The Worm!

John's brother, James, came over last night since he is home for awhile. He taught Haydn The Worm! It was hilarious!

Gwyneth

I forgot to tell you that Gwyneth is walking! I will take some pictures, and maybe a video this weekend. She has been at it for awhile now, but just the past week or two, she doesn't crawl anymore at all!! What a big girl!

Day Away with Mom

My mom and I planned a Day Away on Tuesday. On the recommendation of a few people, we decided to head toward Defiance and see what we could find. We had a great time, and it seemed like it was such a short short day! (my mom and I could have fun together cleaning the house, but that's beside the point!) Here are a few from the day.
We started out the morning at a cool coffee shop, Cabin Fever. We actually ended up drinking their coffee twice that day, as we went to a branch store later in the afternoon!
A cool fire escape

We ate lunch at a place called Charlie's Down Under. Wow. I think it was some sort of underground club for the mob back in the day or something. You walk in the front door and immediately go down stairs. There is a window, and a door that is shut to the place. It is so cool.
The bathroom ceiling had quilted velvet covering the ceiling!

This is the bathroom mirror. It doesn't take much to entertain us!
The dessert cart they wheeled to our table
Here is a couch that I wanted to buy SO bad from a thrift store! I think John would have hurt me!

Justice is Served

Yesterday after church, I was standing outside talking. I had just buckled all of the kids in the van and the van door was open. All of a sudden I saw something out of the corner of my eye-and the guy I was talking to said, "Uh. You just got pooped on by a bird!!" Yep. Right down my back. Lovely. The worst part was that Haydn yelled out, "Yes! Finally! My mom gets what she deserves!!!"

A Visit From the Marshalls!

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago with a call from Darcie saying that their family was coming to Ohio for a visit, and wondered if we wanted to get together! We had their family and Tiff & Jim over for dinner and to hang out for awhile tonight. We had such a GREAT time catching up, and our kids had such fun playing together. We couldn't get over how much older Camdyn and Karis, especially, are. When they moved away, they were just babies! Now, they're keeping up with the rest of the kids! Here are a few pictures from the evening

Evan
Karis
Halle and Lainey
All of the kids! Halle, Camdyn, Karis, Hutch, Evan, Lainey, Gwyneth and Haydn

Family Get-Together

John's Brother, James, is home for awhile. His daughter, Alayna, is also in town for a couple of days. Since we haven't seen James in a long time, and Alayna in even a LONGER time (like 5 years!), we all got together last night. The kids had a riot playing together. They all play together so well, it's amazing. We could not get over how much Alyssa and Alayna look alike! They could almost pass for twins.

They clicked right away, and Alyssa, Alayna and Andrea were inseparable-doing hair and makeup and nails. Oh my! We also had a lot of wrestling and general running around like the wild kids they are (: Most of this was outside or in the basement, thankfully! James does a GREAT "Steve" impersonation from Blue's Clues, and Haydn always begs him to play Blue's Clues until he finally gives in, and acts out an episode (or two) with the kids. It's quite hilarious, actually. He plans out clues and plants them throughout the house. Tonight's episode's clues included Grandma Nancy, a picture, and a box of crayons. Blue wanted the kids to color pictures for Grandma Nancy!
Which they all happily did (:
What a funny thing! They also posed for some pictures together.

So cute, if I do say so myself. And had to get the funny face one, as well.
These are from Thursday night, as they stopped in for a little while. Haydn was showing Alayna the ropes on the Wii.
She caught on SO well, that she actually beat him! He didn't believe her that this was the first time she played. And, a picture of the three siblings, John, Missy, and James
James and Alayna
My kids with Alayna, their "new cousin" (:
Brothers don't shake hands! Brothers gotta' hug!

Mr. X-Ray

Haydn's Kindergarten class is learning about the letter X, and Mr. X-Ray. Haydn's teacher asked if John could come in and talk to the kids a little about X-Rays and his job. He was so excited to go in and do this. I DID have to force him to take my camera for Mrs. Fisher to take pictures! Mrs. Fisher and Haydn both said that he did a great job!

A Big Day!

Yesterday, Hutch had his tonsils out. He did a wonderful job!

We had to be there really early, so my mom and dad came to our house so they could bring the kids up later. Hutch insisted on wearing his pajamas, instead of getting dressed!

In the waiting room

He got a teddy bear, cute little green pjs, and the remote. What more could a 4 year old ask for? He wouldn't even look at me for the pictures. (spongebob was on!)

He had quite the support system in the waiting area! Nana, Papa Larry, Haydn, Gwyneth, Mommy, Daddy, and Pastor Bryan all hung out while we waited.

He got to ride this car back to surgery. What a fun thing. Very stress-free!!

After surgery. We got to talk to the anesthesiologist. He said that we have a very brave little boy! The main thing that bothered him was the fact that he wanted the iv GONE!

Nana and Papa posing for a picture before they went home
We were home by a little after 2:00. He was doing so well drinking and keeping things down, and walking around that we were outta there! On the way home, we went through McDonalds, and he had a few fries and chicken nuggets!

When we got home, this balloon boquet came from Granny Sharon and Papa Brent! This brightened his day significantly!!
I went to Awana, and John stayed home with Hutch and Gwyneth. Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Jim and Camdyn came over to visit for awhile (daddy forgot to take pictures, but that's okay!)

Later, Uncle James and Karissa stopped in for a visit, too!

Before bed, he was up at the table, playing with stickers

We could just feel God's loving arms around us throughout the whole experience. It almost seemed too easy (but we're NOT complaining!) Thank you for your prayers!

**He went to Wal-Mart this morning to pick out his birthday presents! *

A Welcome Sight

Hutch had his tonsils and adenoids removed this morning at St. Rita's. Everything went well, and the Doctor said that both were "extremely large!" (with an eyebrow raise) He is SUCH a brave and strong little boy! He was at home snoozing in his own bed by 2:30 this afternoon. I just had to take a picture of my sweet little boy in his own bed! Thank You, God! I will post a little more in awhile.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!

A Very Spongebob Birthday

This is the last Hutch-Birthday related post. I promise!! Last week, Hutch had a birthday party at Pre-School, and he Loves Spongebob. Lucky for him, there was a whole section of SpongeBob at Wal-Mart. Yipee! (I love him, too) After school, the boys had their own celebration with the leftovers.