FOUR

Michael's fourth bday party was basically a big, fun playdate with buddies his age. We dug out all the little cars we own and had the boys race them down the driveway to see which little matchbox car was fastest.

They colored a big Tow Mater (from the Cars movie). A big thanks to Christmas clearance last year at target :)

They had fun showing me the designs different crayons made on the cardboard, I was impressed! Michael, as you can see, was more interested in popping the majority of the water balloons all by himself.

After throwing the remaining dozen water balloons, we turned on the Cars slip n slide.

Not everyone wanted to go, but Nicole is finally brave enough to go on her knees.

We then busted out the water guns. I got the smallest ones that shoot a steady stream but nothing that would cause tears. Nicole busted out two pink water guns and somehow became the target for everyone. She didn't mind and was shrieking and laughing as she squirted right back at the boys.

I made mini-bundt cakes the kids frosted and put sprinkles on. Michael wanted "blue" so I added a ton of blue food coloring to the cake mix, which was unfortunately a yellow cake mix. So he has green cake but I don't think he minded.

He ate two of these cakes- the equivalent of four cupcakes- and had frosting all over his face for a while.

Packing in the Tow Mater to play cars.

After the party I tried to get Michael to eat lunch but he was exhausted from all of the fun. I brought down his bedding and he laid right down to rest. Last time he had a nap? Can't remember. He was TIRED!

For dinner we went to California Pizza Kitchen- our first real outing with just our family to a restaurant. The prospect was pretty intimidating, but fortunately the noise level in the restaurant was high enough that the noise we made and a little bit of fussing from Diana didn't disturb people. There was also no wait to be seated- hooray!

Birthday boy with his pizza. I've never seen Michael so completely happy and satisfied with life as he was on his birthday (well it was the day after but we celebrated on Sat). He enjoyed every second, every present, every bit of fun and was totally exhausted by the end! It's hard to believe how big he is- I remember how he amazed us with how early he was turning over from his back to belly and how soon he crawled. I remember how much he cried those first months until he could crawl and then was so happy. I remember all of the destruction from his curious nature of his second and early half of the third year. I love how he is sweet to Diana, how he gets along with his older and younger siblings, how he loves to play, explore, and adventure around... I love this big boy with all of my heart and look forward to all the blessings and fun his life will continue to bring!

 

After dinner we walked to an outdoor concert with live music from several bands and the kids danced and watched while Jim walked over to get some yummy cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. The music was a mix of modern and oldies and Jake and Nicole danced the most. Michael could not be distracted very long from the car he bought with money from Grandma Kathryn. The funny part was that every single gift from his friends was a car/truck, yet when we went to let him pick something out with his bday money, he found a big car with music and flashing lights that drives around (it's blue of course)...and he wouldn't trade it for any other cool toy no matter what. This boy loves cars! Happy Birthday Michael!

Little Miss D and Topsail Island

 

Little Miss D is over two months old now. At her checkup this morning she endured three shots and is doing great.  She weighs 10lbs 3oz (25th %), is 23 in long (66th %) and her head is 15.25in (42nd %).

 

She is all smiles and loves to coo at a friendly face. A very social sweetie. The tough parts of life fade so quickly when she shares the light of her smile and loving shine of her innocent, sweet eyes.

She already looks very curious, yikes! :) Can you just imaging that she's eyeing the entertainment center and wondering how to get all of the dvds out?

We made it to the beach for the first time this summer and went to Topsail Island with some friends that moved away a few years ago. The trip started off great with Jim getting stuck in some sand because we tried parking by Robin & Mike, but then Joe & Lora helped push us out. Nice to know we have friends who get us in AND out of trouble :) Diana was awake most of the trip but just wanted to be held and watch the fun going on around her.

Jake is a normal child! He wasn't trying to kamikazee into the waves like a certain other sibling (cough, Michael) and played in the shade practically the whole time. What a relief to not have to worry about him in the water! Michael's suit kept sagging from sand so we gave him Jake's suit and Jake got to show off the latest fashions in swim diaper apparel.

One of the best things about Topsail is the lack of crowds! We were about a mile from the pier... a very short distance from where Mom just booked the Ostler family reunion!

Nicole was so happy to be at the beach, and I had fun pulling her around on a boogie board and building sandcastles with Michael. It was so good to relax and have fun bonding time with the kids in a way life doesn't seem to offer in our everyday busy lives. There is nothing like 82 degree ocean water with 85 degree weather and light breeze, toes in the sand, and happy children!

Almost the whole crew- Nicole and Michael swimming close to shore with Jim while Joe, Lora, Lucy, Robin, Weston and Mike are further out. Dallin and Jake were chillin' with me and Diana.

The kids loved to try and swim in the water and Jim was able to start teaching them ways to be safe in the water. Michael is absolutely fearless, but the longer he gets opportunities with us there to help him learn, the safer he becomes. Nicole and I waded out to the sand bar where you see the whitewater at the top of the pic. She is already so tall - up to my shoulder- so we jumped the waves together and enjoyed swimming together singing silly songs about mommies and daughters.

 

After a blissful day on the beach we packed into the car, and less than five minutes later I took this picture. All of them- out!

