Wow, It's Been Awhile!

So, recently I was going through the pictures on my computer, and realized I hadn't done anything with ANY pictures from 2011.  Yeah.  A little bit behind.  So I started editing and uploading a little bit here and there, and finally got all caught up, and all of my pictures up to date on Shutterfly.  Ready to start making photo books, now.  And THEN I realized I hadn't even done ANY photo books since the beginning of 2010!  Oh my goodness, what on earth have I been doing??!?!

Well, I do know what I've been doing.  Anyone else know?  Something happened the first part of 2010.  And apparently threw my world out of whack (what exactly is "whack," anyway?).  Yep; goes by the name of Ava.  She's still happening, by the way.  My word is she happening.  Two-and-a-half going on nine.  She seriously thinks she can do absolutely anything that the other kids can do; and INSISTS on doing it.  Temper tantrum central around here.  {SIGH}  At least I had a few posts here in 2010.  We won't mention the 2ish years that I haven't posted, okay?

Anyway, I've been working on my pictures and photobooks.  I've got all of 2010s pictures on my Shutterfly share site now.  And the photobook for the 1st half of the year is there, too.  And here:

Click here to view this photo book larger

So, go exploring if you want pics!  I'll have the 2nd half of the year all "photobooked" fairly soon (I hope).  Then I'll be working on 2011 and 2012.  And who knows, I might even get back to posting more regularly here.

Let's not hold our breath, though.  It might be a while, and I don't want anyone to suffocate.

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

Driving Lessons (Otherwise Titled...This Scares Me a Little)

Some friends of ours loaned us a little battery-powered car.  Just too much fun.  And hopefully NOT a glimpse into the future.  But it's pretty funny!  The battery was starting to give out, so Kip hooked up a car battery to it - and I mean a battery for an actual car.  So this thing goes pretty darn fast.  Scroll down:  there are four of these.

[All of these can also be seen at my Shutterfly site.  (You can enlarge these to full screen by clicking on the icon in the bottom right of the video.  Same goes at Shutterfly, but I think you have to hover your mouse over the video to find the icon)]

Marshall Driving

We call this Arriba!  Arriba!  Watch for Hunter a little later in the video.

Audra Driving.  She likes to FLOOR it.  But only for a second at a time.

And this here is the best one.  I won't tell you what I've titled it, because that would ruin it.  If you know anything about how much Kip loves his Bronco you will understand just how funny this is.

Slime..and a few other cute pics

We made slime a couple of weeks ago.  Found a great recipe on the internet.  The kids loved it.  Kip and I got a bit tired of picking it out of the carpet.  But we plan on doing it again.  For Halloween of course.  Should make some nice blood and guts.  Kip and the kids are excited.  Kip more so than the kids, I think.  He so loves Halloween.  What a fun Dad!

This one is interesting.  Hunter plays outside a lot.  And he always wears Crocs.  His feet now have polka dots tanned onto them.  'Nuff said.

Dad teaching Ava bad habits.  Relax, there aren't cookies in there.  We're not crazy.  It's candy.

And a couple more of little miss cutie-pants.  We realized recently that we have not done a good job of documenting the start of Ava's life.  Such bad parents!  We're trying to be better!

Marshall's 7th Birthday

I know.  Technically Marshall's birthday isn't until this Friday.  But we had his party early so that his friend could come to it, so I get to post the pics early, too.  (And I never thought I'd get anything done early again.  Nice.)

He wanted it at Chuck E. Cheese, so no party prep for Mom, hurray!  He also wanted Chocolate Lasagna, which is a piece of cake to make (pun intended; sorry), and is SO GOOD.  (This used to be served at Olive Garden, and was Kip's fave; they quit serving it, so I made it for him for Father's Day, and all of the kids thought it was "the best cake ever."  Hurray again for easy!)

Here ya go.

Where Have I Been??

Has it really been almost 8 months since we were blessed with our little Ava?  I can't believe it.  Mostly because we've been so sleep deprived that we can hardly remember it.

I've started getting inquiries about pictures from several people.  So...updates.  And lots of pictures.  (There are more at my Shutterfly site, recently uploaded.  Lots more!)  These are through June.  I will work on getting some more recent ones up soon, but right now I'm trying to take it in smaller chunks.

Ava is hardly little anymore!  It has snuck up on us.  She's almost crawling, sleeping wonderfully, starting to feed herself (my favorite!).  She is such a blessing to us.  Such a sweet, loving, silly baby.  What did we ever do without her?

Here she is at 2 1/2 months

At 5 months, with Uncle Gary

At 5 1/2 months, playing with a favorite toy (her toes)

Audra  has grown up so much, especially since Ava was born.  And she just adores her baby Ava.  (In fact, she gets mad if her brothers want to play with Ava).  She's using the big girl potty now, although I'm not sure what we were thinking.  Diapers are easier to take care of than cleaning the floor ten times a day.  (She's actually doing very well (much easier than the boys), our timing was just not the best).

Here, she donned a firefighter jacket and a clone trooper mask and said "I'm a Transformers!"  Ha!

"Shaving" like big brothers.  Um....

Borrowing Ava's boppy.  So comfy!

Hunter is growing up, too.  He's a big kid now, not much time with the little Hunter left.  We're starting school with him this year, and he is EXCITED!  He's really looking forward to having his own school books and learning how to read.  Oh, but Mom's a little sad.  It's flyin' by.

He went on a walk and picked these for me.  So sweet.

Makin' brownies.  And, of course, eating the batter.  Yum.

Marshall is starting second grade.  Second.  Grade.  Good grief.  No more little guy, there.  It is nice that he is now getting old enough to be of a little help to me around the house.  Some days we sit around dreaming of the day when we can enjoy the benefits of forced slave labor from our kids.  :-D

Some summer fun.  My niece Lakyn came to visit for a few days this summer.

But didn't want me to take her picture.

Mmm.  Popsicles.

Alright.  That should hold you for a little while.  I'll be working on more in the next couple of weeks.  Coming up:  Driving skills (including videos!), Marshall's birthday party, and slime.  Oooooh, fun!

Photo Book Jul to Dec 09

Click here to view this photo book larger