Knutson Chronicles

Pictures by the tree

2011-12-30T20:57:00.000-06:00

I saw online some cute pictures with kids’ silhouettes by the Christmas tree. We played around with this a little tonight, they aren’t the best, but it’s a neat idea.

Ari and I were sitting on the floor while I messed with the camera, he has a cute face in this one, just ignore mine…

Christmas with Grandparents

2011-12-28T20:51:00.000-06:00

The boys had a lot of fun playing with their grandparents while they were hear. One of Kaden’s presents was a checkers set from Cracker Barrel. He had fun playing checkers on the computer when his other grandfather was here, and Nate has been looking forward to him learning more and more games. So Kaden got to practice with his granddaddy, he will easily beat me, maybe I will find a different game to teach him! They also went for walks and found treasures (golf balls) and ant hills in the woods. Here’s some pictures from the present opening fun!

PoPcOrN!!

2011-12-26T20:45:00.000-06:00

A favorite snack of the male population in our house is popcorn. Ari has quickly learned that when the popcorn comes out, it will disappear fast! So he gets right in their with the others…

Santa Came = lots of pictures of Christmas morning…

2011-12-25T23:00:00.000-06:00

This year since we were in a new house and had family staying with us, we tried something new. After getting everything set out on Christmas Eve, we covered the unwrapped Santa presents with a sheet. This meant that we (meaning me) didn’t have to get up super early before the kids, which is good because we always stay up late on Christmas Eve putting toys together. When it was time, we simply took the sheet off! It worked out so well, I think it will be a new part of our Santa setup!
The boys had tons of fun opening their gifts with their cousins, sharing toys and playing. Here’s a whole bunch of pictures, some blurry (and Asa really needed a hairbrush :), but I love to look back and see how fun the morning was!

Pictures from Christmas night:

Under the tree

2011-12-24T22:45:00.000-06:00

Here’s a few pictures of the setup Christmas Eve after the boys went to bed and Santa came. I always think it’s fun to go back later and remember when the boys got certain toys and books. We spread the boys presents out by the fireplace this year which worked out well, before we went to bed we covered everything with sheets :)

Cookies for Santa…or Ari

2011-12-24T22:36:00.000-06:00

How do you explain to a 1 year old that the cookies aren’t for him :) Ari sure enjoyed his cookie, and I don’t think Santa missed it! I like this series of pictures as he walks up to the cookie and inspects it! Kaden and Asa were good sports about it too, I’m sure Benji wondered why cookies left so close to the ground weren’t for him.

Fun with Cousins

2011-12-24T22:15:00.000-06:00

Kaden and Asa Jack were so excited to have their cousins come visit for Christmas. We ended up with a nice sunny day on Christmas Eve to play at the playground and run around in the field. They played frisbee, walked around the pool, and ran on a trail. Ari had a good time too and was funny to watch going down the slide.

Christmas Tree Pictures

2011-12-24T22:09:00.000-06:00

Our tree was getting droopy at this point, it was much fuller earlier on.

Olaf

2011-12-24T21:50:00.000-06:00

A photographic history of Olaf’s adventures this month…

Hiding in the Christmas tree, mixing up cookies, eating a bowl of cheerios, hanging around in the wreath, and reading a book.

Playing in a box of packing peanuts, hanging upside down, messing with the dryer button (that makes Ari laugh), spending time with the snowmen, looking at the snowglobe, playing cards with toy friends, building with duplos, and checking out the view from the lamp.

Sitting in a vase (with Kaden’s letter to take to Santa), coloring a Rudolph picture, taking pictures of Imaginext guys, zip-lining across the kitchen.

Writing on the chalkboard, putting Star Wars stickers all over (this upset Kaden, he apparently had other plans for the stickers…he did get them back :), keeping an eye out in the laundry room, fishing or Goldfish, hiding in a stocking, playing with toothpaste, and sitting outside. He also made a snow angel on the counter with the powdered sugar…the messiest one and I forgot to take a picture!
On the last day (the 24th), he left a note for the boys saying he'd be back next year!!

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake…yum!

2011-12-24T19:30:00.000-06:00

Layers of sour cream cake with layers of peppermint cheesecake and a white chocolate frosting from the December issue of Southern Living. The pictures aren’t the best, but I thought the cake was good!

In the car

2011-12-20T22:03:00.000-06:00

From my cell phone…Asa was sound asleep! Ari couldn’t keep his eyes open with the flash, but he and Kaden were making the best smiles!

At the playground…

2011-12-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

Ari is quite the climber!!

Pictures on my Birthday

2011-12-17T20:35:00.000-06:00

For my birthday, Kaden had fun at a fried’s Star Wars party, afterward we went downtown for a little Christmas shopping followed by dinner at the Fish House. The Christmas tree outside was decorated in pretty blues and whites, we tried to get a good picture in front of it with the boys. None came out great, but I’ve enjoyed looking at their goofy faces…

Swinging at the Park

2011-12-16T20:16:00.000-06:00

Dear Santa…

2011-12-15T20:12:00.000-06:00

Kaden wrote a letter to Santa…I think he did a great job since he hasn’t learned how to write all his letters yet! I helped some with the spelling, you can tell where he tried on his own :) It says something along the lines of this…
“Dear Santa, I want Cars 2 (he wrote 2 but we had just talked about to, too, and two, so he wrote out ‘too,’ not the same but it showed he was listening :). Imaginext. What I I want from Cars 2 is Professor Z (PRFER Z). Mommy (mome) to (too) you.”
He wrote that last part because I told him I would make sure Santa got it, so he was trying to let Santa know that! And in summary what he really wanted was Cars 2 and imaginext toys!

Dressed Silly!

2011-12-09T23:09:00.000-06:00

At the Playground

2011-12-09T20:33:00.000-06:00

Meeting Santa Claus

2011-12-08T23:06:00.000-06:00

Santa Claus was at Bass Pro Shops and since you got a complimentary picture we decided to go for a visit. Kaden and Asa Jack enjoyed meeting him…Ari was not thrilled. We tried letting Santa hold him, but Ari wanted nothing to do with that. So instead they let us take a picture with Kaden and Asa and then we did a family picture. The Santa was really nice, I think we will go back again next year.

