Almost Walking

It's been a long journey, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

When Sweet Pea was born, we knew she wouldn't hit milestones on the same timeline as her brothers and sister.  But still...

Almost 3 and she's only now taking an interest in pulling herself up and standing.  And then the other day she did this: 

Of course the first time I didn't have the camera ready and didn't catch that she pulled herself up and did it by herself.  So the second time, so I could have proof, I had to *encourage* her =)

Beauty

 We had a winter storm this last week.  About an inch of freezing rain that eventually turned to snow.  Everything was iced over and then covered with snow.

  

The kids had so much fun out in the snow.  The woods are full of their trails and attempts to slide down the hill.

And of course I got out to enjoy the snow =)

And after a day out in the snow, hot chocolate and curling up on the couch in front of the fire to watch a movie with the family.

We've Been Busy...

It's been a busy couple of weeks here at Camp Berger.  Between my parents visiting and Squish's birthday, there has been plenty of things to do and food to eat.

While my parents were here, my dad and I had a chance to run a local 5k race.  The race was run on a Friday night in conjunction with the local Balloon Fest.  The weather didn't really cooperate for us.  A couple minutes before the gun went off, the rain started coming down.  But that didn't keep us from running a good race.

My dad took second in his age group (4 seconds behind 1st) and I took 1st female.  The medals were really cool laser engraved wood.

On Saturday we spent the entire day at the festival and then went out to eat at a local restaurant.  And there was a little bit of excitement.

We were able to watch one of the balloons crash land in the parking lot across the road.  Thankfully everyone was okay.

Since my parents were here, we decided to celebrate Squish's birthday a few days early.  He requested a construction cake, and this is what I came up with.

I think he was more excited that he got to play with the decorations after the cake was gone =)

Papa spent some time fixing up the kids' bikes...  And then took one of them for a spin. (anyone else hearing the clown college theme song?)

Safety first!

Papa built the kids some new toys.

Sweet Pea took a break reading a book.

Out of the seven eggs we wanted to hatch, we got five chicks.  Sweet Pea wasn't too sure about them and tried to keep her distance. 

Sarge picked up a new cooking toy.

We filled it up with some meat, potatoes, carrots...

And set it to cook.

It was delicious and was more than enough for the 12 people who ate that day =)

So, you can see that I've been keeping pretty busy.  I'm hoping that things start slowing down just a bit so I can catch up on all the chores that have gotten missed the last couple weeks (the kids don't really need clean clothes, do they?)

July Rewind

This last month has been busy.  Lots of things going on around the community and with the family.

A local church had a Back to Basics day with demonstrations on soap making, canning and how to process a chicken.  They also had lots of water for the kids to play in.  Sweet Pea loves playing in the water =)

Junior decided he wanted to try biking down the hill to Grandma's place.  He didn't quite make it.  Just a few scraps and bruises.  He was back to feeling like himself in no time.  Although he's a bit disappointed he might not have any scars from it...

My parents came for a visit.  It was great spending some time with them and hearing about their trip to China.  It also meant that we no longer have to run an extension cord from the pole to the camper.  My dad was nice enough to help us run a wire.  Now we can actually run the air conditioner without blowing a circuit.  

She's just too cute =)

My sister- in- love and her family came for a visit as well.  We took a Girls' Day and went and had our nails done.  Sweet Pea was disappointed that she didn't get hers done.  Maybe next time.

And we took them all to the drive- in to see Monsters University and The Lone Ranger.  It made for a late night, but it was lots of fun.

Spent some time at the local splash park.

Not as big as some of them around Dallas, but you can't complain about the price... FREE!

After taking a semi- break from schooling, we're starting to get back into it.  Grandma has taken over the art department.  I think she's having more fun with the art projects than the kids are ;)

Over the next few weeks I hope to have lots of pictures to share.

Road Trip!

The last couple weeks have been busy.  It all started with a road trip.  My mother- in- love and I took off with the kids to see my sister- in- love graduate from nursing school.  Along the way, I was able to spend some time with old friends.

Girly wanted to bring M home with us so she wouldn't have to walk.

Uncle Les and Sweet Pea at the graduation.

 

Cousins enjoying dessert after.

And I got to take the boys to the Lego store (while Girly got to see a play).

And then we played at a park for awhile.

It was a quick trip, but well worth it =)  

Thankful Thursday: Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Two years ago, the cutest, most precious baby entered out lives.

The first few months were filled with heartache and uncertainty.  Even after having three kids, we were in unknown territory.  Two days after she was born, we found out she would need open heart surgery.  It was confirmed that she has Down syndrome.  

But, it doesn't matter.  She is ours and we love her unconditionally.

Yesterday we celebrated.

Two years of giggles, smiles, stubbornness and squishy hugs.  While we're still waiting for her to decide to stand and walk, she has found her own way of getting around (Please turn off the sound, there was a political discussion going on in the background ;) ).

When trying to figure out what kind of cake to make for her, I came across this idea: 

Ice Cream Cone Cakes

The instructions looked easy enough.  But...

Oops.

But to be fair, they didn't all turn out like that =)  And the kids had fun decorating the *fails.*

See.  I just had to make sure I didn't fill them too full and there were no cracks in the cones =)

Today I'm thankful for squishy baby hugs and the chance to be Sweet Pea's mama.  

What are you thankful for today?