Here ya go Honey...

Aaron casually mentioned that I hadn't posted for a while and asked why not. I'm still amazed that our tiny, little house can become such a wreck in such a short amount of time. I guess up in Iowa, even though there were more kids, there were more adults too, so cleaning up happened a bit easier! :) So since Aaron asked...here are some pictures.

Oh alright. You caught me. I'm just procrastinating the inevitable late night cleaning session!!!! *sigh*

This is just for you Jeremy! It's all Papa's fault. He's the one that dressed Bryce!

Neither Papa nor Bryce seemed to notice (or care) that the poor child's pants were hiked up to kingdom come!

I got a few pics from the water park this time. Jacob had lots more fun this time, too. He wouldn't go very far into the water, but he LOVED the fountains! Here he was standing there waiting for the water to shoot up. Right on the back!

I was so proud of Kaedyn! She went and bought some lemonade all by herself (well, Anna walked over there with her). Mom, Cara, and I had 5 kids there, so we were outnumbered. Even though the concession stand was only about 30 yards away, I had to stay close to the pool to keep an eye on Jacob (Cara had Bryce and Anna, Mom was with Mia on the slides). Kaedyn really didn't want to walk over there by herself (which surprised me since she's so outgoing and doesn't seem to shy away from anything!) She would walk about 5 chairs down, then turn around and shake her head. Anna wandered over and said she'd go with her. I could see them the whole time from where I was sitting watching Jacob. I told Kaedyn what to say and here she came with her very own lemonade! :)

Oh Bryce! This just makes me laugh. Wanna know what else makes me laugh? This is a good one...

I was sitting in the kiddie pool/fountain area keeping an eye on Jacob and Bryce. Bryce is around water a lot so he's not timid like Jacob. I was watching Jacob do something and then scanned around for Bryce. I saw him on the cement by the fountains. He was bent over looking at something. I watched him for a minute, wondering what on earth could be so captivating. Then I looked to the ground between his legs. I saw something round...and dark. Oh no he didn't!!

Mind you, this boy hadn't had an accident in days! I had forgotten to bring swim diapers and just happened to have one in the van. But since Bryce had been doing SO GOOD, we didn't think it'd be a big deal. Obviously Jacob couldn't be without one!

I hurry over and sure enough, he'd pooped on the sidewalk!!!!!!!! I couldn't leave b/c I had Jacob, too so I yelled at Mom. She brought a towel and picked it up. The wonderful people at the park were so great...she said "You'd be surprised how often that happens!" They cleaned up the sidewalk (luckily it wasn't messy!!) and we paid $2.50 for ONE swim diaper!!!!! The lesson?

Entrance to water park: $40

Bottle of lemonade: $2

ONE swim diaper: $2.50

Seeing my nephew poop on the sidewalk: PRICELESS!

Getting ready to go to the VBS program and watch "da guhls" :) Everyone there thought they were brothers. So handsome!

Here's the video of Bryce getting on the toilet. Have you EVER seen a kid do it like this?! I can't believe he hasn't fallen in more (I think he's only done it once)! Sorry for the little flash at the end...

Prayer Request *UPDATED*

Please pray for my cousin's wife, Amy. She is due in September and I just found out she has the "h1n1" virus (swine flu). That's all I know right now (and since it's pretty well just family that reads this....)

*I just talked to Scott and Amy is doing good. They caught it early enough that she didn't have to be hospitalized and she and Daniel (their 1 yr. old son) are on some medication. They're watching her closely, but praise God that it was caught early!*

It Didn't Work

You know, that whole "take them to the water park and wear them out good"...it didn't work at all. We thought for sure the boys would fall asleep on the way home. Mia did. The women needed to run a couple errands before we leave tomorrow, so Papa did baths and bed. Well, that's what we thought. When we came back about an hour later, the house was quiet...for a second.

So it was a bit later before they got to bed and even then, it took everyone but Bryce an hour to actually fall asleep! Everybody was happy in bed, just not asleep! We're going to miss the Floridians :( We've had so much fun playing (and fighting! haha)

I've noticed...

