Wrapping it up!

It's obvious it's time for me to wrap this thing up! Our family life has been so crazy, I've hardly had a free moment to sit down and catch everyone up on life!

Let's start with Christmas!

So excited to go visit Santa!






































This was the best Christmas so far! And SO easy! Haley loves Spiderman, Elli loves princesses, and Tyler loves Lightning McQueen, so we just had a themed Christmas! They all asked for bicycles and helmets from Santa, and for the first time in a couple years, they were actually excited to sit on his lap!

Here we are in our Christmas Eve jammies after bathtime!





















Spreading reindeer food on the driveway (it's so great to live in SC where we can play outside in tutus in December)!



























































Our new bicycles!



























































And since we have waaaaay too much free time on our hands, and the laundry is never piled up, and our house is always spotless, and our shrubs are certainly not overgrown, and I don't still have Christmas artwork hanging up in the kitchen, we decided to sign up for gymnastics!



























































Hartwell has had a rough year, but he's hanging in there! Could NOT ask for a better dog to deal with three toddlers! He's a survivor (cataracts and all)!


















HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDOS!





















I'm going to wrap this up with a final post for each of the kids. I really am at a loss for words to describe how much I have loved sharing our lives with everyone! Your comments along the way have been so fun to read, and just knowing that we have people who love us enough to check in and read about our crazy family has been so wonderful! I hope you've had as much fun with this as I have!


Love you guys! ;)

Fall Fun!

I'm going to do my best to post as many photos as I can over the next few months!

First Day of Three Year Old Preschool!

























































Some more photos from this fall! We LOVE the pumpkin patch!

Take a Hike!

Wow - a friend pointed out this morning that I haven't updated the blog since EASTER! Now that's bad! In all fairness to this little endeavor I started way back when, I think I'm going to officially begin to wrap this up. I was debating making this my last entry, but with the holidays coming up and a birthday close behind, I am going to keep it going until February. I put my heart and soul into this in the beginning, but as the time has gone by, I've poured my heart and soul into three little wonders who fill our days with so much excitement that there is little time left for reflection! I wish I had the time to keep you all up to date with all the funny things they say and do, but the reality is, by the time I go to bed at night, I'm too exhausted to remember it all!

The kids are finally old enough to start joining us on some outdoor adventures! We weren't too sure if they would enjoy hiking as much as we do, but we figured it was worth a try! Well, much to our amusement, they loved it! And just in case you're wondering, I haven't fizzled out before hitting the top yet! Here's a picture of them by their first trail head!




















Here are some more random hiking photos! We knew Elli and Tyler would do great since they are SO darn coordinated, but we were a little concerned about Haley falling and not enjoying herself. Well, she fell 4 times in the first 100 yards. And each time, in her sweetest little girl voice, she said, "I'm okaaaay", hopped up, brushed the dirt off her knees and hands, and kept on trekking! We were so proud of her! So while Elli and Tyler prefer trail running, she prefers a nice, slow pace, which is perfectly fine with me!

"I'M OKAAAAY!!!"





























































































"WAIT UP, ELLI!!"




















Sometimes life gives you moments of clarity, and for me, they mostly come when I'm outside, sweating and gasping for breath! Jeff and I had the opportunity to do some hiking this summer in Oregon around Mt. Hood. Talk about clarity...it doesn't get much more clear than this! I'm excited to share this with the kids when they get older! I'm pretty sure a video game never brought anyone closer to God or family. This stuff sure does...

Happy Easter!

What a great day!! It was so beautiful outside - perfect for our first official Easter Egg Hunt!!

Evidentally they had an easter egg hunt at their school party - Tyler and Haley were telling us they found eggs on the slide, in the sand, and other places on the playground. I asked Elli if she found any and she said, "noooooo I didn't get any". Broke my heart! I was so concerned about her getting pushed around and not getting any eggs!

Well, if that scenario was true, and she really didn't get any eggs, then she definitely took some alone time to strategize on how to get her share on Easter Sunday! As soon as she saw Tyler grab the first egg, it was ON. From that second forward she was in egg-hunting mode and NOTHING stood in her way. If we pointed to an egg to help Haley or Tyler, she would sprint from the other side of the yard and grab it just as they were reaching for it! It was so hilarious to watch! I tried to put these photos in chronological order so you can see how innocent the egg hunt started, then you can see the transormation into ultra-competitive mode! Tyler mostly stayed to himself and even took a break mid-hunt when he realized there were treats in the egg! The girls were to busy "competing" to realize what they were actually fighting over!

Fun Times!

Spring is in the air and we are SO glad to get out of the house and have some fun!!

Haley hangs out with the boys at school - I know this because our blue-eyed blond with piggy tails picked up a stick in the back yard and tried to shoot me! I asked her what she was shooting me with and she said "a laaaaaser". Excuse me?! I then asked who told her about lasers and she said "Sammy", then just ran off and shot Jeff. Oh boy. We have a tomboy on our hands!


























































Ellison is still in princess land and likes to put on her tutu every morning. She loves shoes. I really think we can motivate her to be potty trained by offering up new shoes...I'll let ya know how that goes! She has certainly come out of her shell in the last several months and is actually the only one of the three that will acknowledge strangers when they stop to talk to us (we still attract more than our share of attention, but not nearly as much as when they were babies - thank God).

























































Tyler loves being outside and is so excited to be able to play baseball with Jeff. It's so cute to watch him try and copy what Jeff does! He tells us all the time what a big boy he is! He loves his sisters, and we're constantly hearing, "I want one like Elli has", and "I want one like Haley has". He's finally figured out that pink toenails are for girls, and he has toes like daddy has! He dropped a die cast car on his big toenail (ouch) and was actually excited when it turned black so he could have one like daddy has!










































I think Tyler's shirt says it all...