Birthdays at Great Wolfe

Happy with the end result

Maybe I am the only person with this problem, but family picture day is the MOST STRESSFUL day for me!!! That is why yesterday I had planned everything out just perfectly, we decided to just photograph the kids so John and I could help position, chorale, and entertain them without worrying about whether we're looking at the camera, or whether the expression on our face reflects the stress and frustration we're feeling inside as we wait for the photographer to snap the picture before Wyatt, or whomever, goes running from the room. I scheduled the time for 6:00 so John would be home from work and could help me at the studio. I purchased all of their clothes, hairbows, etc well in advance. As you can imagine, my well thought out plan did not go as I had hoped. My house was Grand Central Station all day yesterday! Phone ringing, knock at the door, phone ringing again, kids home from school, everybody in the bath, someone's having a meltdown about their clothes, phone ringing, someone's having a meltdown about their hair, that's okay-John will be home soon to pick up the slack, phone ringing.....John's held up at work....guess I'm on my own, dinner's ready-nobody likes what we're having, more tears, more tantrums, and we're not even out the door yet!

Finally we arrive at the studio (5 minutes early I might add) and we walk in to a full waiting room. I check in and ask, "are you guys running behind a bit?" Their answer, "Oh no, we're just finishing up and we'll be ready for you shortly". I've heard that line before and should have known better, I SHOULD have taken the kids out to the van to watch movies until they were REALLY ready for us, but thought we could manage. AFter 25, yes 25 minutes, of trying to keep Wyatt's hands out of the toilet bowl and the drinking fountain, trying to keep Wyatt from running into other people's photo shoots, trying to keep him from grabbing toys out of other people's unattended bags (seriously, at least zip them up), it was finally our turn. Those of you who have had 2 year old boys know what fun it is to try to get them to hold still for a picture. I'm still too exhausted to even try to recap all the work it took to get just a few good shots. But I must say, I was very pleased with the end result. Despite all of the effort, stress, energy, and waiting it took to get these shots, I know they are absolutely my favorite!

Love this picture! Childrens' faces show so much JOY!

Sisterly love! What sweet girls we have been blessed with!

This captivates Wyatt's true passion and personality:

1) He loves all things Mickey Mouse (he's holding Mickey and Goofy in the picture)

2) He's always on the move!

3) He's the sweetest little boy you'll ever meet!

Sweet Saige...this picture shows her full of sweetness, a little bit of sassiness, and beauty!

Happy Belated Birthday to Saige!!! (March 12)

It's hard to believe Saige is 7 years old! Here are a few snapshots from along the way....
Here's her first picture, all 4 pounds, 15 ounces of her. She was soooooo tiny!





Saige feeding her cousin Ben, I think they may have shared that bottle.
Saige screamed when she sat on the Easter Bunny's lap every year until she was about 6. You have to admit, he does look pretty scary!

We love you Saige!

Who needs a dog, right?

Wyatt's new skill: eating off the floor. He pushes the bench up to the cereal cupboard, turns his favorite cereal box upside down until it spills all over, then gets on the floor and eats it! Mickey helps too of course.

He also likes to crawl under the table after meals and clean up what's been dropped on the floor. Who needs a dog, right? Boys can be so gross sometimes.

missing blogs.....

I'm finally putting my blog back together after having lost a lot of info, namely my friends and family blog list, but I know I am still missing a few blogs. I foolishly never saved a back up, and have now paid the price. SO, if you don't see your blog listed, PLEASE SEND ME A LINK! I know I am missing some from before and have racked my brain to try and remember who I'm missing but this list is the best I can do. Please help!

Useful information....

Just in case someone out there may need to know this one day....rubbing alcohol will get ink off of almost anything including kitchen cabinets, wood tables, doors, and tv screens!

A big birthday party

A few weeks ago we all gathered for a 1st birthday party for the girls' little brother. We had a great time at Fun Run in Liberty! If you haven't been, it is really neat! We even liked it better than Air Zone down in Gladstone and the price is about the same.

Anyway, it was really nice to get to see all of their sisters, their brother, case worker, and all the foster parents involved in their care. It is truly an amazing group of people. Every now and then you hear a horrific story in the news about a foster family who was horribly abusive to the children and are now in jail. For some reason this is the impression that sticks with most people about foster families...that they are only in it for the money (seriosly, it's not that much), or that they don't really care about the kids. I wish that everyone could know these wonderful families like we do. They are all good christian homes who felt the calling to open their doors and their hearts to children who need a place to heal, all at the risk of having their own hearts broken some day when or if they have to say good bye to the kids they have loved and cared for. This truly is an amazing group of people and we had a great time!

Wyatt's new BFF

Mickey mouse has become a very important figure in our house. Nothing captures Wyatt's attention like Mickey mouse Clubhouse! He loves his stuffed Mickey, and drags him everywhere.

Here is Wyatt taking Mickey for a drive...


Here he is taking Mickey on a walk...

Here they are drawing with sidewalk chalk together.

I'm Back!

I'll leave out all the excuses for not keeping up the blog, and I'll post some valentine's pictures instead. I attempted to get a picture with all four kids looking cute in their valentines outfits, AND looking at the camera. This is what we ended up with. How does the song go...."There is beauty all around, when there's love at home"....right??

A visit from the tooth fairy!

Micheala has finally lost her first tooth! The big tooth had already grown in behind it, so she was anxiously anticipating the loss of the tooth...and of course the tooth fairy's visit.

Wyatt's new favorite game

Why is it that all kids are fascinated by the law of gravity? They start by dropping things just to watch and see what happens, then they drop things just to watch their parents pick it up, and now Wyatt has discovered that the law of gravity applies when he drops things from the top of our stairs down to the main level in our house. Little boys are like little scientists-in-training, trying to make a new discovery or prove a theorem every day!

Danny, Jenika, and Baby Halle

This one's for you guys! I thought it was a cute picture! Can't wait to see you again!