So things, as usual, have been very busy! John has been working hard....as usual....he had a good Father's Day, even though he worked and we enjoyed giving him the extra hugs and kisses. He's getting ready to switch to 12 hour shifts which will be really good in the long run with how his days off are going to work out.
Jeremiah is finishing up whiffle ball this week...he is doing awesome! He can hit that ball pretty stinkin far! I think we will be ready for baseball before we know it ;)
Both Alison and Jeremiah have been homeschooling this summer. This has been so wonderful. I have really enjoyed teaching them and they have enjoyed all the fun. They are also doing any and every VBS we can get them in this summer...no lazy kiddos in this house! They have been having lots of fun with all the activities.
Our calander continues to be full...both with family activities and church...just the way we like it. Hopefully we will have some time to spend away soon though....I can smell campfire in our future :)

First words...

So lately Judah has been talking up a storm. One of the silliest things he has discovered is how to tell me when he's pooped. Everyday when I go in to get him out of the crib he says..."uh-oh...stinky...I pooped" I think its pretty hilarious, but I'm his mom! This video is a little long and I think I probably asked him if he pooped a few too many times, but...I'm his mom and he is just so cute!!

Life in April...

Obviously I am not doing so great at keeping up with our posts....but at least I'm maintaining a monthly post! Hahaha

Things continue to be exciting around here...a few weeks ago, John decided that he would use one of the nice burn day's to burn out some bushes above our house. He spent time preparing by soaking the area around it with water and trimming, ect. I planned on helping him out after I got out of the shower that morning...as I stepped out the back door I could smell the smoke and then I saw.....flames and lots of FLAMES...flames so high one could not see the house above us! John was working as fast as he could with the garden hose to keep it contained and did a great job of keeping it from spreading to the carport. Someone in the neighborhood called the fire department and said our whole house was on fire....apparently from the highway before, the flames above the house concerned a few people..haha The funny part about the whole thing was that about a half an hour before all the commotion, I had called my dad to ask if we could borrow a ladder. He said he just got off work and would run home quick and then be up.....little did we know he would be driving his BIG red fire truck! John had the fire knocked down pretty well by the time the guys got there, but they helped him finish the job....lesson learned: John + fire = great blogging material! (Love you John :))

I went up to Wallowa in the end of April for my mom-getaway and scrapbooked for a whole weekend....it was wonderful. I was able to spend time with my mom and some really great girlfriends old and new ;)

Three of the kiddos had their annual well baby check-ups and everybody is healthy! Growing very fast but very healthy. Judah and Hosanna are still only a pound apart, Judah weighing 27lbs and Hosanna weighing 28lbs! Jeremiah finally broke over the 50lb mark and Alison is nearly square weighing 42lbs and being 43inches tall ;)

Judah has gone from running everywhere to climbing on everything! He is pretty good at though and I have only suffered a few minor heart-attacks. He is a non-stop talker saying all kinds of things...momma, dada, stop it, down, go, hot, please, thank you, cracker(his fav), ect. It's pretty cute...but he's very cute!

Hosanna and Alison have a new profession....hair stylists. Alison decided to cut Hosanna's beautiful curls off last week, leaving only two precious locks on her head. She let her sister take a turn on her hair, but only held out a small portion from the underside of her head so she wouldn't look "silly". I didn't get very good pics, but there are a few. I had to take Hosanna to my stylist to get things evened out because the same night this all happened we were headed to Jeremiah's spring concert...I was not taking her into public looking like that :( It turned out great and after grieving the loss of her beautiful curls I am doing much better now! Ha! Thankfully she is a curly-headed angel for life, so by fall they should be grown back.

BEFORE HER "ALISON" HAIR CUT

AFTER HER "ALISON" HAIRCUT

All in all everything is grand around here...living our crazy circus of a life and loving almost every moment of it!

The Latest...

AHhhhh....it's been busy as usual around here. Jeremiah had spring break and we all survived :) I was very busy with a lot of drop-in daycare kiddos which was a nice distraction for my kids. They had nice weather so they spent most of the week outside playing with their friends.

