Mud

What did they do to look like this? (That's Nora giggling at them at 12 sec)

http://youtu.be/F7fLbWoXwmg

Charlie's Story

I showed Charlie a picture of a boy and a robot sitting together on some porch steps. He dictated:

A robot and a boy and they don't have a name. And they met at the house, at the boy's house. The robot came up and knocked on the door in very bad weather. And then when the boy came he thought it was a bear. Then when the boy turned on his outside light, he realized it was a robot! And he said, "What are you doing out in such terrible weather, Robot? " "I was chopping wood in the forest because I am a wood-cutting robot. And then when this terrible weather happened, because my axe was only strong paper, the axe broke and I started to rust because I'm only tin cans."

They became friends and started living together in the same house. Their [the boy's] mom and dad had died and the boy was all that was left because he had escaped. They were sitting on the porch together at night and a bear came and ate his mom and dad because they were old and couldn't run, but the boy escaped because he could run. Plus, they had to have canes, and it took them a long time to go down the stairs on the house, so when they were up and starting to walk the bear gobbled them and all that was left was the boy and their canes.

They played their favorite game, hockey, not at their house. They played hockey at a hockey place that was nearby. They play baseball some days when they don't have hockey to do. The robot does not cut wood because when they tried to make an axe, when they tested it on paper it broke, so he couldn't cut wood any more. But that was ok because he didn't want to cut wood anymore, even if he had an axe that would work. They liked living together.

The End

Grown up Nora

Doesn't she look old? 10 months now! I also think she resembles Lucy in expression.

Swim Lessons

Charlie had a great time swimming this year! He can do a lot of water stuff.

 He passed Level 1 and was very proud

 Jamie had more trouble (cough, screaming about his head being underwater, cough) but he learned lots too

Lucy was too little but liked watching them. Also, how old does she look here??? Stay 2, Lulu!

Baptism part II

 Nora and Jamie were a little antsy for a while

That's Father Bradley on the far left :)

Baptism

We had all four kids baptized Catholic tonight.

Charlie and his godmother Jennifer

Lucy and I

Nora and Julie

 She was wet :)

Jamie and Lisa

Light of Christ

The boys loved the candles

Museum

We went to the museum with my friend Katie today and she took some pictures of the kids.

Building earthquake-proof buildings.

Nora's eating what she shouldn't.

 Magnetic sticks for building

This was the favorite, especially for Charlie. They tossed things into a tube over a fan to see if they'd float. They did this a bunch of times, and Charlie was working on getting a ping pong ball to float. It wouldn't, but when he wrapped it different ways in tissue it did. It was science at work!

Then to the children's museum and the water table,

 painting

 and outside to play in the water feature.

Nora Does Stuff

First Day of School

We started a new school year last week. 

Charlie is in kindergarten. Yes, he's wearing a cowboy hat and smiling awkwardly.

Jamie is in Pre-K and is also being very awkward. So much for school memories ;)

Fun

Lucy got a dress we ordered after Disney. She saw it and said "Elsa and Ana for ME? Thank you Mama!" It was adorable.

Nora played with books and Owen yawned.

Jamie smiled

The princess helped her sister. Maybe it's a magic dress :)

Then we got out the costumes for all

Ready for Monday

Lucy's week is off to a good start

Nora 9 Months

Nora is 9 months! And she's had lots of changes since the 8 1/2 month update.

She weighs 16 lb 2 oz and is 26.34 in.

She sits herself up now (and does it in bed when she should be napping, then is confused as to why she's tired) and pulls herself up too. She sits up by pushing to hands and knees and then kneeling and then pushes onto her bottom. She always sleeps on her tummy, abruptly, starting after that last update. She says "mama" and "hi" and "more" (I think) and today I heard "da". She waves and claps.


Who loves a cranky baby pic??

Days 8/9/10 Road Trip

Kelsey and Lisa left us after Disney and we took the RV out of LA and drove to Arizona. We didn't get in until after 1am Wednesday morning. The kids slept in their car seats and were up with the sun. The guys needed some rest after all that driving, so I took them to the KOA playground and then we had ice cream for breakfast and drove to Albuquerque.

Here's Lucy at the playground. She wanted to be pushed faster and faster! She held on really well.

 The people who rented the RV before us left a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives book and there was a restaurant in Albuquerque, so we went. It was the Monte Carlo Steakhouse and it was delicious. We also had one of the funniest lines of the vacation: Jamie was returning from the bathroom and loudly announced "the poop toilet has someone in it!"

 It was really windy and rainy overnight and we had a MacGyver hack of putting a crate full of pop cans over an open air vent to keep the rain out.

Thursday, Day 9, we drove all day from New Mexico to Burkburnett, Texas. The driving was easy (so I'm told!) but we were all pretty done in from being in the car all day.

Nora was extremely fussy about being back in the dadblasted carseat

 

Charlie and Lucy are "napping"

Jamie really is napping, but for some reason he keeps sleeping with his head under sheets or blankets.

Day 10, Friday August 1 - back to Lewisville. Just a short 2 hour drive, and we unpacked and said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and prepared to say hello to Owen and Butterscotch