Ollie Walks

 Ollie has been busy on his feet for the past few days and this morning he took three tiny steps from one couch to another. I can see it in his eyes, he wants to play with the big kids! He is growing up so fast. I suspect he will be running in just a few weeks trying to keep up with Reid.

Bonfire

 Nothing like a small fire in the backyard to kick off the weekend. No s'mores this time around but it was very nice to hang out with the kids and just play in the backyard.

Ollie figured out that the swing was a LOT of fun. It was cute to watch him kicking his feet and giggle at whichever big kid decided to push him.

My Ramona

I always loved the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Ramona was so different than I was. Always curious, always rascally, always getting into stuff that seemed fun. God gave me a Ramona of my very own when I gave birth to Lucy.

Lucy came off the bus today with bright pink marker on her eyelids and glitter all over her face. She also had writing all over her arms. I have no explanation for her behavior. She knew that she was going to get fussed at over the whole thing too because she tried to hide her face from me as soon as she walked in the door. How she anticipated keeping it from me forever I will never know.

When I asked her about it she informed me that she didn't realize her friend was writing on her. I informed her that no one can color on your eyelids like that without you being aware. That stumped her but she acknowledged that she did let her friend do it. Oh the fun that I am having with my girl. Who knows what she is going to think up next.

Happy Easter

So we had half of the family down for the count with the flu this year. I got sick Saturday and was completely unable to help with any of the stuff. Eric had to do all the prep work for the Easter baskets and the egg hunt.

 He did a great job with all of it and it was completely prepped and ready to go. Right around 4 am when we were dealing with one puking child or another we discovered that Calvin the Wonder Dog had gone downstairs and eaten all of the chocolate in all of the baskets.

 We are not thrilled with the dog at this moment. But regardless of sick kids and sick mom and a slew of Easter baskets without candy it is still a nice day and I am still thankful for Jesus. And that is what Easter should be all about.

Easter Eggs!

Mr. Ollie was not quite big enough to be trusted with a cup of hot food coloring. Maybe next year!

Everyone was super excited to dye eggs. This year I hard boiled 36 eggs. Shockingly we will go through those in less than a week. My kiddos love hard boiled eggs and egg salad sandwiches. It is even one type of sandwich that Reid will happily eat!

Hooray for Easter!

Notable Project

Andrew has been hard at work on his Notable Leader project for school. I have been so impressed with his study skills. He has spent evening time reading his biographies for school and taking notes in bed. He has stayed on top of his deadline and has been self directed in making sure that he has the things completed when they need to be turned in. I could not ask for better responsibility from him. He is set up to rock the change to middle school. Proud mama of this boy!

Cuuuuuuute!

Love these pj's and the little face wearing them! He is growing so quickly and it will be time to celebrate his first birthday in just a few weeks. Can't hardly believe it.

Testing Zane

So we are testing Zane for the highly capable program. He is doing very well in school and has surpassed pretty much everything available in 2nd grade. Ok, he surpassed it all within the first semester. I don't know. He is super smart and catches on extremely quickly. I hate to say he is bored in school because he really loves school but he doesn't take much repetition to learn something. His teacher this year has done a good job pushing him on in the areas she could. He reads amazing, his math is outstanding, his writing is top notch. We will see if he ends up getting into the program. He could just be an outstanding student. Only time and the tests will show.

Reid Isaiah: 3 Year Old Well Child Check

Met with our pediatrician today for Reid's 3 year old well child check and Reid is doing wonderful! I looped her in with all the information we have gotten from the allergy testing and about all the weird bacteria and blood and yeast overgrowth. I needed her to have a complete idea about what is going on with him! He is growing well and even though I was really worried about his weight (he seems so skinny right now) he is right on track. In fact he has even gained some percentage points since last year which was wonderful to hear. Unless we have issues we are cleared for another year.

Height: 38.75" (80%)
Weight: 35 lbs. (81%)

Oliver Benjamin- 11 Months Old!

One short month until sweet Ollie boy turns 1 year old. It is impossible to think that he is this old already. Time really does fly!

Spider Baby

Somebody thinks he is bigger and more agile than he really is! We left a bin next to the couch and next thing I see is this little monkey climbing up. I managed to grab this picture right before he toppled over to the ground. He really wants to be as big as the rest of the kids.