Aubrey is 5!!

On Sunday afternoon we celebrated Aubrey's birthday with a party!  She picked Frozen for the theme and was really hoping for an Elsa dress as a gift.  She opened her gifts downstairs in the family room and then the rest of us spent some time unpack-aging them!  We grilled brats for supper, her request, and then enjoyed some yummy cake from Costco. 
Today, Tuesday April 14, is Aubrey's actual birthday.  I made pofferjies for breakfast and we have been enjoying the day.  She is going out for lunch with Grandpa, Grammie, & Great-Grandma, I wont be able to go since we have daycare kids today, and then we will go out for supper tonight as a family. 
It is truly amazing to me how fast these past 5 years have gone.  Aubrey brings sass and sparkle to our lives!  I love my boys very much but I also really like have a little girl too.  I thank God for giving Jeremy and I these children. 
Happy birthday Aubrey Jane!  We love you so much!!

Updates

Well it would appear that I have been neglecting my blog lately.  My last post was in January and it is now nearing April!  Winter has turned into spring and in a few weeks my baby will turn 5!

A few weeks ago the boys had their Cadet car races at our church and the big Cadetorama.  This was Nile's first year as a Cadet and he was very excited to be involved.  Especially with the cars.  My dad and the boys worked on their cars before he left to go south for a few months.  We have all been patiently waiting to see how they would fair against the competition.  My dad makes the cars for show and not necessarily for speed.  At our church the boys both brought home 1st place for show and were thrilled.  At the Cadetorama Nile got 1st for his age and Hayden got 2nd.  The top of their bookshelf is getting pretty full of trophies at this point.  The Cadet year is all wrapped up now and we are looking forward to having Wednesday nights free, especially with baseball practice for both of them on Mondays and Thursdays!

the boys with their cars at church

Aubrey continues to grow up despite my urges not too.  A couple weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon she came out of her room to tell me her tooth was super loose.  She went back to play and then came out a few minutes later with the tooth in hand!  This was a little hard for me since she is our baby and is already starting to lose her baby teeth!  The tooth fairy made a visit and Aubrey was thrilled.  On a side note the tooth fairy has been at our house a lot lately.  Hayden is loosing his molars frequently - which is good so his mouth will hopefully be ready to start the braces process this fall.

Aubrey and her tooth!

Earlier this months I also finally made the decision to donate my hair.  I had been growing it our for no particular reason for the last few years and decided it was time to let it go.  I cut off 8" and mailed it off to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  It has been an adjustment but I am getting used to it.  Right now I plan to grow it out again - less money spent at the salon!

Before

After

Aside for cutting off my hair I have also started doing more in home daycare.  I have 4 families now.  One is just one day a week, another is 2 days and the other 2 will be full time shortly.  This has been and adjustment, mostly for Aubrey, but we are pushing through.  With school done for me now and Aubrey heading off to Kindergarten this fall this was an opportunity that came to us at the right time.  I have had several people ask me what I was going to do now that I had graduated but I really didn't know what I was going to do.  I wasn't super excited about looking for something in the workforce but I would like to be able to contribute more to our family income.  The addition of more kiddos to our home during the day is helping with this.  Aubrey and I continue to work on home school preschool and attend Coffee Break on Wednesday mornings.  When this is done in mid April we will be babysitting everyday!     

10 years!

A few weeks ago on January 21 it was our 10 year anniversary.  On January 21, 2005 we got married at the court house in Knoxville with our parents and Hayden present.  I honestly had no idea what I was getting into at the time but God has an amazing way of working things in His time. 

Our anniversary was on a Wednesday this year and that is a pretty busy day for us.  The boys headed to school and Jeremy to work.  Aubrey and I had Coffee Break in the morning and then ran a few errands before coming home.  It wasn't quite lunch time yet so we settled on the couch to watch a little Netflix.  I was a little bummed because we weren't going to have time to do much to celebrate our anniversary that day.  Then Jeremy walked in the front door with flowers and asked if I wanted to go out for lunch!  His mom was here also to watch Aubrey and had picked up a happy meal for her at McDonalds.  It was such a wonderful surprise!!  He had taken the rest of the day off work so we didn't have to hurry and we enjoyed a nice lunch at Applebee's.  That evening we had a light supper and headed to church. 

Nile is 8!

Wow it is hard to believe I have been a mommy to more than one child for 8 years already!  Nile was 6 days late and by far my most difficult pregnancy, he was also our one "planned" child.  Nile can be sure sweet, helpful, and kind or the complete opposite.  Luckily for us he saves all of his less desirable behavior for home.  Not sure this is always so great but at least he does well at school and other activities.  Nile seems to have more of my side in him, at least physically.  His features and body type are more like my brother and I, long and lean - at least I used to be lean :).  Nile is crazy about sports and has recently started collecting basketball and football cards, just like his daddy did!

We opened gifts as a family the night before Nile's birthday since we knew it would be busy after school on his actual birthday.  For his birthday Jeremy took they day off and took Nile to Culver's for lunch while I was home with Aubrey and one daycare child.  That evening we went to Subway for supper and afterwards the boys headed out to Grimes for the Pella basketball game.  Saturday was basketball in the morning and then Nile's friend party in the afternoon.  Wow 5 7-8 year olds can go through a few planned activities fast!  Sunday after church we had the family party for lunch.  It was a fun, busy birthday weekend for our middle guy. 

Nile is named after Nile Kinnick, the only Heisman trophy winner from Iowa.  His middle name is Edward.  Each letter is for a male family member.  E - Eugene, Papa Larry's middle name.  D - Duane, my dad's middle name.  W - Wilbur, my maternal grandpa.  A - Armour, my paternal grandpa.  R - Robert, Jeremy's paternal grandpa.  D - Daron, my brother.  Just a fun little fact!

Basketball

Both of the boys have been playing basketball with Pella Junior Hoops for the first time this winter.  Hayden started practices twice a week in early December right after we got back from Florida and started playing games every Saturday morning in January.  Last Saturday was his last day.  It was great to see him improve and have fun each week. 

Nile's age just does Saturday mornings from January through Valentines day.  They started with working on drills and now are playing games.  He is really enjoying it.  I would highly recommend the programs.  In the past we did not participate because I was watching every penny we spent on extras like sports but this year we decided it would be good for them to have a winter activity since they really wanted to play. 

The past four Saturdays in January we were at the Madison gym from 9:30 until 11:45 AM.  This is a long time for a little sister to sit and "watch" her brothers each take their turns playing basketball.  We brought her backpack with fun activities and her Frozen ABC binder we made.  She has done really well so I am hoping she does better at baseball games this spring.  Now that Hayden is finished we will just be there for 1 hour the next two Saturdays. 

Last week at the gym they had cotton candy for $1 to help an orphanage where one of the daughters of the Pella Junior Hoops coordinator was adopted from.  Aubrey and Nile both enjoyed a bag while Hayden played his last game. 

Aubrey's new bike video

New Years eve

For the past three years, since we have been living in this house, we have gone across the street to our friends house for New Years eve.  It is pretty handy to be so close to home and kiddos come and play too.  This year they planned a murder mystery for us to play.  It was super fun!  I haven't participated in one since high school when a girlfriend had one for her birthday party.  It was a fun evening with friends and some social interaction since we had been hanging around the house most of the week.  They had some fun stick on mustaches so the boys put some on for a picture.  We all had a great night, thanks for having us Carringtons!!

New Years day we slept in since we all made it to midnight and then had a quite day at home.

Aubrey enjoying some Christmas candy, unfortunately he wasn't as delicious