New Videos!

Here are four new videos!
This first one captures Oak and Bird. They are really becoming good friends. Oak is so interested in Bird and is learning how to be careful around him. After a couple of nips though...

Putting the futon together at the cabin!

The boys have decided that the big piece of insulation in the loft's side "passage way" is the "eyeless, mouthless, banana monster"!

I was really trying hard to get Oak to talk here, but he didn't. He is starting to say a couple words. His most common word is "huh?" then "yeah!" then it is "mama" :) then it is "no" - hopefully I can catch him saying one of those soon! He still is cute to just look at so I went ahead and uploaded the video.

The Latest

Here are a few new pictures from the past couple weeks. The first one here is of Eli making a log cabin. Which he then bulldozed over. Some things never change...

 These next couple are of Otto and his cookie making. Otto LOVES to bake; cookies, cakes, anything yummy. He likes to chat about making yummy treats too! Well after a whole afternoon of Otto talking with me about making some gingerbread men we did! He was a very happy boy.

 Oak enjoyed some cookie too!

 Otto carefully icing his cookie. 

 Eli laughing at how funny it is to bite the legs off. Eli is our giggly entertainer, that's for sure.

 Horsey rides!

 Oh no. Oak is so curious about everything these days. I was sitting on the opposite side of the table here and didn't even see him almost take all the wet wipes out!

Playing Around

Here are two videos of just random happenings lately. I love how Eli likes to entertain Oak and make him giggle, too cute!

Where's That Brother! from capture box on Vimeo.

Roast Beef Line Up from capture box on Vimeo.

Harmonic Playing

Here are three short clips of Brian jamming it out on the harmonica for our little people audience.

Picture Update

Here are a few pictures from this past month:

Eli and Otto have so much fun playing games on my phone. I think it is used more for games than anything else....

 The next few pictures are from Art Sparks. It is an interactive playroom at the Speed Art Museum. They have sooo much fun here! It is a great place for us to take the kids to play, draw, paint etc (make a mess) then leave. :) 

This is from the tactile room.

 Watercolors

 Stamps and watercolors

 Dry erase markers on clear plastic

 tickle beard!

 Mama is there too!

 This is a picture of the kids playing with a glow in the dark type board. FUN!

Monster Jam!

This was Eli's highlight of the week for sure!!!! Monster Jam with Papa and some friends! 

More Bath Fun!

Oak is just loving bath time now! Water kind of scared him for a while and I think he is finally strong enough to sit up well and just splash around and enjoy it! I had to capture it to share!

Bath Time Fun

Oh me. Oh my. Bath time is getting a bit busy with three boys in a tub! They have so much fun!

Going Private

Hey friends and family! After much thought we have decided to go private with this blog. I am sure you all understand with the nature of this blog. It is all about the kids! So, I want to invite everyone who wants to continue following us through this blog to PLEASE let me know!

1. Email me or Brian your email address. (I would have included my email address here, but blogger advised me not to since this is a public page, so I hope you have it.)
2. I will email you an invite. 
3. It will require you to make an account with google (SUPER EASY). 
4. After signing in you can view the blog. 


I hope this extra step won't discourage you from keeping up with us! I know with all the miles that separate most of us, this blog is my main way of keeping you up to date. We value our friends and family SO much and hope that you will not only make this extra step for us, but encourage us in guarding the privacy of our family. I will also make sure I am consistent in my updates, they will be weekly, so if you check just once a week you will find the latest!
I will keep this up for about a week, then poof we will appear to be gone! But really we are just a short sign in away!
Thank you so much for understanding!

Brian and Michelle

Videos Gaaalore!

GET that silly bird!

I like this next one because you can here Otto making his eating noises. So cute!

band practice

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dave!

Fireside Family Chat

Slap, Pull, Slap, Pull

Oak is a scooter! Soooo cute!

Put It Where I See It

As the title shares I have been trying to put some very helpful verses lately where I will see them. I must admit I have never been one to put verses around... nope. I might put one in a book as a marker or on a card for a week or so, but never out in the open like this, but I have also never been in such a busy season of life where I feel like I just go all day and then crash at night. (Don't take that wrong I love my life and sooo love being a mother in this needy young kid season.) So, having some verses around really seem to help remind me of why I work so hard and how my attitude needs to be and where I go when I feel discouraged. I thought I would share them. 

This one is by the sink. It reminds me to KEEP GOING!

 This one is in the "cabinet of wonder and learning" (that is what we have decided to name our homeschooling cabinet) and reminds me how important it is to teach the kids with purpose and care.

