Mother's Day

The ones that made me a mother.  I tortured them all.......with picture taking :)

Our oldest son, Ash and his wife, Ella.

 

Or in color if you prefer it that way

 

Our second born son Thatcher, and his wife Kyndahl, and his baby boy Brentley.

Our 3rd son, Harrison(right) and 4th son, Sherman (left)  Then our 2 Chinese treasures that we are blessed to call daughters.....Wren on the left, and Iley on Harrison's lap.

My Husband, and best friend.......the one who helped create all of this beautiful chaos ;)    He fixed lunch today!  Home made pizza on the grill.  Chicken bacon ranch, meat lovers, and supreme.  It was DELICIOUS!.......AND.........he cleaned it all up.  Love him.  He is an awesome dad to our children, a hard working, and loving husband...and he has a great sense of humor........So glad I am doing life with this man!

Me with the 4 lovies that still live under our roof.  What a blessed Mother I am!

 

I washed their hair, and made "ice cream swirls" on top of their head.  They wanted to see it in the mirror........but Iley can't see a foot away with out her glasses, let alone across the room.  Then she was pretending to be an old lady.  This totally cracks me up!

Oh the JOYS of skirts that TWIRL!!!

Still twirling :)

 

My mother's day gift from Ash and Ella.  Her gift wrap is always so adorable.

She is a gifted artist!  You should see her notes that she takes in church!!  They are SO cool!  Not your typical bullet points etc.  Different fonts, curly Q's, drawings......fascinating.....and slightly distracting if you are sitting beside her :)

 Here it is piece by piece.  Each one had a different color of nail polish.  Iley and Wren were SO excited!  They immediately wanted their nails painted.  Each of them claimed a color.......I'm still not sure if they realize it was supposed to be MY gift!

This was Thatcher's "Simba" moment.............Lion King movie if that leaves you in the dark.

Love these kids!!!  I am so thankful and humbled that God chose me to be their mother.  Thankful for His grace that covers my weakness.  What an amazing bunch of kids.

Spring Days

We are loving the warm spring evenings!  The girls begged to go to the park, some times they play for 20 minutes and are done.  But it was such a beautiful evening, I think we were there almost 3 hours.

 The whistles are their latest "thing"........It may be the death of me!  I have banned them to the outdoors!

 Wren has a whistle too!  It's hanging by her arm.

 Iiiiiibeeeeeee "Iley"

 I asked Wren if she would stop and let me take her picture......she said "nah"....and promptly went about her business.......but Iley is usually willing.

 These were in the backyard on Sunday.  I decided to try some focusing and composition techniques on victims subjects that were more willing to sit still while I fiddled with my settings :)  They are awfully cute too!

Daughter in law, Ella Kate

 Daughter in law, Kyndall Leah.............and a good friend of the family, Ike.  Thatcher was on call for EMS, and had a transfer to Hays.  Classy sunshade for the babe huh?

 Ash.....our oldest son.

His loving wife doused him with some ice water..............

She said "you totally deserved that!"  I guess he'd been picking on her all day.

Aint he handsome :)

 Cuties!  I should have had my focal dot on Ash instead of Ella......cause he's closest to me.......so he is slightly out of focus........sigh.....so much to remember!

 This sweet, edible, little man was totally loving the breeze on his tummy!  He laid here for the longest time, content to just watch the clouds......and his adoring fans.  It was about 6:00... so no one panic......he is not sunburnt :)

Like I said......his adoring fans are always hovering......ready to dive in for a smooch.

Bale Jumping

We've come a loooooong way Baby.  The first time we had the girls try jumping on the bales........because I remembered doing it for hours as a child, and loving it...........they were SCARED TO DEATH!!  I had to swing them across every little crack......even if it were imaginary!  

Well that was then......THIS is now!

 And in case you are wondering........no...........she didn't quite make it.....BUT........she held on and clawed her way back up.......AND........she didn't freak out or cry!!!  She kept jumping.........and she made it the next time.....YES! she tried again :):)  Wren missed once too and slid all the way to the ground.  No tears........and next time she jumped a little harder!  So So proud of these girls!!

They LOVE going for walks in the evening!  Iley....."the cat" will even come and ask me if we can go for a walk! 

Every night for the last 4 weeks, I have been working with Wren with her vocabulary words.  We have cards with pictures on them to help her with her listening and speaking skills, I started with 4 cards.  I start out by pointing to them, and say/sign the word, for example, coat, apple, red, pizza................when she can pick them instantly.....with JUST listening, no signing........I add 2-4 more cards.  People.......WWIII has commenced in this house hold.......daily we have a new battle.  She gets SOOOOOOO MAD!  She gets frustrated at her mouth because it won't do what I'm asking her!  If it wasn't so frustrating for both of us it would be comical.  She bangs herself on the head, smacks her mouth, pulls her tongue.........but by golly.........she. is. learning!!!!  We are up to 20 cards now :):):):)  She can say, apple, wash, sun, ear, hair, bubble, and a few more that I can't think of.  It is getting easier for her........even if SHE doesn't realize it!!!  She is making sound combinations in just a couple of weeks that she couldn't do when we started.  It is exhausting for both of us..........battles usually are..........BUT when I see progress......and see her excited to show her friends at school her new word that she can say............it keeps me going back into the fray.......and the battles are getting a little less intense each time:)  She will even try to say words that she hears us saying.  I always STOP everything and try to help her say it!  

 Her little friends are so sweet!!!!  They are so excited when she can say a new word!  They cheer her on and drag another friend over to listen, so she does it again......just beaming.  My daily prayer........after the one that I pray not to strangle her..........is PLEASE let her hear and understand.  I love this little girl, fiercely.......but oh can she push my buttons.  I'm thankful that it is much less often now than it was in the beginning.  I will Praise HIM in this storm.

 I can't believe it's been 2 years already!!  I'm going to do a Gotcha day post soon..........I hope.