Additional fun activities included a train track, a race car track, and a shooting gallery!

Pictures from the NICU Christmas Party

2011-12-06T23:03:00.000-06:00

And of the really big ship we were parked near…it wouldn’t fit in one picture.

Waiting in the car…again…

2011-12-05T22:58:00.000-06:00

But it was worth it for these smiles!

Decorating the Tree

2011-12-03T22:55:00.000-06:00

For a variety of reasons, we’ve been a little slow on getting decorations on the tree, although I always enjoy the way it looks with just the lights. The boys helped out by putting the jingle bell ornaments on (and taking them back off again!), then after they went to bed, I put the remaining breakable ornaments up higher…the 8 foot tree gave us a lot of room. Kaden’s getting the hang of it, Asa Jack was more interested in playing and putting on his backpack, and Ari was fascinated with the lights!

Red Nose Run

2011-12-03T22:17:00.000-06:00

Our family all ran in the red nose run this morning, well some of us rode in strollers. We did this run last year and it was a lot of fun, this year they added a 1 mile run/walk so Kaden got to run too. I put Christmas stickers on the boys, they were all off by the end of the run! Asa Jack was my running buddy, he was heavier to push than Ari…especially uphill into the wind! He had a good time although he was pretty quiet, next time maybe he’ll do the fun run with Kaden. Ari’s favorite part…probably the cookie at the end! After a quick trip home to clean up, we went to the farmer’s market where the boys enjoyed some homemade fruit rollups!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-02T22:04:00.000-06:00

Kaden and I met up with some of friends at the park today to play and decorate gingerbread houses. Kaden put a little bit of candy on the house, then decided to run and play and leaving me to finish decorating…of course then he wanted the leftover candy :)

How we have fun…

2011-11-29T00:33:00.000-06:00

One day while doing laundry, I pushed the signal button on the dryer and probably made a funny noise too, Ari got such a kick out of it. So now I routinely sit him on the dryer and let him push the button to hear the loud noise, sometimes I pretend to act scared, sometimes I’ll push the button for him…he just laughs and laughs. Today he figured out that his reaction also makes him brothers laugh, so he did it over and over just for them :)

Meet Olaf

2011-11-28T23:58:00.000-06:00

This is Olaf, our elf on the shelf. The boys and I read the story book, and this is where they found him this morning, sitting on a Wii remote, watching TV! The next morning, he was found hanging out in the kitchen. Kaden and Asa are so excited to look for him and even Ari starts saying “Gook, Gook!” (Look, Look) when he sees him!

Christmas Time is here!

2011-11-28T00:10:00.000-06:00

We picked out our Christmas tree today! The boys wore their matching snowman shirts and we had a good time looking around at the trees. I always enjoy finding the super tall trees on the lot to show the boys! We tried to get a good picture of all three boys, but they are all looking down!

We did end up with some nice family pictures in front of the 8foot tree we picked…

While we were waiting to pay, Kaden, Asa Jack and I played around in the trees with the camera -

Ari wasn’t thrilled when they used the chainsaw on the tree…

He cheered up when he got to hold his orange…

Finally, Kaden was a big help when the tree was bagged, and Asa held onto his orange while he watched Daddy put the tree on the roof…

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T23:50:00.000-06:00

The boys had a great time this Thanksgiving, Daddy had to work during the day but Grandmommy and Granddaddy came for a few days. They were so excited, Kaden counted down the number of sleeps until they came and kept reminding me!

The morning started out with a run at the beach in the nice cool weather and then a walk around the boardwalk.

In the evening, we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at the Grand Marlin and Nate met us there after work, we took the latest reservation possible and ended up being one of the last in the restaurant. Asa’s face in the first picture cracks me up! Ari had fun playing peek-a-boo with a napkin!

Sleepyhead

2011-11-22T23:56:00.000-06:00

Wildlife Sanctuary Visit

2011-11-18T23:50:00.000-06:00

Some friends from our homeschool group met up today at the local wildlife sanctuary. They had eagles and owls and lots of pelicans. It’s a pretty neat little place, and the boys seemed to have a good time. We even got to see the pelicans being fed and how they worked the big pieces of fish down from their mouth.

Playing at the Doctor’s Office

2011-11-16T23:42:00.000-06:00

Both Asa Jack and Ari had well checks today, so we had some fun taking pictures while we were waiting. Asa would jump and I would take his picture :) Ari is still under the 10th percentile for weight but both boys keep growing and are doing just what they’re supposed to! Asa did well too when our pediatrician asked him what color things were, he’s almost got it figured out…but I’ve also noticed that he’s doing really well with recognizing letters!

Looking Cool

2011-11-15T23:32:00.000-06:00

This is how sunglasses were meant to be worn!

Running…running…walking…running

2011-11-13T23:27:00.000-06:00

For some crazy reason, I enjoyed my first half marathon so much, I signed up for another and after having run two, I have decided that Mickey Mouse makes running fun and he should really be at every race! This time I ran in a local half marathon, I had caught a cold a few weeks before that was really rough to recover from, and unfortunately I wasn’t back to 100% by race day even though I had continued to train. So I felt it…at mile 3, with 10 to go…made for a not so fun run, and it was warmer than I had been hoping…if only Mickey and Minnie had been there (although it made my day that a friend of mine was waiting for me at the 6 mile mark to cheer my on…and boy was I tempted to follow her home instead of going on). But I did it, slow and steady, only 4 minutes longer than the last one, but it felt like hours! And my boys were there at the finish, Kaden crossed the line with me, poor Asa Jack wanted to run too, but by then I just needed to cross the line so I could stop moving! And since I’m probably crazy, I’ve decided to keep up the training and hopefully run another one in January!

