Four kids...Life is an adventure: Time for laughter and frustration

I realize that the time between blog posts varies often, but that is life with 3 kids. We have had a very busy spring. March and April were some of our busiest months in a long time. Asher turned 5, Mike and I took a much needed vacation, we had visitors, we visited others, we have new family members, we can play outside...see? Lots going on. And with all new seasons, our children have changed and grown and matured. I have had many proud Mama moments recently. Moments that tell me, "Yes, you got this parenting thing down! See?!?" We have also had some very trying days as well that make me ask myself, "Do you even know what you're doing?!?" The good and the bad make life exciting! It made our trip away great but also made me look forward to coming home. This is the first vacation where we weren't sad it was ending - we were looking forward to seeing our babies again. As spring continues, we see more and more things blooming in our yard. We see more and more people out and it reminds us how awesome our neighborhood is. We play with the neighbors weekly and see friendly faces outside during our walks daily. I was the one that questioned this house when we looked at it, but so glad I trusted Mike with the decision to go for it. We LOVE our house, neighborhood and town. Frankfort is great! I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

So let's get started....

Asher turned 5! How can that be? To celebrate we had a Pokemon Bowling Party! We rented out the 6 lanes at Frankfort Bowl and took over. That's a cool place and we would definitely do it again. The thing that surprised me was seeing Asher by himself. There were numerous times during his party where I looked and saw him sitting alone...watching. He was sitting, watching and taking it all in. I loved seeing that side of him. Asher is one smart kid. He has a heart bigger than big. He loves to help, learn, play, make believe...it's a fun stage. We are wrapping up the end of preschool and he is already looking forward to Kindergarten. Asher has mastered his bike with training wheels and his balance bike. It is just a matter of time (and weather) before we take his training wheels off. He is also pretty darn good at Legos. We stepped up the game and purchased a large Lego set. It has hundreds of pieces and multiple things to assemble, but he did it mostly on his own. He LOVES Legos. I guess he gets that from Mike. Mike enjoys sitting down with him to put them together too. Asher is a huge help around the house. I can count on him to help me out when I need it. He is getting braver when it comes to eating! He will try new foods and eats more and more every week. Don't worry, he's still on the small side. Ha. In fact we pulled out shorts to wear and he can rock some 2T shorts still. But there are still some 3T and 4T mixed in there with a few 5T tops! :) He has started his second session of gymnastics. He really seems to be enjoying it and can do a pretty good cartwheel already. Being the only boy in his class and usually the only boy there when we go, Asher doesn't seemed bothered by it at all.

Oh yeah, it snowed in March....

Super hero walk - we do this weekly.

I told him to circle books he wanted from his book order. I saw this in there - he wanted to get it for Ayla. Always thinking of others.

Ayla Ayla Ayla...where do I begin with my threenager. I always thought that was a funny term until I experienced it the first time. She is full of sass and attitude. Miss Independent and yet needy the next day. She usually follows a step behind Asher. It is fun to watch them play together (when they get along). She is now starting to take the lead and play with Kelvin. I think she figured out that she can boss Kelvin around the way that Asher bosses her around. She loves to pick out her own clothes, but isn't quite there yet. She still needs some assistance but is very picky in what she wears and how she does/doesn't do her hair. Babies are still loved on all the time by her and are still naked. :) Ayla had the hardest time while we were on our trip. Both parents said that she cried a lot and asked for me. When we got home and I work her up the next morning, my heart melted. The look of pure joy and relief on her face and heard in her voice reminded me again of my job as a parent. She was so happy to see me and just kept looking at me as if it weren't really me. That made my 4 hours of sleep quickly seem trivial and brighten my day. Ayla loves bubbles and sidewalk chalk. She is super excited about preschool next year and keeps asking if it is time for it to start. Play-doh is another fun favorite. I love it because she only needs a few colors and a rolling pin, and she can play forever. Trolls are still a thing too. I would say they are bigger now than they were for her birthday. We watch the movie at least 2 times a week. She wants her hair like Poppy and for awhile she and Asher were calling each other Branch and Poppy. Ayla has been getting all sorts of owies lately. If you have stock in band-aids, you're welcome. If not, you should. We go through a box every 2 weeks. You will see in most of the pictures that she puts a band-aid on anything and anywhere. There are a lot of pics of her sleeping. She cracks me up at night. She usually has to sleep with her Bible. All of the blankets have to be fluffed and spread over her. She finds a random object in her room to snuggle. I love it. I actually am laughing out loud at many of these pics of her because it's who she is and I love every side of her.

Ring around the rosie.

Slumber party picnics (lunch on a blanket while watching a movie)

A lot of battles were lost this day...but she has clothes and shoes on, so for me it was a win.

Neighbors!!

meeting baby Kennedy

french maid costume used as batgirl to ride Asher's scooter.

Cowboots!

Kelvin. He is probably the funniest kid right now. He imitates the others so well and we have to tell Asher that he can't play fight anymore because Kelvin does it for real. He is obsessed with trains. I posted a video earlier this week, but we live by railroad tracks. Freight trains go down numerous times a day. It isn't really loud, but you can hear them. Kelvin stops whatever he is doing and listens or watches, or asks to be picked up so he can watch more. It's quite cute. I'll include the video here too. Daddy is his favorite adult. He is clingy and needs Mike all the time (score for me). If Mike is sitting, Kelvin is probably on his lap. He loves pushing his lawn mower outside and tries to ride the big kid scooters and cars. Kelvin also loves Trolls. He requests it when we are watching a movie. Something about Trolls just gets everyone moving and happy. It's like the song says, "I've got this feeling, inside my bones. It goes electric wavey when I turn it on." He is talking more and more. I love hearing him say "Asher and Ayla" and he calls Rex "Shrek" just like Asher did. This kid is a beast though. He will be passing Asher up in no time. We are in 24m clothes for the most part, but he just looks huge in pictures next to the others. Kelvin has been all over the place with moods, sleeping and naps. You will see from the pics that there are quite a few grumpy faces mixed in with happy. Not sure why he's so inconsistent right now, but we are working through it. I know he is tired at night because all he wants to do is run...run run run run run. That's it. He loves running and playing with the ball.