homework (since it's a bad time for him right now), just to let her know and we'd try to work something out. I think I could have hugged her...she completely made my day with just this 30 minute block of time!

So, after that meeting, I had a GREAT feeling about this year. I am confidant that this year is going to turn his attitude towards school around! He's even saying how much he likes school. And really, right now, that's all that matters! The rest will fall into place!

{For those who don't agree with ADHD children getting medication to help them, please keep those thoughts to yourself. There is such a stigma associated with these meds and even the diagnoses itself. People think that parents who can't handle their children automatically try to get this fake diagnoses and medicate them into submission. I can tell you that there are probably parents out there that do that...but they are few and far between. The majority of us are just trying to do what's best for our children. Until you walk in our shoes or our children's shoes, you can't know what it's like to have to balance the knowledge of these drugs' side effects with the benefits that they clearly bring to our kids. In the end, if my son's self esteem is better and he's happier because he can finally feel in control of himself, then I am happy.}

A Seasoned Elementary School Veteran (aka...a First Grader)

Yesterday was the first day of school. It meant that we were back to waking up at a certain time, eating breakfast on a schedule, getting dressed right away, brushing teeth right after that and rushing out the door without forgetting to take his medicine or leaving his lunchbox on the counter. Yep, the lazy days of summer have ended and the crazy days of school have begun.

Except that our summer really hasn't been all that lazy. As soon as school was out, we left that weekend for Missouri and Arkansas for 2+ weeks (pictures being sorted still). Then, we had a few days after getting back before Daddy came home for R&R (yes, that deserves it's own post and it is coming...I promise!). The week after Daddy went back to Iraq, Austin did 3 days of football camp. The next week, he had 3 days of golf camp. Then, he had a week of summer camp at Camp Kanata! After Camp Kanata, we did have a couple of weeks of down time before this week. :-)

Anyway, it's hard to believe that it's here. First grade. His second year of school. More learning. More friends. More reading and math skills. More activities, field trips, library books, painted pictures, and more cereal math charts!

Austin's grown a lot since Kindergarten. In every way imaginable!




He doesn't exactly look like a little kid anymore, does he? In fact, I think this picture on the stairs gives me a little glimpse into what he's going to look like as a teenager!




I worked hard on getting all 3 boys ready to walk down to the new bus stop so that we would have time to take pictures. It was a hard job. One that I remember from last year, but still haven't mastered! Sigh. Mornings never seem long enough!




Austin's eyes change different shades of blue depending on what he's wearing. Since he was wearing a gray shirt, they are more of a gray blue. Such a handsome boy! I mean Cool. He's a cool boy!




Ok, now he's a little silly. We just won't tell him I said that.




And I had to get a detail picture of his shoes and bags. I love the shoes. He LOVES the shoes. It's a rare thing for us to both love the same thing like this. I'm hoping it continues with other things! He also loved getting a new lunchbox and he ended up with TWO "backpacks." He specifically wanted a "one strap back pack." That's exactly what he said. This is the style he pointed out. I looked at couple of different places and didn't find any boyish ones. Then, I was tipped off that The Children's Place had them. We went and he loved the camo messenger bag. I bought it, and as the cashier rang it up, I realized it was half-off! SCORE!

Then, we got home and I started thinking about how his backpack from last year looked. It should have been replaced after Christmas. There were holes in the bottom, but he pushed through the rest of the year with it. I wasn't sure this new bag was going to make it the whole year, much less until Christmas. So, I went searching for another bag as a back up. Found out that Land's End had a sale PLUS free shipping. I looked and found this one that was pretty neutral with two boy colors (although, it is technically a girl bag, don't tell him that! I am not sure why it was labled as only a girl's bag...it's not any different than the boy's bag other than the colors and I think these colors can be either!) I ordered it and he opened it up when we got it and loved it too. He chose this one for the first day and wanted to take his camo one today. I told him that we would only be switching every week...not everyday. So, I guess we'll see how these bags last. I did find out today that a boy has a backpack with only one strap...I guess it's called a sling bag? Anyway, Austin said that's the kind he wanted. I think he just changed his mind, but he's gonna just have to wait until next year to get it. His are bought already!

