4th birthday

Most of you have heard about our "Sword" party, but for the few of you we haven't seen this year . . . . For months Spence has been asking to have a "Sword" party (much like the "Red" birthday party of 07). The only thing he asked for was to have swords coming out of his cake that he could pull out and play with. At first i thought cupcakes with cocktail swords, but Jeremy squashed that idea bc of number of boys attending party and potential for lost eyes. So Angela thought of small plastic swords and showed me what to look for at supply stores. Fortunately the end result pleased Spence and all the other little folks. (Jeremy got that cool treasure box as part of an Indiana Jones promotion at work and he fixed it up as a chest for the kids to surprise them when they got back from arkansas. he filled it with gold coins and snakes and pirate stuff. about ten minutes before the party i thought to put the cake down in the box). Jeremy had to work the Sunday of Spence's birthday so we decided to have the party at a bowling alley. It was a loud party but of course the kids enjoyed bowling and playing arcade games.

Overalls

Here mom, I will have these made into 5x7s for you to match all the other grandkids.

(All of the grandkids have had their portraits taken in these overalls. Mike, Michelle and I wore them so they are approaching 50 years old. Aidyn and Preston didn't make it to a studio for their pictures, but conveniently, I was able to take their pictures at the same time since they are the same size.)

more of Arkansas trip

Jeremy and I have always found the ride between Memphis and Searcy to be slow bc of the narrow roads, the cops on patrol, and the lack of fun places to stop for the kids to take a break or eat. But on my June trip to Arkansas with the kids, this leg of the ride was most exciting for Aidyn and Spence. They searched for crop dusters and found several. They counted train engines cruising along side our van. And they laughed hysterically to see tractor after tractor on the hwy with us, one of which had tires so huge it looked like we could drive under it. Kids can make anything fun.


And here are some pics from my phone. First is Mike riding a coaster with Aidyn and Spence. Even though he knew it was simulated, Spence is gripping for dear life.






















And here Michelle teaches Spence how to ride a bike. So now he spends a goodly portion of each day riding in our driveway.



The kids had a fun week in Arkansas. Spence especially enjoyed hiking with Shayne, riding four-wheeler with Shayne and Eli, and fishing in Grandpa's boat. Thanks to everyone who helped me care for them bc these road trips by myself are Tiring.

P5310405, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Slip and Slide

Eli gave spence a slip and slide for his birthday. Here they are in grandpa's backyard. Then we went to Eli's house and Shayne made a slip and slide using their playset's slide. So the boys and Aidyn would come down the real slide and zoom about twelve feet across the slip and slide.





Here Mary and the boys and Aidyn are baking a cake for Spencer's and Mary's birthday. Spencer thinks butter smells bad. He thinks a lot of things smell bad. (You can barely see Aidyn's head)

Feeding Horses

We love these girls. And they love our kids too. And everyone likes feeding the horses.

Last day of MDO

Aidyn has enjoyed going to mother's day out two days a week this year. She begs to go to school every time we drive down the street near her school building. She will miss her teachers and her school but next year she will join her brothers at Spence's preschool.

Aidyn's Tonggu Girls Spring Collage

Please visit Dusty's blog to see the Tonggu Girls Spring 2008 collage and the one from last year. It's neat to see how much our babies have grown. Dusty puts these together for us a few times a year but for some reason i can never save them from my webmail account. Just one more thing I can't get my Apple to do for me. Anyone wanna come sort through my iphoto library? It's a huge mess.

Here's the link for Dusty's blog: blog

still busy at ten months in

We have been so busy this spring that I forget to take pictures. We have hosted lots of company--out of state friends and family, playdates, and parties . . . . and have attended several parties and dinners for the kids and the family. We are settling in to life in Tennessee. In April we finished putting the house together the way we want it and we also chose a church home. We finally found a church that needed us to teach and we are working with the young professionals. The kids are happy here and are enjoying their last weeks of preschool and looking forward to summer. So here are some pics from the past week.


Preston is 10 months.

























Spencer climbs a tree in our backyard, with help from dad.

















































Preston now joins his siblings for the sandbox play. Not great of Spence, but thought this one was cute bc Aidyn was trying to force Preston to look at the camera.





















Spencer with his teacher Ms. Stephany at Muffins with Moms, his last party of the school year. He has been so excited about this party. The kids have made crafts all year long that Ms. Stephany combined in a book for us, with pictures of the kids. He was really proud to give me his handiwork and a framed portrait of himself. Thankfully, my friend Rebecca kept the little ones so that I could enjoy the party with Spencer.





















Maggie, Spencer and the Wii.




















My mother's day floral arrangement--the best kind of flowers, one's we can eat.




