This one is on the fridge because I go here all the time it seems. Yes, I can get angry, ho hum, I wish I was perfect and didn't ever loose it, but this scripture has been so great in helping me to take a step back when things don't go well. (Like the other day when I spotlessly cleaned the dining room and then went into the living room to nurse the baby. I kept hearing a bang bang bang. Eli with his foam sword. No big deal, I thought, he is just hitting the floor and making a fun noise. Thennnnn about 10 minutes later I walked in the freshly swept and mopped dining room to find about 100 cheerios smashed on the floor.) I really appreciated having read this verse for the past week again and again. God is good and gives us patience and wisdom when we need it and ask him for it!

 This one is by our tooth brushes and I know I read it twice a day. It reminds me of my responsibility to share our faith with our children all the time.

 I love this one. It is by the sink too. That is a place I am at ALL the time. 

 I love love this one. By the sink as well. The first verse reminds me to rejoice each morning! The second is so amazing and reminds me that I need to lift ALL my plans to the Lord because he weighs it all (my plans and my thoughts and hopes) and guides my path in the right direction.

 This one is on the computer. Reminds me of my nearest neighbor. My family.

 This one is on the pantry door. Reminds me to not be lazy. The pantry seems to be a great deterrent from doing something productive. :)

 Oh my. When I put this one on my wallet I really decided that I must now have reach the nerd level of scripture memory. Yep, it is on my wallet. Reminds me of how much I need God in all my decisions! Who wants to buy something that is just going to be a mistake and useless? I know I have made more than a few of those kinds of purchases in my time. I also don't get out to shop much, so I really want what I buy to be exactly what I need. A quick prayer when I grab my wallet to ask that my merchandise be profitable can't hurt!

This is not a scripture verse just a picture and Mom THIS IS FOR YOU! Because you seem to remind me that I need to declutter my kitchen all the time. I am vowing to keep the counters free of clutter. So far (it has been about a week) I have managed to keep them this clean (this is big for me). A flat space seems to call clutter of all sorts so I am fighting back in the kitchen. 

Random Happenings...

Marble run! Eli loves this marble maze set.

 Otto can fit himself in a crate.

 I think Eli took this, he likes to hold his gecko while he watches some morning cartoons.

 Sweet Oak!

 The boys are watching hexbug videos on you tube. I am pretty sure Eli has watched them all by now.

 Eli took this.

 and this.

 I took the camera with on a walk to Sunergos the other day....

 Eli asked me to take his picture by this tree.

 and here in the leaves. 

 then I told Otto to join in, sorry it is upside down.

 At Sunergos! Papa!!!!

 Brian and I have started p90x again. The boys like to get up with us, but they don't like to workout. I guess many days I don't feel like working out either, but we decided we plain old just need to be disciplined and do it because we need it. It is a good thing. We get up together and just get it done! How do you like how Eli dressed himself... sword and all. He makes me laugh! The green bag has all his hexbugs in it. :)

Homeschooling Today

Homeschooling has been a huge blessing to us. It gives me so much quality time with the boys each day. We are learning what works for us as we go. I pretty much block out from 10 to noon to only spend time teaching. This has worked well so far.

This was our day today:
Today we started out playing marble run for a while. Then we spent time reading about Jesus' sermon on the mount and talking about how we don't need to worry. Then we prayed. I usually ask them to share one thing they are thankful for and one thing they want God to help them with. Eli was thankful today for games and wanted help with not being scared. Otto was thankful for insects and wanted help with mama. I asked him what he meant by this, but he couldn't really answer me. I am thankful for the super sunny day out and I asked God to help us to have wisdom as a family in all we do! I might start writing down their prayer requests and thanks because they are usually so cute! Then we did insect flash cards. The boys love this. Whoever guesses the most cards right gets two chocolate coins (which he then shares with his bro). Then I worked on reading with just Eli. He is doing SO good with this. Then we played a game called money bags. It teaches coin values and counting money. Fun! Then as a treat I skipped handwriting and we drew cityscapes. That's kind of like handwriting, straight lines, right? Now we are off to grocery shop! I tell you the stay at home life is non-stop! Hopefully grocery shopping will be a learning experience as well. :) Oh yes, what do I do with Oak when we homeschool??? Today he slept the whole time we did school. That was nice. If he wakes up early I am usually at the table with the boys at that point so I put him in the high chair with some cheerios. That keeps him busy. He also loves to just watch them do their work.