Playing Catch-up after a LONG Blogging Absence

Hallelujah! The "All Dogs go to Heaven" post has finally been replaced. Kelly will thank me. I know that I am an annoying blogger.....posting once every four months...you can remove me from your list if you'd like, but here are some highlights from the summer since it's almost over!

(Hint: If by chance you get bored while reading this post, before leaving just quickly catch the last highlight at the end....it's kinda cool.)



Sandbox fun--I am so glad we put this sandbox in last summer! Plus, we added a trampoline to our toy collection this summer so my kids have been enjoying the lazy days of summer mostly from home. (No broken bones yet...) Thank goodness they have each other and sand.




Emma's Birthday--# 6! What a cutie she is! She got heelies for her birthday (something she's wanted for a long time) and she has been practicing on them quite a bit. She's gotten so good that she can even spin in a full circle while rolling around.

For one of her birthday celebrations we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for cup cakes and ice cream.



Something looks familiar in this picture......maybe the one in the middle....since you had 4 months to look at the post of our dog who died in April, you might notice that this dog is a younger version of Radar. Yes, we lasted about two months without a dog. We meant to wait quite a bit longer but here's the story: On Emma's birthday we were wrapping her presents in newspaper (ran out of the real stuff) and lo and behold front and center on her biggest present was an ad that said "Male Boxer, 10 months old, family is moving and needs to find a new home." Kelly perked up at the 10 month old thing. Neither one of us wanted a brand new puppy to potty train. But we did miss having a big energetic dog for the kids to chase around. So Emma actually got an extra--furry and slobbery--present on her birthday. His name is Gunner. He's been very fun to have around except for the fact that he chews everything to shreds. The kids love him, and Kelly and I are kinda fond as well. (PS--we were camping in this picture...Emma was protecting her head from mosquitoes or something I guess.)



Another camping picture. We've been three times this summer now--since we purchased ourselves a nice little camper trailer last fall--it's been pretty fun. This last time we took a little day-trip to Bear Lake in the middle of our camping trip and it was great. Forgot the camera for that (typical of myself) but the kids loved it. So I guess camping is going to be on the agenda for many summers to come.



There were many pictures to choose from of Isaac in his underwear, but I wanted one that wasn't too revealing. Kelly's choice would have been the one of Isaac with his camoflage underwear on bottom, a "wife-beater" tank on top, and his precious dollar-store rifle in his hand. Isaac actually disappeared one day (chasing after our dog) and we found him (and the dog) clear down the street in exactly this outfit--the camo-wife-beater-rifle one. It's a great picture but maybe not for the blog.

Anyway, this picture is here to document the fact that Isaac is potty trained! It went so easily, I still can't believe it. Basically I bought him some underwear, I told him we're going to start going potty in the big-boy toilet, and then he potty-trained himself. He'd just disappear down the hall every so often and I'd follow him and watch him climb on the toilet and do his thing. He even knew how to wipe, flush, wash, etc. The only problem is that he doesn't even ask for help when going #2....he just does it all himself....which doesn't work out so well sometimes. I really have to be aware so that I can catch that, but overall--easy as pie!




Emma played T-ball again this year. She was such a cute T-ball player, although not her favorite thing in the world. We'd had about one practice and one game when she started saying "I don't want to go to T-ball...." At least she had lots of neighborhood friends on her team to distract her from her boredom.



Madison and Isaac are enjoying their brownie and ice cream at one of many family get-togethers. We really haven't done much or gone many places this summer (besides camping) but we always seem to have lots of family stuff going on. We've seen lots of both Kelly's family and mine and we always have a lot of fun. I am so thankful that we live close to family and that my kiddos can play with their cousins, see their grandparents often, etc. We are very blessed!



Speaking of blessings......don't skip over this last little image--this is what FINALLY convinced me to blog since this is worth blogging about for sure! It's actually a picture of the two newest blessings in our family. Did you hear--TWO! Yep, you'll notice in this (very low-quality) picture that there are two little blob-looking things: Baby A and Baby B!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! Kelly and I just went to the doc a couple of days ago for my first appointment. We knew I was getting an ultrasound and it was early in the morning so Kelly decided to accompany me before heading off to work. Good thing he was there for the news. I was sort-of suspecting something because of the incredible amount of morning sickness I've had, and especially the incredible amount of clothes that I already don't fit into (pretty much all of them). I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.....but it looks like Kelly is getting his wish of 5 children after all. What an adventure, huh?