Cardboard is still the best toy...

I love that sweet little innocent face.

These two.

They're cute and they like to snuggle.

This has to be my favorite.

Who has 8 legs, 4 wheels, and 1 bright orange flag?

Me and my little crew, that's who.

I think I looked a bit like a circus coming down the road this morning during our bike ride adventure. The boys were in the trailer and Kacie was in the backseat. I think that if I'd have seen me, I probably would have felt a little sorry for me. But really it was wonderful. Kacie was in heaven and the boys and I talked while we rode through the neighborhoods for a few hours. One neighborhood that we rode through was mostly elderly people. They were lovely and waved and said hello. I was thinking about how the only things I was going to accomplish today were an extraordinarily long bike ride and helping the boys make delicious (and healthy) cookies. Then I started to notice how all the yards there were beautifully manicured, the garages were organized with everything labeled, and all the cars were sparkling clean. That all made me remember how there is still a bush that I've been wanting to pull out of my front yard for over a year, we can't even park in our garage at the moment, and if you can't find it, it's probably in the van. Then, I realized again that the time will come sooner than I think when I will have buckets of time to organize my garage. Today it was all about finding letters in street signs and numbers on houses with Asher and pretend laughing at Caleb's knock-knock jokes (he's in that stage...). So, we went for one more loop around before we headed back home to show the boys how to grind wheat to make the flour we needed for our cookies.

A few pictures with the timer before we got started.

Just in case you're curious... making the cookies took us at least four hours, and their favorite part was drawing shapes with their fingers in the flour that they flung all over the table. Hope they enjoyed it, because it's probably never happening again :{ Just kidding, kind of.

Happy Birthday Papa!

We hope these silly faces make you smile...

We miss you!

Cha ris ma [ke'rizma]

noun

1 compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.

2 what caleb has loads of.

Caleb is turning three in just over six weeks. He and I talked about his birthday while we snuggled on the porch swing this afternoon.

His only birthday wish is a motorcycle and to be able to shoot webs (which he then demonstrated... with the appropriate sound effects).

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Justin had the fun idea to hang this mirror for Kacie so she could stand in her crib and smile at her cute face.

Baby girl loves her blanket. That's three out of three of my kids who's most prized possession is their "bah-bah". Kacie's lovely blanket is particularly special since her Aunt Nancy handmade it for her. That's thousands and thousands of little knit stitches of love that she cuddles with every night.

Oh, she's growing up entirely too fast.

...who's the sweetest baby of them all?

Kissed by the sun...

These kids have been having such a good time in the warm weather. They love that they can just run in and out of the house all day long. I do help the boys get dressed, but they always seem to find some reason to strip back down to their under-roo's again. Oh, well. And I guess winter Elmo boots are a year round staple for Caleb's wardrobe.

Kace loves to watch the boys run and play in the backyard.

What an adorable little body.

Man, that Caleb marches to the beat of his own drum :) He's so cool!

Here's the face Kacie pulled each time the boys got too far away from her. "Wait a minute. Come back here. I was watching you!"

And here's how excited she got when they came back. I love this new trick of hers.

Such a sweet little thing.

And, so patient too! A blessing straight from heaven to have a calm and patient third child :)

This kid is funny...

...and he knows it.

Yay for being you!

I'm going to put up the pictures from our trip soon. Priorities, you know. Thanks for waiting :)

The A and the K...

They're basically twins...except just 3 years, 6 months, and 9 days apart.

Kacie's loving the spring weather! Playing in the backyard and giggling at all the funny things her brothers come up with keeps her busy all day long.

I like her.

The Asher-Caleb special...

The boys wanted to help make dinner last night so they got the assignment of making the salad. They decided what went in and how much, and I chopped. Then they worked together stirring, scooping, and sprinkling. They did a great job and I can honestly say it was one of the yummiest salads I have ever eaten. Thanks little chefs :)

Asher wanted me to especially tell Lisa about this because "she's a really good chef too."

You probably can't see them in the picture...

...but, she basically has wings and a halo.

What a little angel girl!

Hard to believe, but...

...these amazing gelato cones weren't even the best part of our European adventure!

What a dream to spend time with my love and my wonderful in-laws, feeling free as a bird, in some beautiful new places. Hey, I might even blog about it ;)

Squeaky clean and ready for bed...

The kids had fun picking out new pajamas for their adventure at Honey and Papa's house, but then they talked me into letting them wear the new jammies a few days early.

The biggest problem now is that it's nowhere even close to being dark at bedtime anymore. It's kind of tricky explaining to the boys why I want them in their beds when it's so lovely outside. Even with this little hiccup at bedtime, we're still loving the spring weather and longer days!