mud puddles

This is what happens on a rainy day at camp...the kids were diving in the mud puddles. Then Levi was jumping up and down to splash and jumped so hard his jeans fell down.

I wonder how that mud tastes?

giggles

Makes me laugh when he giggles.

Pool day!

First a bonus cute baby shot... These are the days we look forward to all year. Here's Noah, Levi, Annette and Mya in the pool. Jesse is on the ladder. Gramma brought the twins in too, so the only one who didn't get in the pool was Silas - he slept.

Annette got this boat on clearance for Jesse last year for really cheep. Jesse was so excited to drive it until it flipped and dunked him. Noah and Levi took over then and had a ball. It doesn't go very fast, but they love to drive it all around the pool.

Final Sunday of Camp

These two girls are Evangeline and Elizabeth. They are the identical twins who taught the kids all week. The boys absolutely love them - especially Levi. It was so hard to tell them apart because the dressed a lot alike all week long and even do their hair the same. It was fun to tell twin stories with them about Matthew and Michael.

Levi and Jaren hanging out on the rocks they decided were theirs.
Noah with his good buddies - Brittany Shumway, and cousins Lucas and Caleb.

Camp

Been enjoying camp this week. The kids have had fun with lots of friends. Mostly sunny days except for one day it poured and they had an absolute ball sliding through the mud puddles.

Levi acquired two little girlfriends - here's Brooklyn Shumway who he spent most of his time playing with. He was also seen walking around holding hands with little Toni and he was quite popular with the older women too.

Morning

Levi climbed into the crib with Silas again in the morning. He pulled in some blankets and stuffed animals and moved Silas down into a little nest he made. Here are my two little thumb suckers. Silas wouldn't look at me b/c he was working so hard on trying to get milk from his thumb.

Look what Silas has discovered!

His thumb!!! Those are some pretty strong genes...three for three my boys have been thumb suckers. Silas is pretty funny b/c he knows what he wants, but has to really work to get just his thumb in his mouth, so he REALLY concentrates on it. If he doesn't get it just right, you can hear him smacking really loudly on it. He often doesn't know enough to curl the rest of the fingers into a fist, so he ends up with them in his nose or eyes but that doesn't stop him.

I love this stage when they can sleep anywhere and through anything. (With the two older brothers he has this is an important skill!) I also love that he has the mobility of a potted plant - he stays exactly where I put him. No worries about him getting into mischief!

More fireman's drill team

This one is the "bucket brigade" our favorite race. It was hilarious b/c Levi kept throwing the "buckets" as far as he could so that Noah had to really get a workout. They said the skateboard was their race car and the large tricycle was their class B truck. Both ended up soaked and sandy but we all had lots of fun.

Fireman's races

Last week they were running horseshow in the yard...this week it's the fireman's drill team. Very amusing to watch. These guys get pretty creative w/their props.

Complaining Silas is still cute!

My adorable little guy. He wakes up so happy in the morning and it's getting to be so cute how he 'talks' to get my attention. Here's what I found in the crib the other morning. Silas seemed to think he was pretty cool to be with the big boys. Noah and Levi didn't want me to get him up even tho he desperately needed a change.

Silas wouldn't smile.

Happy 4th of July

One more of Jenna from the parade I forgot to put below. Hard to believe how big the twins have gotten.

More parade...

Blake was fascinated by the parade - especially all those big trucks - that boy LOVES to watch how trucks work - he's a born mechanic!

Jenna with Papa of course. I'm not sure which one wins for the whitest hair!

I thought this was cute - Noah really looks up to his Daddy. Also in the picture Lee one of Michael's employees on the EMS bike. As you can see, we had a rainy 4th of July, but at least it didn't stop Michael and Noah from fishing and it was clear enough to see the fireworks.

Like trying to herd cats - 4th of July parade

Silas at his first parade. He slept through all the sirens and air horns at the end as well as Mommy scrambling for candy so the kids wouldn't go too far out in the street. My Ergo Baby carrier has been such a good investment - tho Mrs. Saxton says it makes me look 9 months pregnant again. Jesse just adores Noah and Levi. Michael wanted to know which we came to see the parade or the kids - the kids of course!

Jesse looking for Daddy to come down the street. Our tenant Kaysie is in the back ground on the EMS bike - she's a brand new EMT - Congratulations Kaysie!

Here's what happens when you try to get 6 kids together in one shot. Notice Gramma directing in the back ground and I'm not sure where Jesse ended up.

This was the best one we could get. /We didn't even try to get Silas in the picture - he was sound asleep.

Cute Baby!

Noah and Levi entertain Silas well.

Big happy grins.

Waking up happy

Silas is always happiest first thing in the morning. After these were taken, then he had to go to the doctor and get some shots. Now he's not nearly so cheerful, but rather fussy all afternoon. He measures in the 90th percentile for weight and 97th for height...I KNEW he was a moose!

Silas makes funny faces

He's always sticking out his tounge and blowing bubbles. He's started making the cutest sounds while he does it.

And here's a smile tho not the most beautiful - not easy to catch a picture because he keeps talking while he smiles usually.

And here's the eye brows...he makes the most hilarious faces with those eye brows. Definitely gonna get those forehead wrinkles that run in the family at a very young age. Poor little guy - you most surely are your mommy's boy.

Strawberries

We went strawberry picking yesterday. Not the best year we've gone - it took us a lot longer than it usually does, and we got fewer berries. Guess all the rain and cool weather we've had has slowed things down. The boys started out picking, but they actually out of steam because it took us too long. They were "bored and sweating" - ah, mom, now I know what you went through with Josh and I making that complaint all those times!

Silas was the smart one - he fell asleep in the sun surrounded by the smell of strawberries:

And for those of you who doubted that I might have super powers - I can make lots of strawberry jam one-handed while nursing a fussy baby. I only ended up making 10 batches of jam this year to fill my jars - last year I made 13 batches, so I guess I'm slowing down. This stuff does look YUMMY!