A boy and his cake...

Well... now he's had a party! It's official- Ole is one! Here's the cake Kjersten and I made while the boys were gone camping. I'd like to say it looked better in person, but it didn't. My frosting was just too soft. Didn't seem to bother anyone!

Had to make some cupcakes as that one cake wouldn't be enough. Knowing that I am odd man out by not liking chocolate, I acquiesced and made devil's food cupcakes.

Jason gets "hold the birthday kid" duty. All the practice "blowing" over the weekend was wasted. He simply would not make an effort. Could be the distraction of 20 people singing at him...

Mmmmmmmm... Good cupcakes, mama!

Carol made the boys the cutest shirts. I desperately wanted to get a photo of them together in their shirts. Ummmm. No. We tried and tried. Mothers of twins have my sympathies. What a pain! You'll have to make due with separate but cute shots. Here's a few of our attempts...

Here's Bret and Carol.
Cael and his shirt. Aren't they just so stinkin' cute?!Brennen got his very own shirt. I love it! He does too! (How does a perpetually happy child manage to look so melancholy? Perhaps it was camping for 3 days and coming home to birthday chaos? Actually, he was in a great mood. Just a bit tired here, I think!)

More than $10,000

Yup! We've passed that milestone with our debt snowball. We've payed off $10,013 in about 9 months. Keep in mind, that's as well as cash-flowing some massive car repairs and medical bills as well as everyday big things like propane tank fillings, family trips & Christmas. As you can see from our ticker on the right, we have a long ways to go, but we are going to get it done.

Ask Rhys when we get to go to his favorite Chinese restaurant again and he'll tell you:

First, we have to pay off our "debt snowball"

Then, we get to call Dave Ramsey and yell, "We're debt free!!!!" on the radio

Then... we get to go to dinner...

Isn't that funny? True... but funny! We've taught
him well

Teaching her "class"

Yes, they're imaginary. That doesn't mean, however, that they don't need their work corrected! She will play like this for hours. And, other than the fact that she uses any and all of my school supplies she can find, it really is funny to watch her teach. She emulates me and her other co-op teachers. It's very cute!

(Note: my very cool solution for my white board. I have no available wall space for it. Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want it permanently on my dining (school) room wall. But we use it all the time, especially for math and spelling. So... I set it on the windowsill. It's easily movable and yet it's quite stable. I do have suction cups with hooks keeping it securely in place. How smart am I?)

Wanna see him walk?

Here's Cael a few days before his 1st birthday. He's far more efficient and much faster now. It's now his prefered mode of transportation. Now, he's moved from the "infants" to the "walkers" at church. ::: sniff sniff :::

A glimpse of him crawling...

When he crawls, he turns his chubby hands in and his rear swings from side to side. We think it makes him look like an alligator....

1st temper-tantrum

This milestone was initiated by Cael being set on the floor without Cael's prior approval. Kjersten and I couldn't help but laugh. He's cute even when he's really really mad!

From baby to toddler overnight!

I knew it was inevitable... I knew it was coming... I knew I would love him being a toddler... I just wasn't ready...

Things Cael learned the week he turned one...

• how to remove the diaper (hence the photo above)
• how to grow teeth (has his first and is working on four more...)
• how to blow (should come in handy tomorrow with candles on the cake)
• how to walk
• how to get up and going in the middle of the room
• how to run (waddle really fast)
• how to drink from a straw (smoothie at Costco was the motivation)
• how to throw a ball and toys and food...
• how to say "no-no" by shaking his head
• how to use a spoon
• how to have a temper-tantrum

No wonder he's wearing me out!?

Roly Poly Ole turns one...

Here he's opening a gift from Jack and his parents. We are HUGE Fisher Price Little People fans! Even the older kiddos around here play with the little people toys. Looks like Cael loves them too!

Here comes the rain...

And George is ready! It rains so infrequently here, it's not funny! And when it does... it's for an hour or so... Maybe a day once in a great while. It's been raining for five days now. It's glorious! My humidity reads 98%. It's 46 degrees. It's finally spring!!!!! I love it! I wish it would rain until June!

Of course, it's clearing up today. It has never rained like this in the 14 years I've lived here. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 14 years for it to rain again. It is my absolute favorite weather and I've enjoyed each and every drop. (Unfortunately it's washing out my road...)

Where is spring? Really... Where did it go????

Note the temperature. Note the (lack of) humidity. Note the date! Argh!

Whole milk.

Thought we'd give whole milk a try. Not real impressed but... any port in a storm...

Gotta a little moon in my pocket...

The kids and a decided that the moon looked like it was hiding in a pocket. We watched for quite awhile as it peeked out and the disappeared again...

Feeding oneself...

Warm weather = yard work

Can't remember what he was pouting about, but he really has to think hard to pout. It's just not his nature to be grouchy.

Rhys mowing with no hands. Argh!!! Why are boys so... boyish?!

And girls so... girly? Here's Lou dressed for yard work.

Wants to be just like his big brother.

How dad lays Cael down for a nap...

He doesn't... obviously!

What is this bird? Anyone?

I would assume some sort of "blue bird"... We have lots of them. In fact, this is what nested in our barbecue last year. (We check before we light it now...)

Why? What else would you do on a trampoline?

Funny. I thought that the kids would want to jump on the trampoline. Wrong. Turns out, it's a great place to play.

Ole loves french toast!

Spring? We don't need no stinkin' spring...

May 2nd. Five (yes, 5) inches of snow! Seriously, who ordered this?!

Playing Sequence for Kids

Helping mama clean out the pantry...

Birthday week in our house...

We have three April birthdays in one week. Jason, Rhys, and Brennen. The 15th, 21st, and 22nd. Crazy! We have one family party for all three. Cuts down on the cleaning for company and that's a good thing!

Why can't George ever look at the mama?! Here is he is hanging with Amy.




Even an 11 month old knows that beer goes with pizza...




Three birthdays- three sets of candles to blow out.



Gotta love grandpas~ especially when the feed the baby cake!




Notice Brennen's TWO plates of cake?

Not to worry! He only ate the frosting... (yuk!)

Rhys got two of his most wanted books! He read them both in a few days.

Brennen got another beloved Buzz Lightyear. We reiterated the fact that Buzz can't really fly and if he wants this one to keep both of its legs, he better not try! So far, so good...

My man and his chocolate.

Did I mention that our party was April 20th? Or that we had a major ice/snow storm? Or that great grandma and grandpa wisely decided to skip the festivities and stay off the terrible roads. The rest of our guests weren't as smart and we're grateful. That would have been a lot of pizza and cake for us!

We spent a fair amount of time watching the fox hunt for his dinner.

Finally caught himself a mouse. One less to sneak into my garage. Keep up the good work, fox!