This is my 8th and final post for July.  Make sure you see all the posts though, not just the ones at the top!  I’ve got another one in process which will get posted next month after a vacation we go on a quick vacation.

Here are a few other pictures I just had to share because I think they are so cute and I need to have memories of them. 

David took his first steps in May and by the end of June he was taking multiple steps and could go the whole length of the house while pushing this lawn mower!  He now walks all around the house without falling with ease and can go up the stairs with confidence.  Down the stairs?  We’re still working on it, but he’s done it a few times.

He loves toys just like his brothers and just looked so adorable with this sword I had to snap a picture. 

Christian is obsessed with these capes my mom made for Christmas and put one on David the other day.  David didn’t love it, but he still looked cute!

He is a generally happy baby. I’m still nursing him (despite 8 teeth) but he eats everything too. We’ve even put away the high chair and just have him at a booster seat up at the table. I can’t believe he’ll be a year old in a month!

Paul took Christian to get a haircut the other day and Chris chose to have “Blue Spikey Hair.”  Add the sunglasses in the mix and he thought he looked pretty cute.  I love how he’s sneaking a peek at the camera here. 

Thankfully Chris still takes a good nap each afternoon.  It allows me to have some good time with the older boys or get projects done without his “help.”  He does love to help set the table or empty the dishwasher or do laundry.  Cleaning up toys though…not so much.  He has needed quite a bit of discipline lately for hitting or throwing toys or just plain disobedience, and he can’t sit still if his live depends on it, but he’s still a great kid and is a lot of fun to be around.

As part of our daily summer schedule (I’ll write more about that next month) the boys are to be reading every day.  This has happened several days though.  Brian falls asleep reading on the couch or even the floor.  I’ve often said he has 2 voice volume levels.  LOUD or asleep.  Brian and I butt heads often and I’m still trying to figure out how best to parent him.  But he still loves everyone and hugs and kisses us all very often!

Aaron continues to grow up at an amazing pace.  There are so many things he can do.  He has lately been more interested in building lego creations.  I’m not a huge fan of all the little pieces which David puts in his mouth, but watching Aaron follow the instructions of a set like this airplane is fun to be a part of.  If I don’t know where he is, he’s probably laying on a couch somewhere reading.  We typically go to the library every 2 weeks getting 25 books or so each time. 

Here are all my boys ready for church one Sunday in their suits and vests and such.  Super handsome.  So proud of them all.

And finally a quick family picture from back at Easter.  We have a great family and I feel very lucky. 

Right before school got out the kids had awards presentations.  Brian got awards for completing kindergarten, having outstanding citizenship, completing the kindergarten level of PE, Art and Music, and then his teacher gave him the special award of being the Merry Music Maker.  He learned ALL the songs they had practiced all year and is an exuberant singer!

You can only barely see Brian’s head at the back of the class.

Brian LOVED his teacher Miss Jones. 

My little guy is growing up!

Aaron had end of the year awards presentation too, however, he was sick that day and was unable to go to school.  He still got his awards, but we obviously don’t have any pictures of it.  Aaron received awards for building the strongest bridge in his gifted class, being a student ambassador, having outstanding citizenship, getting straight A’s all year and then his teachers gave him the special award of being a Bookworm because he is always reading.

Now here are some before and after shots.  This is what they looked like on the first day of school

and now this is what they looked like on the last day of school.

They’ve grown up so much in so many different ways.  They loved their teachers, loved school this year and both did very well.  I am so proud of all they’ve accomplished and I’m loving having them home this summer.

This spring Aaron and Brian participated in a local little league program called Katy Pony Baseball. 

Brian’s group had 4-6 year old kids and was T-ball.  His friend Jared was on his team and Jared’s dad, Travis was his coach.  Their team was the Phillies!

Brian really enjoyed the socialization of being on a team for the first time.  He played in the dirt, hit the ball off the tee, ran the bases and really enjoyed himself.