Everyone in the family but Preston got summer haircuts.



















Best Mother's Day Ever bc all my babies are with me. (of course my saying this prompted Spence to ask if we would have another new baby for next mother's day. I guess he believes new babies join a family each calendar year bc that's all he knows.)

Busy Spring

For those who have visited us in the last nine months, here are some pictures of our new family room. Since Easter our house has been a mess with several house projects, the largest being converting attic space into living space. So now we have a toy room adjacent to a family room. Everyone is enjoying the new space, especially Mama since this means all of the toys can stay upstairs.




























































Preston has taken to riding with his siblings in the F150. Spence has to keep it in slow gear while he has a baby on board. And Aidyn isn't allowed to drive while Preston rides.

9 months

All over the place this month. One of his latest acts is trying to stand up in middle of a room. It's pretty funny to watch. He can climb the stairs about as quickly as he can crawl so life is fairly demanding on all of us now as we try to keep our eyes on Preston at all times. He has always been easy to put down for sleep time but in the past week he has developed some separation anxiety and now he cries when we go near his crib and he is wanting to be held more. And you'd think the carseat was a bed of nails if you saw his reaction to the thing. As we begin to place him in the seat he contorts his body and bucks up high so that none of him is actually touching the seat. He is still a happy boy though with smiles always at the ready.

Mr. Fixer

I was sitting in our backyard, holding Preston and talking on phone to our contractor, when Spencer dropped a cup on the patio and broke it. The cup was mine in 1980 and the kids like it because it has Smurfs on it. When I got off phone I looked up to find that Spence had glued the handle back on the cup. So he had gone into house . . . moved bathroom stool to the craft cabinet . . . opened craft closet doors and got glue stick out . . . then gone back outside to smear glue onto the cup right where the handle should go. I found him pressing the handle into the glue wondering aloud if this glue would be strong enough. He placed it inside to dry and the handle actually held for about a week. Is he a little three year old version of Grandpa???

Aidyn update

Many of you have called or emailed us to check on Aidyn, so I figured I should add an update here for everyone. Aidyn went to Bham in March to see a pediatric endocrinologist. Results of her bone exrays show that she is within the normal range in that her skull is the size of a 12 month old when she is 26 months old. Her bloodwork showed that her IGF1 was low . . . . not really sure how to explain this. Our friend Angela did a google search and sounds like this means an indicator associated with growth hormone is low and that results in Aidyn's small stature. Aidyn's doctor in Bham scheduled another appointment for autumn 2008 to do more exrays and more bloodwork to see if anything has changed. Our hope is that Aidyn will do some "catching-up" over the spring and summer and that she can avoid going on growth hormone. Her preschool teachers say that Aidyn is on target with the two year olds in her class and she is the only one potty-trained, so we are blessed that she is adapting well to life in the states. She loves her brothers and is becoming a good helper for Mama by wiping Preston's nose whenever she sees a need, bringing him clothes, and feeding his bottle to him. She seems to enjoy his mobility and thinks it funny when he stands and plays beside her. He is stronger than she is and can easily pin her to the carpet but she is taking it pretty well so far. Her speech is rapidly progressing and she should be talking in sentences soon. Hooray!!! She still has a wild temper but each month she is learning to curb it a bit more and is becoming more loving and playful, a right little monkey girl and hilarious to watch.

march madness

SuperCousins took over our house for five days. Eli, Shayne, and Michelle joined us for a fun Easter weekend beginning with Dean's Easter Egg Hunt and including flying kites, dying eggs, sword fighting, and lots of running. Aidyn loved being BatGirl. She asked to sleep in the Batman shirt and when I tried to dress her the next morning she cried and asked to wear it another day and so she did.






Eli and Aidyn didn't last long coloring their eggs but Spence enjoyed making his. And they all enjoyed hunting for them in the yard.






This is the kids receiving their baskets. Preston went straight for his eggs, knocking his basket over; and they all went for the Peeps.

Wacky Weather

Snow all night and most of day over the weekend and then 75 degrees during the week. Crazy weather here but the kids make the most of being outside regardless of the temps.

Spencer likes to eat the snow during snowball fights. And Grandpa builds a great Frosty. I'm not sure what the favorite part the winter wonderland was . . . . playing outside or drinking marshmallows with our hot cocoa--both are fairly messy endeavors.

8 months

Preston is 8 months now and you can see that we have "twins" at our house. Aidyn weighs half a pound more and is a bit taller but they can wear the same size clothes and diapers. Preston is crawling well now and he wants to pull up when possible. So he is officially into his siblings' stuff. They still love him though and so far they are being patient with him.