...the more kids there are, the more pictures I take!! :) It's been a really fun week up here with all the kids. Bryce is now pretty well potty trained during the day (still diapers during sleep times). I don't think he's had an accident in a couple days. And he'll even go to the bathroom all by himself! I have to post the video of him getting on the big potty. I've never seen a kid do it like he does!! Anyway, with budget strings tightening in our house, I thought I'd start on Jacob. He's gone a couple times and he seemed really interested in it seeing Bryce do it (and see all the praise he got for doing it!). So one evening after he pottied a couple times in the potty chair, I decided to put him in "big boy pants" and see how it went...

Uhhh, maybe he doesn't quite get the concept yet! haha

There we go! Big boys!!
Well, he would potty and then have an accident almost right away. I know, that's how it goes the first few days. But I decided I didn't have the energy or the attention to give it right now with all these kids around and being so busy. So maybe I'll start when we get home. I'm just so tired of spending money on diapers!!!



Crazy kids playing in the tent. CRAZY!

Puh-leeeze Anna! Bryce weighs like 10 lbs...buck up!!! ;)

I love this picture. Bryce is such a sweet boy. Aunt Jenni loves this little guy!

This just makes me laugh!

I mentioned Jacob had some tummy troubles. Well, they're still not over. He feels fine but his diapers...well, they're not pretty. And for several nights in a row, he would dirty them either right before he fell asleep or after he was asleep. I would go in and check on the kids (Anna, Kaedyn and Jacob share a room) and it would just reek in there. I'd check and sure enough, YUCK! Here's the crazy thing...he didn't wake up!!! I'm talking massive proportions, 6 wipe jobs and he snoozed right through the changing.

Blue-eyed cowboy :)

Jacob doesn't have the coordination to pedal yet, but he sure enjoys pushing the combine around!

I love this picture of Anna. It's just so Anna!

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Tomorrow we're headed to the water park now that VBS is over and well, let's be honest...we're hoping to wear them out good for the long trip home Saturday! Papa & Binga are driving the Floridians home and Aunt Cara and I will head home, too. It's been such a fun week! We miss Daddy though!!!!

Buddies, Lemonade Stands & Camping Out!

Okay Jeremy, here are some more pictures of the boys! Bryce only had one or two accidents today and yesterday, Jacob followed him to the bathroom every time and even pottied three times!!! Unfortunately, Bryce's talking has not rubbed off on Jacob! Just now, Bryce was imitating Jacob's pointing and grunting routine. haha

Watching Little Bear before the girls got home from VBS.

Intent on the show!

The girls and I slept in the tent last night. It was a bit chilly and Anna didn't sleep very good (I think the humid air made her allergy cough worse). I ended up bringing her inside at 6:30am, Kaedyn followed soon after, but Mia wanted to stay out there even though she was by herself! I think the fact that it was light outside helped ;)

Mia wanted to have a lemonade stand today, so the girls had one. Well, a Kool Aid stand technically! Every time a car drove by, they yelled "Get your Kool Aid!! Only 25 cents!!!!!" It started out slow, but they got quite a few people to stop. I think the fact they were 3 adorable little girls didn't hurt anything! :)

Watching for cars so they can yell their slogan!

Their first customer!! It was the neighbor 2 doors down.

We kept Jacob and Bryce out of the street and away from the Kool Aid (mostly!) with some sidewalk chalk.

What a cutie!!!

Mom said the other day they were outside and Bryce just went and laid down on the sidewalk. Mia had to tell them that he wanted them to trace around him! Jacob quickly followed Bryce's lead. I can see these two getting in a LOT of trouble in a few years!

He always has known how to relax! :)

Playing in the tub

Silly Boys

While the girls were at VBS last night, Bryce and Jacob had a good time being able to play uninterrupted! This is the first time these two actually played together. It was hilarious!

Camp Out

Somebody promised the girls a camp out this week, so a tent was procured and the set-up ensued. And boy, what a set-up!

Mia said "I need scissors!" So off Kaedyn went for some. Until Aunt Jenni said "Oh no you don't! I'll get them for you."

My poor boy. He was sick yesterday. Really sick. But thankfully it was just some kind of 24 hr. stomach bug b/c after a gigantic blow out sometime between bed and morning, he is back to his old self today! Whew!!

Mia got tired of waiting for a pair of scissors, so she got it open herself!

Papa finally asked "Why is that I have all these kids down here and none of you (adults)?!" Anna said "Because, Papa...we want to HELP!" There are very few pictures of this now that are not blurry. Those girls were SO EXCITED they didn't stand still!