Hibachi Dinner

2011-11-12T22:34:00.000-06:00

The night before my second half marathon, we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants where I thoroughly enjoyed my hibachi dinner and probably ate more than enough to fuel my run. Asa and Ari are still a little unsure of the the fire and the antics of the guy who cooks the food! Asa kept turning his face away and Ari was wide-eyed…

Kaden seems to enjoy it more and really likes the food. It’s also fun because the waitresses there are so good and interact a lot with all three boys.

Things Ari does for fun…

2011-11-11T22:26:00.000-06:00

Takes everything out of a little basket and sits in it…

Climbs into a box and hangs out for a while…

Climbs on a little chair…

Climbs onto the kid table, has a snack, and looks very pleased with himself!

Making Blood

2011-11-02T22:51:00.000-05:00

Not real blood :) Kaden has been learning different things about the body in his homeschool group, and one of the questions is “What are six parts of the circulatory system?” The answer is “Heart, arteries, veins, capillaries, red and white blood cells, and plasma.” On the internet I found a way to demonstrate the components of blood. For plasma we started with water with some yellow food coloring. We used cheerios coated with red food coloring for the red blood cells, marshmallows for the white blood cells, and fuzzy pom-poms for the platelets. It was pretty neat, and the boys thought it was fun, so I think it was a successful activity! Ari and Benji participated too…by eating cheerios!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-11-01T00:57:00.000-05:00

Our new neighborhood is pretty big and a lot of houses are yet to be built…which means that the houses that have families in them can be pretty spread out. Since this was our first year here, we weren’t sure what to expect with trick or treating, but we left a big bowl of candy on our doorstep and headed out with the boys and Benji…

It ended up being cooler out than we had expected….you can tell just how thrilled Ari was in this picture…

The nice part was that walking around gave us a chance to meet our neighbors, everyone was really nice.

But very few people were out, and since there are so many ways to walk, we only saw one other family walking around, and one in a golf cart. The boys ended up with a whole lot of candy, because there were hardly any trick or treaters and everyone was trying to get rid of their candy. We also came home to a bowl that was still full! We let the boys have a little bit, Asa’s favorite was by far the pirate lollipop, and then put up the rest for “treats.” Ari was really excited about the candy too…that’s a bag of pretzels that he’s eating :)

And a few pictures of Benji to wrap it up…

Happy Birthday Nate!

2011-10-31T00:37:00.000-05:00

Of course I didn’t get a picture of Nate on his birthday! But I did get a few of Kaden and Ari when we went out to lunch for a little celebration! Ari’s face just makes me smile, he makes that “O” with his lips whenever he sees something he’s interested in!

Halloween Party

2011-10-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

Kaden and Asa Jack had a fun time tonight at a halloween party. Kaden dressed up as a shark, he was so excited about it when we found it, we were happy it was on sale! Asa was a little bear, we found him gloves and a hat that he can wear again when it gets cold and then dressed him in brown pants and a brown jacket…super cute. The picture isn’t the best but it shows the little gloves! Ari wore his Halloween onesie and some skeleton babylegs and was also very cute!

The boys ate some fun foods and then we relaxed while the older kids went to the Haunted House…Kaden had no desire to go there! Later, Kaden and Asa (and Nate too!) bobbed for apples and then really enjoyed caramel apples. There was also pumpkin carving, I think Nate’s turned out pretty good!

Birthday Party!

2011-10-27T00:56:00.000-05:00

We celebrated two birthday’s tonight, Asa’s and Nate’s. We had a monster theme since it’s almost Halloween. First, after my friends kindly helped me with last minute things I hadn’t finished in the kitchen, the women took the kids over to the neighborhood playground while Nate stayed behind to grill hamburgers and hotdogs. We came back and ate dinner and then played a little game of “pin the eye on the monster.” It was cute, Kaden especially enjoyed it, he had been asking to play all day long! Then somewhere in there

Sometime after that Asa decided to go ahead and open presents, I don’t even think I was in the room for it, but he got fun gifts from his his friends! Sorry for the blurriness, I think the unwrapping was pretty fast!

Here’s some pictures of the food…grape skewers and monsters made out of colored marshmallow fluff and nutterbutters. I made a Halloween candy cake, which had ground peanuts in it, it turned out to be really good.

We also had water bottles with eyeballs and I made glow-in-the-dark monster slime as a party favor! I think Asa really enjoyed his special evening!

Crafty Pumpkins

2011-10-25T22:06:00.000-05:00

I found all kinds of neat pumpkin ideas on pinterest, but there’s only so much time to try them out. I tired out the “BOO” pumpkin that’s made with buttons. The carved pumpkin is the one Kaden and I made at the playground with some friends, it’s smile is sort of collapsing, oh well!

Happy Smile

2011-10-25T21:10:00.000-05:00

More Pumpkins

2011-10-25T00:37:00.000-05:00

Even though we had a good time at the farm, it’s always fun to take pictures around lots of pumpkins. So today after lunch we went over to the church that we’ve been to the last few years. It was a challenge to get three little boys to look at the camera at the same time. Here’s some of the best pictures…including ones where I think Ari was wondering if the little pumpkins would taste good.

Visit to the Farm

2011-10-20T00:18:00.000-05:00

At the Farmer’s Market one Saturday, I asked a lady I frequently buy vegetables from about farms with pumpkins, so today we took a trip to the one she suggested. There was only one other family there while we were, it was nice and quiet and the boys could really enjoy everything (when we were leaving, a number of other cars had parked). It was a smaller farm than the one we went to last year, but the hayride was probably 3x as long (Kaden was worried we were lost!)! And they had pumpkins still growing on the vine which I haven’t seen around here before. The boys got to jump in the bouncy house and play in the corn box. Kaden loved the slide, but Asa didn’t have any desire to go down it. Before we left we picked up several pumpkins and got cups of boiled peanuts.

Happy Three!

