The Botanical Gardens...

Michael and I took the kids to the Botanical Gardens a couple weeks ago to try to get some pictures of the kids. We went with a different approach this time...we just pretty much let them play and stopped them every now and then to take a picture. I think we were all much happier with that plan! The boys were running around so much and Anderson's hair ended up pretty sweaty, but at least there were no tears! Here are a few of my favorites of each of them...

A few random ideas....

Several of you asked me for the recipe for the bath paint, so here's the directions on family fun--it's so easy! Also, here's another random tip I wanted to pass along. A friend of mine gave me the idea to mix formula with rice cereal (I know it says that's an option on the package but I never did it the first 2 times). I decided to use that this time around instead of water or breastmilk, and now that I've just weaned Collier from a feeding it's been so much easier! She's already used to the taste of the formula, so it's been super easy to start the transition!! I wish I'd thought of that with the boys! Okay, one more thing...I've always been REALLY bad about writing down all the funny things the boys say. I got an idea from Family Fun a couple months ago that's been pretty good--I bought a spiral journal for each of the kids that I keep by my bed. At the top of the page I write the month, and then through that month I can just jot down some things I want to remember about the kids. Sometimes I still forget, but it's definitely helped me keep track of things better than before!

Fun, fun, and more fun!

Last week was such a fun week! One day I got to go to Griffin's class to read Clifford (they were studying the letter "C")--we made dog bones out of peanut butter, dry milk, and honey...they each formed their own, and it was so much fun!

He had already flattened his dog bone and started eating it!
Such a sweet class! It was a treat for me to get to spend time with them!

One day while Griffin was at school, we had some of Anderson's buddies over to play. They made homemade bath paint--super easy and fun! My precious buddy was the only one to dump some of his on the ground, try out the taste of the soap, and put his hands in the food coloring. Craft time at its finest!

If you look closely in this picture you can see the bubbles on his lips!
He was Mr. Blue Hands for the entire day!
They had a great time in the bath tub that night!!

Another very exciting treat for the week was when Griffin got to bring home "Proud Lion." He was beaming when I picked him up and so proud of himself! He had a great time with "Proud," as he nicknamed him, making a home for him, sleeping with him, etc. Hopefully Proud can come spend the night again sometime!

Labor Day at the beach, and oh what fun it is to take a family picture of the five of us....

Over Labor Day we went to the beach with 2 other couples...we had 8 kids in one house, and Griffin was the oldest at barely five (9 kids if you count the one in Stacey's tummy)! Can you imagine the chaos? Collier was the only girl...so seven boys in one house is even funnier! I really meant to take a picture of all 8 of them together, but it just never happened--we were just happy to keep all of them fed and safe! The kids had a blast!!!

The boys with Charlie and Collin!
Stacey made us an "O'Neal Family Fun" box--it had a great book with family activities centered around verses from the Bible, as well as some of the materials you need to do some of the activities! She is so creative--we're so excited about it!!!
The Smith Family!
The Meagher Family!

Okay, there are many, many things I'm sure I'll one day miss when my sweet children are older, but trying to take a family picture with 3 little ones will not be one of them. We tried hard this time, but didn't get ANY with all five of us looking at the camera, with eyes open and smiling! I keep trying, thinking one has to surely turn out right, but so far no luck! Michael and I end up sweating and irritable by the end every time...please oh please tell me it gets easier when they get a little older!!!!

This last one makes me laugh out loud when I look at it, because I can just hear Michael and I yelling, "KISS YOUR SISTER! KISS YOUR SISTER RIGHT NOW OR I'M GOING TO SPANK YOU!!!!!"

Anderson Starts MDO!!!

Anderson started MDO last week! He was really looking forward to it since Griffin has already been in school for a couple weeks. It has been fun to have more time to spend with him, but I think he was glad to be able to play with some friends. He's going two days a week this year, and so far he's off to a great start!

His class had a "teddy bear picnic" the first day, so he got to bring his favorite stuffed animal!

His wonderful teachers, Mrs. Jennie and Mrs. Mikelyn

Here are a couple other pictures from the past couple weeks:

The boys love wearing their cowboy gear...here is Anderson telling Griffin to "Stick 'em up!"

9 Months and Collier's Room!

Our sweet girl is 9 months old! Here are some pics of her from the past couple weeks...
Several of you have asked me to post some pictures of Collier's nursery, and I can't believe I'm just now doing it and she's nine months old! Better late than never I hope! The truth is, I haven't taken any pics before now because I kept hoping I'd be able to do a few more things....well hopefully I will one day but I guess I'm giving up on that for now! The other reason I haven't posted pictures before is that it rarely looks like this...usually it is sprinkled with random cars and other toys the boys have left while running through the room and folded laundry that I keep waiting to jump up and put itself in the drawers! Her room was really fun to do--such a sweet little place to be! It's as girly as it could be with light shades of pink, green, and yellow. I know as she gets older she'll have strong opinions about her room, and she'll probably want bright colors, so I figured while she's easy to please I would go with sweet shades that make the room look like it's been there forever.



My sweet friend, Stacey, helped me paint the harlequins on the wall and with this bed crown, and my mother-in-law made the bumper pad for me! The green looks a little strange in this picture...not sure why it did that.

My parents purchased this sideboard that I'm using as her changing table...a piece she'll hopefully have when she's grown. I was thrilled when I found it because it has diamonds and fleur-de-lis like her fabrics...hope she loves it as much as I do!




Nana and Poppy gave her this table and chairs for Christmas last year!
One of my sweet friends, Sarah, painted this gorgeous painting for me...wish I was this talented!
This shelf has some fun little things..my favorite is the sampler my grandmother made with her birth weight, etc! I love this little bench...hopefully one day I'll make a little cushion for it with her fabrics!