Co-Op Friends

The babysitting co-op is so much fun!  Bentley and Olive love when it's our turn to host.  The house fills up fast, gets destroyed even faster, but everyone is happy and worn out when it's through.

A Quick Update on the Babies

Eden is the reading queen right now!  She loves reading and is flying through chapter books faster than I can keep them coming.  She also loves to keep track of what she has read, so she has quite a long list of books she has finished over this past year.  I love that this has become her hobby, and I've noticed a lot of improvement in her spelling and writing and other school work since her reading has taken off.  It's awesome!

Bentley has really been into drawing and coloring lately. I love finding his little drawings all over the house. He is also really good at writing, and always has names written above the people he draws.  This particular picture was a tracing of his hand, and inside he drew everyone in our family, as well as grandma and grandpa. I love his cute little people.

Olive is really into dress-ups right now and it is so much fun.  Fortunately for her we have a huge collection of dresses and she goes through several a day.  Most days, it's straight from pjs into dress ups and than back into pjs at the end of the day. She also loves to wear skirts, and jewelry, and makeup and anything to make her look fancy. It's fun to see what particular princess she feels like each day.  :)

And then there's baby Karly who is just talking like crazy these days!  She has her own little babble that she "speaks" constantly as she roams around the house.  She loves to get our attention, and then proceeds to carry on a very long conversation. It's cute. Surprisingly, she also knows how to say a ton of words (real words). I think she is definitely my earliest talker and surprises us all the time with the new things she says. She is so much fun.

Mommy + Bentley Date

Bentley and I love to go on dates together. He is quite the little gentleman, and I'm lucky to be in the company of such a great guy!  This particular date was one of his favorites - we got a treat from the Chocolate Factory, then took a bag of quarters to the arcade. He was so excited.  Unfortunately, those arcade games only last about 2 minutes each, so our quarters went fast, but we had a great time. He decided the best game was the Jurassic Park game because we got to kill lots of dinosaurs.  :)

I love this boy - and I'm so grateful to be his mommy!

Piano Audience

Sometimes practicing the piano gets a little tough around here, but Eden has a large cheering section to keep her going strong!

Nintendo Student

Karly is learning to play nintendo from the best..... her teacher Bentley gets so focused that he doesn't even notice her crawling over the top of him, and knocking him on the head with her controller. He will not be swayed from his goals.  That's the mark of an excellent instructor.

Oh Olive...

Just when I think I've had it and need a break from her - she goes and pulls something like this....

She tries my patience constantly, so thank goodness she also has a goofy soul to lighten the mood right back up.  I love this girl.

Someone Loves the Smoothies!

Karly is a very picky baby. It is so stressful and frustrating trying to make sure she eats sometimes! It's no wonder she's so tiny.  Fortunately for me though, I did find something she likes - smoothies!  She just hears the blender turn on and she drops what she is doing and crawls very quickly into the kitchen saying, "want some!"  I try to pack it full of fruits and veggies so I definitely consider it a win!