Zoo Day Again

Our children were blessed to go to the zoo again with their cousins. Aunt Fell blessed me with a work morning, and took the three oldest children (along with her two) to the zoo.  

I think this is such a neat picture.  Can you tell who is who in the above picture?

If you guessed, from Left to Right:  Cousin Girl, Purple Girl, Cousin Boy, 

Busy Bee, then Big J you got it correct!

Have I mentioned lately how blessed I am to have my sister living close by and to have her as one of my VERY best friend!  As our Pastor mentioned recently, we don't get to choose when we are born nor the family we are born into - I did not choose, but I am so grateful for right where God placed me!!!!

Future Artists?

Our Girls

Two precious girls!

Three Boys

These two older boys love the little guy in the middle swing.  I overheard them talking the other day about when Little J gets bigger and how they will be able to play with him.  Of course, Big J reminded Cousin J that Little J will most likely knock over their Lego's - but that would be okay - they would just rebuild them.

(Was that confusing to read above with all the J's?)

Princess Girl

This little girl LOVES LOVES LOVES to dress up in her princess outfits.

Cake Face

This Little Girl really enjoyed her party.  And she enjoyed eating the left overs the next day.

Grandma's Birthday

We have a lot of family birthday's in the summer.  It was Grandma's birthday this past week as well.  We celebrated by going out to DQ for ice cream and then to the park to play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minnie Mouse

One of Busy Bee's gifts for her birthday was this outfit:

 

 

Swim Lessons

Big J had swim lessons with cousin J this past week. 

Both boys did really well and enjoyed working with their instructor.

 

 

Orange Boys

Fun Day at Park

We enjoyed a fun day at a park near our home. 

 It had a little "pond" the kids could walk in and play in.  They loved it.

 

 

Big Sister always enjoys helping Little Sister. 

 

 

They found a little toad.

 

 

These two girls decided to take a break for a few minutes.

 

 

 

We attempted to go hiking on a trail. 

However, mom, Busy Bee and Little J had to head

back early before the rest of the crew. 

 

 

 

The kids found a lot of daddy longleg spiders on the trail.

Purple Girl says to me later, "Mom, I sure hope we can find some mommy longleggers next time."

 

Birthday Party

Busy Bee had a fun pool party, owl themed birthday! 

 Her theme this year was "Be WISE" with an Owl to go with it.  Her verse was:

Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Kelly made Busy Bee her Owl Cake:

 

 

She was so excited for her party:

 

 

She was blessed to have several cousins over for her party.

 

 

They all enjoyed hitting at the Owl Pinata made by mom and Jakin.

 

 

Everyone enjoyed eating the cake.

 

 

Busy Bee sat so nicely and opened her gifts.

 

 

 

Mom's favorite picture of the day?

 After Busy Bee had quite the busy, exciting day,

 she ended it sitting so sweetly on the swing.  I caught this photo and just love it!

 

 

 

 

 

TWO YEARS OLD

Our sweet little Busy Bee is two years old today. 

Wow, where does the time go?

 

This little girl is full of spunk and keeps our

family entertained.

 

 

She can go from little Miss sweetie giving you a kiss on the cheek when you haven't even asked for it, to Miss entertainer making funny faces and getting everyone to laugh, to belting out a chorus of "Jesus Loves Me" in a matter of minutes.

 

 

 

She loves trying to accomplish every thing that her big brother and sister can do. 

 

 

She loves her baby dolls and talking with her little brother.  She doesn't like if Little J is crying and is quick to come get mommy to help him if he is upset.

 

 

She will carry on quite the conversation with you if you get to know her and give her the time to chat.  She is asking a lot of questions these days.

It is so sweet to here the thoughts of a now two year old.

 

We are so blessed to have this little girl and can't praise the Lord enough for her.  I am so thankful that Purple Girl and Busy Bee will be able to grow up together.  We pray they will be best friends!

Summerfest

The kids had fun at Summerfest this year. 

They enjoyed watching the parade (and of course, getting all the candy).

 

 

They also enjoyed watching their daddy's play in a softball tournament

with other men from our church.

 

 

Little J bonded with this friend for a good portion of the day. 

He enjoyed sitting with her during the parade and one of the games.

 

 

We are so blessed to be part of an amazing church body. 

 

 

 

Cousin Over

Cousin JR was over to play with Big J the other morning.  These two boys have so much fun together.  Right now all of their play and conversation revolves around Star Wars.  They love making all of their Lego's into Star War characters. 

 

I made them go outside and play for a little while.  They enjoyed running through the sprinkler:

 

 

They enjoyed swinging together.  But the whole time they are swinging, they are discussing Star Wars.  I even heard one boy say: When I grow up, I am going to be a Star War Clone Trooper.

 

 

 

 

Mom and Busy Bee enjoyed swinging together.  Big J took the picture for us. 

Little J enjoys his swing too.

 

 

Mommy's Helpers

Busy Bee is my big helper these days.  She loves to work with me in the kitchen and is truly a great help at times.  This day she was helping me take the grapes off the stem.  She was very precise and made sure she didn't miss one.

 

 

Another morning she was sitting at the counter ready to help me and I snapped this picture:

 

 

Little J was "helping" us too:

 

 

 

Love this little guys smiles!

 

 

Green Thumb?

Dad helped the kids plant some flowers for our front yard.  Purple Girl has been asking about planting some flowers, so she was very excited to help.

 

 

 

Unfortunately I am not very good with plants and flowers - I tend to kill them quickly.  So, I am praying that Purple Girl has a green thumb.  I told her this.  She looked at her thumbs and asked how she could make them green : )

Baby Boy

Our Baby Boy is a loved little guy.

 

His big brother thinks the world of him and enjoys talking and playing with him.

 

 

 

 

Grandpa enjoys his time with Little J too!

 

 

Mommy loves this little guy quite a bit also!!

He is quite the cutie!