2011-10-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

My little blond guy turned three today! Hard to believe that Asa Jack was only about 10 months when we moved here, he wasn’t walking or talking. Now he doesn’t stop moving (as you can tell from the blurry pictures/pictures of the top of his head) and totally surprises me with the things he can say. (Although the best is when he says “I love you, mommy” out of the blue!) He likes to play with his brothers, but still enjoys playing alone too. When we are with friends, he will often seek out the quietest place to play (which is funny when I find him quietly playing with the dolls and dollhouse, while the bigger kids are off being loud).

Asa is learning his colors, but he can tell you the sounds that most letters make. The one color he seems to know is pink…on our car ride home from Disney, a cup of coffee spilled all over his backpack. I wasn’t sure if the stains would come out, or if I would ruin the backpack trying to wash it. I told Asa that if it still looked bad after cleaning it, I’d get him a new one…He said “A PINK one!” Thankfully the stains pretty much came out and we didn't have to find a pink boy backpack :)

To celebrate Asa’s 3rd birthday, we made the Pioneer Woman’s chocolate sheet cake and then let the boys decorate it with candy. We’re planning a party later, so we kept things small at home. After dinner, he opened his presents. Every time I asked what he wanted or what kind of party he wanted, his answer was “Cars 2!” So his grandparents gave him some Cars duplo blocks, a car set and cups with cars 2 characters, and we found him more cars and a book. I even put a lightning mcqueen and towmater on his cake (and they were wearing Mickey and Goofy hats!). We also gave him a cat keyboard, Asa loves music…listening to it, watching other people play instruments, and playing it himself. But the highlight was the rokenbok dump trucks and building sets that Daddy found…something that all three boys will enjoy! Looking forward to another fun year!

Disney Trip Day 5

2011-10-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

We woke up on our last morning at Disney and started the day with a late breakfast at the Whispering Canyon. The big boys had mickey mouse waffles and Ari shared my french toast and his daddy’s skillet.

After that, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom by boat. We tried getting a picture by the Mickey and Minnie topiaries, but the sun was shining right in the boys eyes. We rode a few rides and then had to say goodbye to Mickey until next time.

St Augustine

2011-10-04T22:18:00.000-05:00

After leaving Disney, we drove to St. Augustine to visit family since we don’t get to go too often. The boys had a good time playing at their great-grandfather’s house, we even got Kaden to sing one of his history songs. Not sure anyone could understand him, but it was cute to see him sing (that’s what he’s doing in the picture where you just see his back). Ari played in the basket, too bad he moved before I could grab my camera and get a better picture. Asa Jack was just plain cute like always.

We then got to visit with more family, including two cute little girls that we hardly get to see since they live super far away. Unfortunately, I apparently failed at getting the two little ones to look at the camera at the same time!

Disney Trip Day 4

2011-10-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Our adventures in Disney World today started with Epcot to enjoy more of the food and wine festival. We tried a few more things and walked around. We also all rode on Nemo and Kaden and I rode on Test Track (he was little nervous but I think he enjoyed it). I also took Kaden on the Epcot ball, it was really neat to see him recognizing some of the history events that we’ve learned in classical conversations. One of these days we’ll go on Soarin’ again, I think it’s one of our favorites, but it’s hard to get on especially when Kaden’s the only one big enough to ride it. We also had our picture taken with Duffy (I think Nate was in line buying food at the time)…

My legs were super sore from the race, but it was nice to walk around the park. And I did try a short run today just to loosen up, it was rough at first but feeling pretty good by the end. For dinner, we headed to Sanaa, we got to sit right by the window and see the giraffes and zebras. This bird also kept us quite entertained…

By the end of dinner, we had spilled a drink, dropped an ice cream on the ground, and overall had more disasters than normal. But the food was delicious and we had a nice time. After dinner, the boys were thrilled to watch the man playing the drum. His name was apparently “Gift” which I thought was neat, and he and the boys were laughing and having a great time playing music…

Disney Trip…Day 3

2011-10-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

Our adventures today included a visit to the Animal Kingdom, one of the highlights was a tiger hunt…

We also went looking for birds…even Ari held the map…

We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, Ari napped through most of lunch, but Kaden and Asa Jack enjoyed it. In the evening, we visited the Magic Kingdom and rode on several rides. The boys like buzz lightyear and the race cars, one day Ari will be able to ride the race cars too! Ari and I also watched them ride on the teacups…

Disney Trip…Day 2

2011-10-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

This morning, we slept in… made sense since we didn’t get to bed till close to 3AM. Since the older boys were still with their grandparents, we took Ari over to Downtown Disney and ate lunch at the House of Blues. Then we spent a little time walking around and going in the shops. The best memory of the day…they were having a little “parade” for the girls that had gotten dressed up as princesses, there was a line of Disney employees on either side of the walkway and we walked through before the princess parade started. The employees were smiling and clapping with the music, Ari was in the stroller, and he must’ve thought it was his parade…he smiled, laughed and the Disney people waved, smiled and laughed with him! We also topped off the trip with drinks from the Ghiradelli chocolate shop…sooo good!

Later we headed back to the hotel to wait for Kaden and Asa, and we took a nap! When Kaden and Asa showed up with their grandparents, they had so much to tell us about how much fun they’d had and all the great things they’d done at Sea World!

Then to complete the day, we headed over to Polk City for dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Bev and Uncle John. Not sure that Nate and I were the best company, I think the drive into the night Friday and the run into the night Saturday had caught up with us…we were wiped out! And I didn’t even pull out the camera :( Just means we’ll have to make a trip back!

Disney Trip…Day 1…Race Day

2011-10-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

About five months or so ago, I signed up for the Epcot Wine and Dine half marathon. And after a very hot summer of running, running, and running some more, it was time to see if all the long, hot outside (or long, boring treadmill) runs were worth it. We got to our hotel late Friday night and then spent Saturday trying to take it easy. We did have to go by the runner’s expo to pick up my number and some other things. The boys hi-fived the geico gecko, you can see Asa standing on the chair, his head is behind the gecko’s hand. Then later, Kaden and I took some pictures by the posters…I like the one where he looks like he is trying to run with the dwarves…

We went back to the hotel and rested, and the boys Grandparents came by and picked up Asa Jack and Kaden and took them to Sea World and to spend the night at their house! After a while, we headed over to Epcot where Nate and Ari dropped me off and I took a bus to the start line….

