Caleb's first soccer practice

Caleb's first soccer practice.....dad bought him the shorts and told him they were soccer shorts, so he insists on wearing them even though they are a little big. Oh well, we shouldn't have to buy soccer shorts anytime soon....
Caleb practices kicking the ball. He is pretty good without defense...I think he might get mad if someone takes the ball from him in a game....


This is Caleb's team. There are six kids and three play at a time. Caleb has a hard time balancing on one foot, something we need to work on apparently. He kept falling down, but he was also acting pretty silly while doing it, so maybe if he concentrated on it, he would do alright.

Before going to practice today, Caleb asked me if he could "web" the soccer ball. I decided to tell him that the net (goal) was a web that he needed to kick the ball into. He was really cute, a lot to learn about soccer for sure. For example. The coach took one ball and tried to have them play a game, but they didn't quite get the idea that they had to try and get the ball from the other team, they just chased each other around the field and tried to kick the ball into the closest goal. Hopefully this weekend and next week, we will work on it with Caleb and help him figure it out a little more....would hate for him to be the one to score a goal for the opposite team...

Some great pictures

My friend Jennifer took these pictures of the girls. I have to brag on her because I think she does great work. She is a fabulous artist and I needed everyone to see what a great job she did.

Keira is 3 months here. Getting so big...I think she looks like Chloe. What do you think?

Keira's Dedication

Keira was dedicated on the 17th of August. Grandpa and Grandma Lunn were there along with Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Cindy, Victoria, Isabella, and Quinn. All three kids came to the front with us, so naturally we were both a little nervous as to what they were going to do....as a side note, Caleb was horrible for Chloe's dedication.....Once Josh and I decided to kindof let them be, they were great. I did think that Chloe would get really shy and let Josh hold her the whole time, but once we got on the stage, she was wanting to walk all over the place. The pastor shook Josh's hand and said to him "I dare you to have one of them jump off the stage..." imagine if they really did that. All in all, it was a great day and we are so excited to have dedicated our three children in the same church by our pastor. We definitely have our work cut out for us, but with God's help, we will be up to the task.

August fun

The month of August was hot. We have had a bunch of fun swimming, going to the park, jumping on the trampoline, going to the library, and spending time with family. Trying to beat the heat has proven to be a challenge at some points, but we have done a pretty good job of it. Thankfully we have friends who have neighborhood pools that we can cool off in. Caleb is getting really good at swimming, he doesn't use a lifejacket anymore, but isn't quite to the point where I can sit down and read a good book while he swims. He does love to swim though. He is getting ready to start preschool and I am excited about that. He is too, however he doesn't quite get the fact that he will be in a new class with a new teacher. Chloe has been a sweet sweet girl. I love her helpful attitude. Caleb is very lucky to have her. Just the other day, I was hounding Caleb to get his shoes on. I was starting to get frustrated and Chloe said, "I get Caleb's shoes". I tried to stop her, but it was too sweet. I keep reminding him how lucky he is to have such a sweet sister who helps him out, I just hope he doesn't take advantage of her helpfulness....Keira is rolling over and I think she is trying to figure out how to crawl - definitely the beginning stages of crawling, but still. I am hoping that she doesn't figure it out for a couple more months. I am not ready to follow her all over the house. It is going to be harder this time around because Caleb's toys are getting smaller and smaller. Anyway, we celebrated my birthday with the family. Cindy and Carol's birthday are at the same time as mine, so we celebrated all together. It was a lot of fun and the kids had fun too. We went out to eat and then headed over to Jeremy and Cindy's house for cake and gifts. I got a Hobby Lobby gift card :) and three pair of sandals. Josh got me a Bible and some work out clothes. Caleb got me a waterbottle for "after you get done running, mom" - very sweet and thoughtful. Here are some pictures of our month....enjoy :)

4th of July at the lake

So, before we headed to Michigan, we went to the lake. All of our family was there and we had a great time. Caleb really enjoyed the water as did Chloe. Keira couldn't get in the water there because she had to have a life jacket and they don't make them that small. I told Caleb that if he jumped off the dock by himself then I would buy him a new spiderman toy....after jumping with his dad for a few times, he got the nerve up to do it all by himself. Here are some pictures and a video of Caleb jumping. Chloe went off the top too, but I was helping her and Josh was in the water, so we didn't get any pictures.

Here is Dave and Denise sporting their 4th of July apparrel. Dave was a trooper by taking us out on the lake on the jet ski - Thanks Dave!

The lake was a blast, thanks Jerry and Barb for letting us come - can't wait to come again!!!

Okay, so I felt a little guilty thad I didn't put a video of Chloe on my blog, so here is one. She loves the itsy bitsy spider song, and this is her attempt to sing it for us. She decided her favorite outfit right now in this heat is simply a diaper. This weekend, I think I am going to try and get her to potty train.....we shall see.....I will let you know.

