This is What Happens (3)...

when you have a sweet little girl after having two very boyish boys.
you can see the gears turning in that little head...is it edible?
oh yes it's edible, to Callie everything is edible:)
and my favorite from the torture, I mean photo session...

This is What Happens(2)...

when you have two little monkeys with bunk beds.and this is what happens when you try to get a nice self portrait with a goofy 5 year old.to his credit he did cooperate for me one time.and this is what happens when you give the 5 year old the camera.

This is What Happens....

when you put a wiggly little girl in the bathtub with her brothers! See her pleading eyes, she just wanted to join in on the fun. Success she's in. She LOVED it, splashed away like no one's business. The boys found themselves crowded to one side hiding their eyes from all the flying water.

and this is what happens to little girls hair after she takes a bath.

Whirlwind Wednesday

It has been a busy few days at our house. My Grandpa Duane had been struggling with his back hurting him for quite awhile now and this past weekend it got to the point he couldn't even walk anymore. Long story short they admitted him to the hospital and found what they thought was a blood clot on his spinal cord. They did surgery and found it was not a blood clot but a staph infection. He has been very sick and hurting so badly so my Mom and uncles have been taking turns staying with him at night. Carl had already put in several hours at work and was able to take Wednesday off so we were able to go up to see him. I rode up with my mom to Mason City Tuesday evening and he took the kiddos to his parents house where we stayed. I was able to see Grandpa for a little while and then rode back to Algona with Bone and Grandma. The next day we took the kiddos to see Grandma at the farm for a few minutes before I hitched a ride back to Mason City with them to see Grandpa again. While I was gone Carl utilized Mawdsley's shop and changed oil in the van. The boys had a blast running around the farm and the bonus of the whole thing was they got to help pick the sweet corn that was now ready! Grandpa was doing much better the day after his surgery and it was good to get to see him. Carl brought the kids over to pick me up from Mason City that afternoon and they stopped up to say hi. I think he enjoyed seeing them even for just a few minutes. He is now in skilled nursing care still in Mason City where he will have lots of physical therapy over the next week or so, then go to Algona skilled care where he will have to stay for another 5 weeks to receive IV anti-biotics to make sure all the of the infection is gone and it hasn't spread anywhere else in his body. This will be tough for Grandpa as he is a farmer whose place is on the farm. Being away this long plus the recovery itself is going to be hard on him so I'm sure he would appreciate any prayers:) It was kind of whirlwind day or so but it was good to visit and the boys loved staying at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night and then getting to play the next day(not to mention the trip to Algona's Daylight Donuts for a treat in the morning:) We got to enjoy the sweet corn we brought back for a few nights now. Everyone is a fan. Even the littlest one!

Socks are for...

chewing, didn't you know?
The boys found this quite funny and kept referring to Callie as their little puppy dog:)

Like Mother

like daughter.
This is a girl after my own heart:)

This Just Cracks Me Up

poor kid just can't keep his pants up.

4th of July weekend

Since we had a long weekend and not too many plans we decided to venture to Des Moines to the Farmer's Market. It had been several years since we had been there, at least before Ty was born and Gabe had seen things on PBS kids about Farmers Markets and he wanted to check it out. Wow was it crowded, I don't remember it being quite so crazy the other times we have gone of course we didn't have 3 kids with us then either. I didn't get any pictures of the market since it was so busy but the boys enjoyed mini-donuts and we finally found the sweet corn we were looking for(which was a big disappointment but anyway) after the Farmers Market we asked what he thought and he replied "well I thought there would be more toys" guess he wasn't all that impressed. Since we parked down by the science center we decided to make an impromptu visit. The boys could have stayed and played at this thing all day if we would have let them. The picture above is Carl's face can you tell?
These conveyer belts were also a big hit. Callie even got in on the fun a little. Gabe and Carl built a rocket and launched it, they must have done a good job because it stuck in the back net, I didn't get a picture since I was with Ty but he was so excited. Gabe also enjoyed the area about space. He liked changing this sphere into the different planets but he was a little dispointed that Saturn didn't have rings when he changed it to Saturn. We ended our visit broadcasting a little weather. Saturday night Carl and I were able to go out without the kids and get some errands done. We ate a lovely dinner at Sam's Club(hey you can't beat both of you eating for $4.95) and got some stuff for Sunday. Sunday was rain, rain and more rain. I had to work nursery at church and Carl's parents came down to visit for the day so they stayed at home and enjoyed pancakes. Carl's sister, brother in law and family came for an early supper that night and since it was raining it was an early night for everyone. We did do some sparklers with the boys Sunday night which they loved. This was the look on Ty's face when Carl would light the sparkler, determination and maybe a little fear:)We did get to see a rainbow in the sky while we were out doing sparklers. The fireworks were rescheduled for this coming Saturday so maybe we will watch them then. Monday we had a lazy morning. I took Ty and ran some errands and we brought home a pizza which we took to Ada Hayden and had a picnic and then walked around the lake. It was humid but we still had a good time. We watched some friends little girls Monday night for their anniversary. Gabe and Ty always have tons of fun playing with Brenna. Even though it was wet it was a good long weekend.

Because We're Cheap

we decided to buy a pair of clippers and cut the boys hair ourselves:) Their hair seems to grow so fast and when we would take them to get haircuts by the time we paid for cuts and then a tip for 2 different stylists it was almost 30 bucks a pop(disclaimer yes this is hypocritical on my part, I have no problem spending at least that much on my hair but I don't get mine cut as often as they need theirs cut so in my mind it is justified:). I thought they are boys, it is summer lets give this a try ourselves. So I bought a clippers at Wal-mart and enlisted Daddy to cut the hair. Much to Gabe's displeasure we used the high chair to boost them up a little higher. Gabe was the 1st test subject. He did pretty well but did not like all the hair sticking to him and often requested a brush off:) I think it turned out pretty well. Ty was up next and we decided that it looked like we were grooming a golden retriever with the color of hair that was coming off Ty. He was a bit more of a challenge for Daddy as he was a little more wiggly but he still did pretty well. Here is the finished product. Not too shabby for the first try.

9 months

Callie was 9 months on Friday. It boggles my mind a little she will be turning 1 in just 3 short months! This month she started pulling herself up to standing on anything that will let her. Her favorite place being my leg while I'm working in the kitchen. She continues to crawl and stand and in general is a happy camper if she is moving and discovering new things. She got her top front tooth this month and I'm pretty sure she is working on the 2nd one as well but so far it hasn't broken through. She is starting to catch onto the sign language we show her when she eats, especially all done, she will shake her little hand when she has had enough. She also started shaking her head no every once in awhile as well. She is a smart cookie and keeps her big brothers on their toes, she is aggressive!

For the Record Friday

Just for the record

This is how you can find Ty most days now, beloved Lightning McQueen has been replaced by
you've got it Buzz Lightyear!

Just for the record this girl no longer enjoys anything where she cannot move herself around(although you'd never know it by this picture)Just for the record this boy is so skinny he can fit between the screen door and the regular door:)For the record this boy loves attention(even during a bam bam game)
Just for the record this boy is a drink stealerand an ice cream lover
For the record this girl is a thumb sucker(but only when she's hungry or tired)
For the record this boy is a loyal friend(he played against Brady's team in Bam Bam on Saturday and I'm pretty sure he cheered more for Brady then his own team:)
but who can blame him after all they've been buds since even a little before this picture

and just for the record these kids are our greatest blessings and we don't know what we would do without them.