Noah, Levi & Silas

Camping

2011-07-13T08:22:00.001-07:00

I know this is over a month late...but better late than never right?

Noah and Levi had two new boats of their own to take camping this year. First was this "mouse boat" my brother made as a gift for the two of them. It was a big hit and Noah loved giving rides to all the littler kids.
Their second boat was this inflatable two man kayak that they save up for almost a year to buy and did all kinds of extra work to earn the money for. It's kinda small for two adults - tho Michael and I have taken it out. For two kids it's great - altho Noah and Levi never agree on how to paddle etc. So we had lots of arguments.

Noah thought he was pretty cool having his own "leatherman" so he spent lots of time around the campfire carving on a stick.

We had enough food to feed an army. Here are three of the 5 coolers we brought with us (for 6 adults and 6 kids).

Here's the family - maybe next year we can bring Silas with us too.

My little native

2011-07-13T08:18:00.001-07:00

I guess I should be happy he has clothes on - my boys seem to be alergic to clothing. This is a set that was left from when Matt and Michael were little. Obviously the play value endures.

Happy Birthdays

2011-05-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

Every birthday, the boys want a fancy cake. Every year I swear is the last year I'll put so much time and energy into it. This year was supposed to be simple - somehow it still took 4 or so hours to decorate. Since it's so much work, I said that this cake had to be for both Silas' and Levi's birthdays. Guess now they'll have the short end of the deal having birthdays only a week apart.

Birthday boy had trouble blowing out all those candles - 7 for him and 2 for Silas. Cousin Jesse was more than willing to help out as was Blake who couldn't stop blowing once he saw the candles.

Silas enjoying his cake and ice cream and wanted "MORE!" On your birthday I guess you can have two helpings. He polished both off in record time.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Easter mornings shouldn't be so chaotic! But they are fun. The boys were too excited to eat much breakfast...so we had to get on with hiding and finding easter baskets.

Noah was delighted to get the one thing he was hoping for - squirt guns.

Then they had to put up with their mother taking lots of pictures... Here are the best of many:

Don't they look adorable?! Noah is growing up too quickly and wouldn't like to be called adorable. Not sure how many more years he'll go for the matching outfits either - but I'm enjoying dressing my little men while they let me.

Levi still sporting his (in)famous crew cut and showing off the contents of his easter basket. In spite of his innattention issues and anxiety, life can be relatively uncomplicated for him. I love that he still brings me any flower he finds like it's such a treasure (including picking daffodils at the inn last week - oops).

My sweet "baby" who is learning to talk back (he mastered "NO!" last week and his cousins have taught him "MINE!) and has a million opinions...he looks angelic tho! Usually he's on the go and squirms if you hold him for more than 10 seconds - but at times he still wants to cuddle and I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

And Noah, my almost ten year old who is already starting to roll his eyes at me and answer often with "whatever!" I practically had to bribe him to smile, but at times he still shows me that thoughtful caring sweet side and I know he's still my dear little boy.

And we even managed to sneek mom and dad into the mix:

After all that, they had a few minutes to crash on the couch before church.

Block Island Vacation

2011-04-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

For once the kids' school vacation fell after April 15, so we planned out "an adventure" as Levi termed it. Michael and I had visited Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island way back before children, and determined we'd go back someday.

This is such a beautiful unique spot. More than 1/2 of the island is conservation land and there are over 360 fresh water ponds. You have to take a ferry out of Galilee, RI since it's 11+ miles off the coast.

We had to be at the ferry an hour before our reservation for sailing time. Michael had to back the Freestyle up into a really tight spot on the ship...so tight we all had to climb out the rear window b/c the doors couldn't open.

Once we made our escape from the car, we headed up on deck (2 floors up) to enjoy the sunshine. It was such a beautiful day. As soon as the ferry pulled away from the dock Levi's eyes lit up and he said "I think we are on an adventure!" That right there was worth the whole trip!

We stayed at the beautiful 1661 Inn this room with a wrap around deck, jaccuzzi, and gorgeous view of the ocean. At night, you could see the lights from the mainland just on the horizon and hear the waves and peepers in the salt marsh.

A major part of the adventure was the boys getting to go "horseback" riding (on ponies) for the first time. They were so excited, but a bit unsure of what to expect. When they found out their pony's names were Flash and Ariel, Levi pronounced that Ariel was a girl's name, so he wanted to ride Flash. He changed his mind pretty quickly when he saw that Ariel was much smaller and less intimidating than Flash.

The man who was their trail guide was quite the character...we couldn't decide if he was a pirate or a hippy...but I'm sure he's had his share of pot over the years. It only added to the adventure when he told them pirate stories as they rode to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Both boys decided they wanted to bring their ponies home with them. I wonder how much a pony costs on the ferry?

Our second day on the island we hiked the "Clay Head" trail. It starts out at sea-level and they boys had a ball throwing rocks in the ocean and collecting the prettiest ones.

As we hiked along, we got higher and higher up the cliffs. Here the boys are 30+ feet above the ocean tho you can't tell it from the picture

In this spot I believe you are more than 40 feet up - again, the picture kind of flattens your perspective.

Beautiful Block Island: Everywhere you look is another fresh water pond. Stone walls stretching in every direction. Lots of wildlife...tho the island has no squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons or skunks (interesting!).

Daffodils right along side the trail. There were many of these on the island. It's also loaded with blackberry bushes.

The best shot I got of the edge of the bluffs. We were maybe 70 to 80 feet up here. Needless to say we were a bit nervous about how daring the boys were getting closer and closer to the edge.

Back at our inn: Beautiful grounds. The Innkeeper keeps quite a menagerie. They have many different kinds of animals including a zebu, zedonk (1/2 zebra, 1/2 donkey), a camel, some kind of highland steer (huge slightly scarey snorting animal), fainting goats (would have loved to see why they are called that), llammas, a miniature horse, and several other types of exotic animals.

