Jared Turns Five Again?!?

Jared turns 5 again! In fact, he refused to believe me that he really turned 5 the day before. He believed that he turned 5 AT his NASCAR racecar birthday party. This was his first "real" birthday party with friends and he had a blast! We met at our house first, had cake, ice cream and presents and then spent the next several hours playing at an indoor play place (tubes, slides, ropes, games, tunnels, etc.) called the Jungle.


This was the funniest part of the party. For those of you who know Jared, you know he does not like to be the center of attention. He did not, let me repeat, he did NOT, want anyone to sing to him except for Matthew. So we compromised: Only the kids could sing and they had to sing REALLY softly!! So all the kids sang really soft and Jared covered his ears the whole time! I love that we got this on film!


Jared's birthday guests (from left to right): Sydney, Jared, Daniel, Matthew, Spencer, Isaac, & Naomi


Thank you to all who called, came over, and remembered Jared on his birthday! Also, thank you to all for the generous gifts!

Jared Turns Five!!!

Jared's 5th birthday was March 28th and we had a small birthday party for him at home.

We Love Our Cousins! They Take Us Climbing!!

My neice Sydney turned 13 and invited my kids to come to the climbing gym, with her friends, for her party. Matthew climbed the wall to the top and rang the bell. He overcame a lot of fear (he stopped three times to say he wanted to come down) and with a little encouragement, he made it to the top! His response to the question, "Matthew, what do you think about climbing that big wall?" "TIRED!"

Of course, Kate was in the middle of it all! She thinks she is as big and able as anyone she's with!

Jared liked the bouldering wall! In fact, I think he had more fun jumping off the wall than climbing up!

Our Kindness Tree

I am proud to announce the birth of our Kindness Tree. In our family, there are days when it feels like we have forgotten how to be nice and how to recognize kindness. It seems to be happening so often that I've taken drastic measures and and hung a tree on the wall in my family room. For every nice thing we notice someone else doing we get to write down the observation on a leaf and hang it on the tree. It's been one week and we have a very happy tree with lots of leaves and a much happier home! My true confession: I need this tree as much as my kids. It has helped me focus on all the good things my children and husband are doing rather than getting weighed down with all the mishaps, bad manners, and frustrations. I love our kindness tree! It's helping me be a better wife and mom!