First Day

Vacation Love

Well, we've been home for a few days and really want to go back to the beach most every morning. 

Here's a smattering of photos...

 

Not sure what to call such things...

We had just gotten home from running errands and ran inside qucikly to feed Hans and told the kids to water the plants.  Seemed like a good plan to occupy them.

Ella came in after a few minutes and told me that she was a little dirty.  Fine.  No big deal.

When I went back outside I found mostly naked kids (I guess I should be thankful that they took their clothes off to play in the mud) and mud.

Interestingly, Noah was spotless except for his hands and feet, so similar to Matt.  Ella, taking after her momma, was covered head to toe and making shoes for herself out of mud.

 

 

First thing

Noah comes to greet Hans and I ever morning and every morning he does the exact same thing.  He comes bounding in, yells hello to Hans and gives him kisses and then shares Bigs (you know, the BIG blanket) and Bill (the dalmation dog that he sleeps with) with Hans.  Every morning, giving his favorite things to his little brother and mom.  Noah, he's got a generous heart.  

Well loved

Looking again through old photos and this one caught my eye among the dozens of shots of the little man sleeping.  I think that this is from sometime in Feb '12.  Hans is sucking on an previously used paci.  I kind of cringe when I say that since I'm sure it is not the most hygenic thing.  That said, it is a paci that is full of love.  When Ella gave up her pacis I asked her what she wanted to do with them.  I gave her some suggestions of who we might send them to and even though I was not pregnant at the time, she decided that we should save them for when we had another baby.

So, months later when Hans arrived, she reminded me that we needed to get out her old, well used pacis and give them to Hans.  This one turned out to be his favorite...Ella's scratched flower paci.  Ella proudly gives it to him anytime she hears him crying.  Full of love, that paci. 

True to Life

I'm looking through my old pictures to jog my memory of what we've been doing these last few months.  I mean, I know what we've been doing, but it all gets a little burry when I sit down to write about it.  Anyhow, this one made me laugh.  I think that it was a Sunday morning and we were trying to get ready for church.  The older ones had probably been watching TV for some ridiculous amount of time and we adults wanted to get ready for church.  So, we did the logical thing and had the four year olds babysit the infant while watching TV.  I know...wrong on so many levels but it worked out just fine and we all got to church.

And as a side note, I especially like the fake smiles that they gave...eyes still glued to the TV.

And the one below also made me laugh.  E and N are doing some kooky kids yoga video that I grabbed during a mad dash through the library to find things to occupy them.  I figured that it would help with all that extra energy that they have.  So, I think that in this picture they are lined up on the yoga mat doing animal moves along with the accompanying noises.  And for some unknown reason Hans is sleeping peacefully on the couch, rather than in a bed, with Moses standing guard.  Yes, this is about right.