A few more exotic creatures to add to the mix:

Such a sweet spot. Wouldn't want to pay the price to stay there in "high season", but it was such a peaceful get away - just what I needed. The phenominal breakfast buffet each morning did nothing to help me do away with 5 or so extra pounds I have left over from tax season.

Our room was facing the ocean, ground floor on the end. The boys want to go back every year, but it will be awhile before their vacation and my schedule line up again.

Spring!

2011-04-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

Silas breaking the law...no phones while driving in New York State! He carries on quite a "conversation" with whoever in on the other end of the line, but not in English For those who don't really believe that I still have 4 foot snow banks around my house. Actually, it has shrunk a bit since then with the rain and warm weather - but it's still at least half this size.

Three little monkeys out enjoying the rain...not a dry pair of footwear in the house because the puddles are so irresistable.

I got to my mother-in-law's house to pick them up after work yesterday and found them doing this...

I guess it's a good thing they stripped off their clothes first but that water must be frigid. Notice lots of snow in the background and on the lawn all around the puddles. They were having a seriously good time, so I even stripped the little guy and let him join in the fun.

Whiteface!

2011-03-24T16:18:00.003-07:00

Fun time today with Michael and the boys. Beautiful conditions and not at all busy because it's midweek. Noah and Daddy did a couple of black diamond trails including Skyward and McKenzie - his first time. Levi was able to ski from the Gondola for the first time and LOVED all the jumps in the terrain park. We came home happy but very tired.

The trees at the top of the Wilmington trail were all outlined in ice and snow - a winter wonderland.

Michael's latest project

2011-03-15T17:48:00.001-07:00

He spent all day putting down laminate tile and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! Makes the kitchen feel a lot bigger. He still needs to do the under cabinet kick plates - but I'm amazed that he got the whole thing done in one day. The tile has brown and green to match the cabinets, you can't really tell from the flash pictures:

Bonus, cute baby thinking about who knows what:

Project complete!

2011-03-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

So exciting! Happy Dance! Really makes the whole project come together. Actually, to be honest, there is still the threshold at the bottom of the stairs, but otherwise, it's finally done.

Michael widened the doorway here and it makes it feel so much more open. Love it.

Levi and a pair of scissors...bad idea...

2011-02-21T19:43:00.001-08:00

Well, here's how it all went down... I was on the phone with my Mom and doing taxes on the computer at the same time. Michael was cutting Noah's hair in the kitchen and apparently not aware of where his extra pair of hair scissors might be. All the sudden Levi comes bombing out of the bathroom and hides behind my chair, then slowly climbs up into my chair and stage whispers "I have to tell you something!" My response was to tell daddy since I am very busy, but then he says urgently, "I accidentally cut my hair." He immediately had my full attention. Oh My! What a hack job he had done to himself:

He REALLY cut the front short! After appropriate exclamations...I went back to my phone call and tax return, leaving Daddy to try to salvage the situation. Levi was very apologetic saying over and over again "I'll never cut my hair again, never!" This was the end result:

...hmmm...that's a seriously short crew cut we've got going on here. Too bad it's winter and below zero out right now since this is a much more summer ready look:

Glad I got this shot of the three of 'em together on Sunday since it'll take a few months to grow back out:

Silas is fascinated by the hair cutting ritual. He wants another stool right in front of which ever one of the boys is in the hot seat so he can get as close as possible and he cheers wildly for who knows what reason. He couldn't wait to climb up on the stool for his turn, but then of course he is a complete wiggle worm. Here he's looking mighty serious.

You'll have to forgive Michael's outfit, he took the boys XC skiing and never bothered to change out of his long johns.

As I said before...never a dull moment!

Happy Boys

2011-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

Silas wants piggy back and horsey rides from Noah all the time. Noah is a good big brother and happy to oblige.

These three little guys keep us on our toes with never a dull moment.

January Fun

2011-01-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

So cold outside there today...too cold to go outside to excersize this AM. While I was doing Wii Fit, Levi and Silas cuddled up where they could watch the show.

Levi has started ski lessons at Pisgah since I've determined that with Michael and I he will never learn to ski off of the harness.

Here he is eating snow - which he does a lot of. His lessons are with cousin Jesse and Madison Henry who's next to him in the picture.

Trying to ride the T-bar lift for the first time. They were too different in height, so they didn't stay on very well. By the end of the night, Levi was riding the lift up by himself. Yeah for progress!

And now I'll brag on my husband who's never really done electrical work before. We downloaded the wiring diagrams for a two way switch and here's the result! My beautiful new light over the stairs. I love it!

Three peas in a pod

2011-01-10T10:30:00.001-08:00

Sweaters bought by Gramma Withe. Don't they look handsome.

Noah and Silas cuddling in front of the fire...

The beginnings of cedar railings...a long way to go but lookin' good.

Stair project is still ongoing

2010-12-31T19:25:00.001-08:00

Last week I got the curtains made for the storage under the stairs. There are black bears and rustic wood/birch bark printed on the fabric. The window curtain is only temporary as I didn't have the kind of curtain rod that I needed. Gramma Marshall's homemade braided rug matches the rustic way the room has started to come together and adds a nice touch at the base of the stairs.

Walls both upstairs and down were freshly painted brownish-beige today. Stairs are still plywood as carpet will be the last step completed.

Nice office area at the top of the stairs. This used to be Noah and Levi's bedroom. The railings are temporary - the next step is building cedar railings. New overhead light is in the box to the right of the stairs...I was pretty happy as the bears on the light fixture match the bears in the curtains I made for the understair storage area.

Bonus cute baby and suicidal Jedi...

From downstairs looking up. The big desk was a family heirloom from my Grandmother and is quite a unique item with all kinds of neat cubby holes and drawers.

Not to shabby for two non-carpenters to put together. Seems like every day when I come home from work Michael has done something new on the room. Finishing the wood alone took weeks. And the best part of the whole thing is that by adding this stair case we now have two bathrooms, double the living space and storage space we never had before.

