So in random news... this "little" baby crow tried to move in. He or she was really confused. I'm not fond of these birds, but this one was so sad and hungry that I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for it. The kids thought it was awesome. Boy was it noisy... I think it cawed at us for at least a couple hours before it finally went away. I saw what I think was the mommy hanging around towards the end, and I'm hoping she got him to go home. Little run away thought he was old enough to leave the nest...
I know it doesn't really look like a baby but it is, still had the fluff on the underside and was opening it's beak over and over again hoping that we would feed it.
Even tried to come inside at one point. I almost caught it and called the wildlife rescue people, but then I saw the mommy bird and decided to see if it would just go back with her {plus my husband wouldn't help me and I'm scared of crows... ha ha}. Seriously it kept trying to land on me! Wasn't fond of that idea. Anyways it made for an exciting night for the kiddos.
Love these silly little critters.
It is so hard to get a good picture of this girl anymore, she absolutely refuses most days.
This picture cracks me up... look at her face, I might be able to capture her for a picture but she will NOT smile for it... ha ha!
I know it doesn't really look like a baby but it is, still had the fluff on the underside and was opening it's beak over and over again hoping that we would feed it. 
Even tried to come inside at one point. I almost caught it and called the wildlife rescue people, but then I saw the mommy bird and decided to see if it would just go back with her {plus my husband wouldn't help me and I'm scared of crows... ha ha}. Seriously it kept trying to land on me! Wasn't fond of that idea. Anyways it made for an exciting night for the kiddos.
Love these silly little critters.
It is so hard to get a good picture of this girl anymore, she absolutely refuses most days.
This picture cracks me up... look at her face, I might be able to capture her for a picture but she will NOT smile for it... ha ha! I put on a skirt, I think the first time this year, and the boys all declared me beautiful. I love how easy it is. I mean I hardly have to do anything to hear them tell me how pretty I am. Which is the upside of hardly ever getting "fancy" as I call it. :) Honestly I'm mostly a sweats and ponytail kind of a girl. Last night I was showing Ryder what I found for swim wear, I'm a seriously modest sort of girl and so I actually bought work out wear, a shorts and tank top sort of thing. It looked like a super modest tankini. I am totally unable to find anything that covers enough for me in the regular swimsuit section and have completely given up on that. Anyways I was complaining about how I looked in it because I'm really out of shape right now and not feeling so hot about it. Bubu pips up and tells me I look super pretty. Which was really sweet. Then when I was walking away I heard my hubby tell him "good call". So funny, my boys.
The kiddos sporting their new tank tops I got them on Spikes birthday. It takes so, so many shots before I get one half decent photo now days. Believe it or not this was the best one. Sigh.
Spike and his birthday pancakes. the BIG 4 year old!
I made my first real cake from scratch. I always thought for some reason it would be hard, but it totally wasn't. Not that I did anything fancy, but Spike loved it. He had been showing me different pictures of cakes that he wanted for months before his birthday. Funny kid. He has a real need for things to be made super special for him, must be a littlest boy thing. I think he sometimes feels a little skipped over. He was disappointed that no one was coming over for his birthday but we already had a get together the weekend before. He won't stop talking about the friends he wanted at his birthday party, it seems really important to him this year, so I'm going to do some sort of get together for him later this month.
The kiddos sporting their new tank tops I got them on Spikes birthday. It takes so, so many shots before I get one half decent photo now days. Believe it or not this was the best one. Sigh.
Spike and his birthday pancakes. the BIG 4 year old!
I made my first real cake from scratch. I always thought for some reason it would be hard, but it totally wasn't. Not that I did anything fancy, but Spike loved it. He had been showing me different pictures of cakes that he wanted for months before his birthday. Funny kid. He has a real need for things to be made super special for him, must be a littlest boy thing. I think he sometimes feels a little skipped over. He was disappointed that no one was coming over for his birthday but we already had a get together the weekend before. He won't stop talking about the friends he wanted at his birthday party, it seems really important to him this year, so I'm going to do some sort of get together for him later this month.The day after Spikes birthday is our anniversary. I was 15 when we met 17 years ago, I fell madly in love, and I still am. Through all the ups and down, and there have been plenty. Saying it was our 6th wedding anniversary seemed like such an understatement. My husband and I got to go over night to a hotel, which rarely ever happens. Left the kids with my mom and sister. It was hard to do, I haven't left Atty with anyone over night since his seizures started. Even though he hasn't had any in over a year now, it still was hard to do. There is so much involved in his diet and such. Anyways in was fine, he survived, I survived and even the baby girl survived {hadn't ever left her with anyone, including my husband, overnight before}. She is still nursing to sleep, so I was a bit worried, but she made it through. We had a wonderful time, dinner and then a movie in the hotel room and then some swimming in the pool later at night {because I only had a horribly ugly and old swimsuit I waited until the pool was empty, which was nice having it all to ourselves}. Slept through the whole night with out having to get up and take care of something/someone. That was a bit weird, but beautiful. Then I tried to sleep in, but couldn't...gerrrrr.... just to use to getting up early I guess. We waited until the very last minute to check out and then we tried going down to the beach for a picnic. But when we got there we couldn't help thinking about how we wished the kids were with us. We kept talking about them and how much they would like it there, then about 15 minutes in my husband said, maybe it's time to go home, and I agreed. So instead of walking the beach and taking our time like we had planned we hurried home to see the littles. It was a nice break though, and we are going to try to get away overnight every year now around our anniversary. We have only been away together over night one other time since the kiddos. We are getting better at realizing that we need to take time together {with out the kids} as time goes by. A moment to reconnect. Usually the conversations we do have are interrupted by little voices over and over again, so to have just a simple conversation were we could concentrate on what the other was say was so nice. I think my favorite part was the comfortable silence though, not something that often happens in a house full of little kids.
It's been a busy last few week, and already the weekends this summer seem to be filling up. At some point I want to have an open house with the kids to show some family and friends what we have done in school this year. As the school year comes to an end I've been reflecting on this last year and what I did and didn't do the way I wanted to. I've loved seeing them learn and improve as the year goes by. I'm already getting excited for next year! Next year will be even better. I'm planning on posting a little more about our experience this year soon. :)
Oh, and J is coming for a visit as soon as school is out for him... we are so excited!!!