Bryce even got in on the set-up action!

Anna was ecstatic. She talked 90 mph!

Oh the excitement!!

I can hardly stand it!!

Mia & Kaedyn "helping" out :)

Dancing with joy :)

Oh the joy!

Bryce and Anna helping Binga

Question of the Day: How many adults does it take to set up a 6-person tent?

Answer: More than one!! haha

Mia and Anna

The girls and I took a nap in the tent this afternoon and I think tonight we're going to sleep out there (we'll see how that goes!!). Should be an adventure!

I'm Tired

We've had a fun week with Kaedyn! We made the trek back to Iowa yesterday so the girls can go to VBS up here. They are EXCITED! And I am TIRED! :)

Aunt Cara has been sewing! :) She made all the girls dresses. One set of them were matching. Aren't they cute?? We'll have to get one this week of Mia, too.

One night I found Anna in Kaedyn's "bed". I asked Kaedyn in the morning if Anna kept her awake. She pinched her fingers together and said "A little bit" ha!

At supper, Jacob refused to eat the chicken I cut up on his plate. I figured he was just being picky. After 30 min. of sitting there not eating (but not whining either), he got down. And while no one was looking, he snatched a whole piece of chicken off the table!! I guess he thought it was more appetizing than the little pieces on his plate! Crazy child.

Anna and Kaedyn running down the alley, coming home from the park.

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The other night/morning, Jacob had some tummy issues (read: nasty gas). He wasn't cranky unless I put him in his bed. So we spent from 2:30 am to 6am trying to get him to sleep. It didn't dawn on us that it was his tummy until 4. So it was not a good night.

This is how he felt. He was happy, being silly, and taking turns bouncing on Mommy & Daddy while we tried to sleep.

This is how I felt. Bleary-eyed and tired!!!

Smoothie Time! *updated*

*update* Aaron's meetings got postponed...I'll let you know to when! :)

A few weeks ago, I won a giveaway on MoneySavingMom's blog (a great blog with tips on saving your family money, mostly on grocery shopping)! It was for a smoothie kit, which included a mini "smoothie" blender, several smoothie recipes, and 3 t-shirts! I couldn't believe I'd won...there were over 1200 entries!!! The girls and I were excited...they couldn't wait to make their own smoothies!!! So after naps, they got to make some. I had some bananas that were getting pretty ripe, so we used those and some strawberries and blueberries. They weren't half bad! None of the new recipes were for fruit that I had, so I just made it up:)

Kaedyn chose bananas and blueberries for hers.

She had fun making it, but didn't like the taste! :)

Anna chose bananas and strawberries (shocking, I know). I had to get a picture of her outfit. She picked out the new dress Aunt Cara made her and then since she couldn't find her flip flops, she decided to wear her cowgirl boots to the store! So cute!!


Very serious about this blending business! I made waaaay too much in hers, but she liked it. A really cool thing about this blender is that you can take it on the go and drink your smoothies right out of it! Very cool. Kind of big, but cool :)
So thanks to Crystal at MoneySavingMom!!! I can't wait to try all sorts of recipes for smoothies and use up almost expired fruits and yogurt!

This afternoon the girls and Jacob played very nicely together in their room. Jacob was having a ball with all the bracelets and necklaces ;)

Bath time last night got a little wild! :)

Daddy has a big day tomorrow...prayers would be wonderful! And Grandpa gets here tomorrow!! AND we just might get to go to Daddy's last softball game (it's not until 9pm, so we'll see!)

What an exciting week!

We had an exciting week last week! And it's not ending any time soon!!! We spent the week at Papa & Binga's with all the cousins. And this week is just FULL of excitement! We brought Kaedyn back with us for the week, Grandpa Wallman is coming to visit for a couple days, and THEN we're going to Iowa again for VBS!!! Anna is beyond excited about that. They both kept asking when we were going back to Iowa for Bible school, so I finally put things up on the calendar! The excitement is almost unbearable! Even Kaedyn is excited about Grandpa coming (I think she's met him once?? Big first impression Grandpa! ;)). So here are a few pictures from last week and so far this week. I don't have many of these week because, well...I've been busy with 3 kids! Kaedyn and Anna have actually been getting along great so far (I know...ONE day!). But I'm proud of them for how well they played together today. All sorts of cooking and party hosting and princessing!

