Hi All!

Had just a few things to share!

Here is a Coleman story. Lately his favorite little phrase is "jeez" whenever he falls down, drops something, someone does something he doesn't like, etc. Well this past week he has added "us" to end of it; so, what was a cute little phrase that made me laugh has now become "Jesus!" Yea, NOT SO CUTE!

Here one of his latest favorite activities - he gets a bunch of books, sets them up to make a "pen", sits in his pen and "reads" books.

Kamryn isn't real interested yet in what her brother is reading to her!

Carson has his last soccer game this Saturday. He is playing with the 2nd and 3rd graders, so the little runt gets knocked down a lot, but he actually scored his team's only goal this past Saturday. He was pretty excited!

I have been going out to volunteer in Carson's classroom on Wednesday mornings - Penney keeps Coleman and Kamryn for a couple hours. I love it - being in the classroom, keeping up on what the kids are doing, a break from the little ones, etc. A nice way to break up our week!

Annika is so excited to have her first real field trip this Friday - to the pumpkin patch. The other day she got off the bus with a new library book and told me that Carson read the book to her on the bus. I said "that is pretty nice having a big brother, huh?" and she says "Yea, it's SO cool to have a big brother!" (I'll remind her she said that next time they are arguing!)

The guys finished seeding yesterday about 4 and it started raining around 5 and getting more rain today. Very good timing I say! :-)

Coleman's potty training is going very well - in underwear all the time now (when he's awake anyway!) His timing is something else though - I swear just as I start feeding Kamryn he has to go - every time it seems! Poor girl gets latched and unlatched constantly!

Kamryn and her little smile - she has started to kind of giggle - just some squeaks when she is real happy!

I know what you all are thinking - everything is just peachy, everyone so happy. Guess I just shared the happy times; we definitely have our fair share of fights, screaming, crying, etc. (especially the 2 yr old!) I'll leave you with 1 question I do have these days - I just don't see myself as really being a very dramatic person; where in the world did my kids get all their drama? Especially the middle 2 - holy cow they are so dramatic sometimes! From their dad? :-)

1st day of school

We actually did the 1st day of school thing twice. Carson started yesterday (Tuesday) but Annika is in the Mon/Wed kindergarten class, so she started today. Both were so ready to start. Carson had a great day yesterday in his new class - he is in a 1st/2nd combo, and there are only 5 1st graders in there, so he really is in a NEW class, but loved it. Annika was ready to go this morning. It was cute to see them get on the bus together. I think Carson helped her out - sat by her, made sure she was doing good, etc. I met them when they got to the school and spent a while in Annika's classroom. She was smiling and loving it when I left. I can't wait for her to get home to hear all about it! Here are some pics.

And here is one of the little 2 making the most of their time together! (Coleman was having a good time; I am not sure what Kamryn thought about the whole thing!)

Smiles and Harvest!

I had to share some pictures of Kamryn's sweet little smile! I have so much fun trying to get her to smile and finally this morning I got the camera so I could capture it and share it with you guys. (I couldn't pick a favorite one to share, so here are few of them!)

Harvest is going well - even though we don't see Jeff much and the days as a single mom of 4 can be very long sometimes, it is just a neat time of year. The kids love riding on the combines - have been out several times and we just rotate the 3 kids between the 2 combines. Here are some pics I took today when we were out riding.

Carson started flag football this week. He is really liking it so far - only 2 practices, but he is very excited about it. I have to share this picture of Coleman and Kendall (Chad and Marie Denny's little girl). This was during flag football practice - they were just walking around holding hands and then stopped and were just looking out across the field and (if you can't tell, Coleman is pointing at something with his right hand) I don't know what Coleman is pointing at, but Marie got this picture of the 2 of them.

Oh, one more thing. Before the guys started harvest when we were waiting for it to dry out after we got a bunch of rain, we snuck away to Silverwood for a day. (I still think of you everytime I go to the ticket booth there, Kali!). It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast (spent 1/2 day in the H2O park and 1/2 day on the rides). The older 2 and Jeff went on one of the big roller coasters and loved all the rides. Coleman found these little helicopters and loved them. There was no line, so he would go on it, get off, out through the gate and back on for the next time - over and over and over again! This picture of his "thumbs up!" sums up his feeling for what he calls "hopper coppers!"

Kali, the other day we saw an airplane fly over and Annika asks me "When can I go on an airplane down to where Aunt Bud lives and go shopping with her and stuff like that?" Where did that come from?

Kamryn Kalyn!

I know, I have been a little slacking in getting these pictures posted, but here they are - FINALLY! Kamryn is so sweet! She is a great baby. She is a sleeper - there were actually a couple of nights that I was a little worried because she slept so long! (Never had that problem before!) Annika is a great helper, would sit and hold Kamryn all day long if she could! Both of the boys also love to hold and play with her! Enjoy the pics!

pictures of kids!

Hi! Here are a few pictures and updates. We have had a busy last couple of weeks, but Carson's last day of school was today and I think things should slow down a little - at least for a couple of weeks until #4 arrives! :-) 2 1/2 weeks till due date, but we are looking at maybe inducing on the 25 or 26 (2 weeks from today!! WOW!!), depending on how things are at that point. I feel really good, am enjoying being able to be outside (unlike the previous 3 pregnancies), but am anxious for baby to come!

