Sweet Makinzie

Grandma had just flown all day on the airplane in order to hold down the fort while we were at the hospital the following week, but was still willing to party that night!

She was very excited to get COLORful clothes, books and tennis gear. Every 9 year old's dream...

Makinzie is so loving and patient.  She is a wonderful helper.

Saturday celebrations spilled over into Sunday--when we sang again and ate this yummy pumpkin shaped fruit pizza!  Makinzie is well worth celebrating for a few days in a row.  (Especially since she was such a good sport about "moving" her Birthday, for something that was not at all pleasant.)

Playing Around

With the girls gone to school all day, these two have gotten to be pretty good friends.

And this little one is quite the character.  Such a BIG personality in a little package!

After seeing all of these pictures of her just doing her day to day things, I was able to see just how much surgery would help her to develop properly, made me feel a tiny bit better about what we were about to put her (and us) through...Her head and eye were already beginning to look more and more misshapen as time passed in the few weeks between learning she needed surgery and admitting her to the hospital.

Luckily she got a few care packages to make her feel loved and lessen the blow a bit...

Fall Sports

Coleson was super excited to play Miller Park Soccer.  He was even more excited when he figured out that more than half the kids on his team he already knew from church!

We figured out very soon that, unlike his sisters, this boy is VERY serious about doing well in sports.  He would get rather frustrated when he or his teammates didn't do things the way he thought they should.  After a little discussion from Mom and Dad, though, he did a good job of being patient, sharing, and enjoying his first "organized" soccer season.

Makinzie started doing tennis in the spring and was really excited about doing the Saturday tennis clinics here in Winston.  The Young Folks Tennis program has been lots of (FREE!!!) fun for all the kids.  

They made great progress and, best of all, enjoyed getting out and learning something new.  

Again, Coleson takes things pretty seriously (though tennis seemed to be less so than

 soccer or, later, baseball)

For Addellyn, if it's not gymnastics, then it's just a diversion.  She had fun, but really was there for the social interaction than actually learning the tennis.

Probably the best part of all was the chance we had every Saturday to get out into the sun.  Good times in the fall weather are great for us!  And again, who can beat FREE?!

Although, bike riding in the front circle is also free, and they love that too! (usually)

the Cabbage Patch

due to this expression...her new nick name has been ascertained

plus she's a doll!

Coleson Buddy's BERF-day!

Every year, without fail, September 19 comes along and we get to commemorate the birth of our big boy Coleson.  He's always very easy going and optimistic.  He's definitely turning into a boy and loosing all his baby chubbiness.  But don't let his thinner physique fool you, the kid is still solid as can be!

 Amazingly enough, September 19 is also "talk like a pirate" day.  And, anyone dressed like a pirate was given a free dozen Krispy Kreme donuts--PERFECT birthday activity for this little man! (He has recently been perfecting his Rrrrs too!)

 He has developed quite a love of learning.  His favorite TV show is Wild Kratts (though his choices are quite limited since we only let him watch PBS).  He learns new animal facts every time he watches and will recite random animal facts all the time.
With his love of animals, he asked for a bald eagle and a black panther for his birthday, which just happened to land on his cake.  He also asked Grandma Gasser to make him corresponding costumes, which, of course, she did.  And, of course, they were AMAZING!!

As you may also notice, this big boy got new glasses.  He went to the doctor for his well child check-up.  Since he's getting close to kindergarten age, they check his eyesight.  Which goes just fine until they have him close his right eye.  Then the poor kid can't see a thing and says everything looks "crinkly."  Hmmm.  That's no good.  But, he loves his new glasses, which, incidentally, only make the kid MORE handsome!

He is such a joy to have at home.  He is always helping and smiling and laughing.  

 He's also very empathetic with everyone around him.  

We're so blessed to have our Coleson Buddy!
The Primary program happened pretty soon after Coleson's birthday, and he was super excited to recite his favorite scripture from memory.  He told the sister in charge he wanted to do it, so he worked hard and memorized the whole thing.  Here's the reference and here's the video.  Pretty good for a 5 year old!