Little bit of everything. Climbing, charts, tongues, graduation, turkeys and hawk!

Jake is growing up fast and wants to do everything his siblings can. He loves climbing all the way to the top and I've given up trying to stop him since he does a great job climbing up and knows how to drop down just fine every time.

Michael wanted to smile for you too :-) He loves to talk and make you laugh and enjoys playing with Nicole and their little people. You can see Jake hanging in the background.

For fun dinnertime conversation I made a jar that has a ton of conversation starters on everything from questions about favorites to the Church to insightful questions... and it's helped us get all of the kids talking about subjects we wouldn't have thought to bring up otherwise.

For FHE we had another obedience lesson, and at the end they got "I Can Obey" badges. I made a chart for Nicole to start using so she'll "be ready when kindergarten starts" and she has been pretty good about getting herself ready. Michael kind of tags along and I made the first step for him, hoping that he'll get out of pullups soon. The real reason, though, is that I would prefer them to come downstairs dressed and ready for the day since it makes life a lot easier for me and helps them grow up. Plus, with the baby coming, I'd rather not have the kids in pajamas all day since I doubt I'll be bounding up the stairs to help them every morning!

Michael is a man of many talents. We were having ice cream cones and he got a dab on his nose. When I pointed it out, he just used his tongue to lick it off!

Reminds me of a giraffe, I don't know how he does it. We were all sitting at the table trying, but nobody could touch their nose with their tongue like Michael. Dinner is quite fun here I guess :-)

I had a dr appointment during Nicole's preschool graduation, so Jim took all the kids. When I arrived after my appointment to do the tradeoff so Jim could get to work, this is what I saw. I also saw the sign that said "no splashing or playing in water."

Nicole and her friend Anna were in the same class. Anna also goes to our church and it was a great experience for these two girls to be in preschool together this year. Anna got the kindness award I think and is a really sweet friend.

Tis the season! Here's another one of Jim's catches this week. One of the morning he went out it was the perfect setup- it had rained the night before, the temperature was a little cool, he got there just as the sun was rising and the still lake water was calling...but when Jim arrived he realized he had forgotten his kayak paddle! He still made a good catch that day, but came home soon after. All that open lake that he couldn't get to was just too much :-) At the fair last week we saw a guy with a shirt that said "Good things come to those who bait."

Jim got some pics of the kids playing at the park right before the graduation. This park is at a shopping center next to a Whole Foods and is really nice.

I love unique playgrounds that have fun climbing toys!

Michael was determined to go all the way across and he figured it out pretty quickly and repeated the process again and again!

Animal crackers kept the kids on the beach towel while the awards were presented.

Nicole got the best reader award and the teacher shared how she reads to the kids in class during center time. I can say I taught her to read, but her love of books and ability is a talent all her own. She is so cute and reads with inflection in her voice like a storyteller.

Michael and Nicole went with Jim to fish at a friend's pond but the kids were soon distracted- Nicole by a slip n slide the kids were playing on, and Michael by the baby turkeys. Jim said he just couldn't get Michael to leave these guys alone!

Michael chased them everywhere- even into their cage- and eventually had one by the tail and was petting its back while it squawked like crazy.

I glanced out the window during a light rain shower today and saw this hawk!

He stood there very stately while we took pictures, and after a few minutes took off to check out another viewpoint. We think he's after the rabbits that live somewhere in the back lawn area shared with our neighbors. Sometimes you don't realize how incredible these birds are until you see them up close. He was a magnificent bird, so beautiful and perfect.

Fish and the Got to Be NC Festival

I just downloaded some pics from Jim's phone so these two pics are a little older. The kids love to go fishing with daddy! Michael kissed this fish before putting him back.

 Our ward had a luau dance a few months ago. Jim bought all of the food, and I don't know if it was a good idea for me to come with him. Somehow we ended up with twice as much cheesecake as we needed!

 Michael loves syrup. Forget the french toast!

Jim gave me the most beautiful roses for Mother's Day, they were so gorgeous!

