Happy Birthday Jane

Jane turned 3 on June 17th. Unfortunately we did not take one picture of her on that day. She was recovering from a terrible illness that had her expelling at both ends. She has been asking me forever to make her a chocolate chip cake for her birthday. On her birthday I asked if she wanted me to make it and she said, "will you make it for me another day". Reynolds ended up eating all of his and Janes ice cream. Poor kid. We made up for it by having a little party for her at Civic Green park. I was so disappointed when we got there because some punk kids had put bubbles in the little stream the night before so they had to close it for cleaning. The kids still had fun playing in the big fountains.

Luckily Andrew provided some entertainment with his talents.



The kids enjoyed their snack bags

Popsicles

and cupcakes (chocolate chip cupcakes of course).

Daddy kicked the ball around with the kids

Then it was about time to sing Happy Birthday



and open presents. Grandma Cottle we have a special video of Jane opening her goods but it is so long it will not upload and I didn't get any pictures since we have a whole video of it. I will have Andrew send it to you.

I'm going to be a rock star now!

I was determined to get Reynolds in the water to wash him off from his two cupcakes.

"Let go of me Mom I got this!"

"Oh wow that is cold"

"but this is pretty fun"

This is Jane in one of her new dresses that her Grandma Cottle made for her.


Cute little kids!

Indian Creek

Last weekend we decided last minute to go camping at Indian Creek. Reynolds had been puking the day before so we were waiting to see if he would be better. At 12:00 When he had held down breakfast and appeared to be better I ran to Walmart, came home, packed, and we were out on the road by 3:30. We went up with Jen and Travis and Hannah and Eric Pertesen joined us for our second and last night there. We are totally converted to two night camping and hope to do a lot more of it.

We did the usally camping stuff.....We relaxed, sat around the fire, and ate a TON of food. However we got off our hineys and went for a hike up Devils head.

Jane was a pretty good trooper for half the way and than refused to walk. For some reason she would only let I or Andrew hold her. Well after I got tired Andrew decided it would not be hard to hold both kids.

She finally let Travis hold her and quickly fell asleep on his shoulder. Travis was a trooper and carried her dead weight all the way up to the top (A LOT of VERY steep staris).

The girls at the very top. They showed up their cousin Drew who was not too fond of standing at the very edge.

This is the view on the way down after I freed up some space on the memory card. This is what Travis hiked with Jane asleep on his shoulder.

The great brothers that made the hike possible.

The Slaughter

For months now I have been wanting to get Jane's hair cut but for whatever reason have not. It was way too long and took too much energy to care for. She kept telling me that Grandma Cottle would do it. She obviously remembered her Grandma cutting her hair before. After bath last night Andrew was prepared to do it. A fight later I had finished the job. It's pretty much totally screwed up. We will have to end up paying someone to fix it but I might let it grow out a bit so they don't have to go any shorter. Here is Jane and Reynolds ready to go to Story Time. She loves to carry her books in her backpack.



Andrew wants to grow Reynolds hair out for a bit. His new nick name is fuzz. The other day when we were at the library one of the librarians acutally called him fuzz it was awesome. I think that was the same day that Ren dropped my keys down the elvator shaft. That was a fun day let me tell you.

One for the Books

While we were sitting at the breakfast table Jane was singing Rockabye Baby perfectly. It's a good thing that Andrew sings for Jane so she learns the correct lyrics as I have a natural ability to sabotage any song. I looked at her and said, "Jane you are going to be smarter than me one day." Jane replied,"Yep and I'm going to bigger than you one day and I will have bigger boobs than you."

Family Home Evening

I love it most when the kids are clean and in their pajamas. On Monday I realized I forgot to have FHE when I was bathing the kids so I told Jane she could teach us the lesson if she hurried and got ready for bed. I couldn't help but snap some shots of the kids. For those of you who have no idea what FHE (family home evening) is, it's a night we dedicate to spending with the family that generally has a spiritual lesson, game, songs, and treats.Generally you start with a song

And prayer

Jane gave us our lesson. She said it was on Jesus and being good. Hey Andrew did you get that out of the lesson?

We finished up with some songs. Jane always insists on leading everyone.

***Disclaimer*** this was the song after the closing song that is why you hear Andrew yelling to basketball in the background.

Happy Mothers Day to Me!

I have the greatest husband who did his job on Mother's Day. I must say every year I tell him what I want for breakfast and he never quite gets it right but this year he nailed it. I know some of you women are lucky with Husband that enjoy or even know how to cook. I love my husband dearly but since he is of the opinion the food is just fuel he has a hard time thinking about more than just the main course. Anyway he did an awesome job by providing me with OJ and hash browns (my fav). I love you babe! Thanks for making my day so great and thanks for dinner too! I hope the rest of you fellow mothers or mothers to be had a great day!

Camp Out #1

Our plan is to do at least one camp out a month this summer. Last weekend we went on our first thanks to Andrew planning it out with some friends. Overall, it was a lot of fun minus Reynolds puking on my pillow and Jane getting her faced burned by some ash. The weather was supposed to be cold with a little rain but luckily it turned out perfect. It was nice to go before the mosquitoes are out.

Jane and Reynolds helping Daddy set up camp.

I was in charge of dinner so went with the easy stand by of hot dogs but I decided to give corn on the cob cooked in the fire another try. I guess the trick is to soak it in water first. It turned out pretty good or at least my piece did.

The kids sitting with their Dad infront of the fire.

Jane, Ellie, and Emma sipping on their hot chocolate with their awesome bed head.

We went on a super mini hike to keep the kids busy. They enjoyed throwing rocks in the water and climbing the hill.

Renny was such a good sport in spite of how he was feeling. It kind of worked to my advantage cause he was so mellow. He was content just chillin in the chair.