Lydia's 1 Year Old!

Can you believe it? I can't! Miss Lydia turned 1 yesterday! (Even though Aidan says that she can't really be one because she isn't walking yet.) Here she is in her cute birthday shirt. And he bows-I am so happy she has enough hair to pull into 2 tiny poytails! It is so fun to accesorize!

Her birthday cake. We have a tradition that the first birthday cake is Surprise Cake. All it is are different colors of white cake mixed together, so when you cut into it, you get splashes of colors. Lydia had pink, purple and green in her cake. We took the little star on top off the cake, and that was hers.

Surrounded by presents! We just had grandparents (and Aunt Julia and Uncle Neil) over, but she got lots of cute clothes, a couple of dolls (even her 1st Barbie, which she enjoys sucking on her feet) and a book. She didn't realize that they were all for her. I guess that she is used to "sharing" with her big brothers.

Eating her cake. She dug into it! Almost ate the whole thing! I was quite impressed.

Lydia is the sweetest baby ever! She is always smiling and happy. She is just a little pixie of a thing. At her well child check, she tops the scales at 18 lbs even and she is only 27 3/4 in. tall. She also still wears her newborn size shoes! That is just fine by me-I don't want my princess to grow up too fast. And she is a princess-with all of us to dote on her, she gets whatever she wants. I feel bad for when she starts to like boys-with her 2 older brothers, they will never even get to the door! They are so protective and loving to her. And she loves them right back. Rarely are they not playing with each other. I am so thankful for such wonderful kids. I really lucked out!

P.S. For anyone who actually reads this, I realize that I have been major fail on blogging. I am back and want to keep this record of my family-so look for more in the near future!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Ellie invited us to go to a Chuckers game with them recently. Our home team didn't win, but we sure had fun cheering for them!

Ice Cream Festival

Jeremy got tickets to the city's Ice Cream Festival and we decided to go check it out. We are so glad we did because it was so much fun! We all got wristbands and those "magical" wristbands allowed us unlimited ice cream! They had all different ice cream places there. Aidan loved the huckleberry flavor, Wyatt wanted anything chocolate, I was quite partial to the nutty coconut and Jeremy liked the carmel praline. But I think the family favorite was mint chocolate chip. We really got our fill of ice cream that afternoon!

Liddy got to have some tastes too-she kept licking her lips for more.
They also had a bunch of those bouncy toys and a band playing. Wyatt loved to dance to the music and all the boys loved the toys.

Even Lydia got into the spirit and had a little tiny flower painted on her cheek. Isn't it cute?
It was such a fun family afternoon, and we were all pooped by the time we got home. We got to also enjoy family nap time! This will be something that we do every year.

Independence Day

We love the Fourth of July at our house! There is so much fun, family, food and fireworks going on, who doesn't love it? We started our personal Freedom Celebration on the Thursday night before. We took the kids to a fireworks stand and let the boys pick out some fireworks. Aidan went crazy with all the selection, and Wyatt only wanted the "bird." After that was done, we took them all for a sno cone. When we got home, we invited our neighbors to come over and watch us light them off. It was the perfect start to our weekend.
Aidan, Ella, and Jackson doing the sparklers.

Wyatt and Brodan watching the "pretty lights."

Jeremy's sister and brother in law invites everyone over to their house every year for a huge fireworks extravaganza. Seriously, it puts the Melaluca Freedom Celebration to shame. It is so much fun! They set out a spread, we all bring blankets and camp chairs and we just chat, eat and watch, while the kids do sparklers and play with each other. I don't have any pictures of the actual fireworks, I get too caught up in the display, but here are some pictures of the cousins playing together with the sparklers.

Wyatt and Conner

Aidan, Dillan and MaKenna

Aidan and Ashley

Ashley, MaKenna and Kayleen

Then, on the Fourth, we started out the day watching Independence Day. We love that movie and watch it every year. Nothing like celebrating your freedom by watch Will Smith kick alien booty! Then we had another swimming party with Grandma and Grandpa (se post below) and a wonderful weenie roast with them. Then we took the kids to Freeman Park for the "big" fireworks show (as Aidan calls them). We always have so much fun sitting there and listening to the music and seeing the fireworks. They always make me cry. I am so thankful that I live in America and have the opportunity to raise my children the way I feel best, and worship what I believe in. Happy Birthday America!

Swimming

My parents have set up a pool and slip n' slide in their backyard. On Saturday's, when it is warm, we head over there with our swimming suits and towels and hang out in the water. Grandpa, Jeremy, and Aidan really love to get each other wet, Grandma, Lydia and I like to catch some rays, and Wyatt likes to play ladder ball. Here are some pictures of a recent day over there.

Aidan loves these days-he is a pro at the slip n' slide.

Wyatt likes to watch mostly. But, when we finally get him in the pool, he realizes it is like a big bathtub and starts to splash.

Even Liddy has her own suit!

The pool! We love these afternoons! We especially like to "shower" each other.Drying off in the sunshine.
These swimmimg days are really becoming one of those favorite summer memories. Thanks for sharing them with us Grandma and Grandpa!

T-Ball

Aidan was on a T-ball team this summer. Also on his team was his cousin Ashley and his neighbor Ella. He said he likes T-ball better than soccer because there is less running. He did really well! He got some really good hits off the T and is good at catching and throwing to base. Wyatt, always wanting to play with the big kids, also tried his hand at the game. Perhaps we have a pair of major leaugers on our hands?

His team-GO TEAM YELLOW!!!!
Run, Aidan, Run!!!
SAFE!
Hey mom! Watch this!
Aidan tries to impart his T-ball wisdom on his brother.

T-ball was fun! It is so neat to see Aidan experience all these new things and find out what he likes to do.

Such a busy summer!

And now I need to catch up! I hope to do this over the next couple of days, each with a seprate post. We have lots of fun things to show you guys!