Ah, the joys of school. We'll see how his teacher is as the school year starts. So far, I like her. I go in on Monday for a conference since she says they don't have enough time during open house to talk to everyone. I like that. Anyway, I'm hoping she's a good match for him! So far, he likes it. And he likes her. That's a good sign!

11 Months

I'm amazed. Our baby, our last baby, is 11 months old. It just can't be! In a month, he will go from a baby into a toddler. That just sounds so sad to me. Exciting, but sad. Any other parent will know what I mean. It's just hard to explain.

So, here we are. A month from our last comparison picture. I've only missed one. I may not have blogged them all (I will get caught up), but I've taken them all but one. I'm giving myself a break and letting that one go. My husband is deployed and I have 3 boys, 2 dogs, a huge house to try to keep from falling down from those 5 beings and a huge yard to take care of! One picture isn't going to make that much of a difference. I took pictures, just not the one of him on this bedspread with those pillows behind him. :-)

He's getting so big!

So, in the last month or so, Aiden has pulled up and started cruising. He has stopped "Army crawling" and is now crawling like a pro. Boy, is he fast!

He wears mostly 12 month clothes, but we have moved into 18 month clothes as well. Some of the one piece outfits are pretty tight around the crotch if they are 12 month. When he's in a disposable diaper, he's wearing a size 3. He wears a size 4 at night because he is a heavy wetter. I still use cloth diapers, although recently we have been on the go so much I haven't had time to do a lot of laundry, so he uses them when I know I'll be able to get them through their wash cycle.

I have no clue what size shoe he wears...he doesn't wear them yet. I think the only shoe-like things he's had on has been Robeez and whatever size he's in right now is getting small and he'll be moving up a size. I think to the 18-24 month size.



He has gotten quite the temper lately. When he doesn't get his way or something isn't working like he thinks it should, he starts yelling and screaming and waving his arms and kicking his legs like crazy. Then, the fun begins. He starts throwing himself down on the floor and kicks and scoots himself all over because he's so mad. He also rolls all over all while still kicking and screaming and crying. Forget about the Terrible Twos...we are in the Ornery Ones!



Despite the temper tantrums he is already having, he can be the most loving child. Two of his favorite people are his brothers. The world is just a brighter place when he sees one of his brothers. He smiles and gives them hugs and tackles them. He laughs and just gets a kick out of both of them. I know it's temporary. Before long, he'll be joining in the fighting that is already rampant between the older two. However, I know they all love each other, even when they aren't showing it.



Just like his older brothers, he isn't saying much. He will say "Hi Da!" sometimes when Brian is on the computer. He has started waving to certain strangers in the stores (most of them have been girls) that catches his eye and he is starting to sign all done and is trying to say it as well. He also shakes his head no like a pro. :-)



The boy loves to eat. He eats and eats and eats. He can sometimes out-eat his older brothers. He's not real big on baby food out of a jar anymore. He'll take a bite or two and then push it away. He does, however, love to eat the baby food that is in the spouted pouches. He will suck the food straight out of those pouches in 30 seconds flat. The downside to that is that they are expensive! I like to give them to him to make sure he's getting enough veggies, but I try to limit those and get him to eat veggies in other things. Right now, he's not big into eating diced veggies on his try. I don't know why. He eats them much better off a fork, but I have to alternate them with something he likes better. I like to add mixed veggie baby food into foods like mac and cheese or chicken tetrazzini. I also mix applesauce or sweet potato puree into his pancake batter. It's sweetens the pancakes naturally while still being healthy. He loves drinking water out of straw cups and we will be introducing whole milk sometime this month.



So, I am going to 'fess up here and say that he is still not sleeping through the night. Yes, I know he should be by now. He's still getting up at least once a night. It had been worse, so once (or even twice) a night isn't so bad. It had been 3-4 times a night still. Granted, he got his teeth in like crazy back in May, so I think that had a lot to do with it as well as the crazy allergies that kept him from breathing right. Now, it's more of a habit than anything. {For the record, I've already been given the advice of letting him cry it out...I don't need advice at this point, but thank you!} Colten was still getting up once a night at 2:30 at this age...he'd nurse for a couple of minutes and go back to bed. When he weaned himself at a year, it was easy to break that habit since I didn't have anything to give him. I plan on this happening again with Aiden. Um, yes, I am going to be selfish and wean him at a year because I want him to. I may regret it after he's done since he's my last, but I think I'm willing to live with that at this point.

