Kristin Turns Four

As I mentioned in my last post, on Sunday October 19th, our Kristin turned four years old. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted a BIG bunch of flowers. So we got her these gerber daisies. She was so excited when they were delivered!

We had the family over Sunday evening for dinner and some birthday cake. This was the first time we had a family gathering at our new house, and we all had a great time. Hooray for finally having space for everyone!! When we were getting ready for everyone to arrive, Kristin said she wanted to help set up. I asked her to put a stack of cups out on the counter. Kristin took that literally and stacked the cups, like so:

Can't believe it's been four years since the little lady joined our family. Let's take a little photo walk down memory lane. This first photo is Kristin when she's only one day old. It was right after we brought her home from the hospital. The other pictures are Kristin and her birthday cake on each of her birthdays.Happy birthday, big girl!!

Catching up

Haven't posted as much as I'd like to lately, so I thought I'd try to catch up!

We've been busy, but it's mostly run of the mill type stuff. We're still getting settled into the house - meaning that we still have A LOT of boxes to unpack! We're also still getting used to the new schedule with school and soccer. It's a challenge time-wise to get Joey's homework done in the evenings. He's given a packet every Wednesday to work on over the week, and turn in the following Wednesday. He also has a spelling packet that comes home on Mondays and is due on Fridays. It gets a little confusing. And, as this photo so perfectly illustrates, Joey isn't all that enthusiastic about homework.

While Joey works on his homework packet, Kristin also sits at the counter to do her "homework," which means she wants to draw. We have quite the gallery of artwork from Kristin when you combine her "homework" with the paintings she does in preschool each week.

And then there's Simon, who has recently started playing in the exersaucer. He's still getting the hang of hand-eye coordination, so he can't always figure out how to grab at the toys. But he seems to enjoy batting at things just the same (when he's not sucking on his fingers, that is).

He's also been really drooly lately. I wonder if he's teething. Both Joey and Kristin were drool monkeys for months before they got teeth, so Simon will most likely be the same. Months and months of wet chins, with teeth appearing when he's around 10 months old.

Here's a photo of all three kids, taken before church this past Sunday. Don't they clean up nicely? Simon is in a sweater vest. I challenge anyone to resist the cuteness of a baby in a sweater vest.

This coming Sunday is Kristin's 4th birthday. We're having a family party, which will be our first in the new house! Kristin informed me that she wanted a big bunch of flowers for her birthday. My mom's next door neighbor is an amazing florist, so I called him and asked for a BIG bunch of gerber daisies. I can't wait to see what they look like. Here's hoping Princess Kristin approves! Anyway, check back in a few days for photos of the main event!

Joey Scores!

At the soccer game this past Saturday, Joey scored his first goal of the season. He played a great game. As my previous post explained, Joey isn't always that aggressive when it comes to playing soccer. There are times when he's more content to watch dragonflies or examine the grass than watch the ball or run down the field. But on Saturday, he was into the game. At one point they got close to the goal, and the kids were all packed around the ball. Joey kicked at it, and the ball went high over everyone's head and right into the goal! It was amazing! The team all started jumping around, but Joey was Mr. Cool. He just turned and gave everyone cheering on the sidelines this subtle thumbs up:Joey cracks me up.

Cheeky

I love this picture of Joey and Simon. See? Even Joey can't resist Simon's squeezable cheeks! And I love the adoring look on Simon's face, too. Awww...brotherly love!