Pictures

I just had some pictures burning a hole in my camera and I wanted to get them on the blog.  Some of these pictures are from my birthday, but most are from a day we just decided to take a walk and ride some bikes as a family.

Liam.  What can we say about Liam?  He is almost 10 years old and is a deep thinker.  He has lots of questions about things and really thinks about the answers.  He loves his video games, especially Minecraft and Ghost Recon.  He loves to make his own worlds in Minecraft and could do it all day long if I let him.  I don't understand the appeal, but he loves it.  He likes science and loves reading.  He is ready to be done with 4th grade.  He is reading the Fablehaven series right now.  We have a hard time getting him to stop reading at night.  He's learning to play the recorder in school and does a really good job with it.  

Erin is 7 years old and is navigating through 2nd grade.  From my experience with my two oldest, I hate 2nd grade.  She has her own mind and will not be swayed by anything or anyone when she thinks she is in the right.  She knows what she likes and exactly how she likes it.  It is fun to see her coming out of her shell a little and being a little goofy with us.  She has kept her feelings and emotions pretty close to the chest in the past and is just recently okay with being silly in front of us and singing in front of us.  She is responsible and kind with her younger sister.  I have a hard time reminding myself that she is just seven because she acts so much older.  (Most of the time).  She is passionate about things and can get quite emotional about things she cares about.  She has a fiery temper  and we have seen lots of it.  She is trying so hard to learn how to control her emotions though.  She likes her teacher and likes to read, but only at school because as she says "there are more interesting things to do when I am at home."

Owen is six!  How did that happen?  He is our daredevil and energizer bunny.  He likes to go, go, go, but every once in a while he will sit and let you give him hugs.  He is sensitive to other's feelings and is my best helper.  He doesn't love reading.  He reminds me a lot of Erin when she started reading.  It is more of a chore than anything.  He likes to count and add and you can't get away with saying "give me five minutes" because he will tell you exactly when the five minutes are up and badgers you until you do whatever it was he wanted.   He has lots of crazy ideas that he cooks up and gets Reagan to do with him.  Just this morning, I went into the kitchen to see both of them naked and swimming in my kitchen sink!  

Reagan is a ham!  She is so silly.  The following pictures were not coerced or thought out or anything.  She asked me to take her picture and she would pose and then would hear the camera click and change poses.  Click, change, click change.  I had to ask her to smile normally for the one above. 

See?  Total ham.  She is three years old and thinks she is as old as Liam is.  She likes to play with Owen and says "Wee Haw CowBerry!"  She can't say her R's, so it sounds like CowBewwy.  She also says minja for ninja.  So when she comes to you with her very serious face asking you to help her look for her minjas it is pretty funny.  She has had a grand time this last little while as it has gotten warmer and the neighborhood kids are coming out and riding bikes.  She rides her scooter with them and runs after them and is very upset and hurt when they leave her out.  She has oodles of confidence and I hope it stays that way.  She loves to just sit and give loves too.  She is probably my most cuddly of all the kids.  We were going to be done having kids after Owen, but she told us in no uncertain terms that she was still waiting to come to our family.  It's funny, because looking back, I can see her insistent personality in the experience we had. 

It was also my birthday.  Another year older.  It was a good day.  We got some yard work done and took the kids to Dairy Queen.  Then we had some delicious cake that is my very favorite and I didn't want to share with anyone, but I love my family, so I did.  Stinkin'!