For anyone who wants to know...

We are having a girl! (April 15th ish)

Responses from our dear children:

Cooper: In the car, way after the fact, "Mom, I don't want a girl."
Me: "Do you mean you don't want a sister?"
Cooper: "Yeah, Elizabeth is mean to me." About two months ago, his friend took his paintbrush. He isn't a grudge holder or anything.

About 11 hours later:

Me: "Cooper do you want to tell Sam what kind of baby we are getting?"
Cooper: "Yeah! Sam, we are getting a brother!"
Me: "No, actually it is a girl."
Sam: With the cutest little about-to-be tears in his eyes, "A sister? Really? A girl?" Followed by hugs and much happiness, as he has been begging me to produce a sister for him for the past 2 years.

Cooper is now happy about it, and Sam's reaction was priceless. Collin seems to think that we are nearing the finish line now that our collection is near completion. Hmmm. Ask me in about 3 years for an accurate, non-hormone influenced answer.

No, Sam, You Can't Have Sideburns.

Samuel occasionally wants a certain hairstyle. "I wanna spike it in the front", or "This part is too pokey looking." Usually he wants whatever will get him off the dreaded chair the fastest. "I want my hair long on top", "I want it long in the back", or as he professed on Saturday,
"I want sideburns."



You may not be able to glimpse his chops all that great, but there they are. He turned 7, by the way. Which is weird! Happy Birthday to him! He received some great gifts, his favorite being this bow and arrow. Thanks Ryan and Neisha!


He thinks he is Robin Hood now. It's really fun, and he is very generous with his turns. He was looking for a bear to shoot on Saturday. I assured him that his best bet would be a squirrel, and that he should just stick with the paper target, since I am not ready for him to hunt, and am not really confident that he could choose appropriate living targets.

Quick Photo Update...

This is Jacob looking innocent. He is the most mischievous child I have. He is the one who touched the hot oven every time its on, and never learns. He is constantly getting into everything. He loves appliances with cords. Curling irons and hand mixers are his favorite right now. The chairs are all in the garage so he can't climb, and I am just waiting for him to learn to open the fridge. I am amazed daily that he hasn't tried to climb out of his bed, or hasn't has success anyway.


I took Cooper and Madeline fishing last week. We only caught a little lake grass, however. They loved it though!



Sam has a wicked set of teeth right now. One of his front teeth will not let go, and is hanging crooked. Its disturbing to look at, even his teacher begged me to pull it out! But with his other loose tooth, and his new tooth coming in, it makes a pretty picture worthy!




Halloween kiddos: Jango Fett, Harry Potter, and Charlie Brown (who did not get rocks)