Ethan's birthday

Ethan's 5th birthday was a month ago so I thought I had better put some pictures up. He always shares his birthday party with Klayton (his 1st cousin, they're b-days are 2 weeks apart) and then has another party with the Werner side. So he gets 2 parties every year! For his shared party he wanted to go camping. So we decided that since there are 10 kids that would be at this party and 2 of them are just 1, that we would "camp" in Grandma and Grandpa VDK's backyard. I made a fire pit cake for his camping themed birthday.





Here's a pic of the "campfire" cake all lit up.

And of course there were presents.....

And then we got to the camping. This is a couch out of my brother-in-laws deer wagon. (it is a wagon he built a shed on that they hunt deer out of....I suppose it is their version of a tree stand, only MUCH more comfortable) Notice all the little tents set up....the kids were really excited.

The birthday boys playing in the deer wagon.

Some of the crew enjoying the campfire.

This was the sunrise on Ethan's 5th birthday.

And here is the birthday boy! A big 5 year old now! I thank the Lord everyday for this sweet boy.

Love,

Katie

Ethan and the camera.....again.

We were getting ready to leave the park the other night after watching the balloon festival, and I thought I would capture the cute moment of the 2 older kiddies sitting on the curb. Well, as you may have guessed the minute I pointed the camera at them....well, that was all it took for orneriness to take over.



Me-Smile nice for mom.



Me- C'mon you two.... Would you please smile nice for Mommy?

Me-Ethan, I said smile NICE. (Notice Grace's nice smile is turning into....a hurry up and take the picture kind of smile.)

Me-Seriously Ethan, is it too much to ask for a nice smile from you???

Grace- Ethan, if you just smile....we can be done!

Me- Ethan would you please sit down and smile nice??

Ethan- But I am smiling nice!

Ethan- See Mom!

Gotta love that kid! Did you notice how Grace had the same pose and the same nice smile the whole time? The whole time hoping that Mommy would hurry up, and that her brother would just cooperate. Gotta love that girl also. They make me so glad that the Lord smiled (and maybe giggled a little to) on us when he bestowed these children into our care. Thank you Lord for my beautiful, smiling children!

Love,

Katie

A boy, a pool, and a frog.

Well, I really gave it all away in the title to this post. The kids got in their little swim pool after church the other day, and to Ethan's great delight....a little frog had come to take a dip in the pool also. It was (still is) a tree frog with the little grippy feet. Ethan played with it for quite awhile, and thankfully he didn't "love it" to much, and the frog did survive to climb another tree. However, I am guessing that the nice frog will probably not be nearly as tempted to take a dip in our pool ever again.

Hope you are able to enjoy the sunshine today!

Love,

Katie

honestly...I don't know why I try

I'll start this by explaining that I was attempting to get that elusive "great photo" with all 3 of my kids in it. We were at the zoo and I thought this would be a great backdrop for the amazing photo I was hoping for....I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Nuff said. And....I am left hoping for that still elusive "great photo." Sometimes I wonder why I try. But looking at these the next day, I guess they do make me smile at my silly children. God is good. Hoping that the rest of you have something to smile about today.

Love,

Katie

A garden hose and a toddler

I was editing a few pictures tonight when I came across this one from last week. It literally made me laugh out loud. To cool the kids off while they were playing outside the other day, I got the hose out. Well, Owen claimed it as his own. It took him a little bit to get the trigger on the hose pulled but once he did.....well I think the picture says it all.




I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the expression on his face as he is spraying Ethan with the hose. He had so much fun with the garden hose, and when he was done....everyone was soaking wet (including Mommy.)

Love,


Katie

Laugh out loud....or upside down...funny!

My kids love to tell jokes. Now, most of their jokes they have made up by themselves, and these jokes often make absolutely no sense to adults. That, however, does not stop them from laughing hysterically at their own made up joke. They other day I got on the computer and printed off some knock knock jokes and riddles and read them to the kids. Apparently.....(I'm gonna let you in on a little secret) jokes that actually make sense are not nearly as funny as nonsensical jokes. (Who knew?) They didn't laugh nearly as hard at mine as they do their own jokes. Instead of laughing out loud, Ethan........well, he chose to laugh upside down.

Here are a few of the jokes I read to them. I thought they were pretty cute and funny....what do you think?

Why was the baby ant confused?

-all his uncles were ants

What do you call a kitten drinking lemonade?

-a sourpuss

What do you call a gorilla with a banana in each ear?

-whatever you want, he can't hear you

Funny right!!??

Here's hoping the good Lord blesses your life with a little humor today!

Love,

Katie

Caught in the act

It seems like most of the time (around here at least) when you hear "they were caught in the act," it is usually something naughty one of the kids was found doing. That doesn't describe this picture though. I absolutely adore catching my children doing this. My boys can be so ornery, and they both love to pick on the other one....so when I caught them doing this, I had to capture it in a picture. I don't even care that neither one is looking at the camera. They were just enjoying a morning cartoon, and the best part is they were enjoying it with each other. Thank you Lord for these moments!

Love,

Katie