How We Spent our Spring Break

We had a great Spring Break! The week started with a bad case of impetigo for the boys so we couldn't do much the first couple of days because they were contagious. After the antibiotics were in full force, we had so much fun running around with friends and as a family. Here's LOTS of pictures showing some of our fun outings over the week.

On Wednesday afternoon, we picked up Michael at the airport and went over to the Rainforest Cafe at Grapevine Mills. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it all...the thunderstorms, the animals, even the food. Michael and I weren't so thrilled with the experience but obviously we weren't there for us anyway.









On Thursday, the kids were excited to introduce their friends Anna and Cole to the Children's Museum. They are such sweet friends and we just wish we saw more of them! Ella and Anna had a blast together and loved dressing up!

The big girls building:

Will had to take a break from all the fun to do a quick read.
Cal and Cole building together:
Ella, Will, Anna and Cole working together!
Sweet Cal having a frustrated moment with blocks:



On Saturday morning, we headed out to a ranch in Central Texas and had so much fun with some dear friends...8 adults, 10 kids and 2 more little ones on the way. WOW! There were lots of animals (buffaloes, zebras, llamas, ostriches, cows, miniature donkeys...so very cool), lots of land and lots of sunshine. It was the perfect weekend to spend outside!

Cal was thrilled to have multiple gates to open and close.
Heading down to the creek:
Will loved "the country" as he told us that many times!
Daddy and Kevin tossing the kids across a little stream (bigger than it looks in this pic)

Our first time fishing equipped with new barbie and spiderman fishing poles.
Mom giving fishing lessons. Sad that I'm the experienced fisherman in this family. We may need a fishing tutor in a few years!

Will loved watching his bobber and reeling in his line.
Ella, Lainey and Karis with one of their proud catches:
More of the kiddos: Ally, Ella, Lainey, Karis, Will and Eli
Our favorite part of the weekend was all the 4-wheeler rides. They were so much fun and all three Baker kids loved them and wanted to go faster, faster!
We only let Will and Eli go off together alone one time...Just Kidding! They were only pretending...we promise, grandparents!
The girls' room:
A rare shot!
Dinner time for the kids!
The building of the campfire. Ella and Karis were using fly swatters to fan the smoke away:
Cal loved the firepit and really loved everything about the ranch! This boy is made to run free:)
Kids waiting patiently as the fire gets going:
Cal found another gate:
The roasting of the marshmallows:

Enjoying the fruit of their labor... Smores! YUM!


Cute girls in their sunglasses to keep the smoke out of their eyes:


The last playing of the night as we are about to call them in for bed.
Jason, Baker, Kevin and Donovan enjoying the firepit after the kids were down. We girls were inside watching basketball...really!
We truly had a blast! Tears were had as we were leaving and none of the little Bakers (or big ones really) wanted to leave the country. Ella declared as we're driving off the ranch, "It's so beautiful here, I could live in the country." Will has asked if we can go back again next weekend!

Operation Verbalization

As of this week, we are covering new territory for our family...drum roll please... Speech Therapy! I know lots of other families have been or are currently down this road, so it's good to know we're not alone. Our Callum James (who, as seen above, only gets pictures taken of him when he's asleep b/c he moves just a bit too fast) is two years old now and just can't get any words out yet. He fully understands us and communicates with his own language of grunts and finger pointing so he hasn't come across the need to actually talk (that's what I'm sure he'd tell me if he could talk). Plus, who needs to talk when you have a very verbal big sister and brother? And so once a week now while the big two are at preschool, Cal and Mommy will be meeting with a sweet Speech Therapist to work on his language development. Hooray!

Since I'm using this blog to document and remember our family happenings, I hope to document his progress as we venture down this road. Stay tuned for exciting results...we hope and pray!

What We've Been Up To...

Hmm, so let's see...
It's been almost a month since I've posted anything on here so you'd think I'd have many pictures to post and cute stories to tell.

But yet, I don't.

Our days have been very normal (i.e., busy and loud) and routine around here (for which I am very thankful, don't get me wrong) but that makes for not very exciting blog posts for my few devoted readers! So, I'll download my few pics off the camera to keep you coming back:).

We went to Collin Creek mall where Cal finally got up the nerve to ride the train. Doesn't he look thrilled?
Group shot...rare!
And after one pic, Cal is outta here!

So big sis put him in a choke hold...cute smile for a boy being strangled, huh?And the choke hold once again on the bench:

And here's Will and Ella heading out for their frequent backyard playing:

So there you have it...our boring, busy, but very BLESSED life! Thank you God!