 

 

Weston and family came home with us for the weekend and Nicole became reacquainted with her longtime BFF. He commented to his parents that "Nicole talks a lot." But he was a gentleman and always let her talk herself out before adding his thoughts. They've always played so well together, we all enjoyed seeing them have fun like old times. Robin was an angel and cooked the food- here we are all enjoying dessert. We loved getting to the beach and spending time with friends for the first time since Diana was born.

2 Months, Mike and D, Nicole's piano

Our neighbors came over to visit Diana- she's two months old now. The grandmother asked me several times who I had to help me at the home. The mom helps me by picking Nicole up at the bus stop at the street corner in front of their house- even though it was only one house over, it was getting a little crazy in the heat carrying Diana and making sure the boys didn't run out into the street while we waited at the corner!

Michael loves his "bebe sis-ser" and was teaching her how to draw and read today. He was showing her how to kick earlier but I thought his demonstration was a little too close for my comfort. He gets so excited when she "talks" and she loves to smile at him. There is a special connection between those two. Jake like to hold Diana and "pet" her and Nicole has been so busy with school that she doesn't get as much time. So it is sweet to see the energetic Michael be so calm and gentle with his little "sis-ser."

Nicole is working on level 1 piano books now, she has quite the time concentrating with all the noise from her siblings! You can hear her express worry that the boys will come downstairs while she's playing :) To watch the video, go to the blog online at http://delbifamily.blogspot.com

A week in August

Nicole got this venus flytrap a few months ago and it only had two traps. I was sure it would die within weeks and that all the hoopla about these plants eating flies was only something seen on National Geographic. However, this plant has grown a lot more of those jaws-type-thingys (we are very scientific over here) and YES the flytrap has caught flies! At first just a few little ones, like the fruit flies that hovered around some older bananas. Then this morning for the first time, we saw a big fly that had been caught and eaten! SO cool!

I help plan activities for the ladies in our church, and this month we made a dough that can be baked into 5 different recipes. Here is my load of mixers and flour (30 pounds!) and pans. 

Diana came with me and really enjoyed being held and loved by several moms whose kids are all grown up.

 We had a great turnout and everone got to get their hands on some dough and bake! The sticky buns were everyone's favorite!

Nicole has completed her first week of Kindergarten! So far, so good! Preschool really helped prepare her, the layout is very similar. This is our family portrait she did in art class. Nicole is the far left- colorful- girl. I am in the middle (she told me she accidently made me very tall and I told her I didn't mind at all since that's the only time I'll be tall...although I'm not too keen on how those arms make me look more like a gorilla) Daddy is on the far right- notice the hairs ALL the way around his head. Apparently this is daddy in the morning before he shaves. And then the two kids below me are "one brother" and "the other brother" and she forgot to/didn't have time to draw Diana. Quite the portrait. Jim and I were guessing that the circle above Nicole's head and my head is a halo? And we both agreed that my hair is spot on for how it usually looks these days. And Diana? Well she's usually sleeping so I'm sure when she starts getting into Nicole's toys that Nicole won't forget to add her to the portait :)

Diana is growing each week- these were taken a few days ago when she first started smiling and even now she smiles more fully. Diana started trying to make sounds this morning. Really, really trying to get out sounds while looking at me and smiling then trying to make sounds. I was so happy for her each time she got a sound out, she is very social already :)

Museum of Natural Science

We took a 20 minute drive to downtown Raleigh on Saturday to see the Museum of Natural Sciences. They have a whole new wing that is amazing so I wanted to go check it out. But we had so much fun in the other four floors that we didn't even make it over! We'll just have to go again on a different weekend, that's the best thing about a free museum! The kids were loving this puffer fish and really wanted it to puff up.

My kids are wasp-a-phobic except for Jake. At the pool he will take his toys and try to smash/hit any that come by him much to the terror of his mother. So of course he wanted to pose in the honeycomb.

The kids loved being able to push buttons, see live animals and bones of other animals. They darted from one exhibit to another with fairly little danger. Michael was way too interested in the escalator, but that was really the only speed bump of the day.

The dinosaur fossils are awesome- this T Rex was pretty cool to see. They have a video going on about a fight between two dinosaurs as guessed from fossil finds with this guy. Pretty cool.

The ceiling of the Rex room. They have a huge brontosaurus, I just got his head in this shot.

 Checking out the dinosaur print. Hard to imagine such enormous beasts!

Jake loved climbing to look at the snakes, fish, frogs, and other small animals. They all loved the enclosed butterfly area but I didn't get a picture. It's a lot harder to take pictures with four kids!

Case in point: here is Jim racing after Jake Jake who is making a dash for the emergency exit on the right while the oldest two are climbing the side of an exhibit.

Bat cave! (with fake bats of course) Classic crazy kid pose when I asked them to say "cheese"

Looking at the sea turtles. I loved hearing Jake's little voice saying 'tewtewls!' over and over with excitement. He has this sweet little voice and is so curious about everything!

Our last stop was my favorite spot in the whole museum. There are dressup costumes (Michael has the dino costume), masks (not sure what bug Nicole is), realistic stuffed animals, discovery boxes with bones, fossils, and stories. There are shells, live animals at certain times, and really nice employees who help the kids have fun.

Miss D was great and slept the whole time at the museum. She is such a sweet, precious girl! She loves taking baths, shares smiles with us (have yet to catch that on camera), and can't get enough of being held and snuggled. We treasure her sweet sunshine!