Cuties...

Chaille's new favorite place to play is on the bricks in front of the fireplace (I believe most call it a "hearth.")  Anyway, Chaille crawls up onto the hearth and is content to play, while Mommy frets about how on earth she will get down without hurting herself or chipping a tooth!  Here she is, as proud as can be about her favorite play spot:

When the camera came out, Nolan decided that he needed in on this "hearth" action:

Not to be outdone, big brother, Avery, comes to join in the fun:

Before we knew what had happened, we had a group photo of these four precious siblings.  Aren't they adorable??? :

Then, later in the evening, they all curled up in their beanbags to watch a movie.  Now THIS is a fun memory too! :

Chaille doesn't really sit still for very long at a time.  She was raring to go:

I love these kids so much that it makes my heart hurt!  They are so sweet and wonderful.  Our weekend away last weekend really rejuvinated me for this whole parenting thing.  A little bit of time away truly does make you appreciate them so much more.  They know how to test the waters, but all in all, they are some amazing little children.  I love the way that they each have their own personalities. I love it that Steve and I are truly in touch with them enough to know them all inside and out.  I love it that we know how to make them all laugh, and what makes them upset.  I'm so proud of the fact that they are growing into such great individuals, despite the fact that they spend so much time together! It is so fun getting to be a mommy to these four, wonderful, loving, sweet, fun, ticklish, kissable children!  I'm incredibly happy with the blessings in my life!!!

Wordless Wednesday:

Anniversary Weekend!

Steve and I had a wonderful time away over the past weekend, celebrating our 10th anniversary.  We want to say THANK YOU to our parents (both sets) who kept the kids for the weekend, allowing us the opportunity to go.  We stayed just outside of Bloomington in an AWESOME cabin that was (nearly) secluded.  We did have some people walk down to the lower end of the big lake on Saturday, but otherwise, we had the smaller private lake to ourselves.  If you want to check out the website of the place that we stayed, here is there website. (http://www.antlerlogcabins.com/mooseheadCabin/)  Otherwise, here are some pictures from the cabin:

This is the view from the lane, as you drive in!

The private lake from the levee.  The fish we ended up catching were from the bigger lake, which is behind us in this picture.

The living room, with the downstairs bed right behind.  So beautiful and clean and relaxing!!!

The hot tub was great and VERY relaxing!  We could sit and watch the Reds on the television through the door, which we both enjoyed!

The front porch.

It had a nice gas fireplace, which was not necessary on the beautiful, sunny, warm weekend!

The monster bass that I caught late Saturday evening.  I hadn't caught a fish all day, and was not prepared for taking a picture with one... but Steve insisted that we get a picture since it was catch and release only :O)

We had a FABULOUS time together.  It was so much fun to put our responsiblities aside for a couple of days and focus on having fun together.  On Friday, I seriously felt like a teenager again, out dating and doing whatever we wanted.  By Sunday, we were missing the children SO badly!  But I LOVED the time together and would do this EVERY anniversary if we could afford it!!!

Ten Years Ago...

I married my best friend.  I never thought I could love him more than I did on that day, but I DO!!!  And I would marry him all over again today!

Steve,  You are the man I always dreamed of.  The big, strong guy who can fix anything, but also loves to cuddle and hold me tight.  You are the kind of father that every kid dreams of having, and the husband that any wife would love to have.  You go out of your way to keep me happy, and ask nothing in return.  You are a true model of unconditional love.  I know that a lot of times, I take you and all that you do for this family for granted.  But I think you are the most amazing man!  I am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life!

Goodbye, Pepper! :O(

This was from when we first got Pepper, back in June of '07.  We were told that she was born on Valentine's Day.  This week, I took Pepper to the Animal Shelter.  We love her, and she is a very good dog, but now that we live in town her barking is too much.  She was so low maintenance, really, but we worried about her barking making both us and the neighbors crazy.  Plus, her collar was eating through the batteries for the invisible fence, and we couldn't keep her home.  The last straw for us was when she followed us over to the school for the Kindergarten Celebration.  We just can't have her running loose.

So, we pray that Pepper finds a new home with lots of room to roam, and very little people walking by to bark at.  She was not vicious in any way, so we know that she will make someone a great pet!  We will miss her, but for now will remain PET FREE!  We need a break from caring for animals.  Maybe someday when the kids can all care for themselves we will have a pet again...

Oh how I miss....

The Sunshine!!!!

Just before Chaille's party on Saturday it began to rain.  And it has been raining off and on ever since, and has been cloudy in between.  :O( 

My mood could really improve.  I think the sun would help... Any idea how we convince it to come out?  I guess I will begin to petition God in prayer for his blessings, and maybe he will pass the prayer on to Mother Nature?  I'll start there.

As far as the family, well, we are off to a pretty "normal" start to the week.  The kids have had school (and are in their last 2 weeks!) Besides missing the sun, we are doing just fine :O)

Our BUSY Day!!!

Baseball, Soccer, Birthday Party, and a Lost Tooth!