I didn’t have any problems getting on a bus but then had to wait over an hour at the staging area for the race to start, and it was kind of cool out so that wasn’t fun. (But I heard rumor that some people had to wait over an hour for the bus, so it was better my way). We started in waves, I was in the second group to go, as each group started, there were fireworks! Chef Mickey and Minnie were waving at the start line, and all along the route were characters, parade floats and entertainers. I didn’t take any pictures during the run, because my cell phone camera doesn’t take good pictures in the dark. We ran through Animal Kingdom and MGM and I really wanted a picture of the guy from UP and lightning mcqueen, maybe next time! There were so many runners (over 10,000, and a lot of them in funny costumes), and the water stops were so well organized for the most part. The first 10 miles or so were lots of fun, then I hit a wall and the last few miles were rough, but I did it, crossed the line in 2:35:14, which was way better than I was hoping. I was just going to be glad to finish! Nate and Ari were there at the finish, although I must’ve walked another mile to find them! We walked around Epcot for a little while, the cheddar cheese soup was a nice way to warm up. But we were exhausted, Ari had already passed out when I finished, so we headed back to the hotel around 2AM and slept!

Wrinkled Nose

2011-09-24T23:16:00.000-05:00

I love this face!

Cars…we have a few…

2011-09-19T23:13:00.000-05:00

Kaden and Asa Jack were quietly playing in their room today, and they were so proud of what they did…and so was I…check out how nicely they lined up their cars. Kaden even had an explanation for the order he put the cars in!

Taste of the Beach

2011-09-18T23:08:00.000-05:00

After church today and a brief rest, we went over to the beach for the Taste of the Beach festival. We tried foods from several of the restaurants…but the boys enjoyed their popsicles and our frozen drinks the best! And Ari struggled with trying to get water out of the starbucks cup once he pulled out the straw!

At the Gelato Shop

2011-09-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

For lunch today, we went to a bakery downtown, then the boys and I walked while Nate moved the car over to the gelato shop. Kaden and Asa Jack had a great time talking to the lady who was working at the counter…and of course all the boys loved their gelato!

Ari’s new seat…

2011-09-13T22:59:00.000-05:00

Asa Jack Says…

2011-09-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

Asa Jack looked at me the other day and said “I don’t love you, I’m a bad guy”…to which I responded, “Bad guys still love their mommy’s.” Asa looked up at me and said “Ok, then can I give you a kiss?”

Pictures from St. Augustine

2011-09-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

We drove over to spend a few days in St. Augustine, unfortunately as we headed there Ari came down with a croupy cough so he was kind of miserable (especially at night, poor guy!). But we had a nice time visiting family and the boys had fun playing at Aunt Nancy’s.

I took Kaden with me to visit his great-granddad the first day we were there, he’s shy at first but then he seemed to enjoy coloring (which he doesn’t like at home!) and was more talkative. The next day, when Ari was better, we all headed over and had a good time watching the boys interact.

Here’s some pictures from the trip…

Beach!

2011-09-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

The weather was nice so we headed out to the beach for a little while this afternoon, unfortunately there were these tiny biting bugs that kept biting our legs! While it didn’t seem to bother the kids, it bothered us so we didn’t stay too long, but still had a good time!

Pictures of the New House…

2011-09-07T14:22:00.000-05:00

he front of the house, there are lots of trees behind the house and in front.

Dining room, the rest of the chairs are in the kitchen for now. Family room, where Kaden was playing Donkey Kong.

Office, but the pictures were kind of dark. And Master Bedroom.

The future breakfast area, but for now a kid’s play area. The kitchen with double ovens and a gas stove!

The boy’s bedrooms.

And the upstairs school area and future guest room with a view into the treetops!

Licking the Bowl Clean!

2011-09-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight I made roasted red pepper pasta for dinner….Ari ate two bowls and licked the bottom!

Why Ari ends up in the sink after eating…

2011-08-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

Ari has decided he likes to feed himself, although if you keep pulling the food away every time he reaches for it, he does eventually open his mouth…but sometimes that’s just not a practical solution! For breakfast, we put him in the sink and he takes a little bath while he eats his yogurt! But when we let him feed himself at lunch or dinner, this is what we get…

First Day…

2011-08-23T23:31:00.000-05:00

Today was Kaden’s first day at our Classical Conversations homeschool group, other than the orientation meeting last week. Even though we’re homeschooling and have already been working, I thought it still might be fun to have a first day picture…and of course Asa Jack wanted to be in the picture too! Kaden had a really great time, he’s a little confused on how I’m his teacher at home, and on Tuesday there is someone else (who happens to be a friend of mine and mom of some of the kids we play with) who leads his class, but he seems to be doing okay with it. In CC, he’s already learned how to count by twos, some of the states and capitals, a song about Christopher Columbus, some Latin words, a grammar rule, and can name the four types of tissue. They also work on a timeline of events starting with Creation all the way through history. Even Asa Jack can say part of the timeline and do the hand motions!

And the move begins…

2011-08-15T23:21:00.000-05:00

Today was another landmark day in our family, we closed on our new house and started the moving process. We decided to do it ourselves except for the big stuff, this way we can pack slowly and it’s less for little hands to “help” with! After signing all the papers, we headed right on over to take a look and the boys finally got to run around and be silly (since on all the other visits, we had tried to keep them calm, after all, it wasn’t our house until today!). Since the house was empty, there was lots of room to play….the boys had such a great time, sort of made me wish we could leave a room totally empty for them to jump and run in!

These pictures were taken from what will be Ari’s room.

And here’s just a few from the rest of the house…

Presents!!

