Backdoor guests

We found this critter right outside our backdoor last week. We see a lot of praying mantis around our yard and the kids love them. I'm not overly fond of any large bug. I'm not really scared, but they'll give me a scream if I see them and not expecting it, they just give me the eebie geebies. Anyway, this guy hung around the backdoor for a day then moved up.....

onto my actual backdoor. That gave me a scare when I opened the door.

I left him there though until the kids came home from school and got to ooooh and aaaaah over it. It gave me a chance to snap a good close up. He looks really cool that close up, I zoomed in with my camera though. I surely wasn't gonna get that close to it!

Happy Birthday Andrew

I'm a few days late, but Andrew's 3rd birthday was last saturday. L'il stinker wasn't born until a full 42 weeks. He was well worth the wait though. As with any of my children I never have regrets or doubts about having them. Since he's only 3 I have very few "professional" pics of him. I can't believe he's already 3, time is going too fast.

We had a little party for Andrew. His friends came over for some cake and ice cream. Kinda low key, but still an enjoyable birthday celebration.

Andrew singing

You can always catch Andrew belting out a song or two. Some of you may not find that surprising, music is very much a part of this house. I captured a few songs for you.

The second video is him singing Mama Mia. I'm very guilty of playing this music often after seeing the movie this summer on the big screen. Not sure I realized how much until I caught Andrew (and the other kids too) singing a lot of the songs and knowing many of them by heart.....just like me. I got distracted at the end of the second video and you see the snake the Mandy & the neighbor kid caught.

walking video

I keep trying to get the perfect video of Carmen walking. She's still not an independent walker. I don't go into the store & let her walk next to me or anything like that. But she is walking more and more. The other night I was sitting on the floor & someone walked up to me. I thought it was Andrew because what other little person would be walking across the room and up to my side. To my surprise it was Carmen. Other times I'll be working in my bedroom and look up to see Carmen all by herself walking through the dining room. It still seems weird. I captured this little bit at the karate studio the other night.

Carmen

Carmen is such a joy these days. Not that she never has been before. But now that she is getting older she interacts with us much more. Here are just a few pics of her.

Carmen is by far not my best sleeper. Although I don't like to complain cause I do get plenty of sleep, but she's still getting up at random sporadic times. Some days it's 3 a.m., others it's 6 a.m. Just to trick me she'll throw in an all nighter here & there. Some mornings she'll get up early then go back to bed, others (like the day that I took this pic) she was up for the day. None of the other kids slept like this.

On this particular morning she was up for good at 6 a.m. I put her in her highchair to eat some breakfast. I noticed after awhile she was very quite. I looked to find her half dozing in her seat. When I grabbed the camera and moved to get a good shot she semi woke up which is why she is grinning in the pic.
Carmen likes to hang out on the counter while I work in the kitchen. Last night while I worked away she stacked these cups all by herself. I showed Jim the picture, but he doesn't believe me. He thinks I staged the pic. Seriously though, she did it all by herself. A total fluke though cause I couldn't get her to do it again. But I was amazed that she stacked them so perfectly. You can see her hand still on there.

While up on the counter Carmen kept grabbing and trying new foods that I had sitting out. It's fun to watch her try new things.

Belt promotion

Brianna, John & Jim were promoted to a new belt color in karate. They have to test in front of the instructors to show they posses the knowledge of the current belt.

John went from the yellow belt to the blue belt.
Brianna went from the blue to the red belt.

Jim went from the red belt to the brown belt.

They work very hard to their karate and take it very seriously. If you ever have to be alone in a dark alley....I hope you have one of them with you!

What is this?

We're not sure what this is. We found it right outside our back door. It intrigued us and the kids insisted I take a pic. So sure, why not share it with you all.