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!

8 Months

No, you didn't miss the 7 month post...it didn't happen. Yep, I dropped the ball last month, but DID get his 8 month comparison picture done! I did get some 7 month pictures taken...just not the comparison picture. Oh well.

Anyway, here it is: Aiden at 8 months!

I found a new spot to take the pictures. In the "keeping room" downstairs. It's also called a hearth room in other regions of the country. There's some good morning light that comes in and I pulled the comforter and pillows downstairs to do these pictures.

Since it's downstairs, I have the added distractions of dogs, big brother and toys. Not really bad, especially when you see the look of joy on his face when Aiden sees his big brother! They love each other so much! Colten had come over and dropped this Thomas train on the blanket for Aiden to play with...Aiden was in the middle of his joyful screech when this picture was taken. :-)



Aiden is now scooting around a lot. You can't really tell by the pictures I chose for this post, but he was really making it hard to get pictures without blur! He kept rolling over and scooting towards me. He really wanted to play with that black thing that Mommy always has in front of her face...it must be fun if she's always playing with it!

Aiden has a few more teeth than last month. As of today, he has 8 with another coming in. He had 5 teeth pop through in 1 week and then the next week, another one popped through. It's been rough...let's just leave it at that.



This picture was a harder one. He's not too sure of the wood floors, or at least he wasn't when this was taken. You can't tell that by the picture though...but he used to not scoot out of the living room since it was surrounded by wood floors. Today, he made it all the way over to the foyer. Note to self: clean off baby gate and have it handy to put at the bottom of the stairs.



Aiden doesn't crawl regularly yet. He gets up on his hands and knees and then falls back down to scoot. Who knows what he's going to end up doing. Some kids do that and go straight to walking. We'll see in due time. All I have to say is that it's nice not having to chase him around yet. Colten was walking at this age...yes, WALKING!









This little boy is usually so laid back and easy going! Lately, he's been cranky and clingy. I know it's just a phase resulting from his teeth and maybe a little virus that he's picked up from somewhere (or someone???).

Aiden is also a little piggy. He's really interested in table foods and has had a few things like grilled cheese, quesadillas, mac n cheese and homemade soup, along with his Cheerios, Puffs, and Baby Mum Mums. When Aunt Paula watched him one day, he ate a whole container of baby food along with a whole grilled cheese sandwich. I don't know where he put it...but he also nursed after that!



Yep, we love this little boy. He has two older brothers to annoy and be bossed around by. His Daddy has gotten to see him scoot around the living room and hear him babble from half way around the world. His Mommy is so glad she has her 3 boys...life is good!

A Dog...or maybe a Horse???

Aiden, I can completely see why you are a little confused about what exactly this animal is. I mean, Lucy looks like a dog, but she is big enough to be a horse.

Well, whatever she is, you're pretty happy to be riding on her!



All you need now is a saddle!

The Greatest Game...6 Year Old Style

Today was Austin's first game of the season. We were running late, so he didn't get to warm up with the team. It was pretty hot and humid out there, so looking back, it was good because that was time I didn't have to have the little ones out in the heat.

Austin was really excited to start playing games. He loves his uniform...his favorite color is green. I also bought him new cleats today...nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh!

Colten is ALL about baseball this year! He SO wants to play this year...he'll have to wait until he's older though. Until then, he thinks watching is pretty cool too. I bought him a team shirt and he thinks he's part of the team. :-)



Austin's league does 3 pitches thrown by the coach (thrown over hand...do you know how hard it is to pitch to kids at this age when you're throwing over handed?), then if they don't hit off those pitches, they hit off the tee. The first inning, Austin's coach wasn't throwing to him very well. He hit 2 foul balls and a couple of strikes (his coach threw 4 pitches to him because of the bad pitches he was throwing). He ended up hitting off the tee pretty well. I can't stop giggling at the pictures of him hitting though. He looks like he's growling. So cute!



The second inning, he had a GREAT hit! While I liked seeing him do well, the smile on his face was way more important to me than the hit was. He really loves baseball. I think his Daddy is pretty proud of that.