Fishing season is underway again, here's THE BIG ONE from an early morning trip this week. I love the huge smile on Jim's face.

 We walked to the park this morning for some tag and fun in the beautiful weather. Michael got on the elephant and patted the seat next to him saying, "Come on Jake, I got a spot for you!"

 Today we also went to the "Got to be NC" Festival held at the state fairgrounds. It is smaller scale than the state fair and the admission is free. We didn't wait in any lines and had a wonderful time! Nicole got her face painted for the first time- her big thing right now is unicorns. Michael wanted a cheetah but was too scared to sit on the chair. That was fine by us!

 The "Pig Jig" competition was awesome. For $10 for adults and kids 6 and under free you get a drink ticket and all the barbecue and sides you can eat! Then you vote on the best out of the 40+ competitors. Someone handed us an extra ticket they had, so we ate a very cheap lunch! They had pulled pork and chicken too with so many sauces. One of the groups was chanting and making cheers whenever they got a vote. One of their chants was "We will, we will, bar-b-QUE, bar-b-QUE!"

 Nicole told me this was the best Saturday ever!

 Jacob watching his siblings on a ride.

We let the kids pick two rides and this was their favorite. The cars went around and then up in the air. Our kids were "driving" the whole time with big grins!

Even Jacob got to ride, Nicole put her hand around his back to keep him in when the ride began. They looked so sweet and had such a great time!

 Michael didn't really like this ride, and was holding his hand over his mouth in a manner a little unnerving to his parents. He's never puked before, and we weren't interested in having our first experience... Later he told us he wanted to go on a different ride and was just mad. But that picture makes me wonder if that was really the reason!

The petting zoo was absolutely so much fun for the kids. They love animals of any kind and were thrilled to pet, prod and pester the variety of barn animals. There was a nice breeze that kept any smells away and we stayed in that area as long as the kids wanted to.

The deer was very patient and seemed fine with all of the attention. Jim and I were so interested in it and then I was like "wait where are our kids?" They were still obsessed with some other animals, but it was funny to see how we as parents got distracted too!

These shaggy beasts were a big more intimidating so we shuffled the boys past. Nicole, however, was intent on petting every single animal!

This little guy was rightly nervous about Michael's outstretched hand. We didn't bother buying the two bucks of animal feed in a cup so the smarter animals kept their distance until they saw a reason.

The llamas were so cool. So weird and cool. I love seeing these at the fairs.

We didn't buy any feed, but the kids got creative and realized they could scoop up feed that had dropped. They ended up feeding the animals just as much as if we had bought some for them.

Jake liked this little guy. Kindred spirits. Cute and little.

Michael would stick his tongue out as he fed the goats. It's hard to see in the picture, but his tongue was totally out in this pic. It was making me laugh to see his concentration!

Jake started jumping and shrieking with joy after a bit. He just LOVED this!

 Michael was thrilled to get the ram to eat and of course had to grab the horns. Mommy was grateful for the separating bars!

I gave Michael the camera while we were waiting for Nicole's face painting, and he took some creative shots. This one made us laugh! Under a month to go and this little girl is sure getting ready!

Funny story: As Michael was taking pics, he totally tripped and banged the camera hard on the cement. The lens wouldn't retract and all sorts of error messages and clicking sounds confirmed that the camera was done for. I fiddled with it for a while with no luck. We tossed it in our bag as a lost cause. A little later, Jacob got it out and I figured he couldn't do worse damage. Of course, he dropped it too. Then Jim picked it up and said the lens had retracted and we checked it out to find it was working again! I decided that was a confirmation of the blessing each child is to a family. They complement each other's talents and abilities so well :-)

The kids had tons of other fun racing in a wheelchair race, watching some of the bluegrass competition, and getting to try out a mini race track with starting blocks. The kids loved sprinting down the track at the signal. Free fun like this is always great and we were so glad we tried this out. Far less crowded than the state fair and plenty of fun to keep us entertained!