Happy Birthday!

Jared turned 8 on Thursday. We had a nice little family dinner with some friends. Jared wanted pizza and an ice cream cake. So we had frozen pizza (Food Lion is his favorite) and I made a chocolate/vanilla cake/ice cream cake. He loved all his presents from family. Anna wrapped some presents for him and it was sweet to watch her excited face as Jared opened them. It was also funny to watch Jared try to be diplomatic about getting a fairy craft that Anna had made for him. This picture captures it the best.

Aunt Sonnet was the best sending two books to complete a series we had started and Star Wars legos. She was the only one to get an, "Oh man I love you! I love you!" Jared had a great day and we plan on celebrating his birthday along with grandma California's sometime next week with a little good old fashion Maryland duck bowling. Also he will be baptized next Saturday! Wow I can't believe how big he has grown.

Pumpkin Carving

We finally got to our pumpkins this year. We ended up picking them out at the local Giant. We had planned on going to a farm and picking pumpkins, but it rained every Saturday this month. Jared and Anna didn't mind. It seems that picking out pumpkins in a store is just as excited as on a farm. Hear are some pictures from the evening.




Jared chose to carve a storm trooper from Star Wars into his pumpkin and Anna chose a cat. By this I mean they chose Dad to carve a storm trooper and Mom to carve a cat in their respective pumpkins. It was a fun family night.

Nothing in Particular

Nothing in particular has been happening in our neck of the woods. Just regular everyday stuff. Kevin is in the thick of things at school. He takes off every morning around 7:00 and comes home somewhere in the 5:00 hour. Tuesdays and Thursdays he has physical therapy and Wednesdays he has Young Mens. When he is not at school, physical therapy, or Young Mens he is studying whatever test he has that week. Even though he stays busy during the day he takes time every night (except Wednesdays) to read to and put the kids to bed.

They love their time with their dad.
Jared has been counting down the days for his 8th birthday. He gives us hints everyday as to what would make good birthday presents. Anything Star Wars for those who are interested. What a funny kid.
Anna Audrey and I get to hang out during the day. Since it has been warm lately that has included some walks and bike rides on her new bike. Mostly she like to spend her time outside adding to her rock and stick collection.
Audrey is a hoot. She loves her brother and sister. As soon as Jared and Anna go to bed Audrey turns into a little grump. She could spend all day watching and smiling at them. The other day I left her down with Jared and Anna to "play" with them and this is what I found when I went to check on them.

A few days before I had asked Anna to keep and eye on her while I went to get some laundry and this is what I found.

Don't ask. I have no idea.
Audrey has added crawling to her list of talents this past week and we will need to start baby proofing our house. We haven't ever done that before, but I am certain that Audrey would be the one to stick something in an electrical socket. Here are some pictures of her over the past week. She is so darn cute.