2011-08-11T23:35:00.000-05:00

Ari had lots of help opening his birthday presents, which is just fine, because at the rate he was going, it was going to take us all night! First a series of pictures with Ari trying to understand this wrapping paper thing…and ending with a picture of him eating it, I guess it seemed a waste to throw it away!

Now on to the presents…

Lots of fun new toys…an activity box, some cars, a book, new links, diapers, cute beaver clothes and a hat, some bath toys, and a neat car carrier from his grandparents (which is a hit with all the boys!).

One Year Old!

2011-08-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Fun pictures to celebrate turning one today! At Ari’s doctor’s appointment, he weighed a little over 19 pounds and is up to 27.5 inches, making him the 4th percentile for weight still and at the 1st percentile for height (both of these are a little questionable based on how this was plotted, but no matter what he’s still al little guy!). At one year, Ari is still wearing his 6-12 month clothes, we’ve gotten a lot of use out of those! He was giving kisses, until he started clapping, now that seems to have taken priority! He still won’t say “ma-ma” but he holds his arms up to be picked up whenever he sees me! I will ask him for a hug, and then lean his head on my chest and say “aaahh” and then he’ll lean away and then back to my chest every time I say “aaahhh,” it’s really cute!

Cupcakes!!

2011-08-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to our littlest boy! Things have been busy around our house with packing for our move, so we decided to celebrate at home and maybe have a party later. Since Nate had to work, and the boys and I couldn’t wait…we had cupcakes after lunch (and I made so many cupcakes that we really needed to eat them twice in one day :) !! I made him banana cupcakes with a vanilla pastry cream frosting…it may have been the first time I made pastry cream, it won’t be the last, it was like vanilla pudding on a cupcake, so good!

Later on we had cupcakes with one candle!

It’s not too obvious, but in the last picture, Ari has frosting on the top of his head! Some of these pictures remind me of the way Kaden held his cupcake on his first birthday.

Look who's driving...and he's not even one!

2011-08-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

We were sitting in the car after lunch, again...waiting on the other boys! Ari had the best time "driving." As we were sitting there, a man came by on a bike, he kind of nodded at me, but then he saw Ari, and he started to wave and smile...I felt kind of bad that Ari didn't see him, and probably wouldn't have waved back anyway!

Pictures in Ari's Room

2011-08-03T17:29:00.000-05:00

Since we are moving, I thought I should take some pictures of Ari's room, which is basically the same as when it was Asa's room, except for some decorative changes (like the elephant rug, quilt hanging, some pictures) and the new changing table. Unfortunately some of the pictures were pretty blurry, and I think I had started to pack the room up before I realized that...oops!

Funny things the boys have said…

2011-07-31T22:07:00.002-05:00

A few times lately when one of his brothers is napping…Kaden has said they are “wide asleep”

Watching TV the other night, a McDonald’s commercial came on. We hardly ever go to McDonald’s, only lately we’ve gone a little bit more to get the frozen strawberry lemonades after we’ve been outside swimming or playing or at the farmer’s market. Anyway, Asa saw the commercial and said “McDonald’s…I wanna eat that!” Probably was a lot funnier if you were in the room, but he would have made a pretty good commercial himself!

Also, when Asa Jack wants to watch me in the kitchen or watch me do something else, he will see “Can I see you watch?”

I made Jello Magic Mousse (Jello mix, water, and cool whip) for the boys, Kaden is really confused as to why it's called "mousse" when it's not shaped like a "moose!"

Ari continues with his nose scrunching silliness and makes funny noises when he wants your attention. He copies us when we make funny noises too, but he still won’t say “ma-ma.”

Watching the boys play together reminded me of a quote I saw online this week, I modified it a little, but think I want to hang it up in the boys’ room…”Being a Brother is even better than being a Superhero!”

Silly Sunday Pictures

2011-07-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

Pulled out some old clothes that Ari fits in now…all three boys have worn this shirt, take a look at these pictures ==>

Tomato and Cheddar Pie

2011-07-22T18:19:00.000-05:00

For dinner tonight we had blackened fish and tomato and cheddar pie from the bon appetit recipe. I picked up a bunch of tomatoes at the stand outside the fish store. I made the crust and everything, it was a really easy recipe and was delicious!

Pensacola Museum of Art

2011-07-22T18:16:00.000-05:00

We’ve had a rainy few days, so today we decided to try out the Pensacola Museum of Art. They have a Chagall exhibit for children right now, which turned out to be pretty neat, although small. There were different interactive exhibits by each picture, such as a weaving/lacing area, an area where you could push buttons and hear music, a picture where you had to find the different things/people Chagall had painted into it. I enjoyed reading some of the history of Chagall’s life (although I only got to read a little bit, trying to watch the kids) and seeing his artwork.

In Motion

2011-07-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

We used to sit Asa in the back while Kaden drove the tricycle, now we can sit Ari in the back while Asa drives!

And Ari is getting better at pushing around the walker toy! He keeps turning that foot out though, and he doesn’t stand on his own yet, but he’s figuring it out! Check out the video here, ignoring all the background noise!

Cake Batter Chocolate Bark

2011-07-19T17:54:00.000-05:00

Made this chocolate bark from a recipe that I found on the internet, it was pretty good, I couldn’t really taste the cake batter flavor, but Nate and the boys liked it. I didn’t get a very good picture of it, but the sprinkles on top were a neat idea.

Sticker Faces

2011-07-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

This morning, Kaden and Asa Jack went with Daddy to see the local free movie with some of our friends. After that Ari and I joined everyone for lunch which happened to be near a sports cuts. So I decided afterwards to take Asa Jack over there so we could get the ends of his hair evened up, although in the pictures you can’t really tell he had a hair cut. Then Asa and I ran into Walmart for 15 minutes so I could get a few things, I told him I’d get him stickers…he picked out Toy Story 3 stickers. Watching him stick them all over, just like Kaden used too…and still does :) … made it totally worth the extra time in Walmart it took to find the stickers!

