Odd collection of pics from February

3 handsome men

Sean

Valentine Party

Practicing to be a good big brother

(notice the tongue - hard work requiring a lot of concentration)

Birding with the big boys.

Truly a house FULL of boys:)

Drew and Granddad's favorite past time - reading Calvin and Hobbes.

Patrick's 39th Birthday

Yellow cake with chocolate, sour cream icing.

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday Dear Patrick/Daddy,

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Get ready!

BLOW!!!

Waiting in anticipation...

automatic re-lighting, sparkler candles!

Snow in January

Yes, our snow hill normally involves only guys

(not that girls are excluded or anything;)

Bets, bragging, ragging... you get the idea...

is all part of the FUN!

(I need some guy help here - can't think of the terminology they use)

Luke really is a lot smaller than everyone else - don't worry, he is not left out!

A short story:

Earlier in the season, Luke built up the courage to sled down the hill by himself...

What a surprise after his initial refusal to sled at all!

At first, he would steal a ride with his daddy, but occasionally Patrick would go alone. After one such solo ride, he turned around to trudge back up the hill only to see Luke flying towards him. Being at the bottom, he was easily able to stop Luke before he plowed into the briars/ditch :)

This continued for quite a while when "bubbies" requested to take a turn.

Hmmmmmm, what appeared to be a fine idea, in reality, turned out to be much harder to execute...

Luke came flying down (he is quite light;)...

Drew sidestepped...

Sean missed...

and Luke sailed into the briars.

Thereafter, he was not nearly as brave, and his "sledding" became quite interesting;)

A SLOW ride on Aidan's back after much cajoling.

This video portrays his favorite method:

And also a short clip of the big boys:)

I love taking pics or just standing in the window watching, smiling, laughing!

My family brings me so much joy and pleasure!

New bedding - January '11

Way back when Sean and Drew's ages were respectively 3 and 2, I had grand plans to design them a cute boys room.

Unfortunately, it never happened. We had collected a lot of the sheets sets over time (at least 4 or more), but only 2 denim comforters (which 10 years later were looking rather shabby).

And each winter always found us scrounging around for ways to keep everyone warm (especially when company arrived).

Well for Christmas, Granddad and Nana purchased them each a duvet cover and sham of their choosing. I had them all browsing the PT Kids catalog at first, but the older boys informed that they were much too old for these patterns. Instead, they picked from PT Teen,

while the 2 younger boys stuck with PT Kids.

What do you think of their final selections?

Sean - blue/gray camo paired with blue sheets

Drew - black/gray camo paired with gray sheets

Aidan - airplanes paired with brown sheets

Luke - Curious George paired with red sheets

Now the boys are plenty warm (Pacific Coast medium-warmth Pyrenees down via Costco online), and we have warm blankets available for guests too:)

I promise he loves his "new bed" and even slept in it a couple of times,

BUT he is going through a stage where he wants to be with Mommy and Daddy for the night.

"I stared, I stared, I stared!!!" he states in his own childish lisp.

So once again a "new bed" was set up for him at the foot of our bed.

He is near us, but no longer sleeping between us every night - PROGRESS!!!!

We are slowly but surely working on him to be prepared for a move back to his bigger boy bed before his new baby brother arrives:)

A couple of cute tag ons - just couldn't resist;)

The Collector...

showcasing his finest moments!

I don't know if you remember the post about Luke's huge piles of stuff.

Well, he continues to love to collect all different things in a variety of ways:)

Case in point:

One can only guess just how many socks are on his little feet.

But I will assure you that he feet are NO longer small once he manages to put on however many pairs.

His infamous weapon collection and favorite method of storage:)

Also worthy of mentioning:

his 4 puppies (well, one is actually a bear) which must accompany him everywhere;)

Pajamas -

I'll let the video do the explaining.

And last but not least,

I am pretty sure this silly boy

also has a prize collection of brothers around here somewhere;)

Bike ride

I think this was taken at about the halfway point of their 11-12 mile ride.

At first Patrick was worried that they had bitten off more than they could chew.

Apparently not, as they are hoping to go for an even longer ride today:)

Considering they are swimming, biking, and part of the local homeschool track team, they are hoping to do a kids' triathalon in the next few months:)

Antigua - a few final pictures

This was our very last day.

It was bittersweet... on the one hand I would miss the ocean and especially having Patrick all to myself; but at the same, I was missing our boys and so ready to see them, to hug and kiss them, and to hear all about their exciting adventures while we were gone....

Drinking in the majestic beauty of God's creation.

Finally, getting a basket woven by this kind gentleman.

Weaving the top portion of the basket...

pulling all of the ends through...

in order to complete the base.

Aren't they amazing?

Antigua - activities

A few more pics from our babymoon to Antigua:)

Relaxing with my feet buried in the sand...

and a good book too, of course.

Walks along the beach.

Scuba diving class

While sitting in the shade, watching Patrick learn all about his gear and diving, this was my view of the beach. Is was quite breathtaking and alluring what with the line of sight so small!

Wish I could learn to capture better on film what I see with my eyes.

7 feet under water and doing well!

Next step, 30 ft. dive in the middle of the ocean:)

Headed out!

Little did he realize that after the 3 hour class he was completely on his own - trying to remember all of the instructions and to assemble his equipment properly - talk about nerve wracking!!!

If you look very carefully, you might see a speck almost dead center, on the edge of the horizon.

This is when I first spotted him, and it still took 10 -15 minutes for him to arrive.

Success!!!

They did return with my darling man (one of the beach attendants assured me that the boat would not have returned unless everyone was on board)

He LOVED it!

Craft time:

I made a necklace...

and Patrick made me an anklet:)

(caribbean colors chosen by none other than himself - WTG)

Finished products.

We participated in 4 different dance classes - reggae, ballroom, line dancing, and latin.

So much fun!!!

And not to be forgotten -

9 unique restaurants with yummy food

and the absolute best fellowship!!!

What a perfect babymoon!