Yo Ho Ho! Brady's 4th Birthday Party!

"Yo Ho Matey's Away!  There'll be treasure and adventure today!  Heave Ho here we go, together as a team!"  This is a very well known song at our house and Brady sang it all day as we celebrated his 4th birthday in true pirate fashion!  RaeAnn made an awesome pirate cake!! Truly amazing!!  (Thanks my friend!)

 And Brady had lots of mates here today to help him celebrate.  Drew, John, Brady, Bennett, Henry, Austin and. . .

 Blake came to make the day great!

 We dug for gold in the sandbox . . .

every pirate must dig for gold, right?!










 Blowing out the candles.

 And finally. . . the treasure hunt!!

 Bruce hid clues and the kids had to find the next clue that would lead them to the treasure map!

 They finally found a spot that looked like a treasure could be there and they started digging.

 Everyone seemed to have a great time.  They finally found the treasure and it was filled with loot for everyone!!

Arrgh Matey!!  It was a great day!!  Happy Birthday Brady!  We love you and hope you have a wonderful year!!  We are so blessed by you and the adventure you bring into our lives.  

Lindsey's Birthday Celebration!!

Finally the birthday celebration day arrived!!  We had a dog cake the way only Grandma Taylor can make them...always the best!  

And Lindsey had a fun day celebration with a few friends!

And she received lots of wonderful presents!

And since I finally had the opportunity to blog, I thought I should go ahead and post these cute pictures while I had the chance.  This is Zachary and his friend Austin playing at the party.

And Rachel and Zach snuggling this morning watching Tom and Jerry!

                                                   
 Zach with his football friend Jillian.

And all my sweeties in their costumes this Halloween.  What cuties!!

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Usually goofing off for the camera...

 at times sad...

always a great big sister!

We love you Lindsey!  Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had lots of fun dressing up this year.  Zachary loved it after he figured out he got "wowwipops" in his "punkin" bucket.  Fun, fun, fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday Zachary!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy Zachary!!! How can you be 2 already? Grandma Taylor and Mrs. RaeAnn made you a beautiful birthday cake with a "twacter" on it.

What a great present!!

A little guy can never have too many tractors to "mow hay".

And a Tow Mater bubble maker.

We have had lots of laughs from this ball popper toy. He starts giggling everytime it starts popping balls out. Excellent choice of gift from his 2 favorite sissys.

And me and my "Bubby". How precious!!!

We are so blessed by Zachary. . . in lots of ways. He makes me pray more for one thing. His last adventure of climbing up ladders to rooftops can make this Momma's heart stop. I'm not sure what the Lord is trying to teach me with him, but I hope I get it soon. May the Lord keep you safe another year. I look forward to what this year will bring, I think. Love you Zachy!!

Rachel's Ballet Recital

Rachel had her first ballet recital, it was Cinderella. She was sooooo excited and looked beautiful. She was one of the "horses" that pulls the carriage. She had her make-up done, by one of the older ballerinas.



And then it was off to wait her turn to dance. Here she is with her class, the rest of the "horses".


She was beaming!!!

The dancing. And every ballerina must have flowers after their performance, right?
It was a very loooong 3 hour ballet recital, but we endured . . . barely! Bruce had to leave with the boys after her dance and we met up with them at the play ground. She looked beautiful and had a wonderful time. Rachel, you may have been a horse in this recital, but you are our little Cinderella! We love you!

Our Month of May

I realize I haven't posted any pictures from the entire month of May.....how can that be? It's been a little busy with finishing school, testing, Zach, day to day things, puppies, Zach, planting gardens.....and did I mention Zach? (just kidding Zachy, you really are a sweetie) It's really no excuse, everyone is busy. Here's a little of what we've been doing.

Meet Chloe!!! We got her from the shelter on May 7th. Bruce fell in love with her instantly and I knew we were coming home with her. She is the sweetest puppy. Her nickname is Miss Wiggle-Waggle, because she wiggles all over when she sees you (or Chloe Ann) - not sure where that came from. The kids LOVE her and Charlie likes having a playmate. So, yes we have 2 dogs, but she is so good, I really can't complain about her. She is the most laidback, gentle dog I have ever met. She doesn't jump, no biting, pawing, just gentle puppy kisses if you allow it. Thank you Lord (I couldn't have handled another Charlie).


And here's my Zachy. On May 13th (yes, the "Friday the 13th" bad reputation held true for us that day). Bruce was going to work late and Zachy was sleeping longer than usual. Before Bruce left for work, I checked on Zach and found him VERY lethargic, and at times unresponsive. Long story short: we called 9-1-1 and when they came he was hypoglycemic. Off to hospital and they treated him. They still don't know why his sugar was so low, but we're praying it never, ever happens again. I have a new perspective these days, and I eagerly await that little voice calling "Mommy" in the mornings.

This is Zach at the Children's hospital where we spent the night for observation. He was feeling better here and they had removed his IV, so he had fun riding in the halls. . .


and playing with Daddy!



We've been planting our garden. All the kids helped and Brady needed his excavator to cover the seeds.

Rachel loves planting things, and she worked and worked in the garden that day.


Our neighbor has been mowing in the fields and the boys run to him each time they hear a tractor. Often Mr. Worley parks one in the barn and Zachy loves to "dwive dwive".


Lindsey and her Daddy. We had smores one night down by the fire pit and everyone enjoyed a yummy treat that night.


Lindsey and Rachel had their Awana's award ceremony and got their certificates for completing their books.

Zach at the ceremony, so cute!


And Lindsey the horse whisperer had both the babies up at the fence with her. She loves them and continues to beg everyday for a horse of her own.

Look at that face!

Brady climbing trees at Grandma and Pop-pop's.

And fishing!! Bruce took the kids fishing and they had so much fun. In spite of the heat they caught several fish.

Brady keeps saying "I can't believe I caught a fish!"

Look at this princess, she can catch fish and butterflies!

It was such a hot day, but they all did great. Grandma and Pop-pop joined us for the fun, and sweating, and poison ivy, but the kids had a great time.