Aiden is a people person. He hasn't gone through separation anxiety yet and I think it's because he just loves people. He loves his Mommy and will come to me when he needs me, but dropping him off at hourly care is easy peasy. He LOVES our friend, Laura. So much so that he has pushed her son (who is just a few months older than Aiden) out of the way so she can pick him up. He will actually lean over to her while I'm holding him so that she'll hold him. :-) He will let people he doesn't even really know hold him. He's just a kid who loves people! Of course, since I've said this, he'll start that phase where I can't leave the room without him crying...it's just Murphy's Law! :-)

So, that's basically it. Aiden is happy, healthy and thriving. His Daddy and Mommy love him and his brothers adore him!

Day 2 at Great Wolf Lodge

Today was another great day at GWL! I could really get used to this type of vacation where everything you do is all in the resort! It is so easy, albeit expensive!

We started off by eating donuts and then getting the boys their wands for MagiQuest. If you haven't heard of it, look it up (the Internet is horribly slow here or else I'd hyperlink it for you). It's an awesome interactive game that even our 2 year old has loved doing!!!

After a bit, the bigger boys went to the pool whole I tried to get Aiden down for his nap....he seemed a little tired. He wasnt tires enough and refused to sleep, so I took him to the pool and we all swam and had a great time. Then, it was lunchtime and that's when the exhaustion hit poor Aiden. Brian got our foo and I took mine back to the room, fed Aiden quickly, gave Gave him bath (he had food ALL over him), and he was OUT!

Te boys returned from the pool and I helped get them dressed and then they were off again to make something at the Cub Club and then more MagiQuest. Brian took some pictures of the tie dye shirts that they made. Well, Colten didn't really help, but he'll have a short tomorrow.



When Aiden woke up, we all went to play mini golf. It was HOT outside!!! We found out afterwards that we had been misinformed and that we could have traded in our golf passes for more tokens. Figures, but the kids had fun and that's what matters.








Brian said it was the quickest game if mini golf he's ever seen. Our kids are more into playing fast than playing right. ;-)

Colten wanted his picture taken on this seat, but wanted Aiden next to him. But then, when Daddy sat next to him, he hid behind the bear and this is the picture we got. Colten is in the back; out of sight.



Then, Austin got his picture done.



And finally Colten decided to come out. Then he didn't want to get down! LOL



It was dinnertime, then back to the waterpark. I talked Colten into going to the little show they have and then story time before going to the room for bed. We were changing when Daddy came back with Austin. They dressed and then went back for more MagiQuest.

The littles were easy to get to sleep tonight! They are exhausted! I don't look forward to tomorrow afternoon when we have to leave, I see three very unhappy boys in our future!!! They love this place!!! And so do we!!!

It's been a good couple of days away with Brian. We all deserve it, but he does the most...and our kids deserved this bonding time with him. This afternoon, he offered to stay in the room with Aiden so I can be with the 2 others...I declined since this was about their time with him! I love him for offering, but that time is too important. Especially when we have just a handful of days left before he goes back.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Off On An Adventure

We took off today on an adventure and just told the kids it was going to be fun. They had no clue we were going to The Great Wolf Lodge. Even if they would have known, they didn't know that the GWL had an indoor water park and all kinds of other attractions! All they knew was that they got to watch movies on the way to "the fun place."



When we got there, Daddy checked us in while I waited with the boys while a guy made balloon creations for the kids. Austin got a wolf and Colten picked a helicopter.



Then we walked around to the elevators and showed Austin what we were here for! This was his reaction to what he saw through the windows. He was shocked! LOL



For our first time in the water, I didn't take any pictures. I just wanted to enjoy these moments with our kids. They had a blast! We definitely have 3 water-loving-kids! Even Aiden was splashing and having a blast!

Around 4:15, I got our room "keys" (which is really just a microchipped wrist band) and we headed to our room to show the boys their "den." They even have their own TV!