Trip to Michigan

We went to Michigan for my grandmother's funeral. She lived a long and fruitful life, and now she is in a much better place - I am jealous of her. She had so many remarkable qualities that I hope to continue throughout the rest of my life. She was an awesome mother, wife and grandmother. I remember as a little girl getting birthday packages from her filled with clothes that she made for me. I also remember every time we would go visit the rest of the family, I always stayed with grandma and grandpa because I had no cousins my age. I look back on that now and realize how lucky I am to have had that time with them. I remember waking up every morning to grandma and grandpa praying together. They were the biggest prayer warriors that I know. It scares me a little because I know that they prayed for each and every person in our family every day and now it is up to us, will we be as faithful??? I certainly hope so. She made the best fudge and I wanted to be sure and get the recipe from her so that I could tell my kids and grandkids that the recipe was my grandmas....well I called her up and asked her for the recipe and she told me, "it is on the back of the marshmellow creme jar...." - so now her recipe is famous....right???? Well, anyway, she made it full of love and that is why it is so special to me.

She would have loved to see the kids and especially loved to hold Keira....she loved babies and always held them when she had the chance. You know she never had a job out of the house? She never had a driver's license? She was so completely dedicated to being a mom and wife that she didn't need those things. I think about me being that way and I think I would have gone crazy without a driver's license especially since I have trained my kids to go go go all the time. Life was simpler back than and she was just interested in being the best at what she did - which she was. She loved to play yatzee with us...almost every time she came to visit, we played at least one game with her. She was a timeless classic, beautiful in everything she said and did.

I remember when I took Josh home to meet the family, my grandparents came over to meet him. I was very interested in what they thought of him. Of course, they saw what I saw in him and loved him right off the bat. maybe because he helped with the dishes???? He still does, so it wasn't a show. I think deep down, their approval was all I needed to have to marry him (along with my parent's approval as well). I am a very lucky woman to have such a great family that cares so much.



Our trip was full of fun after the funeral. We went to my parent's house and had lots of fun. The kids were able to play with their Michigan cousins and had a blast......


















We went camping out at the lake for a week and here is Aunt Kristi with Keira....Keira was held most of the time......she didn't get to get in the water at the pool, so I got to spend some quality time with her.


Uncle Johnny and Aunt Randee look awfully comfortable with a little one :)



















All the kids had fun playing in the corn maze. It was tall enough so that the kids couldn't see over the corn. Caleb got lost in the corn - he actually got out of the maze and was headed in the opposite direction....gave us a bit of a scare, but we found him and he was fine - thank you God!



Caleb and Isaiah are at the mall waiting for the rain to slow down. On the day of Grandma's funeral, we had to check out of the hotel by 11, the funeral was at 2, so we went to the mall and had lunch. It poured at the wrong time - needless to say, we got a little bit wet. Rick had the right idea when he drove his vehicle under the tunnel....

The kids had so much fun playing on the farm. From jumping on the trampoline, to visiting the new kittens and chickens (Chloe and Adriana's favorite), and of course rides in the wagon.

Grandma and Grandpa use their shed to feed the troops, but also to spend quality time with their grandkids.

We went to visit Great Grandpa and Caleb and Keira got a lot of love from him. Again, precious pictures. Chloe was very unsure of him, maybe next time. She is definitely my shy one. She only goes to Grandma, Grandpa (both sides), mom, dad, and a few of my close friends....sorry All you Uncles out there, she is a little nervous (?) around you still, give her a few years....

In the hotel we stayed at on our way up, Chloe gets a chance to attack and wrestle with Caleb....who is winning? Not sure, they both look like they are enjoying themselves.

One of our favorite things we look forward to when we go to Michigan is the camfires and smores. The kids love being able to stay up late and get a sugar high before going to bed.

We had a blast in Michigan and can't wait to return -probably not until Christmas though....counting the days.....

Spiderman

This one is for Uncle Ryan and Uncle Jeremy - Enjoy!!!!

As most of you know Caleb is a huge Spiderman fan. As you can see in the video he has memorized the theme song and loves to dance while singing it. He introduces himself as Spiderman when he meets new kids at the park - and they in turn call him Spiderman. He loves his underoos and thinks he can wear them anywhere. His new word that he can spell is none other than s-p-i-d-e-r-m-a-n, which I was really impressed with. He is a great big brother to his sisters most of the time. I have a fear that he will get ganged up on once Keira is big enough to do it. Oh well, he will quickly learn how to stand up for himself. Enjoy the movie!

Becoming a Blogger

Well, I am finally becoming tech savvy enough to send out a blog. I am inspired by my sister-in-law and the amazing blog she has. I figure it is a great way to show anyone and everyone anything I want to :) Of course most of the stuff I will post will be about my kids because they are the joy of my life, but every now and then you may see a post about me or my husband (he is a huge joy in my life as well). We have been very hot here this month. It has been over 100 for at least the last 15 days, so unless we are swimming, we are indoors....sadly the kids are going a little stir crazy. I hope you enjoy this blog because I will probably be uploading several pictures and videos for your viewing enjoyment :)

Enjoy!!

Keira rolls over!!!

I actually missed her first roll over. I was in the other room and came back and sure enough she was on her belly - her preferred side - so the rest of the day, I spent with camera in hand, trying to get her to do it again. Here she is performing her first amazing talent...

I am sure you are just as impressed and excited as we are...no more leaving her on the bed. My goal this time around is to not let her roll herself off of anything!