He's got a secret...

So this guy woke up the other day with a little secret. I really had no idea! There was no fever... no snot. Lots of drooling and normal fussiness, but nothing out of the ordinary.

And then he bit me..... And while this was a pretty normal thing. I mean he likes to suck on my fingers... {I must be sweet} Anyway he had my finger and bit down and right then I knew it. There was his first pearly white!

And then upon further examination low and behold there were TWO little teeth in there.

And then!!! Can I tell you my surprise when he woke up this morning only to find that another tooth was peeking through! That's 3!! Three teeth in two days. {And I think that his fourth one is on the way as well}

To tell you  the truth I think will miss his toothless smile. But I'm sure teeth will look just as cute on him as gums do.

You know what else????? Rolling over is for babies!

Benji has decided that he is going to skip over rolling and go straight to sitting.

Rolling is for amateurs anyway.

Wonderful Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!! Ours was good, very low key. Christmas is the one day that proclaim to be a day off for me. So I keep it as stress free as possible.

Here are some highlights of our Christmas.

Here are some cereals that Santa brought. These are cereals that this mom in her right mind would never buy for her children.... next best thing ask Santa. The boys were pretty happy to "finally" get the good cereal. {funny thing is after 3 days they went back to cheerios}

 Here are some of the gifts that were found under the tree. Tim asked for dinosaurs, he loved that these 2 foot dinosaurs were for him. He also got a jug of dinosaurs. This boy was in heaven with all the prehistoric life around.

Tommy asked Santa for a microscope. Yes... a microscope. Santa found one and we had one happy little scientist.

James is into legos now. I mean really into legos. He sat around all morning putting together his Atlantis lego set. He even went back to the store with all his money and bought more Atlantis lego sets. I love seeing his interests grow.

 Yes... that is a barricade that you see. We are on the other side of the house and I wanted to make sure that I would hear them. I was afraid that they would be so excited and start opening gift before we were up.

Here is my beautiful family Christmas morning.  IN the middle of a happy mess.

The boys playing a riveting game of Star Wars Trouble. This was an intense game!

What a nice family.... yeah right... will the real family please step forward...

Ok, now this is better. Here is the family I know and love. Merry Christmas to your family from our crazy one.

We like the Zoo.

We are a Zoo loving family. We try to hit the zoo where ever we happen to be. My favorite by far is the Tucson Zoo it's big enough to have all the good animal, but small enough to do in a couple hours. {it's also cheap} But that is not what this is about.

We went to the Brevard Zoo out here in Florida. I thought we would have gotten in free because we had a membership to another zoo... unfortunately I was wrong {that doesn't happen much} but we did get in for half price. So we entered in and were on our way.

Don't you love it when you take kids some place and they are entertained by the simplest thing. Here are the boys feeding little pink birds. Wild birds.... really, we come to the zoo to feed tha animals that jut hang out here.

Tim was enthralled by this brass little squirrel. As we walked by he begged to get a picture of it.

Of course Benjamin was happy for the moment sucking on his hand {he has got some beautiful eyes... don't you think??}. I took this picture of Benji while the boys were playing with the monkeys. The other boys were running back and forth in front of the cage and the monkey would do the same. Or is it the other way around??? was the monkey playing with them???

James learned the hard way why we do not stand under birds... especially vultures!

We got to watch the zoo keepers feed the alligators and then we got to touch a 5 year old alligator. James was so excited and sat there so long asking question. He would have been there still if the people behind him weren't getting impatient.

Tommy wanted to see inside the gators mouth. He was bummed that it was taped shut.

Tim was fascinated with this little guy and wanted to keep petting it. Alligators are actually very interesting, and each little bump or plate on their back is actually bone.

I even got a picture with Benji next to the alligator. I think it would have been cool to get a picture of him sitting on the alligator, but... I didn't think about that until now. And wouldn't you know... I'm sitting down there with the gator and I forgot to touch the guy!

This is one of the big gators! This is Henry and he is 8 and a half feet long!!! Can you imagine walking in the swamp or down by the river and step on this guy??!! That's why I don't walk in the swamp.

Oh... and this.... this is a Snipe... you know from Up. Ok -  not really but it reminds me of one.

It's fun taking the boys to the zoo. They are still young enough to really enjoy it, and they are still excited enough to want to walk and see everything. I love watching the their faces as they see the animals, especially  when the animals are active. Here's to a great day!

Violin Recital

When James was three he started asking for a violin. Really... what 3 year old does that. So when he was 6 we found a good deal on a violin and that's what he got last year for Christmas. Needless to say he was excited. Many thought that he was to young for lessons but we decided to go ahead with it anyway. In February he started lessons... starting at the very beginning {a very good place to start} by learning all the parts to the violin. He has really progressed from there. And he just played in his first recital.

Miss Rebecca is his teacher, and she is such a good match for him. She is so patient with him and soft spoken. He has really learned so much from her.

After much thought he James decided that he wanted to play a longer version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. He is playing lots of songs but this is what he felt the most comfortable playing.

 

 He thought he was going to be nervous and have stage fright, but he didn't. Not at all! He did so well, and Miss Rebecca taught him how to take a bow when he finished. I can see that this will be the first of many recitals that we will be attending. 

James I'm so proud of you and all your hard work. You are a great violin player and are only going to get better from here.

First day of Winter

While some are toasting in the first day of winter all bundled up.... we the boys are shirtless, outside, and eating pomegranates.

