The Outdoor Type

That's what our little man is fast becoming. He used to just watch as people would walk out the door. But now, the second the door opens, his little foot is stepping out and he's trying for all he's worth to make a break for it. And if we bring him back inside, he gets mad. REALLY mad. He LOVES being outside! For the first few minutes after he gets outside and realizes that he is actually getting to stay outside, he just walks around and laughs. It's so cute. And funny. He likes to explore all by himself, but he also likes to see what his sisters are doing. If they are on the trampoline, he wants to be on the trampoline. If they are on the swing, he wants to be there too.



Today he climbed all the way up the ramp by himself, with me watching him every step of the way, of course. But he didn't need any help.



He thinks he is as big as his sisters.



Sarah was trying to get him to come over and go down the slide with her, but he wouldn't.



Because he's big.



And he can do it all by himself.



At least that's what he thinks.



He even likes to swing by himself, but this time he wanted to swing with Sarah.



And she was more than glad to let him.

A Beautiful Day

It's always a beautiful day when you get to spend it at the temple.



But when it's spring, and the flowers are in full bloom, and your family is there, it is even more beautiful.



We spent the afternoon doing sealings for family members from both sides of Aaron's family. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Gregg, Mike, JJ, Amy and Shane, and Kent and Johnice were all there too. I have done sealings before, but this was an extra special experience to do this work for our family. I didn't know any of them, but Aaron said he remembers some of them, and Amy said she remembers all of them. We had the opportunity to do multiple sealings (sealing all of the siblings to parents at one time--normally only one child is sealed to the parents at a time), which is done a little differently than single sealings. The sealer said only happens when you are there to do the work for your own family members. It was such a wonderful blessing to be part of this special day. Thanks to Sarah Beth and Claire for making it possible for Aaron and I to both be able to be there. They watched our sweet babies while we went inside.



And they took some family pictures for us too. Here John is signing that he wants "milk".



Then I took some pictures of my sweet babies. The flowers on the temple grounds were absolutely beautiful.



And so are these two sweet girls.



They kept walking around the fountain and I was afraid they were going to fall in, but they didn't.

My sweet Katie.



She is such a happy girl.



And my sweet Sarah.



She would not stop walking around the fountain.



And she wasn't happy when I made her get down.



John David was SO not interested in picture taking.



The girls tried to get him to cooperate.



They tried hard.



But it was a losing battle.



He was not very happy.



He was so tired.



My two favorite men on the planet.



Me and my sweet boy.



Here he is signing that he wants to eat.



Did I mention how tired he was?



My favorite picture of the day. I am so grateful for temples and for the sacred ordinances that are performed inside that make it possible to have an eternal family.

Just Help Yourself Little Man

This afternoon I was talking to Aaron in the kitchen as he was just coming in from church. I didn't even notice that John David had pulled the kitchen stool over to the counter and what he was doing until Aaron looked over at him and started laughing. I couldn't help but laugh too. This boy is too smart!



Hey, what's this?



Mmm! That's pretty good.



I think I'll have another taste.



Yum!



Opps! Hi Mom.



Am I in trouble?

Good News & Bad News

THE BAD NEWS--John David has become infatuated with the broom, and likes to carry it around the house.



THE GOOD NEWS--He can't take it to the places that I don't like for him to go.

Whatever Happened to Free Agency

Mine was taken away by my husband. Last week he was talking to Andrea about riding in the Tour LaFitte, and he asked if I wanted to ride too. I told him maybe someday I would, but I am not in any kind of shape to ride right now. So he told her, "Yeah, she'll ride with you." I was wondering if the words I thought I said didn't actually come out. When he got off of the phone with her, he said, "I'm so proud of you." I said, "Honey, I didn't say yes. I can't ride right now. I need to get in shape. And I don't even have a bike." So on our way home from the temple on Thursday, he fixed that excuse. We rode right by a bike shop that was having a huge sale. They had over 500 bikes out in the parking lot. So we stopped, and I "test drove" at least 5 bikes around the parking lot. It was really fun. And here is what I picked out.