We picked up a baby swing to put on the swingset for Jacob. Uhhh....he LOVES it! The higher the better:)

We had a looooong trip home. We didn't leave until after 4 pm. The kids did great considering we got home at midnight! We had to make a detour in Salina to pick up Aaron's car, so it took longer than usual. And they only slept in til 8:30! But they all 3 took really good naps today:)

Jacob was King of the Crib in Iowa! Good grief.

While the girls were away, this is what the men let happen to the babies!!! Just kidding. They played in the water and well, Papa didn't know there's such a thing as "swim diapers"! haha This was also a night time diaper that he put on him, so it really held the water!!!

Look at that thing!!! I think the diaper probably weighed over 10lbs!

The poor kid could hardly sit or walk in the thing and nobody noticed it until I said "HOLY COW!!!" when I saw Jacob. HA

The girls had a water fight with Daddy/Uncle Wally. I'm not sure who won!

Uncle Jamie is still crazy!!! As Jeremy & Alisha were leaving, he decided to tag along for a bit on the scooter (one of the scooters we got as kids...in like 1990!)

All the moms said "Kids, DO NOT TRY THAT. EVER!" haha

Except Mom...she just said "Jamie Lee!!!" :)

Lots of Fun, Everywhere!

Some pics from here and there. We've been staying busy and having lots of fun with all the cousins!

Mia convinced Papa to "play the game where one person gets chased". That one person is always Papa!!!

Kaedyn...she never sits still long! This is the only non-blurry picture I've gotten of her all week!

Ice Pops on the deck.

Jacob loves the new combine.

Mom! It's so much fun!!

Bryce playing Wii bowling. Every time, he said "I did it!" :)

Anna did AWESOME! This was the first time she played. I helped her the first bowl, then she insisted on doing it herself. She even did it left-handed and scored 103!!!

She's serious about this game!

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We went to this place called Incredible Pizza.
It was a ton of fun. There was even an area for little ones that had tons of fun toys to play with. But once Jacob realized there were cars in the arcade...he wasn't interested in anything else!

Hudson, going shopping!

She won over 300 tickets on the games!! She did really good on this one. It's like wack the mole, Except you hit it to get balls into the dog's mouth. She had fun!

The tongue-biting IS genetic!!

This car was a hit with Jacob, Anna, and Kaedyn!

Another great garage sale find by Papa & Binga! All the kids love this horse. It makes noise, moves its head and tail and can rock. Fun, fun, fun!

We also went to a great waterpark today, but I didn't take any pictures. There were things for all ages! I think the favorite for all the girls (even Mia) was the 'Lazy River'. Even Jacob liked that one.

THE combine

Uncle Terry & Aunt Cara got the kids a ride-on combine to have at Papa's house. The kids all love it! Even the girls! :) Papa won't make the mistake of putting a toy together on the deck again! He had to take a board all the way off to get some pieces.

Finishing touches

What? I'm not the intended rider???

Thanks!!! We're having lots of fun playing combine!!!

Fun at a new park

Today, we went to a park by my parents' house that has some pretty fun stuff. It's not the usual park we go to, so the kids had lots of fun!

Chasing tennis balls might have been the highlight!

Jacob couldn't get to them fast enough!

Cassie & Hudson waving up to everyone on the tower.

Papa & Jacob way up high!

Bryce is so cute I could just squeeze him!! He has the cutest little voice!

See?! He's just too cute!

Hudson. Such a cutie pie!

They have these cute little houses and the kids had fun playing in them.

Lions and Tigers and Monkeys, OH MY!

On Monday, we all went to the Wichita zoo--except Aaron...he had to work :( The kids loved it. It was pretty warm, but not terrible. We were there for a few hours and I think we saw all the exhibits. The new tigers and penguins are great! And THANK YOU to Cassie's cousin who got us passes!!!

Bryce LOVED the "Cool Zone" misting fans!

Jacob & Papa watching the gorillas. None of the animals were very active that day. One of the gorillas did run across the windows and pound on them once.

I was trying to get a picture of the gorilla laying there playing with his toes, but I think this one turned out pretty cool! Hudson checking out the gorilla.