The latest news is that....I'm back to being a brunette! LOL It is a fun change along with getting some bangs and growing out my locks...John likes it too which is always a plus :)


Easter was good. John had to work so the kids and I got ourselves dressed-up and went to church. My parents were suppose to join us for lunch but mom got sick so dad just came up to take pics of the kiddos hunting eggs(I don't have those pics to post yet).

Alison and mommy...

This was Jeremiah's attempt at taking a pic of us girls with my cellphone...not the greatest, but you do what you can when daddy is gone :(


The sweet girls and their cute dresses!

My handsome-never-stopping boys.

The big kids...they are so cute :0

This is the best I could get them to stop wiggling...

Smothering Judah...hahaha

Earlier this week the kids and I watched a 3-D movie. It was so much fun and the glasses made it evern funner(yes, I said funner). John stopped by while we were in the middle of it and he made a pretty funny face when he walked in :)

March

Ugh...having no camera to call my own has been a little of a downer. We've had mom and dad's for a while, but they need to use it too, so we have used our camera's as best we can....so, some of the pics aren't the greatest quality.

We've been very busy lately. If you look in our calender, there is something written on just about every day. It's good, but tiresome as well. The last few weeks have been hard also because we have all been battling colds. Judah and Hosanna both had sinus infections and Judah had an ear infection too. I kind of lost my voice the last few days and sound rather manly...lol!

So, earlier in the month, Jeremiah went to a birthday party for a friend at school. It was very fun and set-up as a carnival. He and Tori had a really fun time.

Last weekend Jeremiah also participated in his first Pinewood Derby race with the Royal Rangers from church. He and John worked on his car all week. John had to work so he carpooled with friends of ours from church and had a really fun time. No ribbons to bring home but that's ok...he's a winner to us!

This last Sunday, after John got off work, he took the kids big kids down to the Sportsman Show to let them fish for trout in a pool they had. They came home with two very nice fish! Daddy showed them how to clean them and they talked about all the fish parts. They even asked Daddy to pop out the eyeballs! After they got the fish cleaned I stuck them in the oven and we had a very yummy dinner that everyone loved!

Finally, here is a cute pic of the little ones a couple weeks ago...obviously I have two extras and Jeremiah is at school. I often have extras...they are sweet!

Addison, Carson, Hosanna, Judah and Alison

Jello Adventures

So last night I blogged about John and I.....I've been feeling a bit silly all day because I didn't post any news about the kids! lol
Last week my parents came over for dinner and mom brought Jello for dessert. The kids love Jello, but Judah hadn't tried any before. I just plopped it out on his high-chair tray and he devoured it! The next day we ate what was left at lunchtime too....so messy, but so worth it!

Valentine Weekend

This last weekend John and I went away for the weekend- yes....we left without the kids! Some good friends of our and our beloved Katie (world's best babysitter) lovingly took care of our kiddos for us. We headed down to Bend Friday morning and did not return until Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful!! Of course we missed our kids, but it was a much needed getaway for us.
A close friend of mine from high school got married. John and I shared a rental house with more good friends and I even got a chance to shop on Saturday with Genevieve who flew in from DC -an act of God in itself because of the weather! John and I haven't gone away like this in about 5 years....which is waaaayy too long! We had so much fun just hanging out and visiting with our friends as well as taking in Bend. The wedding was SO much fun and definitely renewed our love for each other. The reception was a blast and we even got out on the dance floor a few times! (my legs were sore the next day! lol) We even stayed long enough to see off the bride and groom! On Sunday we attended Antioch church in Bend where a few more old friends (including the ones who got married)attend and we were really blessed.
Our kids were very happy to see us when we got home and we were immediately thrown back into reality! Things haven't slowed down much over the last few days....haha
John and I realized over the weekend how important it is for us to make time for just "us". After all, once all these kids leave the house....we'll only have each other :)

John and I stopped at the Crooked River

Here comes the Bride...Kristin and her dad, Wayne

Kristin and Casey exchanging rings

The newlyweds getting down!

Chris & Genevieve Methvin

Me & Genevieve

Me and Kailee

TROUBLE - John, Chris, Gen and I

The whole gang....Thorndikes, Methvins and Evans family

Jeremy, Kailee and Isabel Evans