Benjamin Mister

I was going through some pictures from awhile ago and I found so many good ones of Ben! I didn't want to forget about them, so here is a small batch... 

Clementine Cutie

Our amazing neighbors from our old house bought us tickets to go check out the Botanical Gardens outside of Lonejack, MO. It was really beautiful and the kids were such good troopers. 

Yogurt Monster

Ice Cream!

:)

Mother's Day

I had a lovely relaxing Mother's day, thanks to my awesome hubby and sweet little munchkins. Yes, the house is still not quite done and put together as you can tell in the photos, but we are getting there!

Myla and Dustin designed a bouquet and crafted up some beautiful flowers for our dinning room table. The boys bought me a KC shirt and hat and I was so surprised. We are not really big gift giver people and tend to lean towards homemade items or baked goods. So I really felt extra loved that they all thought about the things I might like and made the trek out to actually get them! That is not easy with four kids! Haha.  

I feel very blessed and so grateful to have these precious children in my life. I am very lucky indeed that I have gotten to be a new mommy four times over and I wouldn't change it for the world. I am also so thankful for Dustin and all his hard work that he puts into providing for us so that I can stay home with my kiddos and do what I love doing. Every day is not easy and sometimes it can all be overwhelming, but we are learning as we go. We are really trying to be diligent and make sound choices for our family and as any parent knows...it is tricky! I am trying to let God lead me and my family and feel such peace when I can do just that. 

Cuties

Me and my brood. Ben is winking at Dustin :)

We are really enjoying our house with all the space we now have and are starting to work on little projects here and there. Dustin is actually working on the sub basement right now...it is his new workshop. This fireplace is on my list. There is nothing wrong with it, but I would LOVE to lighten it up and even remove or paint the stone title. We have white doors in the house and lots of wood trim. I think we may be able to pull off painting the fireplace white and then do something different with the surround. Hmmmm. Still thinking. And pinning ideas.

We also need to decorate it somehow. We just put these photo frames up there to get them in a safe place, but the scale is all wrong and our colors clash with the dark fireplace...it is a good dilemma to have though. We haven't had a fireplace until now. I am excited to tackle a fun project...when I can find some time!

New House!

Well, lots has happened since the last post of mine. We sold our little yellow house in the Spring (rather easily and by owner, yay!) and bought a newer, bigger home in a different city!  It has been a bit of a whirl wind and now that we are feeling mostly settled, I wanted to catch up on here.

Eli is getting so big and is just the cutest, sweetest chubby guy. We love having him around and almost daily one of the kids says they are so glad they had another baby brother. Aww. :) He says mama and mom, dada and bababa. Pretty darn adorable. He also started saying woooooooo and weeeeeeee while he swings outside on the swing set. haha. It is so sweet!

Ben is hilarious and ornery and was getting quite good at escaping ever so quietly out the front door of the new house. We have spent much time reasoning and negotiating with this little mister. He is so darn cute when he flashes his smile that it is hard to stay mad for too long. He is getting better about listening when I mean business (thank goodness for love and logic) so we are a little more at peace lately. He has been talking about going camping and will stuff as many clean clothes from his closet that he can fit into his backpack and carry it around the house, saying "I'm going camping. What?" Also, when he is explaining something to me he will say "you got that?" at the end and give me a half wink.

Myla is growing up to be such a beautiful lady who is really great with Ben when we need a distraction or another way of reasoning with him (gotta love the 3 year old way of doing things!). She has blossomed into a great reader and she really loves writing and it is so fun to see her creative side go to work when she is painting or doing a craft. Her hair is getting so long and she doesn't like me to cut it. Sometimes when we are side by side on a walk or out and about, I just look at her am reminded of when I was little myself and it is so fun to watch her.

Oliver is getting really independent and tall! He is also really strong...you don't want to get into a tangle with him! He is so amazingly sweet with Eli and loves to help him when he needs consoling or needs to be stopped quickly from going down the stairs. ;) He loves being kind to little kids that are friends or total strangers at the park. Oliver likes to lead the group and likes to make lots of rules for the neighborhood kids to follow when playing a game. Haha. He is growing up so fast. It has been a little hard for me to let him have more independence, but I can see he is ready for it and generally makes good choices. He is sensitive and social and it can be fun to chat with him about meaningful things in life. He grasps a lot at the young age of 8 and is really observant.

Big sister and baby brother

Morning snuggles

Cutie pie

Showing off the pretty wild flowers that she picked on the trail behind our house

Pretty lady, love the watch on the outside of her jacket:)

Adorable Benny

Eli crawling fast to get me

Gotcha Mama

Woooooo

Sweet bothers

Little Eli

I finally plugged in the computer in the new house and was working on an updated blog post, when I realized I hadn't posted much in the way of pics from when Eli was born last July! Things have gotten really busy with 4 kids and moving!

We are approaching Eli's first birthday so here are some photos from his birth last year (ever so fashionably late;)...

 Myla walking into the hospital with Dustin and the kids. She was so excited, as were they all, to come and meet our new little addition. We were waiting to tell the kids whether or not we had a baby boy or girl until they came to the hospital and got to meet the baby. 

Can't you just see the excitement in her face?

After she found out that the baby was a BOY!

She was slightly disappointed we didn't have a girl and then resolved "Well, its still a baby!"And promptly sat down and asked to hold him. Oliver was happy either way and Ben mostly just thought he was so small and cute.  

brotherly love

Proud Papa

Thankful Mama and Baby 

Me and my cute kiddos