Last week we decided to visit the discovery gateway children's museum. My mom agreed to come along and Michelle and the twins were also brave enough to come. We had a lot of fun, even though it was really crowded. The kids loved everything, especially the water toys and the grocery store. After we went to lunch and did a little shopping at the gateway. It was a really fun day!

Went for a ride

The other day Noah was trying to climb into a toy storage bin, that is really small. Justin decided to help him out and put him inside. He gave him a ride around the living room and Noah thought it was the best! He loves playing with his daddy.

I did it!

So I wanted to post that I actually finished my 10k race. It was more fun than I thought it would be. Running in the mornings is great, but there was an energy at the race that made it a little more exciting. Michelle was my running partner and she was awesome. We kept encouraging each other. We started in the back, and lost a little time at the begining but I think we made up for it. We finished in 55 min and 22 seconds. Not bad, we took off about 5 minutes from our usual time, so we were happy. Running has been really great for me. I feel more healthy now. We are going to keep running in the mornings, but I haven't decided about the half marathon yet, the 10k was painful enough. Oh, please don't get alarmed about how white my legs are, Michelle makes it worse by being so tan. I think I will try to get a little sun before the summer is over. Oh, and Justin didn't really get a good picture of me finishing the race. You can barely see me behind the woman in front.

Update

Today I am feeling really happy, which is good considering I got up at 5:30 this morning to run. I am just feeling really blessed. Before bed, I always check on all of the kids and make sure they are covered and in bed and asleep. Last night as I walked through the bedrooms I was just overwhelmed by how blessed I really am. Four beautiful, healthy kids. Kids are always really cute when they are sleeping. They are all doing really great and growing up too fast. When I check on Noah I swear he looks so big asleep in his crib. He had his 9 month check up on Saturday. He weighs 20 lbs 13 oz. He is just shy of 31 inches long. So he is about average weight and 95% on his height. Everything else was great. Yesterday he was trying to pull himself up on the ottoman. I can't believe that he will be walking soon. The girls are doing really great as well. Ellie and Taylor can't wait to start school next month and it will be so fun to have some one on one time with Joslyn while they are gone. Noah takes a nap in the morning, so it will just be me and Jos twice a week for a couple of hours. The girls are playing downstairs right now and I love listening to their imaginations. Anyway, I will stop going on and on about my kids. I am excited that I will be running my first race this Friday. It is just a 10K, but I have been training for it and it will be fun. This morning I ran just about 6.5 miles, it felt really good. I have great friends that keep me motivated. The only problem is that they keep trying to convince me to run longer races. Let's just see how Friday goes. Enjoy these pictures of my adorable kids!

Food storage

Well, Justin finally almost finished the food storage room in our basement! I love it! I especially love that I can actually access it without having to climb over boxes and dig. It was so much work and it made me realize how hard finishing the rest of our basement is going to be, luckily we don't really need it finished in a hurry. For now I am really excited about my food storage room. It is still missing the rotating shelves, the freezer and the door. The door will probably be next since the kids have already been helping themselves to snacks. Putting it all out has helped me see what I need to buy next. It looks like a lot less when you spread it out too, it motivates me to buy more. Each week I spend a portion of our grocery budget and get some extra things. Anyway, not the most exciting pictures, but I thought I would share. Justin worked really hard on it and I am so proud of him! Oh and Taylor had her kindergarten doctor appointment yesterday. She is very tall, thin, and aside from a little asthma in the winter, very healthy! One thing she isn't though, quiet when she get shots! It was horrible, she screamed and kicked and it took three of us to hold her down, so sad. At least she is done with them until she is 12. Anyway, the rest of the kids are fighting a cold that Joslyn picked up in the nursery, so I hope that they recover soon!

More pics of the party

Here are some more of Taylor's party. The girls had a great time dancing and playing and eating cake! Taylor is already planning her party for next year, we will have to see about that!

What time is it? Its party time!

Here are some pictures of Taylor's friend party from Saturday. This year she only wanted to invite girls, and she wanted a "high school musical" party. I thought it was so funny, but, it is her choice. It turned out really fun and Taylor loved having all of her friends over. Here are some of the pictures, and I think I will have to post a few more later, I took so many!
Here are some of the girls playing HSM bingo.

We decorated the basement and they had so much fun jumping, I think they enjoyed the playhouse more.

Here is the cake! It was so yummy, chocolate of course.

Justin showing the girls how to play with the flying thing, I don't know what it is called, but they had fun.

Taylor and some of her presents.

He's a crawler

Yesterday was quite the day for our little family. I am still tired. In the morning I took the kids grocery shopping, ( I don't know why) and I had to go to two different places. Then we came home and Taylor had some friends over for a while. After that my sister came to visit and then my brother came over later for dinner and Ghost Hunters. After I got the kids to bed, I stayed up way too late watching that show, I love it! Anyway I forgot to mention I started the day at 5:45 with a 3.5 mile run in the heat. To top it all off Noah starting crawling. He had been trying for weeks and he finally figured it out. The first thing he did was crawl to the PlayStation under the TV, pull out the wires and start chewing on them. I know I am going to have my hands full. I have to adjust the house to a crawling baby once again. I really can't believe that he is growing so fast. As you can see in the pictures, his 6-9 month PJ's aren't really covering much anymore. These pics were taken a few days ago when he could only scoot backward. He got himself stuck under the side table. He was a little upset, but I thought it was cute and had to take some pictures.

Taylor Lynn is five

Taylor has been celebrating her birthday all weekend. She spent a few days with my mom being spoiled and then on the 4Th we had a family party for her. Today we sang to her and will have a little party tonight. I also have a special lunch planned for her. Saturday is her friend party where there will be even more fun! Taylor is such a great daughter and sister! I am so happy we can celebrate her today! We love you so much!! Happy Birthday!!
This was taken this morning as I sang to her! Isn't she beautiful!

One of Taylor's cakes, which I made from scratch! It was yummy!

Taylor and Grandma Dee reading a book she got for her birthday.

5 years ago today

5 years ago today I was a brand new mom! I had just given birth to a beautiful almost 8 pound baby girl! I was recovering from her 22 hour medication free labor, that went so beautifully. I remember how happy Justin and I were to become parents. I can't believe it has been 5 years! Taylor has been a joy and I am so blessed to be her mom. I love her so much, Happy Birthday!

Family Pictures

here is the latest family pictures taken yesterday. Matt, Brett, Justin, Dad and Bob. Cortney, Vanessa and Chloe, Me and Joslyn, Mom and Noah and Shirley. Ellie and Taylor. Aren't we cute??

badminton

My Siblings were really bored on the 4Th, so they went to Walmart and bought 5 in 1 outdoor sports kit. It was actually a lot of fun and we got pretty into a game of badminton. Now I am posting these pictures just to show that I am not above embarrassing myself for a laugh. Thanks to my great brother Matt for taking them for me.
My parents made a mean team!

This is me after an awesome move that scored our team a point. I got a little too excited.

Here I am posing for a great photo.

My mom got a little upset a times.

Justin was the best player, but we lost to my brother in law and my sister. It was sad.

Happy 9 months Noah!!

I can't believe that my little boy is 9 months old today! It has gone by way too quickly. We have just eaten up every moment with this little guy. He is so sweet and content. It is so fun to have a little boy around. The girls love to play with him and help me take care of him. I feel so blessed to be his mommy!! Look how cute he is, these were taken this morning.