Our day yesterday was CrAzY to say the least!  But it was a fun kind of crazy.  A very busy day for us all.  We started with our sports in the morning.  Avery had baseball at ten, and Silas had soccer at ten thirty.  So, Steve and I split the children and went different directions.  I sent the camera with him to soccer, because we have neglected to get any pictures from a game, and yesterday was Silas' final game of the season. That also meant that Silas came home with his first ever "gold medal!"  To him, it was as good as gold ;o)  I'll share pictures from soccer (and their trip to the park before the game began) first:

Chaille's birthday party was a lot of fun.  The day started out beautiful, so we had everything set up outside for a party... And then it began raining about 15 minutes before the party started.  So... we had an indoor party.  We had about 25 people, just family and the Dotson's and Moss', whom we consider family! :O)  Chaille didn't really care about opening her gifts all that much, but she liked playing with the cards.  I think her favorite gifts so far have been her baby dolls.  She has started sleeping with at least one in her bed.  She also really liked a necklace that Melissa got her, with a big string of purple beads!!!  She does love the girly stuff.  She got so many nice new outfits to wear, including a new bathing suit and matching cover up.  She also has  a new bookshelf for her room, that looks like a doll house, and a new lamp too!  Her room is going to be so cute and GIRLY! :O)  Her cake for the day was a princess doll and then some pink cupcakes.  The princess had dark hair, just like Chaille!  Oh, and in the busy-ness of getting ready for her party, I forgot to post about her one year, well-child check-up.  She was very healthy, and weighed 22 lb. 14 oz. and was 31" long.  She did really well for her appointment! 

Here are some pictures from her party:

During the party, Grandma Darlene (who works for a pediatric dentist) helped Avery pull his wiggly tooth.  He finally lost his very first tooth.  Here are some pictures that we took after the party, when it was just our family, and my brothers kids, and my mom and dad still here (you can see his missing tooth very well in a couple of these!):

Kindergarten Celebration

I can't believe that Avery is almost finished with Kindergarten.  This year has FLOWN by!  Thursday night we had his Kingergarten Celebration.  They now do this instead of a graduation program.  It was really a cute program.  The kids sang five or six songs and then each child was brought up and given their books (An alphabet book and a memory book that they have made over the year.)  And then the teachers gave a little "info" about each child, including what they wanted to be when they grow up.  If you want to see what Avery said, you can follow this link... http://sharing.theflip.com/session/3100728524670b054b9427a694450ba3/video/13884524

I have to thank my friend, Jennifer Rutherford, for sharing the video :o)  She is such a great friend!

Here are some pictures from the night as well:

They came out in disguise :O)  They sang a cute Jungle song.

Avery and Evan made a handsome pair in their ties!

It was also Chaille's first birthday, so I found this picture to be really cute!

Look how BIG our boy is getting.  He looks SO mature here.  He was waiting for his name to be called.

Another view of the whole kindergarten.  They are an adorable bunch!

Happy 1st Birthday, Chaille!!!

I can't believe that our baby girl is ONE today!!! This has to have been the fastest year, ever.  I mean, somehow mother nature has made time go quicker and quicker each year, hasn't she?  Yes, somehow she has!

Chaille, You are beautiful inside and out.  You are the best natured little girl, always happy and a joy to be around.  Your smile is contageous, and your laughter brightens any room.  You bring a sparkle to our lives that none of us even knew we were missing.  You are the pride of your brothers, too.  Avery has told everyone that we have seen that today is your birthday!  Mommy can't tell you enough how proud I am to call you my daughter.  We have MANY fun times ahead of us.  Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful, wonderful Mother's Day!  I woke up this morning to Avery wanting to bring me breakfast in bed.  He brought me toast with butter and grape jelly.  Silas brought me some orange Tang to drink.  It was such a sweet gesture that they wanted to start my day off with something special! :O)   What sweet children I have!

And what wonderful mothers we have been blessed with as well!  Sweet, caring, thoughtful, generous, loving... the list goes on and on.  Our mothers give without expecting anything in return, and they love us even when we are hard to love!  Thank you, God, for the blessings Steve and I have in our mothers.

Today, after breakfast in bed, we headed down to Grandma Frye's for lunch with Steve's family.  Then we came back home for a cookout with my family.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, albeit a bit chilly.  I loved every minute of it though.  I'm so incredibly thankful for such wonderful family.

Happy Mother's Day, mom!  Look how happy Chaille is to be with this wonderful woman!

Happy Mother's Day to you too, Mom Frye!

Chaille loves her grandmas!

My children make me so thankful that God has blessed me with the role of mother!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Grandpa Shell's 80th Birthday at his favorite restaurant (the Reservation in Milan.)  Grandpa was 80 on May 5th.  Here are some pictures from his party:

Avery made him a card! So sweet!

Avery entertained Kate and her fiance Nick (and vice versa.)  Apparently he told them a pretty raunchy story about "magic" buffalo from the ranch over dinner... Eww... (the "magic" buffalo eat corn on the cob and then the cobs "reappear" in a few days... Thanks to my cousin Scot for providing the dinner story! Yuck...)

Silas and his cousin Hannah are such great buds.  They played together all evening!

Nolan was attempting a shot at a second piece of cake.  He had already had a piece of chocolate pie and one piece of cake!!!

Look, ma... TWINS :O)

I think this boy outgrew the high chair a few years back!  Look how BIG he is!!!

Nolan entertaining Grandpa Frye and Daddy.

Happy 80th Grandpa Shell!  We love you!!!

Nick taught Silas how to thumb wrestle.  He let Silas win and then Silas ran and told Steve that he beat some "guy" at arm wrestling.  I believe there is a BIG difference!! :O)

Grandpa Shell loving on Chaille.  Priceless.

Silas Edgar Frye, named after this man, Edgar Shell, and his father, Silas Shell!

Chaille loves Uncle Doug... and he loves her too!