Pictures. Again.

I can't keep up with the blog! :( We've been busy with school, gymnastics, swimming lessons, co-op, being sick.....just life. So here are some pictures to catch up a little bit.

 Oh my. Dreams have come true! I still can't believe I have a baby grand piano in my house!!! I'm calling it my birthday present to myself. And it was free!!! The nursing home in Lyons just wanted to get rid of it because they never used it. It's not in perfect shape, but once we got it tuned it sounds great! Anna has been playing non-stop since we got it. She's perfected "Taco Fiesta" and is working her way through her piano books. I've so enjoyed listening to her play and playing again myself.

 We had some good friends stay with us over SC's Homecoming weekend. They have a 5 yr old, a 3 yr old, and twin 7 mo olds! It was such a fun weekend!! Isaac thought he needed to test out one of the pack-n-plays. He told me he was a baby cow. Oooookay.

 Jacob and baby Isaac

 Anna & baby Estella

 Waiting for the parade to start!

 I may or may not have even more baby fever now! ;)

 The big girls slept in Anna's room. Esther and Emma both ended up on the floor one night!

 Jacob was SO proud of himself for earning his jewel in AWANA! He's doing great in Sparks this year.

 We've been sitting with Scott and Amy at church...which means Anna and I get to fight over holding Ella! :)

 We also had my class's 10th year reunion Homecoming weekend. We had a huge turnout! It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone.

 Isaac always wants to sit in the back with Anna and Jacob. So, I switched things up and they're all 3 in the very back now. So far, so good. Anna is practicing buckling and unbuckling Isaac for me.

 Since our trip to Hawaii is less than 3 weeks away (squeal!!!!), the kids have been taking swimming lessons at the college. Isaac hasn't had any lessons, but he has no fear of the water. Bad combination! But he also doesn't like when he's made to go under water. After the first lesson, he told me over and over, "I no yike go under wawer!" The second lesson, he screamed the entire time he was in the water. Hopefully the next lesson will go a little more smoothly......

Since there is no lifeguard on duty, the teacher only lets Anna and Jacob in the pool at first, then it's Isaac's turn after they're done. Let's just say keeping Isaac occupied for 20 minutes, in his swimming suit, with an Olympic-sized pool to taunt him, is no easy task! So we walk around the pool and he has to stop at every ladder and lean down to touch the water.

I'll try to get some more pictures posted and get all the way caught up before Thanksgiving...

Picture overload!

All kinds of pictures for the family :)

At the library. Oh my, the cheeks!!

Haulin' tomatoes for Mama :)

Rhys!!

His first spelling test was a couple weeks ago. He aced it!

Tickling daddy's back. Such a sweet boy. 

I had braided Anna's hair when it was wet and she LOVED what happened when it was dry and she unbraided it. She wanted me to take a picture and send it to Papa. 

We kept Jeremy's kids for a few days. It was fun. Chaotic, but fun!

We had to take 2 vehicles to church! Rhys zonked out on the way home. 

Oh my. Uncle Elry, Aunt Carol, and Sarah sent the kids these Duck Dynasty dolls...that talk. My favorite? Phil's line: women with whiskers...it's a bummer. 

Demolition derby!! The kids have so much fun on these and Isaac has become a pretty good driver!

Anna fashioned some clothes for her tiny doll using some sticky tack! She also made some "toys"...I was impressed with how well she did!

I guess they're ready for Christmas?? Actually, I think they had been watching a Christmas  movie. 

Found this fascinating creature in the driveway. 

Art class! Binga is teaching via Skype to our little co-op class on Fridays. The kids were SO proud of their paintings!! They'll be adding trees this week. 

They're starting to get along a *little* better!

Jeremy and Alisha treated me to a delicious steak dinner Sunday. And Alisha and the girls made chocolate covered strawberries. We had to teach Rhys about the finer things in life ;)

Practicing his sketching he learned about in art a few weeks ago. 

Isaac's sketching. I asked him to smile. This is what I got. 

Pictures for the Grandparents :)

Just some random pictures to make up my lack of posting to the grandparents ;)

 She is a book worm! If I can't find her, she's holed up somewhere frowning the "Papa frown" reading a book!

 Rhys and strollers! She loves them, whether they're for dolls or not, she'll take a ride! :)

 She's ready for school!

 He's relaxed, I would say!

 Enjoying a nice, cool, fall evening with a fire outside at Jeremy's. I'm loving the cool evening weather! Just wish the days would stay a little cooler, too.

 Having fun at Warrior Fest in the bouncy house!

 The boys got some lego Mario Brothers cars. Let's just say that Isaac really likes his car!

 We celebrated the first day of autumn by playing baseball in the backyard!

 Daddy got a little carried away, determined to hit a wiffle ball over the fence. You can imagine what happened when he connected with the ball....I got slammed in the head with it!!!

 It's blurry, but it's too funny not to post. Anna got nervous with how aggressive Daddy was being so she decided to don some protection!

 A trip to the library and we discovered they have a new kids-only computer! Isaac had no idea what he was doing, but he was taking it seriously!

I found Jacob teaching Isaac how to write his cursive letters one day. Too cute!!