Pictures from Spanish Fort

2011-07-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

Just for fun today we drove Kimberly over to see Fairhope, since we’ll soon be living quite a bit closer to there and the last time we had gone was a few months back to the art festival. We drove around, didn’t get out of the car, but saw some beautiful homes and a great view of the water. It turned out to be a really nice drive. Afterward we went to Spanish Fort to do a little wandering and shopping. The boys ran around by the splash fountains, too bad we didn’t have their bathing suits, they would’ve had fun in the water! I really like the picture of Asa with the statue, it looks like he’s having a conversation about the little boy’s sailboat!

Music in the Square

2011-07-14T16:29:00.000-05:00

This evening the boys, Kimberly, and I headed downtown for the weekly concert and to have a picnic dinner while Nate was at work. Based on the clouds and the weather map, it looked like storms were coming, but we decided to try it anyway. We picked up barbeque, the boys had a great time dancing and the music was good too.

At the intermission, the clouds looked closer, I thought I felt a few drops of rain, and then right as the announcer said something along the lines of “the music will keep going as long as the weather holds out and I’ve been in contact with the local weatherman and he says we should be good” there was a bright lightning flash and an almost instantaneous crack of thunder…yikes! Not sure what map our weatherman was looking at, but it must have been for another state, maybe another country, because he was flat out wrong..(not that that’s a surprise, how often has the weather report shown less than a 50% chance of rain and you look out the window and it’s pouring, and continues for hours…you’d think then they would update it to a 100% chance!). Anyway, we packed up super fast and hurried to the car…while other people just leisurely strolled out of the park (I guess they didn’t see the news report on the guy that was hit by lightning earlier in the week!). We made it into the car just before the rain started coming down, Yea!

In the carseat…

2011-07-14T16:20:00.000-05:00

After lunch today, Kimberly and I decided to do some shopping and Nate was going to take the boys home…first though I got some cute pictures of Ari in his carseat. And, no we didn’t drive with him in the front seat :)

Tomato Salad

2011-07-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

Proof that I sometimes I cook food that’s healthy…actually we cook healthy food a lot, I just prefer to bake! We’ve been trying to make it to the farmer’s market downtown every weekend and have gotten all sorts of delicious vegetable and stuff you can’t find at Publix. We have tried white eggplant…so good! Earlier this year, there was an eggplant shortage, you couldn’t get one around here, even at restaurants because the weather had taken out the crops. I was going through eggplant withdrawal so I’m now making up for it by buying eggplant every week…we’ve had eggplant parmesan, baked eggplant, eggplant pasta, eggplant pizza..yum! I’ve bought lots of basil too, much better than what Publix sells, and it’s still growing on my porch.

Anyway, the other thing I’ve found is a booth with all sorts of little tomatoes, in reds, greens, oranges, even chocolate colored. I’ve made several things with the tomatoes…including this pasta salad with smoked gouda, tomatoes and basil from the Pioneer Woman’s website that is delicious. The picture is of marinated tomatoes, these were really good, made a whole lot though. (and while I’m listing off PW recipes, my new favorite, better than Starbucks’ coffee, recipe is this iced coffee recipe which I either make with milk or half and half and flavored syrup or I sweeten it with this sweet cream).

Fountains, Finally!

2011-07-13T16:17:00.000-05:00

The boys and I keep trying to get back to play in the fountains…at least twice now they’ve been in bathing suits and when we leave our house the skies look clear, but it’s just not to be. This past weekend we went to go after the farmer’s market, I saw the clouds, but we were hopeful that they would just pass by like they do at our house most days. Kaden and Ari had both gotten in the water when the storm came up pretty quickly, thankfully I got everyone dry and back in the car before the worst rainstorm I’d seen in a long time hit us full force! Of course, it wasn’t raining back at our house!

So today, we went to take Kimberly who’s visiting for the week, and Nate got to go too before he went to work…at least that way I would have help if I had to get everyone back in the car quickly. We ended up having nice weather and the boys looked like they had a good time. Kaden had fun running around in circles with other kids and when Ari got tired, he was happy sitting by Daddy. Asa Jack liked walking on the wall.

Eleven Months

2011-07-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

Only a month left until Ari will turn One…guess I better start figuring out presents and a party =) He’s now up and moving, not walking yet, but he can push things (toys, stools…) around and sort of walk behind them. He seems to want to turn his left foot out, once he figures out how to keep it straight, he’ll be walking! We weighed him on the Wii Fit, he’s now about 18.5lbs. I realized I had clothes that were still put away that he probably fits in now, he still fits in the clothes he’s been wearing so I just hadn’t pulled out anything else. He eats anything we give him, if he can’t chew it, he seems to just inhale it! And he still likes to crinkle up his nose and smile and make silly noises to get your attention. Now if I could just get him to say “ma-ma!”

Blue Angels Practice Show!

2011-07-07T18:51:00.000-05:00

This weekend is the big show at the beach, we heard the jets flying over our house yesterday morning. Unfortunately Nate is working the weekend, and I don't think taking three boys to the beach with all the traffic and people by myself would be fun. So instead we decided to go watch the practice show from a park near our house today while Nate was off. We had a picnic lunch in the shade and then watched some of the show from the water. It did eventually get too hot and the boys lost interest, but they did like seeing the water.

Happy Fourth of July!!

2011-07-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

After playing in the water outside and then a short naptime, we headed downtown to celebrate the Fourth with some friends from church. Unfortunately Nate had to go to work not long after we got there, but he drove in his car and helped me get the kids to our friends’ house which was a pretty good walk away. We could have gotten a closer parking spot, but I had a feeling parking further out would mean less traffic to get home…and thankfully that was the case! We ate dinner including some really good ribs, and then Kaden and Asa Jack played in a little pool on the porch. I didn’t bring their bathing suits, so Asa just played in his diaper…which kept getting bigger and bigger, so funny!! Kaden went in his shorts which we ended up putting in the dryer a little later since he didn’t like being wet!