We missed Daddy a lot today. We got to talk to him after the game though. It's just not the same without him. Next year, Austin will be in the age bracket that does only coach pitch...Daddy will be here, so it's going to be a great season all around!



Austin played 1st base today. His coach has him there a lot in practices. He's one of the few kids on his team that has played before (4, 5, and 6 year olds), so I think his coach likes having someone at 1st that has played before. It's good practice for him though...he needs to work on catching a little more. Most of the balls that were thrown to him at 1st were thrown way over his head, but there was a little girl who hit down the line straight at him and he got the ball and tagged the base for the 'out.' You know, if they played outs. :-)



I'm kind of glad they don't keep score at this age. I don't think I would know what the score is anyway. I'm sure I was a sight to see with Aiden in my arms, my big camera, my Flip video camera, and Colten running around me. :-) It worked out ok, though. At least Colten didn't throw a ball at anyone or run out onto the field today...I'm sure it will happen at some point during the season; maybe even more than once. Aiden was too hot and uncomfortable. He ended up with some heat rash...trying to figure out how to prevent that next time. Any suggestions?



PS. Do some of the pictures look slightly green after they were uploaded to Flickr to you? Not sure what that is about, but I'm too tired to try and fix them. If you noticed, just think of it as matching his uniform. If you didn't notice, just pretend like you didn't see this comment either!

Huntin'

Our company had a Easter egg hunt event one day. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of the day, on the same exact day and the same exact time as Austin's egg hunt at school. I knew that Colten was at the age where he totally "gets" egg hunts now, so I really wanted to take him to one. I decided that we would head to the company event so he could have some Mommy time (even though Aiden was with us).

The event was bigger than I expected and you could tell a lot of work had gone into it. There was food, games, the egg hunt and lots of prizes. We had already eaten lunch, but Colten loves cupcakes the icing on top of cupcakes, so I let him have one.

Since the games were a little mature for him (egg toss, spoon on the egg, etc) we played at the nearby playground while waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

The skies were threatening to rain on us the whole time, and I really thought we were going to beat the rain. Colten was ready to find those eggs and was irritated that Mommy wouldn't let him go after them right away.



Finally, he got to go after them and that's when the rain started. Just big drops here and there.



Showing off his eggs.



Then, the sky opened up and we all rushed for cover. Good thing the event was held at a pavilion! I love this picture of Colten with hair wet from the rain. Aiden, luckily, was in the carseat and a nice Mom asked if I wanted to put his carseat in her Graco stroller. It worked out really well so that the shades to both of them kept him nice and dry!



Colten may not have won a "big" prize, but he was very happy with the candy that he realized was IN the eggs!

Ps. Don't you just LOVE the Hawaiian shirt on him??? I think he looks great in those bright colors!!! And the cupcake at the beginning totally matched his shirt! :-)

Wings Over Wayne Air Show...a month ago!

So, basically a month ago, I heard of an airshow that was supposed to be on Saturday, but storms were predicted, so I didn't think it would be a good time to go. Then, I talked to my sister-in-law, Paula, and she said that they were going to it on Sunday. I had no idea it was 2 days long, so we planned on going on Sunday since the weather was supposed to be gorgeous.

Let's just say that Colten is in a MAJOR airplane kick right now! He has been in heaven since we moved here because we see a LOT of Air Force planes flying overhead. So, I knew this would be right up his alley.

Austin was really happy to see the acrobatic planes. I think that was his favorite part.


The Thunderbirds were there and we stayed to see them.



It was pretty cool.





But not as cool as seeing my boys having fun.



It was pretty hot there, directly under the sun. Austin decided to find shade wherever he could.


I have to say that if I knew how hard it would have been to actually GET to the air show from my house, I probably wouldn't have gone. It was really that bad! I'm glad I didn't know...we had a blast and the kids still talk about it.

An "event"

Today was a rough day. This is just one part of it and I'm only explaining it here because it's too long to put into a status on Facebook and not everyone I know has a Facebook account.

