Our cheerful, full of life, lovable, little boy is now 4!! I feel like he's been the same age since he was 2. It's like he doesn't change. He still as adorable as ever. This year we decided to go to a movie as a family for his birthday and get candy. He was super excited, and so was Damon because we got to see Cars 3. It was fun to see them get excited about seeing a movie and spending time together. The next day we did cake and ice cream with the extended family which he loved too!
Radley has been talking about this birthday for a long time. He was super excited!
It's not a party without the cousins!
Blow those candles out!
Pretending to cut the cake with his new sword.
We also went to a birthday party for a man that goes to church with us that turned 90 the same day Radley turned 4! Here are the two birthday boys together.
Radley requested the same birthday cake that Kyler had when he turned 6.
This was the birthday boy's outfit of choice. I have learned to pick my battles!!
Once the reunion ended and all the extra kids left our house, our lives seemed pretty dull and boring!! Damon can now ride a bike all by himself. It's been a big month for him now that he can swim and ride a bike. He hasn't been all that into riding a bike, but Kenney asked him to try the other day, and he was determined after that. It took him 3 days of trying before he got the hang of it. He was extremely excited!
Bentley is quite the character these days. She is one sassy little girl. She doesn't communicate with words all that well, but she gets her point across without them!! There are a few videos of her at the end.
Damon is fully confident in his riding skills now!
The boys really like going to the parking lot at the hospital because it is nice and smooth to ride on, unlike the rock and gravel by our house.
These clouds were super cool. We could seem them growing and getting bigger by the second.
They were seriously huge and so fluffy and pretty!
This girl loves her babies! She wants them to be wrapped in blankets constantly.
Kyler made this cool bow with Legos one day. We were pretty impressed.
He definitely has the hang of it now!
Radley is hilarious in this video. He tires so hard to keep up with the big boys, but his bike just doesn't go as fast! He's screaming, "Full speed!"
Watching Bentley clean her face in the bath is pretty funny. She just wipes her hand all over her face. Listen to Damon say 'bath' at the end of the video; it's pretty hick sounding.
Bentley's talking is getting better, but she really doesn't say many coherent words.
She is also getting more brave and trying out things she sees her brother do like jumping off the couch. She really just steps off, but she's getting there.
The day after the reunion was over we went back to Childress to go swim and to hang out with all the cousins that were still in town. Kenney's sister Shayla and her family were going to be moving to San Antonio that coming week. I talked to Shayla and told her she should leave the kids and go without them so the move could be easier, plus her 10 year anniversary was coming up. We thought her and Brock could get some time together. So they took us up on the offer after enlisting some more help. We left that day without the kids but we came back on Wednesday morning to swim again. I took all the kids home with me this time. We then had 8 kids!! It was basically 3 sets of twin boys and one older girl and the youngest a girl! It was crazy, but actually much more fun and easier than I expected it to be. There were times when I wanted to pull my hair out, mostly around meal times, however they all played really well together. Brek and I did hair and nails while Bentley was napping and the boys were playing. We went to the library one day and did all kinds of Angry Bird games. One morning we went to the school to play on the playground equipment. Unfortunately, it was a super hot week so I couldn't just kick the kids outside!
One surprising thing was how much food all these kids ate! I knew Brock and Shayla's kids would eat more than ours, but I was shocked at how well our kids kept up with them! Our boys ate just as much, which was surprising but nice to see! We did a lot of Just Dance and watched a few movies.
On Saturday another niece was baptized at 9am, so we had to get 8 kids ready and on the road by 8:30. Kenney was able to help me get the kids ready, but he couldn't come with us because he had to work. Kenney came to town later and met us at the pool. We decided to just stay in Childress for the night to help get everyone to church the next morning. We made it to the baptism and church on time which I was very proud of!! We hung out the rest of the day and then headed home Sunday evening! After the reunion and then having 8 kids in our house, the next few days of just having 4 kids seemed almost easy!! Don't worry that has since worn off!
Playing at the school one morning before it got too hot.
Thinking she's getting big!
Brek and Damon flying off the spinner.
Wouldn't be fun without some Just Dance.
Luke at the top!
Luke's Angry Bird tower.
Damon trying to knock down some pigs.
Radley getting ready to throw.
Radley, Bruce, and Brek making their own Angry Birds.
Tyce and Kyler waiting their turn and holding hands!
Working hard on their birds.
Playing at the pool.
That's a lot of sandwiches!
Meal times were serious business.
Bentley had even more 'big brothers' around for a few days.
Kyler was playing hair one day with all the girls, and he loved it!
Poor Kenney had to drive into Childress to meet all of us after the baptism on Saturday, but he had to drive without AC and it was VERY hot!
Kenney can get any kid to tell the best stories. Here's Bruce talking about getting the monsters.
All of the kids were super excited for their movie night with popcorn and candy. While the kids watched their movie, all of the adults (except Kenney and I) did a glorified scavenger hunt / amazing race we had planned. It took a lot of time and effort to get the scavenger hunt organized, but I think it was worth it. The adults all seemed to really enjoy it and wished it has lasted longer. We had them doing all kinds of things with all kinds of clues. Some clues were in ice, some were screwed into a block of wood, some were in a song on a CD, some were buried in the ground. They also had to make Rice Krispies before getting one clue; they ran through Walmart to get certain items, and call people to get their next clue. Apparently there was some crazy driving and a lot of running, but it seemed like everyone had a good time. Mark & Marilyn and Brock & Shayla ended up winning. The kids also enjoyed their movie, and we survived 20 kids between the 2 of us!
Most of the kids ready for their movie!
Bruce was worn out one day during down time.
Little Emberly was a happy girl.
The adults getting final instructions for their race!
One team sending us their picture from Walmart. Kelli was taking the picture.
Another team's picture.
The winners! As you can tell they were too busy to worry about a good picture!
I really wish we could have sent a camera around with each group, but all of their stories will have to do!