After this project is done it gets even more fun - a whole new Master Bedroom complete with a fire place.

More Christmas pictures

2010-12-30T03:10:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful Christmas we had. Parents gone home now and getting the house back in order. The tree will probably come down tomorrow. I always miss the decorations once they are gone.

Christmas with both sets of Grandparents.

2010-12-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

Matching PJ's that were a bonus of my early morning black Friday run at 4AM...Noah and Levi were pretty excited to match Silas.

Mommy and Daddy's birthday and Christmas present to each other. It was deliverd at 7 on Christmas Eve and it sure beats the old broken, ripped, pilled one that was taken away.

Decorating Christmas cookies as a family. The ones the boys did had more frosting and sprinkles than cookie.

Noah giving Silas a taste of frosting.

Noah was singing while he worked.

This is how we saw Papa Davey all weekend - camera in front of his face.

Noah and Levi had to wait until the clock said 7 before they could get up. I was awakened at 7:06 by the thunder of them charging upstairs and out to the fireplace.

Even Papa Davey had matching PJ's ;-) and his camera of course.

Noah was so anxious for Silas to get up and get his stocking he kept asking me what time it was every 5 minutes - driving me crazy. Finally shortly after 8 he woke up and they both helped him discover the contents of his stocking.

Silas's big gift was his Step2 train table. Michael and I brought it in and put it together after the boys went to sleep. We put the cover on and Silas spent the morning climbing over it while we opened gifts - he had no clue it was for him.

Once we took the top off, we knew it was an instant hit. He didn't want to go to sleep and had to have some aggressive encouragement when it was nap time. At bed time he snuck out of bed to play with it and it was the first thing he went for to play with when he woke up in the morning.

We went to my in-laws in the afternoon for round two. Here is the result of a Christmas gag gift that keeps on giving. Annette gave him the hat and boxers as a joke one year and now every year he adds something new to the outfit. The suspenders were a new addition this year.

Silas packs himself up as a Christmas present:

Jenna was in the middle of a potty training crisis - Silas and Mya tried to get into the action and we found them in the bathroom, they insisted the door had to be shut and they were each sitting on a potty laughing to each other. Here Silas saw me open the door and was getting down to push it closed.

My parents tried out my big Christmas gift - the Wii Fit Plus. Sure made for some good laughs.

Silas up to mischief

2010-12-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

Silas loves this rocking chair that he got from our friend Dell. He always drags it from his room out into the living room to sit and watch videos.

He really wanted to take a bath...of course he's fully clothed and there's not water...but that didn't stop him from trying.

Christmas tree

2010-12-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Life with three boys...

It's snowing outside and now the tree is up.

Silas went to Gramma's while we were decorating so he would try to "help". When he got back he wanted so desperately to touch it, but here he is restraining his hands trying to be good.

Into the woods...

2010-11-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went into the woods to cut our Christmas tree.

It's always handy to bring a Jedi with you into the woods incase things get dangerous ;-)

Mya and Silas met up in the big field.

Levi showing off the tree he cut for his room.

Mya and Silas were fascinated by the bumper and trailer hitch of Papa's truck.

Noah looking very thoughtful and mature. Growing up too fast that boy.

The only way to get all five cousins in the same picture. Left to right: Levi, Jesse, Noah, Silas and Mya.

Daddy and Uncle Matt cutting down a tree.

Mya and Silas peaking out of Papa's truck.

It was a beautiful day. Usually our toes are numb by the time we get back to the house - but this year it was over 50 and WARM. So now we are in the Christmas spirit and ready to decorate.

ARGH

2010-11-15T13:51:00.001-08:00

My three pirates.

Busy busy busy

2010-11-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

A few more construction photos...from a couple weeks ago. Note the lovely shag green carpet - I swore 10 years ago when we bought the house we HAD to replace it ASAP since it was so hideous I couldn't live with it in all three upstairs bedrooms. HA! 10 years later and we're still living with green shag - but we will recarpet and do the stairs soon/in the next couple of months. Hey green shag is coming back in style, maybe we should stick with it - not likely!

Daddy's little helper:

Noah took the camera around to capture all the action - so here's a (not very flattering) rare shot of me in action.

Usually when Noah gets his hands on my camera I find things like this when I download my shots:

Noah and Levi both have requirements to do daily reading for school. Must be Silas was feeling left out because he went and got a picture book and sacked out on the couch with his brothers.

He thought he was pretty cool to be just like his big brothers. I think the thing I've been enjoying most with my little guy is watching how he looks up to his two older brothers and how they enjoy him and work to include him whenever they can - especially Noah.

When Levi was about Silas's age he got this big Pooh Bear for Christmas and it was love at first sight. He was very attached for many years and only in the past couple of months has transferred his attachment to his stuffed Eeyore. Well, Silas saw Pooh downstairs tonight and instantly claimed him as his new best friend. Won't hardly let go of him and loves to "wrestle" with him. Good thing Levi has move on already.

Trick or treat

2010-11-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Obi Wan Kenobi -note the cloak mommy spent 3 hours making the night before since Daddy decided his costume was too plain without it. It's supposed to be dark brown, but I didn't have any brown fabric, so I substituted dark purple and told him he must be a royal Jedi. He didn't seem to mind the color substitution.
A "Fighter-fighter" - to quote Levi - he's missing the really cool air pack that Daddy made for him in this picture - he decided it was a pain to wear it while walking through Main St.

Jedi and mouse:

I don't ususally like mice in my house - but this one is awfully cute.

All dressed up to visit the neighbors.

cutting off his baby curls

2010-11-04T12:54:00.001-07:00

Though I loved his "long" hair that curled around his face, we knew it was probably time for a trim. It was a good 3 plus inches over his collar in the back and always looking wild.

Silas really didn't want a trim and complained loudly the whole time Daddy and I working around his head:

He decided to get over it pretty quickly and headed downstairs to show off his new "do" to his brothers. Note the still under construction stairs.

The end result is kinda cute - but I hate how much older he looks all of the sudden.

