Cookies and Superheroes

When  we got back from Thanksgiving, Jack was ready for Christmas. He insisted on putting up decorations and making Christmas cookies right away. It wasn't even December yet! I must say that I love Christmas time too! 

It was quite an ordeal making cookies with three sets of little hands everywhere, but I survived and they had a blast. Andrew ended up in the middle of it all! What a mess we made!

Jack and Charlie did ALL of the cookie decorating, but I forgot to photograph the final product. All I can say is that they didn't last long - they were delicious!

My team of superheroes, minus Batman! He was too busy fighting crime to stop for a picture. 

Andrew, who is now 18 months, is really growing! I had to pull out the box of 2T winter clothes (what a blessing to already have them) because his pants were getting too short. This is the box of clothes Charlie wore JUST LAST WINTER!!! Andrew is built so differently than Jack and Charlie. They are all unique!

Toughest Cowboys in the South

Mark and the boys are all dressed up for our church's Harvest Fest this fall. 

 Andrew

 Charlie

 Jack

W is for Wiggly Worms

Ever eaten worms before? You should try them, they aren't too bad!

Gone fishin'

Jack and Charlie went fishing at Aunt Connie and Uncle Jo's place on the lake. They had a blast! Charlie caught three fish and Jack caught five!

The fishing activity completely wore them out. Here they are on the way home that evening.

Andrew may look awake, but when he is in deep sleep, his eyes are slightly open.

Easter

Having fun dying eggs!

Easter Sunday

Ready for the hunt

Andrew cashed in too.

He is crawling!!!

Charlie's Birthday

What a wonderful day it has been celebrating the birth of our second son! We started the morning with his requested pancakes and he opened his first gift. Thank you Granddad and Grandmother!

 Then that afternoon we opened presents at Mark's parents' house. Charlie requested Jack's help here.

 A pirate ship!

 I had to show you a picture of sweet Andrew in all the action. And it was a good shot of my new hairdo for those who are wanting to see it.

More presents. Thanks Aunt Connie and Uncle Jo!

Have I mentioned how much he enjoys puzzles?!

The finished product with help from Grandpa.

Charlie's new art station.  So fun!

This is my favorite picture of the day! Jack and Charlie busy painting, Mark laughing loudly in the background (can you hear him?), and Andrew trying to crawl. This is my life and I thank God for them!

 Charlie picked out a pirate ship cake for his birthday, not even knowing that we had gotten him a pirate ship toy. So, the night before I put his specially requested cake together and got a good picture of it.

Good thing! Because in the wee hours of the morning, 2:30am to be exact, I heard the crash of cannon balls and treasure coins falling to the floor. A high wind came through the kitchen and caused a terrible shipwreck. The boat split in two! Argh!

 Mark and I did our best to hold the boat together for our birthday boy. 

With Mark still holding the ship together, Charlie blew out his three candles. He said that was his favorite part of the day!

And so the day ended with chocolate cake and ice cream. What a blessed day it was!

Charlie....

...has great focus when working on a puzzle. 

 He put it together himself! Only a few times did I have to give a hint of where a piece might go or encourage him to try a different spot. 

Jack.....

...has become very handy with the camera. 

Random shots

Andrew is doing so well at sitting up, he has started taking a real bath without the baby tub. He loves bathtime! And without clothes you can see how fat this 8 month old really is! I don't think he'll ever roll from his back to his stomach :).

This was not the recent snow we had, I'll post that another time. But this is when we got sleet that looked like snow. The boys were so disappointed that they couldn't build a snowman or make snowballs to throw at Mark. Mark built a fire so their hands wouldn't freeze. Anyone know where to buy waterproof little boy gloves in the south?

This is our wonderful climate! One day sleet and a few days later, sunshine and short sleeves.

Sweet Andrew! Yes, that is a price tag on his hat. I couldn't take it off until I was sure at least one of my sons would wear this hat! And Andrew did, so it'll stay. I actually bought it for Charlie, but he wouldn't wear it. Its a little crazy, but Charlie and Andrew have the same head size. And actually, Andrew's waist is bigger than Charlie's. Amazing how they are all so different!