Aaron’s team, the Rangers, participated in coach pitch baseball. 

It was more competitive at this age and Aaron’s team only won a few games.  Aaron made a few hits and got on base a few times, and had fun. 

But to be totally honest, neither Aaron nor Brian loved baseball season as much as Christian did.  He is often “Baseball Ready!” 

In a few years I am CERTAIN he will want to play himself!

At the end of April I took a trip with Christian and David to visit my sister, Marcia.  She and her family lived in Jersey City, New Jersey in an apartment right on the water with a GORGEOUS view of New York City.  The weather was a little cooler than I was expecting and so I had to borrow jackets for everyone, and the wet weather also prevented us from doing some of the things we had wanted, but regardless, we had a great time.

On Friday we went to see the 9/11 Memorial. 

The World Trade Center is big and they are making good progress.

The memorial is beautiful.  There are 2 LARGE waterfalls that occupy the footprint of the twin towers.  In the center the water disappears and you can’t see where the water goes, there is no bottom.  It’s beautiful. 

Around the edges are the names of the people who were killed in the terrorist attacks and there are kiosks where you can look up the location of individual people.  There was also 1 tree from the site which survived the attack.  It was re-planted somewhere else and nursed back to health, then re-planted again on the memorial site.  It is aptly named “The Survivor Tree.”  It was very sobering and beautiful.

We then walked (it was A LOT of walking) to a playground at the South Street Seaport and let the kids out of the strollers to play for a while until John got off work. 

The next day we walked all around NYC.  And I mean, ALL AROUND!  We saw Times Square, the LDS Temple, Radio City Music Hall, and so on and so on. 

We ended up in Sheep’s Meadow of Central Park where we ate some yummy cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and the kids played for a while. 

It really wasn’t that cold, he just wanted to wear the hat and gloves because…well, because he could.  This kid loves to accessorize!  We also rode the carousel in Central Park then went back to New Jersey to have some New York pizza.  It was yummy!

On Sunday we ended up just driving around a little.  We saw the back of the Statue of Liberty, and we were going to let the kids play at a park, but we ended up with 4 sleeping kids, so we didn’t stop.

I had a GREAT time visiting my sister and her husband and I’m glad I got to see where she lived.  I say “lived” because she just moved this week back to the Salt Lake City area. I look forward to visiting her again when we go to Utah at Christmas time. 

The last weekend in March/First weekend in April we took some pictures in the bluebonnets that grow wild along the side of the freeways and in beautiful fields. One of these days we’ll get a nice family picture taken, but this year it was just us trying to get the little ones to sit still. There were a few winners though.

Paul was taking the pictures (as usual) so he’s not in any and we never got one with all 4 boys looking straight at the camera.  But it was pretty and kinda fun.  We’ll try again another year!

The biggest event in March was Aaron’s 8th Birthday.  On his birthday Paul and I took him out to a private dinner at The Melting Pot and celebrated just with him.  Of course he got lots of great presents (clothes, games and even a real camera), but it was nice to spend that special time with just him.

About a week later my brother, Marc, and his wife, Kayleen, and their 3 kids, Jackson, Lance, and Ellie came into town and then a few days later Paul’s parents and his sister, Sara arrived.  We did a lot of fun things together including attending more little league games, an Astros game and had a great time being with the family.  We ALWAYS try to go to the opening day for the Astros!

The real reason for everyone coming though was Aaron’s baptism.  Aaron chose to be baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was a beautiful service and we are all very proud of Aaron for making this choice!

 

That same weekend was also Easter and the kids had an Easter egg hunt at my moms house.  She even got a piñata for “the kids” to hit!

 

And since Aaron turned 8 he began to attend cub scouts.  Doesn’t he look so cute in his uniform?  He has already earned his bobcat and wolf rankings and is now earning arrow points and belt loops and pins.  The whole family is enjoying the activities with him.