Mark Specials!

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Week in Pictures

well, almost. Here is Noah and his buddy Issac at football camp.

This is Noah encouraging (he does that a lot) his friend Mason.

and taking off in a sprint...

running around a bat...


gotta love the headband


We showed up to watch the scrimmage, but found out the scrimmage was that morning. This is what happens when notes are given to daddy. We got there for the very brief award ceremony. Elijah was tired.

He had a great time.

Abigail and Elijah, pre-scalping.



Post-scalping. I'd gone out for the day to look for a prom location. Came home to a child with a lot less hair. I wasn't against it getting cut, but I sure didn't want it ALL cut off :( I like little tykes with hair.

I knew he'd look drastically older with less hair. I wasn't ready for that when I walked in the door. Of course, he's still cute.
And here is another cutie. Elijah has started doing this "shine" pose where he holds his hands out like this and says "shine." He just did it one day when watching Blue's Clues and got lots of laughter. So now he does it a lot. Abigail did it for the picture.

This is the tree we planted when we built the house. It has grown well. Wish the tree (tulip tree) in the backyard grew as well. We need shade back there and it has hardly done a thing.

Got my baby limelight hydrangeas in the ground finally. If they take off like the mother plant, I'll have them all along the side of the house in no time.
I feel the baby moving constantly now. I used to only feel it when I was still (not often). Now it doesn't matter what I'm doing, I feel the little fella squirming around in there. I feel pretty good for the most part, but am getting headaches every once in a while and heartburn almost every night. I had a bad headache Thursday for 7 hours. After dinner David took the kids out and I laid down to watch Gilmore Girls. Headache went away while I was laying down... but I got up after that to clean up the kitchen and it returned. It stayed til I went to bed. I hope I don't get too many more like that one. I don't like to take anything when pregnant. I know tylenol is supposedly safe, but it doesn't do squat on a headache, so I don't see the point in even taking that.
I need to know the secret to getting people out of lurkdom. If y'all read this, say howdy :)

The Return of Zack Morris!

The Return of Zack Morris!

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Pool Fun (click on pictures to view larger)

This is Elijah's 'flirt face.' It started about this time last year at church when I gave him his first popsicle. They served it as dessert for the Wednesday evening meal. I gave him a lick, and this face followed. The entire table was roaring in laughter. He knew it, and he knew he'd get more licks if he kept making it. He's continued to make it when he knew he was cute.






I've said Elijah doesn't like the pool much... and he doesn't. He mostly hangs out on the swingset while the others are in the pool. But he did enjoy being pulled around in his new fish... for a little while.

Same photo, uncropped.

Isaac found a baby praying mantis on the side of the pool. Tiny tiny little guy.

same photo, uncropped.

Belly Shot etc

I thought I'd finally upload a belly picture. Found some others on the camera that I assume David took. This is Isaac and Elijah with the neighbor boys, Sayid and Shi Shi (not sure how to spell that one.

Shi Shi is one year older than Elijah.

Background story on this one... yes, Isaac still wears pull ups at night. We've tried everything, so we're assuming he inherited David's childhood problem. I went to Kroger today and found Goodnights on the clearance shelf for $4.50. I gobbled up every package. Of course, they were pink. Why would a girl want boxers? Apparently they don't. So... Isaac is wearing pink shorts to bed. He thinks it is funny. We wish he was bothered about the fact that he still wears a diaper at night, but we're very glad he has confidence to not let pink shorts bother him.

And here is my 4.5 months belly shot.

This past weekend we went to Ft Smith again. Spent several hours at the pool on Friday and Saturday. I stayed in the shade as much as I could, but still got burned. I guess I was in the sun more than I realized.
Elijah is not a water baby. He has fun at the pool... throwing things in the water. He's not real interested in getting in though. Too cold for him. He did, however, want to go down the slide. The fact that he would go under when he hit the water didn't stop him from climbing up that ladder. I jumped in the water (didn't want to, it was too cold for me too!) to catch him, but once at the top of the ladder (Abigail was behind him to keep him from falling back) he changed his mind... did that three times.
When the older three were his age, they were all jumping off the diving board. They would do anything. Going under didn't phase them. Maybe he'll be more of a daredevil when the water warms up.

I am enjoying peace for the moment due to Elijah taking a nap and the other three playing in the easy set pool that I got for a STEAL last year at Toys R Us for $40. It says it retails for $99 but is on sale now for $89. I'm so proud of my find... and it was a find. I was looking at them and noticed one in a much older box, but it had not been opened. I did a price check on it just out of curiosity and sure enough... it was a LOT cheaper than the others.
I wasn't going to set it up this year for fear Elijah would get out in the backyard and get in the pool, but with the kids going insane, I decided to go ahead and set it up, still unsure if it will stay up. So far it hasn't been a problem. As long as I remove the ladder, he can't get in. The top of the pool is taller than he is. We already keep the doors locked and thank goodness... he hasn't figured out how to unlock the door. Have to watch him like a hawk regardless. He WILL find something to get into.
So for now, I'm enjoying the peace :)

Peach Butter

I've never had it, but as soon as I started reading about canning peaches... I knew I wanted it. It seemed like a better thing to make than just slicing and preserving peaches. I *thought* I'd freeze some sliced peaches, and can some peach butter. That was before the crows got 75% of 'em. I really didn't have enough to do any canning. Half the ones I picked were ready to be eaten. The other half have to ripen a bit. We ate a few last night and much to the dismay of my kids who wanted to devour the rest, I made peach butter... small batch as it was.


I had to set it in the window in order to take a picture... battery was too low for a flash. But that's it. I'm sure we'll eat it all this week! I tasted it and I think I could eat it as soup. This is where I got the "how to." http://www.pickyourown.org/peachbutter.htm

I forgot about these pictures until I saw them when uploading the peach butter pic...

These were taken at my mom's.

She has a huge playset in her massive backyard. The grandkids lucked out when they moved.

Playing with bubbles in the front yard. I think Elijah and Noah were with Daddy when these were taken.

ha... falling...

weeeeeeeeeeee