update...

We are long overdue for an update...

Caleb started school back in September. He goes every day, 9:00-2:30. It feels like a long time for preschool so sometimes I keep him home and we go to the library, zoo, children's museum ect.

Ethan goes to school every Thursday from 9:00-2:30. He loves it but has a hard time getting there. The poor kid is such a homebody and prefers to stay with his Mom. It's one of the biggest reason I wanted him to go. He isn't social like Caleb and sometimes has a hard time relating and playing with his peers. I want him to be able to socialize with other kids and this cute little preschool is basically a day of learning all through play.

Molly is home with me all day every day. I love it. A few days a week we go to the local Y (where I workout) and she calls the child watch there her gym. She loves to pretend she is going to school when we go to the gym. 

Nathan is also back in school. He is taking a VERY time consuming class this semester but we are making it work. 

I have been really busy this month with photo shoots. This little business of mine has really taken off. I still have so much to learn but it is really been fun to do this. It also has forced Nathan to spend some quality time with the kids when I am gone. He can't retreat to the office fore homework when I am gone so he usually takes the kids to the movies, bike riding or a park. They have really loved this time with Dad and having Nathan's attention.

Sometimes life feels a little mundane or even boring but then the kids do something crazy like give each other hair cuts, super glue papers to a wall or they achieve new goals like riding without training wheels, writing their names or even better figure out how to get themselves breakfast and I realize what an adventure we are having and how sad I will be when my backdoor isn't full of dirty handprints and my office isn't over flowing with cut up paper, glue and pictures because although crazy and at times frustrating these kids are really do bring us our greatest joy and our happiest moments.

our house

We have been in our house for over a year now! The time has flown by. When we lived in Texas every year I posted pictures of our house, it was fun to see how things changed year after year. I kept waiting and waiting to take pictures until projects were finished and things were clean but yesterday I realized that wasn't possible. So I snapped a few of the downstairs and hopefully in the next few days I will add the rest of the house. 

We love this house. We love the colors, all the light, the layout and the yard. We are not huge fans of the neighborhood though and that always leaves the "maybe we should move" question in the back of our mind.

Destin

Almost a year ago I started planning a trip to Destin Florida. My Dad had mentioned he wanted to put together a family reunion. Trying to find a time and location that would fit everyone was a little difficult but we made it work. Destin was a days drive for Rachel and I so it seemed like a perfect location since we have children. And who doesn't love the BEACH??? 

We arrived Monday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. Nathan didn't make the drive out with us because he was concerned about missing to much school. He flew in on Wednesday morning. Every day we played on the beach and in the pool. The water was amazingly clear and the kids had no problem jumping right in to search for fish and play around. I was surprised at how much they loved floating around in the Ocean.  In the evenings we searched for and caught crabs, Molly was a little scared but the boys loved it. On Thursday we rented a large pontoon boat with slides. I think this was the highlight of the week for most people. On the boat ride we stopped and snorkeled, saw dolphins, swam, and slid down the awesome slides. 

Sunday morning we packed up and headed out. It was sad to leave but after almost 2 1/2 weeks of traveling to Texas and Florida I am ready to be home for a little bit. Overall this trip was a huge success. It has been almost 9 years since we have all been together and I think Destin was the perfect choice to make that happen again.

A couple of weekends ago I took a few pictures of the kids. We need to have new family pictures taken but I haven't found a photographer I love as much as Ruth who isn't crazy expensive. So for the meantime a few pictures of the kids by me here and there will have to do. 

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Caleb turned 5 today! Saturday we had a pretty great birthday party for him. I decided the kids would get big parties at 5, 8, 12 and 16. This way the kids would get some fun big parties but I wouldn't be scrambling to plan and pay for them every year with every kid. Overall this party was a success. The kids loved the water slide, sno cones, food and atmosphere. 

Camp bandage

Last weekend we attended camp bandage. It was a local event where all different types of people from the community came and set up booths to celebrate safety. The kids had a great time.