This is fun. :-)

 

Ten years ago was a very busy time in our family. Kelly, Jennifer, Monica and I were all pregnant and due around the same time. I was due in January, Kelly & Monica were due a few days apart in February and Jennifer was due in March. The twins ended up being born two months early on December 22nd, Brooke came 4 weeks later on January 23rd, Mason was born 4 weeks later on February 20th and Erin was born 4 weeks after that on March 17th! Yes, a very busy time. We have a few pictures of all 5 babies together – none of which I’ve scanned on the computer yet (my print photos aren’t very organized ). But I do have a picture of the four girls that we took at Mom and Dad’s when they were about 1 year old. It was probably Easter and I’ll bet Mason was at his other grandparents’ house. Mom and Dad had bought matching outfits for the girls and they were all wearing them that day, although when we took the picture, they were in various layers. Since they all turned 10 recently, I thought it would be fun to line the the girls up again for a comparison picture. They’re all so similar and yet unique!

After they posed nicely, they started hamming it up.  It all started when I told them to look distinguished:

and then ANGRY …

and then, well, things just kept getting crazier and CRAZIER!!

 

 

 

          

Love all these girls!

P.S. Here’s Mason (“Mr. February”) taken around the same time as the girls:

P.P.S. And as if all that excitement from December 2003 through March 2004 wasn’t enough, Jordan was born in October of 2004! So, that makes 6 babies born in 10 months!!

Easter 2014

This year we:

• were all healthy (as opposed to last year)!
• made it to the 2nd annual breakfast at church (OK, we were 15 minutes late, but we did make it!). We contributed two dozen hard boiled eggs and a breakfast casserole

• sang “Welcome, Happy Morning” with the Orrs at the breakfast
• were surprised by Mom, Dad and Uncle Kent at church! They came up to hear us sing, not knowing we had already sung earlier at the breakfast We sang our song later that day at their house

 

• managed to find coordinating outfit colors for all

• were serenaded by some talented harmonica players

• enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day: low to mid ‘70s.

The day started with a spectacular sunrise! He is risen!

I’ll finish up with a random bunch of pictures. These next few of Trent and Alyssa do need any captions.  Cuteness.  :-)

 

     

 Anna was very smitten with Grandpa in these sunglasses.

 

Ready … Set … Go!

Too close to call!

Brothers Mason and Benjamin being photobombed by cousin Isaac.

Sweet Grant

You know you have daughters when …

… you download the pictures from your camera and find 42 (literally 42!) pictures that look like this:

And now I have to wonder: what will the boys take pictures of when they’re old enough to have the camera?

Sarah’s 12th

 

With ballet practices getting more critical as we draw nearer to the recital, we decided to postpone Sarah’s birthday celebration from Thursday to Friday. In order to make her actual birthday a little special, I drove into town that morning and let her pick out a dozen donuts from Titus Bakery. We also stopped at the grocery store and bought lots of good breakfast food, then came home and had a big, late breakfast. Here is a picture of one of Titus Baker’s famous Pershing donuts with Trent’s strawberries neatly lined up beside it. Trent is still in the “line things up” phase of toddlerhood. :-)

So, on Thursday night and Friday, we whipped up her birthday meal:  Mock Lobster, mac ‘n cheese, green beans, Honey Wheat Sandwich Rolls, homemade applesauce, Baked Potato Wedges and chocolate pie and homemade ice cream. In addition to Grandma and Grandpa, we had another special guest: Uncle Kent, who is visiting and staying with Mom and Dad for a month.

Great shot of Uncle Kent, who is clearly enjoying Trent’s antics.

We also had some light entertainment: Rachel played a few of the songs she’s been working on “Trois Nocturnes” by Chopin and “Sonata No. 9 in E Major” by Beethoven, then some of the girls wanted to show Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Kent their recital costumes, so once they changed into them, we turned on their music and they performed their dances for us. Unfortunately, I only got a picture of Brooke in her costume. Refer to this post for the others. :-D

Once we got done with the Nutcracker performers, Trent wanted to do “his dance.” When asked what dance that was, he replied “Cars.” Which translates to “Life is a Highway,” which is the theme song for the movie. As soon as the music started, he started running at top speed around and around the dining room table with a very serious expression, telling us he was “Aqueen (“Lightening McQueen”) going around the racetrack.” I didn’t even think to take a picture, because I knew he would just be a blur, but now I’m thinking that would’ve been pretty funny!

Notable gifts included a beautiful dress, a slinky, a box of Gobstoppers, two Nancy Drew mysteries, “In Grandma’s Attic”, and “Millie’s Fiery Trial” which is the last book in the Millie series. The girls have been requesting it for awhile, but the books have been out of print. I was glad Erica found this online for a good deal; oftentimes, they’re outrageously priced. Grandma and Grandpa got her a little trunk, covered with flowers and filled with goodies like a sparkly picture frame, a sketchpad, notebook, pencils and a pencil sharpener.

Afterwards, we watched “Sound of Music,” which we also gave her for her birthday. We had the VHS, but wanted the DVD, since our VHS player doesn’t work. It’s been a while since we’ve watched it, so I don’t think the younger ones remembered it very well. During the thunderstorm scene, Grant climbed onto Mick’s lap and Trent climbed onto mine. :-D He also covered his ears whenever the Captain was talking and asked Rachel “Is he a bad guy?” Ha!

I just realized I put so many pictures in Sarah’s 10th birthday post, that it’s going to be hard not to duplicate what I put there. I’ll do my best. 

Happy 12th Birthday, Sarah!

“Winnie-the-Pooh’s Learn Your Alphabet”

 

Happy 3-year-old … in his faded Thomas feet pajamas … morning hair sticking up in the sunlight … enjoying a book all by himself … Mommy Bliss.  :-)

The Boy at the Barre

Things are getting exciting at ballet. We are just under 2 months away until the production of “The Nutcracker” and the costumes came in this week!

Sarah – a Chinese Dancer

Brooke – one of the Party Children

Olivia and Claire – Snow Angels

I took the boys with me last night because I knew they’d enjoy watching all the girls practicing. They also got to see Noah, who is playing the parts of Fritz and the Nutcracker Prince. Apparently, it was all very inspiring for Grant. At one point, between classes, we spotted him over at the barre. Amid all the tutus and glitter, there was my oldest boy standing in first position (Kelly noted that his feet were at a perfect 180⁰ angle – a little bit more than first position, actually :-). He was very carefully and slowly practicing plies and rond de jambes. I was so thankful I had my camera! And it didn’t seem to bother him in the least that we were watching. Oh so funny and sweet! The girls and I joked about the possibility of sneaking him to ballet classes in the future.  :-)

(Dear Adult Grant – I hope you’ll forgive me for posting these. Who knows, maybe when you’re reading this as an adult, you’ll be dancing with the Royal Ballet. I’m sure Daddy would like it if you were using those feet to kick field goals in Lucas Oil Stadium.)