Look what we have in our house now!

2010-10-18T07:51:00.001-07:00

Ever since we bought our house 10 years ago, we've been dreaming about doing this. Some people made negative comments to us about buying a 2 family home, but what a wonderful investment it has turned out to be. For 10 years we had the rental income coming in to cover expenses while I took maternity leave times three and also to save up enough money to FINALLY convert it to a single family home. We're going from 1000 sq feet and 1 bathroom - to 2000 square feet and 2 bathrooms (very necessary with three growing boys).

I'm happy to report that all my mad math skillz are actually coming in handy as well as those woodworking classes I took way back in junior high. Carpentry is really lots of angles and calculating and it's impressive when it works - that's not to say it works right the first time every time, but eventually, we get it there. Michael worked all day Friday, and I joined him all day Saturday along with a couple of hours of help from Dad Marshall. We have 9 out of 13 steps completed and soon we'll join the two floors of the house! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!

Silas of course thinks Daddy is putting all this work into building a giant indoor jungle gym just for him:

He immediately heads for the highest point he can reach and protests loudly when you try to remove him from the top.

And oh yeah, here's Daddy's tool bag that I'm not usually allowed to go near - wonder what mischief I can get into before somebody stops me.

There is no doubt that having stairs in this house is going to be an adventure with this little guy around. This week our plans are to finally cut through the floor, complete the last stringer of 3 steps and put up some kind of temporary railings. Then the boys can move into their new rooms downstairs and we'll have some much needed storage space. Obviously there's still lots of work to do, but to see it actually happening is wonderful!

The fair

2010-10-16T03:36:00.000-07:00

Our yearly trek to the Topsfield Fair in MA. Not too many pictures because it was crowded and busy and we were mostly trying to get from place to place without loosing a child or two.

Family shot:

All six Withe cousins:

Silas checking out all the animals.

My guys on the ferry, Monday on the way home.

Banker Orchard

2010-10-03T13:11:00.001-07:00

Tried a new orchard this year for our annual pumpkin patch trip. The kids had a lot of fun. Lots to do before hand while we were waiting for our ride to the pumpkin patch.

Pumpkins!

And here's even a rare picture of me thanks to stealing off of Kim's facebook.

We also got a bushel of apples to make apple sauce - a beautiful fall day!

Mommy and the boys have an adventure

2010-10-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Monsoon season hit last night and all that water knocked apart the downspout connection for the gutters. End result was that we had a flood downstairs...both boys' new bedrooms and the downstairs living room. Daddy is of course away, so mommy and the boys had fun picking up 30+ gallons of water with two shop vacs and my steam cleaner/extractor. Of course little boys left to their own imaginations with a shop vac for any length of time will come up with some amusing/scarey/dangerous uses for it.

Here's the end result when Levi decides to style Silas's baby curls with the smaller of the two...good thing he didn't use the bigger one! He also decided that he would try to dry the seat of his pants where he sat on the wet carpet...the results weren't to his satisfaction.

The end result is that the carpet is no longer splashing wet, just wet to the touch and my back is KILLING me...a couple of motrin and a flexeril and I should be good to sleep for several hours.

Henry's Woods

2010-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

The weather was so gorgeous yesterday we had to get out and do something for fun. We decided to check out "Henry's woods" that is a trail through the Uilein foundation land. The trees are so beautiful this time of year with the leaves starting to fall and change color. The boys kept up ok considering it's a 2.5 mile hike with lots of up and down hill. Noah was wearing his superhero cape (Thanks cousin Ashley) and pretending to be something (not sure what). The bridges over the streams were always a fun thing for the boys to discover. This one is on quite a curve at the bottom of a steep hill - not sure I'd make this one on cross country skiis:

This bridge is suspended by cables and so when you walk on it you bounce around - so the boys had to run over and back several times just for the thrill of throwing each other off balance.

There are several benches made of half logs (with the roots still on one end - way cool looking) set up along the way to rest...

We stopped at one bench to have a snack of crisp local fall apples. The boys weren't happy to sit on the bench with us, but instead had to climb under the closest bridge:

Daddy and Silas sharing apples and coversation. So glad we can get such delish local apples around here - nothing like them any other time of year.

Levi tries to lead Silas astray under the bridge and Silas thinks it's all a big joke.

These are some beautiful old woods. The air was warm with a nice breeze. Levi did well until about 1/2 way when he decided we really should have brought our car because walking was too hard. What a couch potato that boy tries to be;-).

A rare family picture - I think my boys will have no clue what I looked like when they were growing up because there aren't a pictures of me. Not sure why I was making such a strange expression - maybe that's why pictures of me are so few and far between...

busy busy busy

2010-09-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

Not too much to update recently. We've been very busy back to school and swimming lessons and generally up to much mischief. Silas is climbing on everything an getting into everything he shouldn't be. It's such a delight to watch the older two boys with him.

We know the time is getting closer when he will inevitably need his first hair cut...but these curls are so precious - I can't let them go yet!

Happy Birthday Noah.

2010-08-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

Can he really be nine years old already? Sweet child who changed my life forever - first one to call me 'mommy'. I adore watching you take care of your baby brother and you are so responsible and sensitive in everything that you do.

We celebrated Noah's birthday Friday night at our beach house after everyone got home from Boston. We had cupcakes for Noah and Jesse who's b-day is the day after Noah's. They were so excited to get their presents that we all forgot about the cupcakes for a bit - but Jenna didn't, she climbed up on the table and helped herself to some frosting and then generously salted and peppered all the cupcakes that were left - needless to say no more cupcakes were eaten. ;-)

End of vacation

2010-08-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

What a crazy end to our week of vacation. Papa ended up in Boston in the hospital and Gramma, Kimmy, Uncle Matt and Daddy all stayed overnight with him in the ICU waiting room. All day Friday we just hung out at our vacation house and played and let the kids do their own thing. Here's the fund we had on the trampline in the woods: Silas finds his own breakfast in the late morning.