We got dressed and went to eat dinner. By that time, Aiden was exhausted and Colten was ALL over the place! I thought for sure that dinner would be a nightmare! I even commented while Aiden was crying, Austin was wandering off and Colten was bolting off, that we were probably the most dysfunctional family there! LOL. Probably not, but it sure felt like it!

Our server was AWESOME and the food was good. The boys like the wolf ears they got, Brian enjoyed his beer and I am glad they sell this:


You can even walk around with it through the resort! Someone sure does understand what it's like to take kids out in public!!!

Right now, 2 kids are out with a possibility of it being all 3. Austin went with Daddy to the waterpark at bedtime and I got the younger 2 to bed. Austins d Brian got back and it's been a little harder to get Austin to sleep. I think he's down now though! Tomorrow will be a full day of more water fun with other things mixed in.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Prayers for Mom

For a bit of time on Tuesday, I thought this photo would be one of the last ones taken of my mom.

My sister had called and was sobbing. I won't go into the details of that phone call, but for a split second, I thought she was already gone and the world stopped.

Fortunately, my Grandma went to check on Mom just in time and finally got a hold of someone to open her apartment and then get the ambulance from across the street (yes, Mom lives directly across the street from the ambulance...what a blessing on Tuesday!).

Right now, she is in the ICU and they are still unsure of what went wrong. Doctors can't agree and we are waiting on tests. She's able to speak now and is in stable condition, albeit still critical.

I am feeling helpless from a state away. I think I would still feel helpless there if I had gone. My duties and responsibilities as a mom has kept me from going back up there at this point. Her doctor said that she's going to continue to improve and that it wasn't critical for me to be there. I still feel stuck between a rock and a hard place though. My kids have already driven more than a 1000 miles in the last week. We still have almost 900 to go in the next couple of days. We have to be back for Brian to come home. But the worry that I feel for my mom is pulling me in another direction. Guilt for not being there is lingering...both by me personally and by an external source as well. I'm standing by my decision though.

I have faith that my mom is going to pull through this. She is STRONG. She is a fighter. She has already been through so much, and while it's all left it's mark on her, she survived. So, I know this is just going to be another mountain that she will overcome and plant her flag on top of.

I am constantly praying for her strength and improving health. I pray for her doctors to have the knowledge they need to figure this puzzle out and prevent it from happening again. I pray for my Grandma and my aunt as they are sure to be exhausted after the last few days. I pray for the future...that it be bright for our family and that we trust in God. He knows how this will all play out and I have to trust that He always does what is right for us.

I love you, Mom. I always will!

Where does time go?

How did my baby get to be old enough to graduate Kindergarten? It seems like just yesterday that he was born!

Regardless of how I feel like time seemed to slip by at times, I am just SO proud of this kid! Looking over the last year, he has been through a TON. Moving, a new area and house, a lost cat, seizures that brought on EEGs and an MRI and ultimately the diagnoses of Epilepsy, a new baby brother, a Daddy deploying and more meds for ADHD (no, I haven't blogged about that as I am still trying to figure it all out).

Austin had persevered through all of it and even thrived and succeeded! There were times when he just didn't want to go to school, but he went anyway. He found the positives in the school year, even though he missed his Pre-School class where he got to play more. :-)

His teacher, Mrs. Bruner, was a bright spot. Austin liked her. He made her a flower out of paper the other day and said that when he goes to First Grade next year, he wants to go to Mrs. Bruner's class first and give her this flower and THEN go to First Grade. Yes, he will miss his Kindergarten teacher.

Austin liked PE and library and computer class. He liked going to "centers." He loved eating the cheese pizza for lunch as well as the corn dogs and chef salad. He loved recess as well, but was always bummed when they had to go to the "little playground" instead of the "big playground."

Austin was apparently very popular with everyone in the class, especially the little girls. On several occasions, he came home with "love notes." But it wasn't all one sided. He was sending them right back, especially to one little girl in particular.

Yes, I think he had his first crush this year. He has had girls as friends in the past. He has liked them pretty well. One even called him her boyfriend (We miss you Skylee!), but this year, he was seen playing with C's hair, holding hands, and we can't forget about those notes. :-) Yep, it was different than with other girls. They sat next to each other at the beginning of the year in class, but the teachers saw the connection pretty early on and moved them so it wasn't a distraction.

