Hiking

After months and months of cold weather, we finally had a few days of really nice weather. We decided to take advantage of it and take the kids hiking. Here in Missouri, we have a small window of time in the spring when it is warm enough to be outside and yet all the ticks and chiggers haven't come out yet. It is during this time that it is enjoyable to go trumping through the woods. We had a lot of fun finding dead trees and pushing the over. Here is a picture of Carter helping me push a tree.

We found an old car body that the kids had fun exploring.

Isaiah decided to show us how hickory trees don't brake they just bend.

It was such a fun day, and I hope we can have lots more of them before the bugs come out.

Reading Lesson with Carter

I have been very slowing working with Carter on learning to read. We do a few sounds and words each day. Everyday as he read through his word list, he would read the word MEN and then make the sound BRRRRRRRRRR (kinda like a machine gun). He did every time and each time I would say to myself, "What is he doing." Finally after a few weeks, I asked him what he was doing. He turns to me and says, "That is what men do in battle!"

Double Trouble

These pictures were taken a few months ago, but I think they are so cute I had to post them. Now that Melody has moved out of baby clothes into the toddler size I got her and Amita matching shirts. I think they look so cute.Amita and Melody like to get into trouble together. Actually, Amita likes to try and tell Melody what she can and can't do, which makes Melody very angry and she usually ends up screaming. One of their favorite activities is to empty all the cupboards in my kitchen on to the floor. Luckily, I learned when Benjamin was a baby to put all breakables in the upper cabinets.


This is usually how it looks a few time during the day.

First Steps

Melody has hit another big milestone, so I thought I would do a little update on her.

She has started walking. She doesn't walk all the time yet, but a lot of the time. She still has the I have to balance for each step act going on. It is so cute to watch.

She has also gotten a little bit better about being content playing with a few toys or looking at books while I get something done. She still has to be held a lot. When ever she has been put down for awhile, she will come over to me and need to be snuggled for a long time. Snuggling to her includes having her plug and stoking my hair.

Melody has been a horrible sleep, so finally I broke down and decided to make her wean at night. We had a few really bad nights, but now she sleeps so much better. She will still wake up once or twice, but I just give her a plug and she lays back down. She has to be holding on to my hair while she sleeps though.

She also has made great improvements on being content while riding in the car. It use to be as soon as you put her in her carseat she would start screaming. Now I can actually drive short distances and she will be happy. Hoping she keeps improving because we would like to take a road trip to the ocean this year.

Branson

Isaiah has been working 7 days a week for the last few months, so we really haven't done any family outings, but this last weekend his was able to take some time off. We decided to take the kids to Branson and spend the night.

We drove down Saturday morning. Isaiah and Benjamin went to see Avatar at the Imax, while I took the rest of the kids to the Butterfly palace. The Palace is a indoor garden full of live butterflies. The kids loved it. They also had a mirror maze. We did that about 5 times. Amita was really good at finding her way, but did get over confident and ran straight into a mirror.

We had rented a room at a hotel that had an indoor water park. The rest of the evening we spent in the park having fun. Our favorite part was floating the lazy river. I had one tube with Carter and Amita on it, while Isaiah had Melody. Benjamin loved just floating around by himself. Benjamin discovered he was tall enough the ride the water slides and hardly did anything else after that.

I would love to say we had a great nights sleep, but it was one of the worst nights in history. Melody could not get into a deep sleep, so every 10 minutes she was waking up crying. Even when she would finally doze off she would be tossing and turning. I think we finally got to sleep at about five, but by five thirty the boys were up and ready to go get some breakfast.

It was really nice to take the kids on a little get away and we had lots of fun. Benjamin says Avatar is the best movie ever.

5x12

Ben: Mom I know what 5x12 is.
Mom: What is it?
Ben: 60.
Mom: Your right.
Ben: Do you want to know how I know?
Mom: Sure (thinking his cousin Michael probably told him).
Ben: from the clock. See there are 12 groups of 5 minutes and that is 60.
Mom: WOW!!

The Big 1

My little baby turned 1. She isn't so little anymore and is starting to turn into a toddler more and more each day. She walks around the furniture, can stand up by herself and is just starting to try and take a few steps on her own. She still doesn't sleep through the night, but we are working on that. I am in the processes of weaning her and she is drinking from a sippy cup. She still loves to be cuddled and held all the time. When Melody doesn't like what's going on she lets everyone know by screaming and, boy, can she scream.
For her birthday, Benjamin decided we should make a vanilla cake. Amita and I made her cupcakes. Melody got to watch and got to lick her fist beater. She was in total heaven.
When it was actually party time Melody wasn't a happy camper. She had just woke up from a nap and wanted nothing to do with cupcakes. She pretty much cried the whole time. Even when we tried to get her to eat some of the cake she screamed and cry. Maybe she just doesn't want to grow-up.