G-Man's Pinewood Derby, Year 1 of 3

Nothing better than a dad helping his son make a pinewood derby car. I, of course, didn't want to be one of those dads. You know, the ones that make this awesome car for their sons to race.

Yeah, this isn't that car. Take a slab of pine, attempt to cut it with a variety of saws, sand it, and paint it. Now I understand why flames are so popular. I made a template out of masking tape, so that we could have a big G. The paint bled through, so it looked like it had flames on it. Good thing we went with the rocket boosters on the back.
In the end (last Saturday, that is), G-Man was third of three in the bobcats for the ward. Oh well, maybe it will get better next year. It was still fun.

From Last Year

I couldn't help but post pictures I had taken of the kids last year. G-man before he lost his front teeth, Mr S so much younger with longer hair. Kiwi looking so cute. It's amazing how they grow and change in just one year.
*Photos taken by my good friend, Elizabeth Dorathy

And the Kids

Christina also took pics of each kid on their own. There are some stunning shots and I would love to share them all! I have to admit my most favorite thing to do with these pictures is sit and stare at my children's faces. Once they get to certain age, they won't sit still long enough to let you just look at them unless they are sleeping. But you can't see their eyes when they're sleeping. I think that is why we love taking pictures of children. It is impossible to capture a single moment of a child's day long enough to ingrain it into your memory. Pictures are that chance. Enjoy!

Family Pics

What do you get when you try to take pictures of 4 kids age 8 and under? In one word: chaos. Especially when one of those children happen to be a very independent and defiant almost 3 year old.

But out of the chaos emerged a miracle. Somehow our photographer was able to get some good shots and all the kids were...wait for it...looking at the camera!
Thank goodness for a photographer who knows to get down to business, because she really only has 15 minutes before they are DONE. S was probably done after 2 minutes. But Christina hung in there and made due. Here are a few highlights (and low points) of the family shots.

I think this is the one going on the wall. Everyone is looking, everyone is smiling. Plus J's outstretched arms are SO CUTE!

I will call this photo "the eyebrows." They can be very distinctive in the two oldest male members of our family. Chad has learned to control his most of the time. But between G-man and S, many many photos were bombed. Our photographer would get us all set up and then just take a bunch of photos very quickly. In one series you can see little S raise and lower his arms and then fall to the ground. In another you watch G-man's face inexplicably go through a series of very unusual contortions.
This is the photo I will call "done." At this point the photographer claimed it was time to wrap up (after only 20 minute or so). I attempted to pose for another shot despite her insistence that the kids probably wouldn't go for it. Next time I will trust the photographer. S refused to look at the camera and is therefore being held. Then there is G-man. Unfortunately I have 3 little boys that will be bombing family photos for the foreseeable future. So lets end on a positive note:

How I love this little family of mine!

*and a big thank you to Christina at www.skystallionphotography.blogspot.com

Baby On The Move

My baby is crawling. My 6 month old baby is crawling and has been doing so for about two weeks.

Fine, technically, it's only the military crawl. But there is still crawl in the name.

He can't even sit up yet, but he can scoot across the floor like nobody's business.



Little S learned the hard way when he sat down to each lunch on the floor near baby "Jare Bear." In two seconds flat one little baby had scooted across the floor and two fat fists were grabbing at goldfish as fast as they could. Seti boy, you are no longer safe. You will now learn the trial that is having a younger sibling HAHAHA!

One thing I love about a baby is how you can watch them develop and the changes are so obvious. About a month ago I was on the phone with my sister and saw him propel himself forward for the first time. Ruth knows because I exclaimed "oh my gosh, my baby just propelled himself forward." I was quite stunned.

Slowly over the last few week I have watched him go from inching himself forward with his toes to propelling himself with his legs while pulling with his hands. It was so fast! Now he is getting on his hands and knees and rocking. The full out crawl is almost upon us.

Oh, and he started solids.
Then last week we gave him a haircut.

Then yesterday he turned 6 months old. Really? Time spent with new babies seems to take forever and flies by all at the same time. How is that possible?

First Grapefruit!

Last year, when the Grapefruit tree was pollinated, we removed all of the buds. We wanted the tree to focus on growing, and that is the recommended method, at least according to Google. But, we missed two, and didn't notice them until they were really quite large. So we left them, to see how they would turn out. Honestly, if they were anything like the first year of the Trovita Orange tree, they would be less than edible. Much to our surprise, this is the first one, and was quite good to boot:

Kiwi's Fun Girly Toys

Kiwi got even more girly toys this year. She got the new Zoobles, and they are fun. She is totally into the small toys, and they have been played with. She also got a real princess tent, the classic Medieval-style, and it has been a great play area, since it is large enough to hold them all, and stand up in.