Puddles!

The girls were so excited when they woke up this morning and saw the backyard was wet because it had rained last night. They put on their rain jackets and rain boots all by themselves and asked if they could PLEASE play in the puddles. I couldn't resist! Yes, I did let them play in the puddles in their pajamas! Oh well! They probably played for about an hour and were completely DRENCHED when they came inside.
We left our camping chairs outside, and they had pools of water in them. It made for great puddle jumping!
Ellie go in on the puddle jumping, too!
Hannah got creative and decided to take off her boot and fill it with water. What does a four year-old do with a boot full of water?Dump it on her dog...of course! Poor Jasper had several boots of water dumped on him. Hannah thought it was pretty funny, though.

Baby Food

I was so proud of myself this week...I actually got around to making baby food for Zach! I have made my own baby food for both of the girls, but I wasn't sure if I would find the time to do it this time around. Hopefully this will last us a while! So far Zach is eating his baby food like a champ! He has liked everything I have given him...lets hope he keeps it up!

Apple Orchard...Again

We went to the apple orchard again last week with our MOPS group. We had a great time! Hannah and Ellie loved running around the orchard with their friend Paige. Here are a few pictures from our outing.

Butterfly

As I wrote in a previous post, we found a caterpillar when we went to the apple orchard. We were so excited when we came home from our weekend away to see that we had a butterfly! The kids absolutely loved it! We spent several hours watching and holding it.

Ellie was brave right away and let us put the butterfly on her shirt.
Zach laughed so hard when the butterfly was on his hear...we had to be careful not to let him grab it, though!
Hannah trying to pet her butterfly.
Greg and Ellie
Hannah finally let us put the butterfly on her hair just before we let it go.

Reunion

Last weekend we went to Eldora for my 10 year high school reunion. We had a great time! It was a lot of fun to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in years!
Before the reunion dinner, we got together at a park with my friend Elaine and her family so our kids could all play together.

Preschool Swap

This year Hannah is doing a preschool swap once a week with a few of her friends from church. The moms will take turns teaching. It is a pretty small group, only three girls, but I think it will be a lot of fun for them. Each week we will focus on a letter and a number. I taught the first day, and I had a great time! Hannah was so excited!!! They learned about the letter "A" and the number "1".
Here is a picture of the girls eating apples for their snack.

6 months

I can't believe that Zach is now 6 months old! It seems the past 6 months have gone by so fast! Zach has been such a fun baby. We are so thankful that God has placed him in our family! He is so content and happy...we only need to look at him and he grins from ear to ear. He also loves to laugh(especially at Hannah and Ellie)! I'm just trying to soak it all in because I know he will grow too fast.

Apple Orchard

We went to Wilson's Apple Orchard last weekend with some friends. We have gone the last few years and always have a great time. Here are some pictures from our visit. The kids love to be able to pick their own apples and carry their own baskets.
I'm not sure how many apples Ellie ate, but it seemed like she always had one in her mouth!
Hannah, Aubrey, and Ellie with their baskets of apples.
Ellie was always lagging behind (typical Ellie), so Cameron went back to help her along. What a sweet picture!
Ellie and Cameron had fun looking at the water under the bridge.

We tried to pose Hannah, Zach, and Ellie for a picture...this was the best we could do. It's impossible to get them to all look at the camera at the same time!
Zach lounging in a basket of apples.Greg found a caterpillar for the girls to bring home. They are having fun watching it...we'll let you know when it turns into a butterfly!!!

Just like mom

Ellie was so excited to bring me into the living room the other day to show me what she had done. When I got there, she grinned from ear to ear and said, "I did it! I put my baby in the stroller just like you, mom!"

Birthday

We celebrated Hannah's birthday last week. It is so hard to believe that she is 4 years old now! It seems like time has gone by so quickly!

Hannah loved helping plan her birthday party this year. We spent several hours looking at pictures of different cakes online before she decided on a ballerina cake. She also got to choose her favorite meal for supper that night...waffles!
Hannah was VERY excited about her ballerina cake! This is a picture of her blowing out her candles.

Markers

It seems like there is never a dull moment with three little kids in the house! Hannah and Ellie were being so quiet when I was on the phone...I should have known they were getting into some kind of trouble! Thank goodness for washable markers!

Caves

Our family went to Maquoketa Caves on Monday. Greg and I were a little nervous at first...we knew that the girls would either love the caves or be very afraid of them. Thankfully, they loved it! (Ellie was scared the first time through the big cave and wanted to be carried, but after that, she wouldn't even let me hold her hand while we were walking!)

Ellie thought she was pretty big stuff with her head lamp!

Hannah was so adventerous. She kept saying "Follow me. Let's go explore!"

Greg carried Zach in the backpack carrier.

Hannah and Ellie showing off how muddy they got in the cave.
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted...especially Zach!