Silas finds these stairs irresistable...scarey to watch, but he handles them well.

Really nice play set on the lawn.

Beach vacation

2010-08-12T06:40:00.001-07:00

My boys riding the waves. Daddy helps Silas enjoy the water.

Happy sandy adorable little guy.

Noah is so good about looking out for his baby brother.

Thoughtful baby surveys the scene.

We are having such a lovely week. Too bad it will be over soon as will our too short summer.

Three peas in a pod...no doubt

2010-07-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

When Silas was a small baby, he was like a carbon copy of Levi at that age. As he's gotten older, he looks more and more like Noah. I can't decide who he looks more like...

Here's Silas today:

Noah atround the same age:And Levi also around the same age.

Oh they are all growing up too quickly!

Sweet boy

2010-07-14T16:30:00.001-07:00

His hair has the cutest curls. Daddy speaks of cutting them off, but mommy won't hear of it. This smile and those eyes simply make me melt.

Somehow he manages to carry on complete conversations without knowing a word of english...it's all in the eyes I think.

Check out those chubby thighs and diaper butt...cuteness overload!

If only he wasn't growing up so quickly. I want to find the brakes and slow time down.

Little league

2010-07-14T16:26:00.001-07:00

Noah's team this year was the Lake Placid Dodgers. He was pretty proud when they made it to the play-offs...it was a long season.

You could always tell when it was Noah up to bat because he always taps his left foot while he's waiting for the pitch:
Waiting for a good hit:

Pure concentration...

Fourth of July

2010-07-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Independance day everyone!

Strawberry picking...

2010-07-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

That time of year again! Silas had to be convinced that Strawberries were good to eat. Unlike everything else that he MUST put in his mouth.

Levi shows off the quart he finally picked once we convinced him he shouldn't just eat them.

And here's the whole crew:

My child laborer helping to make tons of yummy strawberry jam...

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-21T09:49:00.001-07:00

Entering the school Gym for the graduation celebration...he was so happy to see us there and excited to have Gramma Marshall there. Noah came down to join the party after the graduation was over. Doesn't seem like that long since Noah was the one graduating and now he's finishing up 3rd grade.

Levi and his WONDERFUL teacher Mrs. Uliva - she is so gifted and has been great with both of the boys - Noah had her too.

And here is the famous Emma Grace that Levi has decided he's gonna marry when he turns 21. For a 6 year old he's really into girls!

My big first grader all ready to leave Kindergarten for the last time :-(

Why oh why do they have to grow up so fast?

Some older shots that I just got off my camera...

2010-06-21T03:55:00.000-07:00

Noah and Silas at Gramma Withe's house. The three most beautiful children in the world...not that I'm biased or anything.

The four oldest cousins on a dolphin sculpture in Boston. This was just outside the Boston Aquarium...they have so much fun together.

A snake that Noah and Levi found trying to eat a large toad and spent the afternoon torturing. The toad was very happy I'm sure to escape.

Camping trip

2010-06-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Early morning risers. Not many fish were biting. Noah got a small sunfish and Jesse got one too.

Noah, Levi, Abby and Nicolas spent their days playing in the water and on Abby's boat. All four of them on the boat plus Michael decided to join them:

More playing in the water. Marcy doesn't really enjoy canoeing, but she loved being able to run free on the island we stayed on.

And still more playing in and around the water.

Really we could not have asked for more beautiful weather and it was so nice to sit down a relax and read a book. Many thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for watching Silas so I could really relax.

2 birthdays...lots of fun

2010-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Daddy blowing up a "Jump-o-lene" for the boys big gift. Silas couldn't bear to stay off of it and insisted on trying to "help" by crawling all over wherever we were working on it. This was a huge hit with all three boys.

Silas's present from Mommy and Daddy - a lawn mower/popcorn popper. He immediately started running over everyone's feet with it. Cupcakes I made for Levi to take to school - this time I mean it - never again will I make such fancy cupcakes to sent to school - it's too much work. They can have regular cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles.

Just in time for his birthday, Noah taught Levi to ride a two wheeler. He's quite a bit older than Noah was when he learned, but I have not been in a hurry to push the issue. Levi is so much more wreckless and impulsive, I'm sure he's gonna keep me on my toes forever.

Levi and his pirate cake he begged mommy to make. Every year I say I won't do fancy cakes again, and every year the kids ask and I cave in. It's a lot of work for something that is devoured in 15 minutes! Silas seriously ate his ducky cupcake super fast. Big handfuls of cake and frosting EVERYWHERE - including all over mommy!
I kept telling Michael to take more pictures. He said "our other two eat like this all the time and you don't tell me to take pictures of that!"Time for presents - they sure did have fun.

Happy Birthday Levi

2010-05-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

You were such an adorable baby!
But where have the years gone. You love to laugh and even more you love to make us laugh. You are so impulsive and rarely stop to think before acting with your whole heart. You certainly keep our lives interesting!

First birthday...

2010-04-30T01:55:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday Silas. My beautiful third son who brightens all our days.

Up at 4:30 this morning, kind of ironic since a year ago today we had to be up at 4:30 to head to the hospital for Silas's arrival. Can a year really have gone by since then?

Here I am at 9 months pregnant. I felt huge, but actually gained less weight than I did with either of the other boys. Hard to believe I was carrying an almost 9 pound baby..Meeting mommy and Daddy for the first time. We couldn't get over how big you were or how much you looked like your brothers.Happy times in the recovery room. I was so glad that I wasn't in terrible pain like I had been after having Noah or so drugged up I could only sleep like after I had Levi.The boys were so excited to meet you for the first time. Noah had been "afraid you wouldn't be a brother" and he so desperately wanted you to be a boy. When we called to say you were a boy, he was so excited he was jumping up and down. Levi was mostly curious about you - I think he still is since he finds it necessary to experiment with you all the time...My precious little one: You are growing up way too quickly. I miss it, this sweet newborn stage when you snuggled right against me like you really were part of me. Please don't grow up so fast.

