My children crack me up...

Look what they did today:

They were putting the "bad apples" on the barbed wire fence...for hours! Caleb and Logan helped with this project. Speaking of Caleb and Logan, they, along with their sister Lydia, took care of the boys most of the day. The boys played with Avery and Silas all day long, while Lydia practically cared for Nolan all afternoon. It was a great break for mommy! Here is a picture of Avery and Silas in the apple tree with Caleb:

Nolan was wonderful all day too. Here he is sitting on Silas' bike, chewing on the brake line:

And this is from the other day, but here is a picture of Lydia taking care of Nolan for me! She was a wonderful help!!!

And one last picture to share. Here is Steve with his boys, a picture I took yesterday:

The days memories are made of:

Yesterday was one of those days where you just know memories are being made. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Frye's where the boys helped cut wood. Uncle David, Aunt Tammi and the family were visiting from Maryland, so the place was packed with children of all ages! It was a beautiful, mild day and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Avery and Silas went to the woods with the "big guys" and Nolan took a big nap! When the load of wood came back, everyone put on their gloves and got into the action. In this picture, Grandma and Grandpa help Avery and Silas put on their gloves:

Here are Avery and Silas helping out:

This picture, although not very clear, shows grandma and grandpa working with the grandchildren (Christopher, Caleb, Logan, and Lydia) and the great-grandchildren (Avery and Silas.)

Steve and his grandpa share a moment together talking.

It wasn't all work all day! The children played whiffleball for quite some time in the afternoon. It was fun to watch! They had a great time, and we cheered them on! Silas cracked us all up when he left and came back with his "glove" for baseball. Check him out:

Here's a picture from their game:

Before we left, the boys posed together for a picture with Grandpa Randy's tractor. In this picture Silas and Avery are with Caleb (in red) and Logan:

One last picture of Avery and Silas. They are in little boy heaven on days like these!!!

A beautiful day, full of blessings...

Today was one of those days that was just full of blessings from beginning to end. I hope you don't mind that I share them all...

1) Steve was called to work overtime. This is a blessing financially, and God is providing in the way that we have been praying for Him to!

2) The boys and I got to spend time with my mom. We went to some garage sales and out to dinner with grandma and grandpa. Here is a picture and a video of the boys singing "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" to one another in the back seat while we were between garage sales:

3) I think I finally figured out how to add video??? That is a blessing because I can now share even more if I got it right! **Edited to add: I guess my phone does not upload sound onto my computer! Bummer. Pretend you can hear them singing ;o) **

4) After dinner tonight we got to enjoy God's beauty and play at a park and ride bikes outside! Here are some pictures of our beautiful time at the park:

5) Our friend and adopted "Little Sis" called to share that she got a teaching job!!! We have been on a roller coaster ride with her as she has been on her job search. God has had a plan all along! Congratulations Sarah!!!

6) Avery prayed tonight that his mom and dad "make it past 100." In other words he asked God to grant us long lives! I just pray that we make it through the toddler stages...after that I'll pray to make it through the rest :o)

7) The kiddos are all now tucked in bed and the house is quiet except for the sounds of the outdoors (the windows are still open) and the sound of me typing away. Thank you God for Your Blessings! Continue to open my eyes to the beauty You have provided!

Our new addition:

Visiting a friend

Today the boys and I, along with Grandma Darlene and Leigh Anne (Teresa's mom) went to visit Teresa in Illinois. We just made a day trip out of it, and we had a great time. Teresa is my friend from high school who I used to beat in Cross Country. (Ok, Ok, I beat her once in Middle School, but never in high school. I have to brag anyway, because she was a state champion in high school!)

Back to the visit, the glory days are over... :o) It was a very hot and humid day, but we enjoyed our visit anyway. Here is a picture of Teresa and me from our visit:

And, here are the boys with Teresa:

I stopped at Kroger and picked up these fun guns that shoot foam rings. The kids had a blast the entire visit with them. Here Silas, Lindsey (Teresa's niece), and Avery are playing with them:

And, while we were visiting, Nolan decided to sit up for a very long time playing with the foam disks. He used his hands to prop him up, but he did a great job. Check out the ring on his finger:

How we know we have the best boys in the world...

