Brace Face

Unlike me, Savannah was actually extremely excited to get braces. And she got them, about a week before her 13th birthday. What a great gift...and an expensive one!
The before picture.

Excited and a little nervous.

The lovely mouth extender thingee.

Dr. Godwin is fabulous!

Checking them out for the first time.

And here she is - my little brace face, metal mouth, train tracks girl! She's still super cute!

Twinners!

My Silly Boys

One of my dear friends has three girls and one boy and she is always telling me she just doesn't know how moms with multiple boys do it. Yes, boys are loud and physical and crass and love to talk about the grossest things, but they are also very silly and lovable. My boys definitely spice up my life!
One learns to expect the unexpected - a simple trip to Target can turn into a Fedora modeling show.

And they can't be left unsupervised for too long!

My boys love to find other boys and wrestle...

and pile up on each other. I guess it's just what boys do!

They are definitely mischievous. One day I walked into the house after running errands to find this:

Oh, yes, that's ketchup. He thought he was hilarious!

And Xander loves to steal my phone and take selfies. This is kinda scary, actually.

But then there are the quiet moments, the moments that touch my heart, when all is right with my boys and they are spread out on my bed drawing while I read to them.

Or just having funny conversations with them over breakfast.

Yes, my boys definitely keep life exciting!

Cinci Nights

There's a movie, can't remember which one, where one of the character says something like: "Watch out! The weirdos come out at night." That line proves to be quite true in our case. Presenting my evidence:

Kellan's face...what can I even say? I'm wiping away tears as I type!

And then there are the swordfights...

including stabbings by Ciara.

Plays, shows, and fashion shows galore. Noella the model made quite an impression on us all. (I have an even better picture of Noella that will remain in secret until such an occasion where blackmail is in order.)

Not quite sure about this one.

The playroom holds many delights - toys, dress up, books, puzzles, games, and much more to keep the kids entertained.

And of course we can't forget the Wii!

Or movies with Grandpa. What a trooper - he watched Pride and Prejudice with Savannah and Ashlyn!

Night time swimming is always fun!

I wanted to get a few more pictures of the kids but only Savannah would pose for me.

Note the chaos going on behind my obedient, lovely child.

One evening the kids all spent the night up at Aunt Heidi's house so David, Bryan, me, and Dad headed out to Graters for some yummy ice cream treats! We know how to party!

Another fun but extremely short trip. It's always so hard to say goodbye!

Cinci Days with Family

It's not all about the pool when we're in Cincinnati - the kids find plenty of other things to do while we are there. The ride-ons are always a huge hit!

Even with those who are a tad bit too big for them, hee hee!

The kids spend a ton of time cleaning up their fort in the woods. They each have their own "room" and are always anxious to show the adults all the many passages and trails throughout.

Unfortunately McKenna developed poison sumac from their time spent here so the fort in the woods might end up being a thing of the past.

We love all the many chats and just hangin' out together.

Sav and her grandpa.

Cousin time is truly the best!

Aunt Heidi is Savannah's favorite...isn't it easy to see why?

My dad even roped the kids into weeding. His words: "No weeding, no swimming!" The kids got right to work...well, Noah might have wandered a bit.

When they started to complain I told them all about my weeding days growing up - how we weeded every Saturday morning, catching glimpses of Aunt Tricia waving at all of us from her bedroom window with a huge smile on her face because she had allergies and was excused from this horrific chore, as well as facing down our fears with the very real threat of rattlesnakes hiding in every bush. They have nothing on my weeding experiences!

Oh, look! Noah picked a weed!

Ciara loves hanging out with the boys!

Yes, there is plenty of time spent playing Heman and Legos, reading Dorrie the Witch books, or dressing up in the playroom but let's keep it real here - the majority of the time the pool is where it's at!
We love those crazy group shots!

And all the floaties!

And Kellan spent several of his afternoons taking a nap in the pool. It totally cracked us up!

The kids thought they could actually throw Daddy in the pool...

but that's what ended up happening to them.

They loved spending time in the pool with their dad.