Little one up to no good

2010-04-29T03:37:00.001-07:00

Silas supervises while Daddy moves the crib to the lowest setting for my extra big little guy. Trying to play Great-gramma Withe's organ...if he could figure out how to turn it on we'd be in trouble.

Such a cutie! And such a charmer.

I LOVE when babies discover this move. He finds it hilarious and giggles whenever we notice him.

Silas has discovered that he can outsmart some of the child locks on the cabinets...I never know when I'm gonna discover him into the pots and pans or tupperware. I love this expression b/c you can tell he knows he's up to no good.

Easter fun at Gramma's house

2010-04-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hunting for baskets at Gramma's...

Forget about the candy and presents, Silas had the most fun with the bag and tissue paper.

Easter Sunday morning

2010-04-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

The boys were more excited for Silas's Easter basket than he knew he should be.It was so nice to be able to hide their baskets outside - still some snow in the back ground, but it's on the retreat.Aren't they adorable?! I'm so proud of my three adorable little men.

All tired out by all the fun and crashed from their sugar high.

Beautiful spring weather

2010-04-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Levi set up this spot for Silas to cuddle...he thought it was pretty cool.Silas has discovered that he loves to play outdoors. He can spend hours out on the deck watching the boys play in the yard and Daddy doing work. There are still snow drifts in the yard, but the ground is finally coming to light after so many months.

We had the first cookout of the season on Saturday b/c the weather was so nice. The boys had a ball on Kim's new trampoline. I think Levi bounced for an hour straight.

Mya and Levi played on the deck and in the yard with Blake and Jenna.

Mt Joe Hike

2010-03-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bonus cute baby shot. We hiked up Mt Joe and slid down last weekend. It was overcast, but not too cold. We managed to make it down in record time by sliding down the snow on our ski pants.

Back yard bob-sled run

2010-03-28T13:50:00.001-07:00

These are a couple of weeks old, but I'm so busy. So here they are. This was quite the project, Michael and Noah spent many hours outside on winter nights building it. By the time they had perfected it, it was quite dangerous and we insisted on helmets.

Here's Levi in the tunnel they added just for fun. This was really cool when you went down it at night under the lights. And then of course he had to climb on top of the tunnel - good thing it was strong enough to hold him. Our outdoor wood furnace is right next to it.

And here's proof of how much snow we had. Enough that the boys could climb up on the garage roof. Here's Noah and Levi with a couple of their friends.

And here's the bob-sled run in action:

up to no good ;-)

2010-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

Silas is into everything. He loves to take books or movies off the shelf and create a royal mess. If we don't watch him close enough he has no trouble opening the garbage can to get into trouble, or his very favorite is the toilet - Yuck! I left the bathroom door open and my back turned for just a second and the next thing I hear a thud and him complaining. He had managed to fall in the still wet tub headfirst because he was trying to reach something that caught his eye.

Here he's thinking about starting to unload this bookcase...caught in the act.

When he knows he's not gonna get away with it, he gets all lovey dovey. Here's one of his favorite things to do...crawl up to me a grab a big handful of my skirt and either suck his thumb or act all cute and innocent.

Of course all this mischief will tire anyone out so he has to catch up on his rest sometime.

Winter fun

2010-02-22T08:37:00.001-08:00

We started off Saturday cross country skiing. So much fun when the trails are fresh powder but not too slow. Levi is improving. He actually attempted "Noah's run" and only fell a few times on the steepest part of the hill.Silas as usual got the prime ride. He managed to stay awake the whole time this time tho I don't think he quite get's the thrill of skiing. He simply looks around and acts bored and wondering what we're doing to him now.Then we headed up to Mirror Lake to do some ice skating...Levi is just learning to ice skate, so he spends his time pushing around this bucket for balance.When he gets tired he has a built in seat all ready to take a time out of the action.Daddy and Noah love to play hockey. They both warmed up and took off their jackets after just a couple of minutes...it was about 22 degrees outside, relatively warm for around here in February.

Silas slept through the whole experience in the jog stroller VERY bundled up and was oh so toasty warm. I'm sure some people wonder about me skating with a baby in a stroller, but it's that or sit out all the fun.

And all too soon all three of them will be skating circles around me!

Papoose

2010-02-20T09:42:00.001-08:00

Silas grew too big for his baby bucket, so the Bundle me wasn't an option. Thanks to the generosity of my mom's cousin I bought this baby bunting from Gap. We've gotten so many comments on it...makes him look like a little indian baby or a little bear. It does limit his range of motion some, but it's so toasty warm it's worth it.

For times when we don't need such a heavy suit, I got this LLBean model used off ebay for cheep. It works great for quick on/off type situations like shopping etc.

And he likes this one better because he can still crawl when he has it on.

Thank goodness he's not walking yet!

2010-02-19T08:11:00.001-08:00

Waiting to go in the tub! I love to play in the water and don't care if I go in over my head. My favorite times in the tub are when I get to go in and play with Noah and Levi. You can see how proud he is of himself to be standing alone.

Then he tries to take a step, and down he goes...but he keeps on trying.

Standing up means now he has two hands free to play.

Updates

2010-02-07T13:17:00.001-08:00

Silas went to the doctor for his 9 month check up. He's at 80% for weight and 93% for height. 30 inches and 22lb10oz. This outfit he wore to church this morning was Noah's when he was 18 months old...Silas is just 9 months. Another of Noah's outfits from 18 months.

And here's my oh so handsome crew all dressed up for church:

Silas is starting to stand alone and getting into absolutely EVERYTHING. The doctor says he'll probably walk soon...I really hope not. Noah walked at 9 months, Levi at 10 months, I was hoping Silas would wait for 11 months.

Three little men

2010-01-12T16:50:00.001-08:00

Children's Place sweaters Christmas gifts from "Gramma Woody"...

Aren't they cute?

Snowshoes and below zero temps

2009-12-31T01:06:00.000-08:00

First the below zero temps kept us inside: Levi and Mom playing "Swing Zone" our Wii knockoff that he got for Christmas.