Later on while Kaden and Asa were playing, Ari and I went for a little walk, he was really fussy…his naps were all messed up an he was so tired, but there was too much to see. We visited with some friends who live nearby and enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t super hot. When we got back, it was about time for the fireworks. We had a great view of the downtown show from the upstairs balcony but we could also see the beach fireworks. Kaden kept talking about the Disney fireworks, and Asa Jack watched the first part with his hands over his ears, but they both really enjoyed it. Ari is making a funny face in the picture, but the fireworks really didn’t bother him. And right after this I offered him my water, he drank quite a bit and was much happier…and quite wet!! After that, we made the walk back to our car, thankfully with help, changed the boys into pajamas in case there was traffic and headed home. Ari finally gave up and fell asleep on the walk back! The drive home was really easy, good thing we didn’t go to the beach..the traffic line leaving the beach stretched on for a very long time!

Summer Fun

2011-07-04T14:36:00.000-05:00

To cool off today before the fireworks we pulled out the water sprayer I found at Target. The boys thought it was great although they also just wanted to play with the hose. Ari sat right in the middle and smiled, but never tried to crawl around. Benji got into the fun too, but he really just wanted to drink the water!!

Firecracker Run

2011-07-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

We got up early this morning to run…when we left the house before 7, it was already super hot and humid. We were all sweating while we waited for the race to start. The run had a nice view of the water, but the boys were miserable and Nate was worried about them overheating in the double stroller so he ended up cutting out of the race to get them cooled off. Turns out that he probably ran farther than Ari and I did, the distance turned out to be shorter than a 5K, maybe from rerouting around the construction. Afterwards at the farmer’s market, I talked to some other girls who like me thought that they were finishing in really good time, until they realized that the route was too short!

Enjoying the View

2011-06-25T23:45:00.000-05:00

We had lunch at the Grand Marlin today…after Kaden lost his second tooth!! He told me it was loose yesterday, but Nate was at work and I told Kaden that he couldn’t lose his tooth until Daddy came home. So this morning, Kaden was complaining that it hurt, Nate told him to bite into an apple, that made the tooth looser and pretty soon it was out and Kaden was smiling. Too bad you can’t tell his tooth is gone in the picture!

At lunch, we sat outside and enjoyed the view…and the couple at the table beside us pointed out a dolphin which was pretty neat!

Science Center

2011-06-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

The boys and I drove Grandmommy back to the airport today :( I decided to make the most out of the trip and was going to take them to an aquarium (although I hadn’t hear the best things about it), as we were driving I saw a sign for a science center and figured we’d try that instead. It was small, but didn’t cost very much and all of the displays worked. (Plus I noticed a good-looking playground that we’ll have to go back to visit when it cools off in a few months!). The boys got to build with some neat blocks, make a big bubble, see some birds and snakes, and race cars on a little track.

Happy Father’s Day!!!

2011-06-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

Father’s Day was pretty relaxing, we went to church, out to lunch and just relaxed! Plus the boys were enjoying having their Grandmommy staying at our house for a few days! Instead of a card, I got the boys matching shirts that said “Rad Like Dad,” made for some super cute pictures!

Kaden’s Back!

2011-06-18T23:01:00.000-05:00

Kaden flew with his Grandmommy back to us today…Yea!! He had a great time, but when he came back, he said “It’s great to be back with you Asa!!” And we had noticed that Asa was becoming more and more fussy but was much happier once Kaden got home, so he must have missed him too!

Splash Fountains!!

2011-06-15T22:58:00.000-05:00

While Kaden was with his grandparents, we looked for fun things to do with Asa Jack (and Ari too, of course!) to make him for special. So we decided to try out the splash fountains downtown…I think it was a hit, he looks happy in the pictures. And Ari had fun too, he played with some toys and crawled around.

Last Evening of Fun at the Pool!

2011-06-13T22:52:00.001-05:00

We headed back to the pool for some more fun since we were heading home in the morning. Kaden had more fun on the slide, he also enjoyed me picking him up and throwing him into the pool…he kept asking me to do it again, but finally my arms were too tired! We had dinner by the pool and played in the hot tub when the sun went down. When we finally went back to our room, we were there just long enough to change clothes…boys and I into pajamas..when the fire alarm went off…oh and Ari was naked, poor guy! We quickly grabbed valuables and the diaper bag and headed out, thankfully a lot of people were in their pajamas, but I think I was the only one carrying a naked baby! Someone had burned popcorn…you could smell it all through the hallways and only a few floors were evacuated, Nate stopped on a floor where the alarm wasn’t going off. Ari and I kept going, because I wanted to get some drinks from downstairs anyway…I did eventually get him dressed, and we waited outside for a little while and when they said it could be a little while before the elevators worked again…Ari and I headed to the stairs, planning to climb 8 flights, but thankfully, right as we passed the elevator, they turned on and we got on and missed the line!

In the morning, we packed up and went over to the mall, where we shopped for a while and had lunch…and then Kaden left with his Grandmommy to go spend a few days at her house all by himself and then fly home!!! We didn’t tell him until we got to the mall and he saw her…he thought it was a great surprise!

Out to lunch…

2011-06-13T22:28:00.000-05:00

This morning, the boys slept in and then the big boys headed to the pool with Nate while Ari and I went to Cracker Barrel with Aunt Bev and Granny. I think Ari had the greatest time eating Granny’s beans and my pancakes! He was just full of smiles, right now if you blow on his face, he crinkles his nose and smiles…so cute! We had a really nice time, wish we lived closer!

A Visit to Polk City…

2011-06-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

On Sunday morning of our vacation, we woke up early and drove over to go to church and have lunch with the boys’ great-grandparents. After lunch, the boys had a fun time playing…I was in the kitchen and could hear them laughing as their great-grandpa tickled them! They had a great time with Granny too, still not sure why they put a leaf in her hair!

Later that evening we met Grandmommy and Granddaddy for dinner and then a walk outside in Celebration…somehow I didn’t take any pictures!