Here is a picture of the baseball kids. The practices are over and games have begun (Mon. and Wed. til the end of June). The kids love it. It is fun to see the 2 of them on the same team. Carson is doing great and Annika is improving - when we can get her to focus instead of playing in the dirt!

We had Annika's dance recital last weekend. Her class danced to a song called the "Bunny Hop". The little leotards were so CUTE!

We had both "graduations" in the past week. Annika's pre school grad. was just a little picnic in the park, but Carson's kindergarten grad. was pretty neat - they walked to the real graduation music, had a slide show, sang songs and wore hats. Hard to believe that he is a 1st grader!

Here are a couple of pictures from our day on Ron and Penney's boat a couple of weekends ago. We pulled the older 2 kids behind the boat on a tube for the 1st time. They loved it. Here is Carson on the tube. In the boat, Annika has the orange flag and so of course Coleman decided the fly swatter would do for his flag!

Guess that does it. I will be in touch with any baby news! :-)

The latest in Latah

Hi All! Just an update from up north. The 2 older kids started baseball last week and both just love it! (Thanks for the cleats, Kortnie. Sorry I haven't got you called to thank you!) Carson really enjoyed it last year, so was very excited to have it start again. But this is Annika's first attempt at a competitive sport. Her swing (and catching and throwing for that matter) really left something to be desired a month ago, but we have been working on it and she is getting better. She has a great attitude (I know, Annika, can you believe it?), doesn't get frustrated and just has fun. She is constantly asking when the next practice is.

I actually subbed last Friday - Oakesdale has called me many times this school year and I keep saying no, so last Friday Penney took the kids (Coleman all day, drop off and pick up Annika, and Carson on and off the bus at her house!) and I subbed Kindergarten in the am and 4th grade in the pm. It was nice to get back in the classroom, but makes me appreciate being able to stay at home!

Coleman has reached the "Why?" stage. This seems so early for that to be starting, doesn't it? Today I ask him to get in his carseat, he asks "Why, Mommy?" On the way to baseball we drove by a park and he says "Me play park?" I tell him we don't have time and he asks "Why, Mommy?" I bet he asked the question 10 times, just today!! Tonight, I tell the kids its time to brush their teeth and he asks "Why, Mommy?" Yikes!

The guys are still trying to finish up spring work. Hopefully the rain we might get tonight won't amount to much and they might finish by this coming weekend!?! That would be great! We have actually had some great weather (even hit 80 today), so the kids and I went over to Lake CDA yesterday, played in the water and had a picnic. Here are some pictures from that. The water was way too cold to swim, but Annika got in somehow! Crazy!

Guess that does it from up here! 34 weeks tomorrow, only 6 weeks til baby! :-)

update!

Hi All! Just thought I would update you all on whats been going on up here. We had a great weekend last weekend with the Ephrata Mills' - it was Penney's 60th birthday so they made the trip over. Here is a picture of all of the kids - we took a drive up on the mountain and this is an old combine that the kids found to play on. They also had fun picking wild flowers. (yes, both girls have pretty much caught Carson in the height dept!)

Annika had her kindergarten "boosters" (shots) this week. She did SO GOOD! She didn't cry, scream, nothing! She acted so big! I combined her appointment with mine, so she got to hear the baby's heartbeat (something she has been asking to do for several months), so maybe that took away from her shots. Her appointment was on Tues. and the next morning as Carson was getting on the bus, she says to me "Mom, I feel like a real kindergartener - I am 5 and I have had my shots!" So, she is now having a hard time understanding why, now that she is 5 and has had her shots, she can't get on the bus with Carson and head to Kindergarten!

I am not sure if spring has sprung up here (it is 75 one day and then can't get into the 50's a few days later?), but spring work has begun. Jeff is working 14 -15 hour days, I think he said they have over 1400 acres to get seeded (of course all which has to be sprayed, etc. too) Just thought I would share that to those of you who thinks he just goofs off all the time (Kami)!!

The kids and I went to the Shrine Circus yesterday. The older 2 and I went last year and they had been asking about it. I think they all really enjoyed it - even Coleman was very entertained - it lasted over 2 1/2 hours, but we all had a good time! The older 2 rode the elephant again - the animal was way too big for Coleman's liking! :-)

Here are just some pictures from the yard - these things that Coleman just couldn't quite figure out last summer are so much fun for him this year - and so cute in his mom's eyes! (the John Deere tractor is battery operated, so he just pushes the pedal to the metal and goes like crazy. He is still trying to figure out the whole steering thing - Carson has to come to his rescue many times when crashes! Usually he just goes around in circles and loves it!

Coleman's Birthday!

Here is the big 2 year old birthday boy, all smiles. He loved having it be his birthday. His favorite quote of the day was "Hap Bday to me!" He said it all day long and continued to do so for several days after his birthday too!

This is a crazy hat that Grandma Micki gave him with his present.

He loved opening his presents - and the cards too. He didn't want help. With each card, he would pick apart the envelope until it was in shreds, then open up the card and pretend he was reading it by talking some jibberish and then would end with "Hap Bday to me!", put it down and move on to the next one!

Here he is showing off his nice new cowboy belt from Grandma!

He loved having us sing to him. The smile on his face while we were all singing was priceless. After he had blown out his candles and was eating his pie, he said "More hap bday to me!" Apparently he liked getting all the attention!

So that is that. I think I am slowly but surely getting over my bronchitis - still have the stuffy head, runny nose and little cough, but I feel 100% better than I did on Thursday! Enjoy the pics!