Then we decided all that fresh snow was too nice, so we bundled up and went out to play...

Such a beautiful spot down by the river at AE.

My Dad and Levi.

By the time we got done it was dark and an absolutely gorgeous moon was out.

Winter wonderland - like a snow globe.

Cross Country Skiing w/my Parents

2009-12-31T00:57:00.000-08:00

Baby it's cold outside!!! But I don't think I can move!

First time going cross country skiing w/the family. He slept almost the whole time and was toasty warm.
Levi's second time on cross country skis. He's doing pretty well tho he does stop to eat snow an awful lot. Simply doesn't focus on what he's supposed to be doing - not at all like Noah who was looking for the biggest hills he could find as soon as the skis were on his feet the first time.
Michael, Noah, Silas and my Mom at the river overlook on our nice new ski trail. Really, in spite of the cold, it was so beautiful out there.

Silas's dedication...

2009-12-27T12:59:00.001-08:00

With Silas's Great-grandparents: Grampa and Gramma Bubb and Gramma Marshall.

With my parents.

With Michael's parents and the boys.

Christmas with the Marshalls

2009-12-26T04:35:00.000-08:00

Can't get these in the right order...so the first two should be the last two.

Mya thought Noah's jump made a perfect stage...Silas just liked to crawl and sit on it. Here they are performing for the camera:

Silas playing with his big toy from Mommy and Daddy just before I got him to bed...what a full day. He had a wonderful first Christmas and really enjoyed his new toys.

Gramma got us a new mall stroller - Silas grinned away once I put it together and gave him a ride. Look at that nice big basket underneath - perfect for *shopping*! It's gonna be good to have wheels again since I've had to Ergo him in the mall since he outgrew his baby bucket. Not fun to be wearing a 20+ pound baby while carrying multiple bags...last Christmas shopping trip I lost sensation in a couple fingers that way.Silas's other big gift from Gramma - he knew it was gonna be fun as soon as I let him tear the paper off and I had a hard time getting it out of the box b/c he wouldn't leave it alone. Look at him pulling up and standing holding on - he's growing up waaaayyy to fast!

One of the gifts Noah asked for - rod hockey table.

Levi got a cool new sled from Gramma - couldn't resist setting up this picture - aren't they beautiful - we're so blessed!

Here's Mya and Silas climbing on Noah's ramp. Hey, Silas is learning to pull her hair early ;-).

Christmas morning

2009-12-26T04:20:00.001-08:00

Noah did well to stay in bed until 7AM. We told him he could have his stocking when he got up if he stayed in bed until then. Since I was already up, it was fun to spend this quiet time with him.

The superhero capes were a gift from cousin Ashley who customized them for each of the boys...they wear them constantly!

Levi got up and got his stocking while I was showering, so I didn't get any pictures. Silas slept til 9:30 b/c of a late night but they boys couldn't wait for him to get up and open his. Here they are helping him find his new toys and snacks.After a quick breakfast, it was time to read the Christmas story. The boys were trying to be patient but really couldn't wait to get to their presents. Not sure how much of the reading they heard.And then it was time for the craziness to begin. I think Levi had as much fun with Silas's toys as he did with his own.No Christmas morning would be complete without assembly of toys by parents...

Christmas preparations

2009-12-23T03:37:00.000-08:00

Uh oh, he's starting to get that mischevious look in his eyes that says he's up to something...

The Christmas tree is irrisistable!

So daddy worked last Saturday, and this is how we spent our day:

Silas was happy playing on the floor while we were busy.

My two very opinionated helpers...they think I should be able to do anything that enters into their imaginations.

Christmas tree

2009-12-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

Silas started crawling for real just in time to discover what fun a Christmas tree could be. Noah and Levi were oh so excited to help decorate the tree this year. Michael sometimes needs to relax b/c he wants it all so perfect.

All three boys Sunday morning in front of the finished product.

Daddy and Silas looking oh so handsome.

Black Friday (but not much shopping)

2009-11-27T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hijacking Daddy's tub in the morning. Learning about sea creatures w/"Gramma Woody and Papa Davey".

Silas was fascinated by all the mirrors.

Noah and Levi pretending to be Ospreys.Daddy and Noah cracking mommy up.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T04:37:00.000-08:00

Never did get a picture of him in his "I'm a little Turkey" bib. Oh well. Made excellent traveling time inspite of the bridge being out. The boys thought the Ticonderoga Ferry was lots of fun and enjoyed seeing Quechee Gorge.

Rubix

2009-11-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

Hey there, look what Noah left out for me to find...wonder if it tastes good... Hmmm...not good for eating, guess I'll just have to solve it. Doesn't look too hard.

Uh oh, Noah caught me in the act. Guess I'll have to give it back now.

Seriously, that last photo is so cute, Rubix company should pay good money for it. ;-)

General cuteness...

2009-11-06T03:27:00.000-08:00

Levi reading to Silas, he was so proud of being able to do it, and Silas was really into listening and looking at the book.My three youngest adorable guys:And there's my biggest guy, with Silas trying to eat his shoe.That face! Those eyes! Ahhhhh...so cute.And look who's up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, doing belly flops and creeping around. Uh oh, nothing is safe now.

Pirates and a lion

2009-11-05T16:00:00.001-08:00

Main Street parade is a tradition around here... They couldn't bring swords to school, so Noah carried a spy glass. The "K's" ride on flat bed trucks instead of marching. Levi was busy talking to his teacher saying "see that Lion on my mommy's lap, that's Silas."

The boys decided that their bunk beds were their ship, so they were having battles on the ladder

Sunday morning

2009-10-26T03:43:00.001-07:00

The three most beautiful boys in the world (not that I'm biased).

Noah's first real tie...he was so excited to have Daddy tie it for him.

Pumpkin patch

2009-10-05T15:18:00.001-07:00

Fun day Saturday at the orchard...