Austin had an EEG today. We haven't had any seizures or anything that we know of, but we are checking to make sure he's not having seizure activity causing him to blank out and lose focus. We have always wondered if Austin was ADHD (just not as hyperactive as some kids). He has a lot of the signs of it, but we never wanted to do something drastic if he didn't need it. Basically, if he was having problems in school, that's when we would be worried. I think it's safe to say that it's affecting him in school (both by my observations and his teacher's) and it's causing him to not like school. A Kindergartener shouldn't dislike school. Even after 4 days of not going, he doesn't want to go tomorrow. That's not something I like to hear.

So, to rule out seizure activity causing the focus problems, an EEG was scheduled and then we will look into other things. Monday was the day, but since he was sick, it was moved to this afternoon.

After putting the leads on Austin, the first test they do is having him blow on a pinwheel for 3 minutes. It's really hard to do and the kids are exhausted by the time they are done. With a minute left or so, you could tell something wasn't right. Just looking at his face and his eyes, I knew something was off. He started making weird sounds and wouldn't respond to us. I can’t even describe his movements…just abnormal and he said the word four (or for?) a couple of times and some other sounds. He stopped for a moment, then started the same behavior. We finally got him to snap out of it (or else he snapped out of it on his own) and he started crying. He couldn’t tell us what was wrong, but he didn't want to continue. We talked him down a bit and he was able to do the rest of the EEG (this was at the very beginning). He said a couple of times that he didn't want to do it while we were sitting there, but I tried to distract him.

Later, when I was able to talk to him before we picked up Colten, I asked him why he was crying; if something had happened. We didn't tell him what happened and didn't talk about it too much (it was a tech that administered the EEG), so I didn't think he knew what had happened. He said that he went back. I didn't understand and then he said he went back to the first day of school. That he wasn't really there, but that he saw the first day of school. I'm guessing he wasn't aware of what was going on.

We'll find out what exactly it was next week. The tech said that it was either a seizure or not enough oxygen getting to the brain. Sort of like when you hyperventilate. Either way, I am glad it happened under a controlled environment. If it was a seizure, this showed us that we need to increase his meds to make sure he’s covered in as many situations as possible.

This is small potatoes compared to what some people are having to watch their children go through. I am thankful, everyday, that our children are all pretty healthy. We have the regular childhood illnesses to get through, but a hospital is not my children's home for weeks at a time. We are experts through real-life situations on anything in the medical world and we don't know all kinds of scary terms that require a conversation just to explain them. I'll happily take the problems we have to face. They may seem big sometimes and I can get stressed at times dealing with them, but I feel that I am pretty lucky when I look at the whole picture.

Uncertainty...Thoughts...Prayers

I was writing my nightly e-mail to Brian when a close friend called and the first words out of her mouth was, "Osama Bin Laden is dead!"

I can honestly say that after the thought actually registered in my brain, my first feeling was not of celebration, but dread. I think my initial Facebook status mirrored that as I questioned what this breaking news would mean. What will our country face in the coming days?

My biggest question is, "What will our deployed military face? What will my HUSBAND and the rest of his unit face?" What kind of retaliation will happen. As a friend of mine said, Americans were SO angry to see the celebration in the street after September 11th. The images on TV today are showing similar celebrations going on. The anger that the terrorists are certainly feeling will most likely be bringing them storming to our front lines. To our front doors!

It's a relief to have one less terrorist in our world. However, there are many more willing to take his place and already have. With Bin Laden's death, we need to become more vigilant as a nation in these coming days. We got him, but he has many followers that are willing to do whatever it takes to hurt us.

The fight on terrorism is not over...our military's job is not over. Keep focusing on supporting our troops. We have the best military in the world and they did a great job with this mission, as they ALWAYS do, day in and day out. Bless our troops and bless our country.

I am so proud to be an American and so proud to be a military wife...not just on days when the mission is accomplished, but every other day as well. I love you, Brian! Stay safe...we pray for you and our military EVERY DAY!