A graceful swan along the way.

Bryce was so funny! He wasn't the least bit afraid of the animals in the petting zoo!!

Anna preferred the stroller. Such a rough life!!

Jamie and Hudson checking out the horses.

Jacob...he was scared of the small animals (of course!) but enthralled with the huge ones! Here he's checking out the Water Buffaloes.

"ooohhhhhh"

When he saw the peacock, Bryce said "Hey chicken!" over and over. He is just so cute!!!

The peacock's call scared Jacob half to death! He did NOT like that one bit!

Their color is just phenomenal!

We had lots of fun seeing all the animals. Anna's favorite was the baby zebra! :)

July 4th

Sterling has a great 4th of July celebration all weekend long. This year's parade was the biggest I've seen in the 7 years we've lived here. The sirens got a little loud, but it was fun! It was pretty hot too :( Not as bad as it could have been, though.

Waving at the paradees (is that a word??)

The tradition of bagpipers. Sterling has Scottish heritage.

The color guard. Those guys had to be so incredibly hot!

She tried to stay in the shade (we had a couple umbrellas), but once the parade started, she was intent on watching and getting candy!

Mia, Kaedyn and Anna waiting for the parade to start.

Elise (and Jeremy) watching the parade.

Still waiting, in a different position!

(Elise, Kaedyn, Anna, Mia)

First thing Saturday morning, Aaron & our friend Kreg ran the 5K. They did great!!

Anna running to meet Papa and Mia!

We sat REALLY close at the lake for the fireworks. It was pretty loud, even for me! Anna really liked them, just not the noise. So she sat like this the whole time!

Jacob HATED them! (he's crawling up Binga's neck behind Anna)

Anna's PARTY

We had Anna's party of the 4th, just because I knew my oldest brother and his family would be here from Florida. Anna was SO EXCITED her cousins were coming to her birthday party!!! I have to say, this will be the last time we have her party a WEEK after her actual birthday (either that, or we won't celebrate on her actual birthday at all!). A week of birthday celebrating was a bit much for a 4 year old! It was hard for her to understand time (the calendar helped). But she had a blast.

Again, blogger is being *whisper* stupid *whisper* and won't let me move the pics around. But here are a whole bunch from her party on Saturday. We had fun. Thank you to all the family that made the trip and came! We loved seeing everyone!

I guess Jacob thought the yard needed to be mowed! :)

We got the kids a swing set as a joint gift this year. Jacob loves the slide! Thanks, men, for staying up late putting it together!

A split second after I took this, Anna flipped over backward! Somehow she managed to hang on, but it was pretty funny!

ALL the kids loved it!

This was Anna's face when she saw her present! But then she got excited and ran to try it out.

He gets a little wild in his sleep!

The swingset:) Hopefully they won't expect such big presents every year!! Our neighbor's gave us one a few years ago, but it got demolished in the ice storm last year :(

Those same wonderful neighbors let us borrow their camper for the weekend. My whole family stayed for a few days with us, so we needed the extra space! Anna, Kaedyn, Mia, and our friends' little girl Elise all slept in there with Aaron & I. It was great fun:)

The first night (without Elise), I put Kaedyn and Anna in the bigger bed and Mia in the smaller one. I had meant to put the baby monitor out there so we could hear them if they weren't sleeping or needed something, but I forgot. So a couple hours later when I went to bed, I found Anna in Mia's bed! Mia said Anna was up fussing and saying she was hungry so she let her get in bed with her!

And Kaedyn had this great big bed all to herself!!

Mia, Elise, Anna, Bryce, and Kaedyn playing in the pool!

Mia started a water fight with Great Uncle Terry and Anna joined in! I think Uncle Terry lost!!

I was waiting for Jeremy & Jamie to push Aaron in the pool, but they took FOREVER! And I had just asked Aaron to pray before we ate, so he was looking around waiting...it just didn't work! Good thing, too because he had his cell phone in his pocket!

All the little kids eating on the deck (except Jacob).

Mia & Jacob...evidently they decided to do their silly faces!

This is the best one I got of the girls!

It was a little bright and Anna was squinting, so I said "Anna, open your eyes!". So she did. HA

Sweet Adison! Our friends' other little girl. She is such a sweetie pie and has the bluest eyes!

Up next....4th of July pics :)