Silas saw it all from the Ergo...my little 'joey'.

The boys found HUGE pumpkins. I think they had to be in the furthest corner of the pumpkin patch. Good thing we had uncle Jon with us to carry them back to the wagon.

My boys...

2009-09-29T03:53:00.001-07:00

The smiles that make my world brighter...

Our family fall hike

2009-09-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day for a hike!

At the top, we enjoyed lots of snacks including of course our famous homemade fresh salsa...it's sort of a tradition.Keeping track of the boys on the top can get a bit hairy. At least Silas was in one place, he fell sound asleep on the way up and continued to sleep for at least a half hour. Here's mommy and Silas. I realize I have so few pictures of me ever so I have to take the effort to hand the camera over to Michael occassionally. Otherwise, the kids may wonder where mommy was when they were growing up.

So cute:
Nothing like brothers together (up to something as usual I'm sure!)

And finally a couple of shots of the whole crew. We are so blessed to be healthy enough to hike, to enjoy hiking together and to be surrounded by such beauty...even if living in the mountains means living with the cold for much of the year. "If you're blessed enough to live in the mountains, you're blessed enough!"

2009-09-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone always comments on Silas's big blue eyes. Or else it's his eyebrows...he can be very expressive.

Here's all three of 'em. They sure do grow up quick.

Rice cereal

2009-09-17T03:42:00.001-07:00

Noah has been so excited for Silas to try real food. So just for fun last night we decided to try his first rice cereal. At first he seemed O.K. with it. Willing to try something knew but confused as to why mommy was giving him thick milk on a spoon when he would have preferred a bottle.His reactions quickly changed. He started gagging and making the craziest faces...like we were trying to poison him... Noah was shrieking with laughter, he thought all these reactions were awesome. He was my little photographer:

But he kept opening his mouth for more even while letting his disgust be made known.

Finally, I just let him have the spoon to play with and he liked that MUCH better. I'm thinking we may wait a bit before we try solid food again. I know Levi had similar reactions, and we gave him a couple weeks and he started loving it and sucking it down with his thumb.

Big Little Guy...

2009-09-12T15:36:00.001-07:00

Silas adores his johnny jump up. He is pretty happy in there for quite a while. I was canning and freezing peaches today and realized he had gotten quiet, so I checked him and he had fallen fast asleep standing up in it and had a big drool almost reaching to the floor. Silly guy! He had his four month check up yesterday. He weighs as much at 4 months as Levi and Noah did at 7 months. He's in the 85th percentile for weight and 97th for height - 17lb6oz and 27.5inches. What a moose! But at least he's a happy moose. Always has smiles for mommy and giggles for Daddy and the boys.

on lake placid

2009-09-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day.

Gramma and Mya.

Silas was VERY unimpressed with his life jacket. Much happier baby when he got to take it off.

Gramma and Levi tubing together.

Daddy and Noah sharing snacks.

Hello there...

2009-09-05T10:06:00.001-07:00

Who could resist this face?

And even tho it's a beautiful day outside, they insist on playing inside...grrr.

Cool Dude

2009-09-05T07:17:00.001-07:00

The boys thought this was hilarious...even Silas was amused.

First Day of School

2009-09-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school for Levi. He was so excited he was bouncing around and he managed to put two socks on one foot and none on the other.Cool morning, but it's supposed to be a nice day...What a difference in kids! On Noah's first day of K, they had to pry him off my legs and he was kicking and crying trying to get back to me. Today, Levi hardly looked back once we hung his pack in his cubby he was way more interested in the toys and other kids than he was in saying goodbye to his old mom. I think it was harder on me than it was on him.

Cuteness overload

2009-08-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

So blessed!

2009-08-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Feeling so blessed today, spending a day with my three happy, healthy, beautiful boys!

Middle Saranac

2009-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Noah, Levi, Madison and two other random kids they picked up to play with. Levi was so excited to spend the day with Madison that he was jumping up and down and gave me a huge hug when I told him we were going with them.

Silas let mommy get lots of swimming in.

What a beautiful spot! Nice sandy bottom, shallow out really far and WARM water.

Happy Birthday Noah

2009-08-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe he's 8 years old. Love you buddy.

York Wild Animal Kingdom

2009-08-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Scrambler Silas's first ride on the carosel

Feeding Fallow deer.

Monkeys watching monkeys:

A few more vacation memories

2009-08-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Sand castle/whiffle ball roller coaster the boys built w/uncle Matt. Foggy morning before it burned off. Here's Matt, Michael, Dadand Mom M, Levi, Noah, Annette, Jesse, and Mya.

The view from our house this year. So beautiful.

The 1722 Garrison House: 6 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 3 stair cases and not a floor in the place is level. So big we thought we'd loose a child in a hallway or somewhere.

More vacation

2009-08-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

Mya and Jenna bonding on the beach: My handsome guys:

In honor of Gramma's birthday on August 2nd, Silas figured out how to roll over. I tried to catch him in action, but he prefers to work in stealth...I leave him on his back and next thing I know he's on his belly.

Happy birthday Mom! See you soon.

Beach shots...

2009-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

How Silas spent his day at the beach - sleeping in mommy's beach chair and eating. Next year you get your own chair child since mommy's back can't take sitting on the sand all the time. You can see, the sand here is beautiful white sand. Sunday afternoon, Silas's first time at the beach. He was screaming b/c he didn't want to sleep but was tired. A few minutes of walking (and nursing) and he was sound asleep.

Daddy taught Noah and Levi how to boogie board. I think they each spent 8 hours in the water today. It was HOT and sunny and the water was (relatively) warm for Maine.

Cute little beach bum:

mud puddles

2009-07-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Makes me laugh when he giggles.

Pool day!

2009-07-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-17T03:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-10T02:26:00.000-07:00

2009-07-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-06T03:06:00.000-07:00

Silas wouldn't smile.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-06T03:02:00.000-07:00

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

More parade...

2009-07-06T02:48:00.000-07:00

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.