 All that red juicy goodness.

What better way to spend the first day of winter?

I like this picture of James. He gets annoyed when I ask him to look at the camera and so he does and he makes sure he is looking at me.

Tim L.O.V.E.S pomegranates!!! His method.... just chomping down and eating it.

He likes to make sure he gets every last piece.

Tommy like sucking the juice out and liked licking the red juice dripping down his fingers.

James like to pick out each little piece and eat them separately.

It was a good way to spend the day!!! Red faces and all!

Still deciding

The verdict is still out as to whether or not it is worth eating. He has found that it is really good for spitting  and mushing but that's about it.

James, the baby, and Poison Ivy

Apparently Benjamin was crying and James couldn't hear what was going on. So Being the good big brother that he is he pickup up the baby and did what he could so sooth him.

There is a slight cry for help coming from his eyes.

James was doing the best he could but Benji is a big boy and sometimes hard to manage.

Oh... the white thing on his arm.... We were out on a field trip and James some how found the only patch of poison ivy.

This actually looks really good. The day after it happen James had scratched is so bad! So we bought an arm band to cover it to keep him from scratching.

Every boy needs to have at least one romp through the stuff... James can check that off his list.

4 Month Pictures

So.... the 4 month pictures.... late. I didn't mean for them to be late but we were still trying to finish up our quarter of school and then with the upcoming holidays. Not that I need to explain myself but there you go.

I had this idea to get pictures by the tree. Benji did not have the same idea. In fact he was not digging this at all.

 I have a couple shots that I like but most of them he is crying and not happy.

 "What's with the monkey," you ask???? You know how baby girls will have pictures with the same flower in her hair, you know... the one where when she is born it looks like someone smooshed a dinner plate to the poor girls head, and then you can see how big she has gotten compared to the flower. Yeah, this is pretty much the same thing. This is kinda the same thing.

Not so happy.

Here is one that he is feeling it a bit more.

He's not rolling yet, he is totally on his own person. He's big and healthy but happy to have everyone cater to him.

And here we have success! This was the only smile that I got during the photo shoot. Good thing he's so dang cute!

He is so funny. After he has been fed and changed as he is getting tired he'll start getting fussy. Well the trick is to hold him close and put your hand on his face. He'll settle right down and fall asleep.

At his 4 month appointment his weight was 17 pounds 8 ounces{95%}!!!! and 25 inches long {75%}

He was liking the presents, they really caught his eye.

He is a really good baby and like to be held by everyone. But if he has been held to much by others during the day at night I'm the only one who can put time to sleep. 

And we lost it. I tried to get him to smile again.... but alas it was not to happen.

He totally loves his dad!!! When the husband talks Benji perks right up and looks around to see him. As soon as dad picks him up he will flash his beautiful smile.

..... not at all.

I figure we all can't be happy all the time.

Merry Christmas!!!!

We didn't get a chance to send out Christmas cards this year so I hope you don't mind that I am sending it this way. Keep us on you list for next year because they will definitely be in your mail box. Trying to get the boys together for a picture was... well... as expected.

2010 Top Ten!!

1}First and foremost we had a baby!!!! Benjamin Steele was born on 8-9-10 {great birthday huh!!} He was 8lbs. 13oz. and 20 inches long. He is a joy and a great addition to our family.
2}Steve has finished his first year in Chiropractic school {only 2 more years to go!!}. He is doing great and enjoys what he is learning.
3}Tommy taught himself to read and is now reading on a 3rd grade level. I can't keep enough books around the house for him.
4}James is playing the violin, and just finished his first recital. He has a natural ear for it and is even enjoying practicing every day.
5}Tim continues to charm the pants off people with his spunky personality. He has a love for dinosaurs and knows the name of every one.... and often corrects me when I say the name wrong.
6}We moved.... just around the corner. What would a year be like if we didn't move??? The new house is much better. I have an 8 foot island {yup, you read that right :)}AND it doesn't leak!
7}With the great big island I have had a fun time cooking, and have been trying tons of new recipes. Mostly cupcakes and muffins. I like having a place to spread out and it's big enough for all the boys to help.
8}Our second year of homeschooling is going well. We took a couple months off after Benji was born, and then jumped right back in. And the boys are doing great and really excelling.
9}I have been canning. I have been canning meats and veggies as well. I love knowing that we are eating healthy and that I am stocking our shelves.
10}After being here a year we are finding that Florida isn't that bad. We are enjoying that the beach is 10 minutes away and we have even found some little hiking trails. We have learned that summer time is the time to stay inside and that everyone emerges in the fall/winter time.

Oh yeah..... The husband and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss this year!!!! Ok... ups and downs but mostly bliss.

We love all and think about you often. I hope that this year has been a good one for you and that the new year holds many wonderful things.

Him, Me, James, Tommy, Tim, & Benjamin

{The boys get annoyed hearing their mom tell them to look at the camera all the time.}

First Attempt

 Here was some what of a first attempt at taking some Christmas pictures. The boys and I finished decorating the tree so here we go......

 Benjamin was way more interesting than looking at me.

 Two out of four isn't bad...right??

 I think there was a song that went with these actions

 Again.... two out of four....

 Now this one is workable.

 Yeah!!! At least they look like they could be happy children.

 I love the way Benji looks at Tommy

I love my crazy boys and taking pictures of them always ends up in crazy chaos! I love it!!! Merry Christmas!