There are so many reasons that we feel blessed to have our boys. They complete us in so many ways and we talk about how wonderful they are EVERY day! So, I'll share some of the things that we often talk about when we marvel at our children:

*Today we were riding in the car. Silas for no reason at all told Avery "Avery, I miss you." They had been together all day, but to Silas this is a way of letting him know that he loves him.

*Avery asked to do the prayer before bed last night. He prayed for Silas' head to heal, for Daddy to feel good at work, and for Grandma and Grandpa to get home safely (from visiting us.) He ended with "in Jesus name I pray!" Man, we love to see them learning these things!

*Nolan is learning so much about his world. He's learning how to get others to pay attention to him by making cute little noises at people. On Silas' birthday we were at Kroger and there was an older gentleman behind us. Nolan made squeals at the man until the man couldn't help but respond! I think he'll be very social like the rest of the family!

*We have been vehicle shopping for the past few days. The boys have spent much time in the car. They have complained very little and usually wait until we stop to ask "Can we stretch our legs while we are here?"

*Avery wants us to find a new truck so badly. We've seen several that we haven't purchased. Today he told us that we could go home and get his piggy bank so that we could afford a more expensive one. He very seriously thinks that he has lots of money in his piggy!

*Grandma and Grandpa Frye have a horse named Buddy. The boys are so in love with Buddy. The other day we were getting ready to leave to go visit when Silas said "we better hurry, Buddy's waiting!"

*Steve comes home from work and is met with little boys who are so excited and shouting "Daddy, Daddy!" And Nolan squeals and smiles so big at him. There is never a time when they aren't bursting at the seams when he gets home!

I could go on for days, but these are some of the most recent events that remind us of God's Blessings!

Our ER Visit...

Well, I knew the Monkey would visit the ER sometime! At least he waited until he was 3 years old (+ one day :o) Anyway... Silas was climbing on a ball this evening when it slipped out from under him and he fell onto the portable heater that was still on the back porch (unplugged of course!) It split his head right open in the back. Thankfully after a fairly quick visit to the ER, he is glued back together. It's the craziest, but most wonderful thing! They used "Dermaplast" or something like that to glue his head back shut. The cut was very superficial and loose enough that we didn't have to do staples (which would have required numbing shots!)

The crazy thing is that Silas was wonderful in the ER! I sure hope that he learned his lesson, because it wasn't traumatic in the least. We had fun playing together while we waited. Many thanks to our neighbors Joe and Jan for running over in a heartbeat and thanks to my parents for coming quickly to relieve my poor neighbors. It's great to feel loved and to know that God had this all planned out. Thanks be to Him that Silas is ok!

For the squimish, look away, because here is a picture of the cut. It really doesn't look too bad:



And here's my Angel smiling at the hospital (I tell you he had a blast despite being put back together!):



Tomorrow I'll have to get a picture of it glued shut to share. They had to cut his hair in that spot, so he's got a little bald spot. It just looks like a little one inch scratch now. It'll take a few days for it to heal and then the glue will begin to let loose. Modern medicine is amazing!

Happy Birthday Dear Silas!

Silas had his third birthday today! We had his party down at Grandma and Grandpa Frye's. We really wanted to campout tonight, but the rain started right about the time his party started. I don't remember sending an invite to Mother Nature, but she sent the rain anyway. It was still a great time, and the trees worked like a giant umbrella shielding us from the drizzling rain.

Silas was blessed to have 8 of his 9 grandparents attend his party. And he was very polite thanking everyone for his gifts. He's such a sincere boy anyway! And I think he genuinely loved his special day. He doesn't require a lot of frills, he just likes to be celebrated!

