Playing in the rain

Emerald and Calvin had fun splashing in the rain with Nana and Pop Pop this weekend. I have to admit, I'm not sure who really had the most fun, though!

Fun times with Nana and Pop Pop

Nana and Simon were enjoying some time together with Pop Pop laughing in the background


Emerald and Calvin were helping us make some homemade ice cream

Calvin reading the directions to us "I tell you how to do it"

Now, a funny story about the homemade ice cream. I love homemade ice cream in the summertime. It was always something we did as a family. I bought an ice cream maker and told the kids we could make some in McPherson. Unfortunatly, the thing wouldn't work (need to return it). It was pretty sad for the kids. Luckily the neighbors had one we could borrow. When we were trying to make it with their maker, the tornado sirens began to go off and we had to unplug it before it was finished. We ended up in the basement for the next hour having a "picnic" in the dark (we lost electricity for 5 hours). It was quite the storm, taking down trees, strewing limbs everywhere, heavy rain causing flooding, and creating just enough chaos for all of us. Luckily we were all ok. The shed across the street, not so much.

5 cousin photo shoot

This was about the best picture I got of all 5 kids It isn't easy getting 5 kids to sit still and look at the camera.

Zach, Calvin, and Josiah hamming it up. Why Calvin wouldn't smile, who knows!!

Pretty cute one of Emers and Simon

This is what it looked like most of the time we were attempting a shot of all the kids :)

Maybe some day, when they are all age 10 or so, we can get them to sit still, look at the camera, and smile, right?

More fun in Mac town

Simon with Great-Grandma Konicek

Josiah loves eating his carrots.

Aunt Laura loving on Zachary

We got 3 kids to sit still long enough for a quick shot

Fun times with the nephews

Check out the drool from Simon! I love those eyes.

Uncle Shane hanging out with Josiah

What a sweetheart

Josiah and Simon having a staring contest

We went to McPherson this weekend. It is quite crazy when you get 8 adults, 5 kids (age 4 and under) and 3 large dogs. Someone was always hungry, or needed a nap, or needed something. The camera was flashing every other minute trying to capture those cute "ahhhh" moments. It was a fun time. We enjoyed visiting with Laura and Shane and getting to see Simon showing off his crawling skills. I have to admit, we have some cute kiddos in our family!!

My children are such a blessing

Zachary has recently found his thumb. Not totally sure he is going to be a thumb sucker, more like a thumb chewer as he really likes to chew on it more than anything else.

Calvin, being, well, Calvin. He had a bad nap this day and was in quite a funk. Calvin is not just a noun in our house, it takes on many forms as a verb, adjective, adverb, etc. My sweet boy!!

Emerald had fun pushing Mango around in Nana's stroller. She can be such a little mommy when she wants to be.

Zachary getting some love from Great Grandma Konicek (Skip's grandma).

Isn't it amazing how you can raise them all the same, and yet they are so different? My 3 children are all such blessings to me. I love each of them so much. They each have their personalities. Their own demeanor. I love you guys so much!! Calvin can be so sweet, holding your hand when you walk with him. He loves to read books and be curled up in your lap. He always has to give a kiss when talking to you on the phone. He loves to give hugs and kisses and share his "I love you's". He has a love for his big sis, aka "your my hero Gee". Emerald is such an amazing big sister with never ending love for both of her brothers. She is patient with them 90% of the time. She beems when you take the time to play pretend with her. She is always telling us she loves us as well. Emerald has been saying some of the best prayers ever lately and it really shows just how much those little minds can understand. Zachary is such a sweet, easy-going little guy. He flashes his bright smile at you if you stop and pay the slightest bit of attention to him. He is an amazing sleeper. He is still pretty easy and will go to pretty much anyone that wants to hold him. He has really started to beam with admiration when his big sis and brother give him some love. We have a large picture of Em & Cal and Zachary will stretch his neck around to see the picture. He is such a wonderful little guy!

More random shots

We love this cute "golfer" hat we are borrowing from sweet G!!

Zach (asleep) and Josiah hanging out in their carseats reading to go visit Great-Grandma Konicek and other family.

These 2 pics were just so sweet I couldn't resist putting them on here. Daddy loving some cuddle time with Zachary. He really is such a cuddler!!

Emerald can't get enough time with her baby brother!

The pond is gone

The (almost) after. No plants planted yet, that will come.

Our little pond before.

We decided to remove a pond that was near our front door. It was pretty, and we thought we'd love it. However, it just collected gunch. It was always dirty. Then, when 2 frogs decided to live there, reproduce and fill it with tadpoles, and croak at all hours of the night and wake Emerald up, we decided it was time for the pond to go. It always scared me. The kids would try to play near it and I was afraid of sharp edged rocks, and water. Our kids, the neighbor kids, the dogs, friends. It was time. Now we just need to decide what to plant there. I've had some great suggestions. Finding the time to do it is another thing. :) The kids "helped" us by moving dirt and rocks.

Random summer shots

Emerald is doing really well riding her "big" bike.

Calvin being super smiley before bath.

Emerald for crazy hair day at VBS.

The boys hanging out together outside.

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I could blame it on chasing 3 kids around. I could blame it on the broken washing machine (which has cause an increase in effort to do laundry--like I needed that). I could blame it on a lot of things.

In the last few weeks we finally got our new washing machine--hallelujah! We celebrated our 11 year anniversary. We celebrated my nephew, Simon's baptism (more pics to come). We traveled to McPherson to see family. We celebrated Emerald leaving the world of pull-ups at night by dining and playing at Chuck-E-Cheese!!!!! It just clicked with her finally and now she is in panties at night, too! What a blessing. We removed a pond near our front door. Emerald has had a Disney princess dance class. She starts swim lessons next week. We finished VBS. Emerald's stitches got removed by Skip and I at home. We have been playing a ton outside and with our neighbors. We have been busy!!! There are a lot more little details, but that seems like enough for now. Be warned, I haven't blogged in a long time, so be prepared for a lot of pics to come.

Happy Anniversary

I love you my sweet Skipper!! You mean the world to me. You are an awesome father, wonderful husband, and perfect best friend. I really want to type sooooooo much more detailing my love for you, but our daughter is laying here (at your parents, on the floor, in the basement) staring at me trying to take a nap. Thanks for putting up with me for 11 glorious years. This last one has been emotional! You are a saint for having survived it with me. I love you always and forever my angel!!!

Blog slacker

I'm a total blog slacker lately. Been too crazy busy. Guess that happens when you chase 3 kiddos around and try to keep up with life. Add to that not having a washing machine and pawning your laundry off on poor helpless friends! I promise to post soon. Look for some great pics from this weekend. Skip's sister is back from Colorado and we will have all 5 cousins together again. Ages 4 years-5 months. Should be fun. My sweet nephew is getting baptized and we can't wait to see him crawling now. More later, I promise!