It's a wrap...

Samantha's first season as a soccer queen is officially a wrap.  It was amazing to see how much she improved from her first game, when she'd barely touched a ball, to the end of the season when she was able to look at the field as a whole, cut angles across the field to take the ball away from opponents, and block goals, not to mention the game where she scored nine...yes 9!... goals!  She is a speed-demon, and intense on the field.  And, perhaps most important, SHE HAD FUN!  

Here's a few pictures of her in action on the field (where we've been told she reminds some of her mommy and uncle when they played soccer a millennium ago...literally.)

(That's my girl...taking the ball away from the opponent in the picture above...way to go!)

And finally, here's a picture of her with her entire team -- all eight girls!  Go Shooters!

Easton's New 'Do

{Sniffle}  I'll try to be strong.  I've given my {sniffle} very {tear} last {tear} FIRST HAIRCUT {wiping tears away}.  My baby isn't a baby anymore -- he really looks like a little boy.

On Saturday, we took our baby from "baby" ....

to "little" boy...

I know, Easton, I know -- it's quite the milestone and I know I wasn't entirely ready for it, either, little man!

That's better!  Look at those beautiful baby blues!



Who do YOU think he looks like?

Wordless Wednesday

I'll confess...I was going through pictures on the computer, and found these from a year ago.  At the time, I was fuming inside.  But Hunter was SOOO proud of himself for using his truck to "work".  And work he did....that child completely cleaned up this mess by himself (using, of course, the dump truck to dump it into the trash can.)  Hey, whatever works, kid!  Enjoy!

'Tis the Season for...BIRTHDAYS!

In our home, April should be dubbed the birthday month.  It starts on April 7th with Samantha's Birthday (which she shares with her Great Great Aunt Bobbie and Great Aunt Carol), and continues on April 8th with my mom's birthday and April 10th with Easton's birthday.  (I know there are others with April birthdays that I haven't mentioned -- happy birthday to you, too!)

On Saturday, we welcomed most of our family into our home to celebrate Easton's 1st birthday and Samantha's 7th birthday, and the next day we welcomed Samantha's friends .... let me catch you up...

Samantha...Lucky #7

Samantha had a few of her friends over for a beach party!  Thye made flip flops (using fabric and fleece), had hula hoop and limbo contests, enjoyed smoothies and beach cupcakes, and had SO MUCH fun!  Samantha, we have learned, is quite the hula-hooper!  She can go for a good 10 minutes (at least!) and she can even hula hoop with TWO hoops!  What a girl!

And here's a picture of Samantha at the family party the day before...dream big, sweetie!  You are AMAZING and beautiful and we're so proud of you!

Easton's 1st birthday...

First birthdays are so much fun!  And I for one cannot believe how fast this year has gone!  Just one year ago, Easton looked like this...

And now...

What a happy, delightful, curious, sweet boy Easton is becoming!  Few will be surprised that one of his favorite things to do is drive his brothers' tractors around making tractor noises.  (Funny how they know how to make that sound!)  He also loves to be outside (surprise surprise!) and play with Samantha's soccer ball!  He is easily entertained, and absolutely adores his big brothers and big sister!  They were lots of help when opened his presents this weekend...

(In true older sibiling fashion, they pretty much opened his presents for him, and then let him play!)

And what first birthday would be complete without a cake to smash?

I'm going to call this picture... "Chronicles of a Baby's First Cake Tasting"...

He looked like a smurf at the end, but he LOVED it!

We hope you're all having a wonderful spring and enjoying the beautiful weather!  We also hope you enjoy watching with us as our kids grow up.  When we have crazy days (and with four young kids, these are pretty frequent), I remind myself that someday I will miss this.

God has blessed us with four amazing beautiful healthy children, and we take the job of raising them very seriously.  But we have lots of support, encouragement, help and prayers from all of you, and we thank you for that.  Your prayers and your presence continue to shape our children!

Tune in tomorrow for a peek back at our Easter festivities!

All our love!

Good Friday a year ago...

It is hard to believe that on Good Friday last year, that our life went from this...

to this...

and then this...

Even though the dates will probably never line up, Good Friday (already a very special day in our home) will ALWAYS be EXTRA-special.... we're so excited to celebrate two very special birthdays in our house over the next week, and several family birthdays outside of the house, too.  

Hope you have a very BLESSED Easter.  As Hunter so eloquently said yesterday, "And then HE rose!"  And that is DEFINITELY something we are eternally thankful for.

Wordless Wednesday

Sleeping Angels

Last week,  when Matt and I went in to check on Hudson and Hunter before heading to bed ourselves,  we found this....

They'd been asking to have a campout for weeks...and the next morning, they told me that since we wouldn't let them sleep in the family room, they were pretending to have a campout on their floor! 

Hunter is sleeping like an angel!

And so is Hudson...this picture, in particular, I love because Hudson's sleep was so restless for so long...and now we can count on him the most out of any of our kids to sleep soundly all night long!  (It only took 4 years...but now he's awesome!)

I love these pictures of them sleeping -- especially how they are facing each other in their sleep.  They are such good buddies, and they really look out for each other.  I know that our moments to catch them in these peaceful, little boy moments will quickly pass, so we are trying like crazy to enjoy the most out of them!