He woke me up this morning saying "It's my birthday ALL DAY today!" How cute! And this evening after spending some time at the pond with his daddy he said "it's a good day!" Steve was so proud. Steve says he loves that little boy so much it hurts. I can relate. I love my boys so much I tear up typing about all of the wonderful things they do and say. They make life special, that's for sure. And they give life meaning too.

Here are some pictures from Silas' special day:

Our 3 Year Old with his backpack from Grandma and his birthday balloons!

Silas opening one of his cards as Avery anxiously awaits. Silas told Avery that he would share his gifts :o)

Yummy! Birthday cake and homemade ice cream!!!

The cake Silas picked out himself!

I thought this picture was very special. Nolan being held by his Great-Grandma Shell and his Great-Grandma Frye! What a memory!

What children say...

Last night we were riding in the van. We had been out for ice cream and the boys were thirsty. Steve took them into a gas station to get drinks. When we were back on the road, out of nowhere Silas said "I love my Dad, 'cause he's my friend!" We both choked back tears at the sincerity of the statement. Silas has his daddy wrapped around his finger, and comments like that just make Steve melt!

The other day we were on our way to town when Avery and Silas had their very own conversation in the backseat. I'll try to recount it as closely as possible:

A: Silas when me and you get older we won't live together anymore.
S: What?
A: When we get older we'll live in our own houses. I'll find someone and you'll find someone, and Nolan will find someone and we'll have our own houses.
S: And Daddy will find someone? (once again...Daddy's boy!)
A: Daddy already found a girl, he found Mommy!
S: And Mommy will find a girl?
A: No Mommy found a boy, Daddy!
S: And I'll find a boy?
A: No, you'll find a girl and I'll find a girl, and Nolan will find a girl. We have to find a girl who has never been married. And we'll get married and live together forever and ever.
S: Forever and ever?
A: Yes, forever. And I'll bring my girl and we'll visit you and you can bring your girl and visit me. And we can make our own rules when we have our own houses.
S: What? (this is what Silas says when he doesn't understand)
A: You heard me! (this is what I taught Avery to say when Silas says what all the time!)

It is so much fun to listen to them talk and learn together. Sometimes they have some very genuine conversations that I know will make them the best of buds in the future. Sometimes they are immature conversations about nothing. Either way, I think that the best sound in the world is these brothers talking together. How special that God has given them one another. I feel blessed that they are in our lives!

Busy Summer!!!

As you can tell from my lack of posts, it has been a busy summer! And the crazy thing is, I couldn't tell you all the things that have made it so busy for us :o)

Of course, the 4th of July was during that time. We stayed at Randy and Deb's overnight and had a hayride and outdoor movie as well as fireworks. The boys are quite impressed with their very own drive-in movie! Thanks Grandpa! Here's a couple pictures from the 4th:

Grandpa loved that he put this sweet baby to sleep! Mommy did too :o)
Avery did lots of sparklers... He loves celebrating the 4th!
Silas played on Grandma's landscaping rocks. He's 110% boy!!!

Let's see... we also went to the fair where Avery and Silas rode rides, and Nolan loved watching. Here's a picture from the fair:



We also went to the Tractor Pull at the Decatur County Fair. The boys were wonderful and Steve and I really enjoyed watching them have a good time. Nolan even slept a good deal of the time we were there! Here is a picture of Avery and Silas watching the tractors:



And Nolan, baby Nolan, is just growing so fast. He's rapidly approaching 6 months and he's doing all the right things developmentally. Today his first tooth broke through (the bottom right) and he's working on the other bottom tooth for sure. He rolls both ways and can sort of crawl backwards. He can get up on all 4's and rock, but hasn't mastered going forward yet. And, he's still just a wonderful baby! Soon he'll be sitting up on his own. He does that for brief periods at a time with support from his arms. I'm just so proud of him and his brothers. They are the best. I'll finish with some pictures of Nolan:

Nolan loved the mirror at the doctor's office. The funny thing is that mommy was the one who went, but she got put in the pediatric room, which was ok with us!
Nolan was wearing Avery or Silas' hat, but he didn't mind having it on his head at all. He's such a handsome little boy!!!