Jeffrey's 6th bday

Jeffrey has been counting down for a LONG time now - and the big day finally arrived.  After much debate...do we invite friends, do we just do the family thing...we decided that we would take cinnamon rolls into his class at school and that would be his 'party with friends' and we would just do the family thing for cake and presents.  He seemed fine with the plan.

The kiddos and the lovely cake. 

So I'm not sure what will happen when my kids actually want a fancy cake - so far they're thrilled with my amateur attempts.  This is a 'puppy cake' with no icing on the actual dog, pink frosting for the ears, chocolate chips for the eyes, a trimmed mini oreo for the nose and black halloween sprinkles meticulously laid out for the mouth.  Lovely.

Opening the new Hot Wheels track from Grandma and Grandpa Milton

The new 'real' bat that he found after going on a scavenger hunt (too hard to wrap that awkward-shaped thing).

 A Nerf hoop that hangs on the back of the front door (he plays basketball ALL THE TIME in the house anyway - might as well have a real hoop to be aiming at).

New basketball from Grandma and Grandpa Leckie.

Caitlyn trying the new hoop.  It was certainly a hit!

We finished up the day by going to the pool, Chick-fil-A for dinner (Jeffrey's pick), Brusters for dessert (mom's pick) and then Dan and Jeffrey played baseball out back for awhile to try out the new bat.  He seemed pleased enough with the day.  Happy Birthday to our big 6 year old!

A few more pictures

So Crystal has been bugging me almost daily to post a few more pictures.  It's probably good for me to post a few more for history's sake.  So, Crystal - a few more pictures of Eric.  These are mostly 3-4 weeks old....

So I haven't actually taken many pictures of Eric, because every time I turn around, Caitlyn or Jeffrey are taking a picture of him.  I guess I took for granted that they were actually good pictures of him.  Here's a few of the not so great pics....

The Magic Drawer

I've never been very good at including my children in the chore of laundry.  For now, I prefer to just do it all on my own.  So after I do laundry, I usually put the clothes back in the drawers when the kids aren't around - either when they're playing in another room or at night after they are asleep.

Tonight I was putting Jeffrey's clothes away when he was still awake laying in bed.  He said, "Mom, what are you doing?"  I said, "Just taking care of the magic drawers, Jeffrey."  He didn't respond, so I turned around and said, "Do you think the drawers are really magical, Jeffrey?"  He said, "No."  And I'm sure at this point that he's coming to realize that the only reason he has clean clothes to wear everyday is because his dear mother labors so hard to constantly wash and fold and put away all the dirty clothes that are produced by a household of 6 individuals.  My dreams that he was finally coming to appreciate me came to a quick halt when he responded, "We have a washing machine."

Maybe next time....

Our newest addition

After a little drama around 29 weeks (a night in the hospital and a week on bedrest), the due date finally approached for our new baby.  I was due on March 30, but was a little worried I'd have a baby when Dan went out of town to interview at BYU.  But, Dan went out of town, returned, and 3 days later we woke up and immediately headed to the hospital after some unexpected bleeding.  We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am and at 8 cm.  At 10:34, our little guy was born.  I had been trying to mentally prepare myself to have a totally natural birth with no pain killers and was so happy to accomplish my goal.  I don't know that I would try it again, but at least I can check it off of my list of things to do in my lifetime.  He's an absolutely perfect and beautiful baby.  We're so thrilled to have him in our family.

 Carbon copy of his 2 older brothers!

 Meeting older brother, Jeffrey.

 Meeting older sister, Caitlyn.

 Sweet little boy!

 Aunt Latisha came over from Panama City for a few hours to meet the new little guy.

 Eric and daddy.

 Jeffrey has turned into the baby photographer - don't know why he took a picture of Eric's head.

 My parents brought some very welcomed help...what would we do without family??

Jeffrey's pictures....

 Lots of love for the little guy.

Camping at the Florida Caverns

During Dan's spring break, we decided to go camping at the Florida Cavern's State Park. We figured March was the perfect time in Florida for the weather to not be too hot or too cold - but we were wrong.  The lows were in the 30's the night that we camped and we were all VERY cold. But despite the cold, we had a really fun time with two families who came with us.  

 Dan and Brady enjoying the fire.

 Andrew feeding Logan some cheetos.  Logan doesn't need the help, but Andrew doesn't seem to care.  They are so cute together.

 Caitlyn and Jeffrey sitting in front of the space heater in the tent.  They stayed the warmest in their sleeping bags, but it was awfully cold getting up in the morning.

 Cold Andrew trying to get into the tent.

 The next morning we went into the caverns (Dan stayed out with Andrew).  Here are some of the stalactites we saw.

 Caitlyn wasn't so impressed with the caves.  The novelty quickly wore off and she was ready to head out.

 Jeffrey and his friend Annika touching the only surface that the public is allowed to feel.

Jeffrey, Logan, Brady, Quinter, Annika and Caitlyn.  It was a fun trip with really fun people!

Riding horses

Last year the kids went to a birthday party where they got to ride horses and feed farm animals and 'paint a pony.' They had a blast last year, so when the same family gave us an invitation to the same place, we were really excited to go. Last year Jeffrey apprehensively rode the pony. Caitlyn wouldn’t have anything to do with it. This year she was convinced that she would ride the pony IF she could ride the tiny pony. When the time came to actually ride, she wasn’t happy about it, but she did give it a try. By the end she was really glad that she had gone through with it. Other than the “terrifying” dog that wandered around the farm (the oldest and calmest dog I’ve ever seen, yet managed to elicit extreme terror in both of my older children), it was a really fun party!

Jeffrey riding his pony.

Caitlyn – not really excited about getting on the pony!

Starting out around the field.

She finally decided that it really was okay.

Coming back in from her lap around the field.

At least she didn’t look scared any more!

Some firsts for Jeffrey

The past few months have been an exciting time for Jeffrey. He started Kindergarten at the local public school and has LOVED his teacher and friends in his class. It has been a really good experience so far for all of our family.

Jeffrey on the morning of his first day of school.

He also started playing soccer with the YMCA. He got hooked on soccer after watching a couple of games during the World Cup.

Jeffrey with his team and coaches during their first practice (Jeffrey's in the yellow shorts).

Stretching at the start of practice.

Two of Jeffrey's good friends who are also in the class at school, Annika (in the orange) and Hyrum (standing in the back).

They've had 4 games so far this season, and have done a good job. It’s quite entertaining to watch a bunch of 5 year olds chase a ball around. Jeffrey isn’t the quickest runner on his team, and he’s pretty apprehensive about getting knocked over by all the other kids. So we’re working on helping him go after the ball a little more. He really loves being goalie – and he does a good job at that. It’s been a fun season so far.