At the end of the year, Austin's class had their awards ceremony. Austin was awarded the "Best Friend to All" award. He really is friendly to everyone and we are so proud of that. While we want him to pick his friends wisely in the future, right now, I think he is doing what is best by being friends with everyone, even the class bully, and being a role model for the other kids to just be nice. :-) Plus, being friends with the bully (or at least nice to him) means that he isn't hitting you!

Austin has learned life lessons as well as the regular academic ones. His math is doing great and he's interested in learning more. He is reading a lot better (you know, since he wasn't reading at all before Kindergarten!) and can read simple books at home. He came home with something new everyday!

He's going to do GREAT in First Grade!

Here's a couple of pictures to compare what he looked like on the last day of school (top) vs the first day of school (bottom)!

Easter Baskets

Easter is not all about the baskets, bunny, or candy. We do celebrate Easter for the real reason and are so thankful for the life that Jesus gave us by dying on the cross for our sins. We celebrate the fact that he rose again.

However, we also enjoy some of the more non-religious traditions as well! The Easter Bunny hiding eggs, bringing candy and filling Easter baskets is so much fun for the kids! This year, we laid out carrots for him and the boys thought that was just GREAT!

Each boy got a pair of fun socks, sunglasses, character plate and bowl, chocolate bunny, straw cup an bubbles. The two younger boys got a book while Austin got a magnetic monkey toy that I remember having as a child. The two older boys also got wooden whistles and Aiden got a baby bouncy toy. Then, they each got something that fit their personality: a Lego Star Wars toy for Austin, a Thomas train for Colten and a baby race car for Aiden. Add in the candy and the baskets were FULL!



I might have gone a little overboard, but it never looks like too much until I start assembling the baskets!

Colten was ALL over the candy. Having already been to an egg hunt, he knew that the eggs held candy for him to eat!


Aiden seemed to know that his basket was for him to get into! It was so funny to see him reaching for particular things!



Austin looked cool in his awesome shades.



Colten still puts his on upside down...but they have Mickey Mouse on them, so that's awesome in his little world!



And this was the first...and last....time that Aiden will wear his! He won't keep them on for anything. They immediately get ripped off as soon as I put them on him!



Austin went to work on his Lego toy pretty quickly and did a great job putting it together!



Aiden pulled everything out of his basket. Don't worry, I pulled the eggs that contained candy out of it so he wouldn't choke! :-)



It was a good morning filled with lots of laughter, smiles and fun. Just one person was missing...but we got to talk to him and show him what the Easter Bunny brought, so that made it a tiny bit better.

After a good breakfast, we went to church and each child had a good time in their respective classes/nurseries. I really missed the traditional songs we usually sing in church, but was glad that we were able to go! I think that since then, we have missed church each week because of illnesses! Hoping we can get back there soon!

Dying...Eggs, That Is!

I'm playing catch up with posting our pictures from Easter. Life just gets crazy and I don't feel like downloading pictures from my camera or sorting through the hundreds of pictures I take of each "event." If you think that's bad...I have NO printed pictures of Aiden up anywhere in the house. I'm a bad mom...just say it! :-)

Anyway, we always dye Easter Eggs the day before Easter. Aunt Paula called us up that morning (maybe afternoon?) and asked if we had dyed our eggs yet. Since we hadn't, they decided to come over so the kids could dye them together. The boys were excited...they just LOVE their cousins!

We got the dye all ready and put it outside for the kids to do it out there. Less mess that way and it was such a nice evening! Colten is at that age where he's really into more of the holiday traditions. He loved dying the eggs!

Colten didn't have a nap that day, so he was pretty tired by this time! He did a great job though...he's getting so big!



Some of Colten's eggs.



Austin had his own way of dying the eggs and was pretty particular about how they were supposed to be.



Aiden even got to try it out with Uncle Matt's help. If you're wondering why Aunt Paula is rarely in any photos, it's because she can be a little camera shy and I know she is really picky about what photos she'll let me post. :-) Love ya, girl!



So happy!



Counting his eggs to make sure they're all there.



The kids had a blast and it was nice to hang out with the other Steele's in the area! We are truly blessed to be stationed at the same place as them for a second time!