When we were filling out the paperwork at the store (who knew you had to fill out paperwork to buy a bike?) it said the color was "root beer". I have never liked root beer, so I am calling the color "chocolate" instead.



I went on my first ride this morning and it was SO fun! I rode 3 miles, which I think is pretty good for my very first ride, since I was probably about 10 years old. So I think I might actually do the 10 mile ride at the Tour LaFitte. I guess sometimes it's a good thing to have your free agency taken away. Thanks Honey!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Nine things about our awesome nine year old.

1. She has a great personality, is very kind and considerate, and tries to be friends with everyone. She is also a wonderful big sister, and is always looking out for John David and Sarah.

2. She doesn't like school, but wants to be a teacher when she grows up. ?

3. Her favorite color right now is lime green.

4. She is still a picky eater, and refuses to eat hamburger, steak, or pork. However, she loves Daddy's deer sausage, boiled crawfish, and Daddy's fried catfish. She still likes to eat green bell pepper like an apple, and also loves cucumbers, strawberries, and kiwi. She recently decided that she likes to eat salad, but without salad dressing.

5. She loves to share her testimony at church on fast Sundays.

6. She has just started doing things that she knows I would like her to do, without me having to ask her to do them. (LOVE that!)

7. She is still enjoying piano lessons with Maw Maw and is doing very well.

8. She loves to go to the movies, shop, ride her bike, spend time with her family, and play with her brother and sister and her friends.

9. She still likes to do little girl things, like playing babies and barbies. I love that she's not trying to grow up too fast.

Happy Birthday sweet pea! We love you so much!

"Party in the USA"

This year Katie wanted to have a sleepover for her birthday, and a Hannah Montana theme. So she invited some friends over on Friday night and the party began. First we had pizza for dinner.



Then we had a lip sync contest. I divided the girls into three groups and let them pick which Hannah Montana song their group wanted to perform. They really got into it, and it was pretty entertaining. They each received their own microphone for participating and doing such a good job performing.



Then we played Hannah Montana Bingo, and had mini candy bars for prizes. We played "blackout" for the last round so that everyone could get a prize.



When Aaron FINALLY got home from the ring ceremony he had to perform at church, Katie opened up her presents. We couldn't figure out what to get her, so we gave her money to go get what she wanted. She was pretty excited about it, and the other gifts she got as well.



Then we sang "Happy Birthday" to our birthday star, and let her blow out the candles. I love how she got cracked up at herself when she didn't blow out a single one on the first try. I made her this guitar cake using my Daddy's shaped aluminum foil pan method. You just cut out whatever shape you want out of cardboard, cover it with aluminum foil, and then form aluminum foil around the sides to form a pan. I have never bought a shaped pan because I always make my own. I have used this method to make a teapot, a flower, Scooby Doo's Mystery Van, the Hi-5 hand (and others that I can't think of right now) and it has always worked out great. Thanks Dad!



Friday morning we found out that Sarah had Strep Throat. I told the doctor that we were supposed to have a slumber party, and asked if it would be okay. She said that as long as no one ate or drank after Sarah, and as long as she wasn't coughing or sneezing on people, it should be fine. We tried to get her to go to Aaron's parents' house, but she of course wanted no part of that. So we told her if she would wear a mask to make sure she didn't get anyone else sick, she could stay. She agreed, and at one point passed out masks to Katie's party guests when one of them asked if they could have one.



John David had been with Johnice most of the day while I was taking Sarah to the doctor and getting things all ready for the party. She brought him over about 8PM, and he was in heaven with all of the girls and the attention he was getting from them.



We also made body glitter, which was a huge hit with the girls. They all loved it! It was so fun, and it works great too!

We got them all settled down to watch a movie around 9:30PM, and they were finally all asleep around 11PM. The next morning, Aaron went and got doughnuts for them all and we sent them home all sugared up! It was a fun, fun party!