saturday morning donuts

You know you're not in Dallas anymore when....

2010-07-27T22:53:00.005-05:00

you wait in line for 20 minutes to enjoy $3 kid's cones at the famous Molly Moon's!

You stop under a city bridge just to give your kids (and husband) a chance to climb on a troll holding a real VW bug!

You stop at Kerry Park just to enjoy views like this:

you then climb down stairs like these just to go to its play area:

and slide down slides like this one that are built on the natural landscape!

you end your Saturday at Alki Beach being that family (that family also just enjoyed delicious fish & chips on the beach)!

Yes, we are definitely not in Texas anymore and while we miss it so much, we are loving our many Seattle adventures!

Mount Rainier

2010-07-20T21:42:00.002-05:00

We spent a fantastic Saturday out at Mt. Rainier National Park with the Bauslaughs, who served as our official Rainier tour guides. We spent alot of time in the car but it was totally worth it once we got there. Here our little family just after entering the huge national park.

the cute Bauslaugh family:

heading out to hike and play in the snow from "Paradise base":
the mountain was packed with fellow hikers:
happy boys:

Baker and Lance hiked down a snow covered slope to this beautiful waterfall (yes, this is real and not a cheap Walmart backdrop)

the crew starting to get tired but having a great time:
not a shabby place to spend a 60 degree Saturday in July!

SNOWBALLS!

so nice to have such a strong daddy!
We stopped in at the visitors center at Paradise and our kids wandered into the informational movie and were enthralled (really). They learned all about Continental Drift, the mountain's native wildlife, scaling the peak, and of course, the history of the Mt. Rainier settlers.
Here's Ella and sweet Lindsay (these two are only a few weeks apart in age and Ella loves her!)
Our final stop in the park was at these falls:
do we look tired yet?
We can't wait to go back!

Grammie's and Poppa's Visit!

2010-07-15T18:31:00.003-05:00

We had an absolute blast when Grammie and Poppa visited us July 9th-13th. We explored downtown Seattle, the Ballard Locks, rode the Ducks, took the ferry to Bremerton, ate lots of seafood and even celebrated their 4oth anniversary! We were having so much fun, we only brought our camera on our last day adventure which was a huge highlight...we hiked up to Twin Falls!

Here we are starting out at the creek...

Ella and Will inside the trunk of an old HUGE tree...
our "leaders"...
atop the bridge over Twin Falls (the bridge is narrow, so this is a closeup!)

the falls....
Poppa, Ella and Will climbed up a big rock...
Daddy and Ella having a blast!
mid-air Ella...

happy boy throwing rocks into the creek....

we're almost done and we all made it...hooray!

We had so much fun with Grammie & Poppa and we can't wait for their next visit! More adventures to come:)

a few Seattle firsts...

2010-07-05T17:53:00.005-05:00

We arrived in Seattle on June 10th and moved in on June 11th. Everything went smoothly and after 2 big days, we headed down to the Waterfront on June 12th for the kids to run around....which is just what they did (well after we took Cal to the Urgent Care center that morning for tonsillitis)!

Here they are chasing pigeons on a pier and having a fantastic time:

we then headed to Pike Place Market (the famous fish throwing stand)
Will's favorite: Beecher's Cheese on Pike Street...
this boy could sit here for hours watching the cheese making process!
After a few days here exploring & playing, Mimi arrived and helped us officially unpack and settle in. It was fantastic! I have no pictures from her time here (except a few pitiful ones from my phone) but we did lots more Seattle exploring and went on the family favorite, Ride the Ducks!

Some sweet new friends invited us to go camping with them for July 4th out at Lake Kachess. We opted to spend the day with them (since we have no camping gear and have no idea how to camp!).

Here's beautiful Lake Kachess:
Exploring the campgrounds:

our kids rode their bikes for hours and had a blast with their new friends!
This was our family's first ever 4th of July spent in jeans and jackets. It was crazy cold out there! In true Seattle tradition (or so we hear), summer arrived in Seattle July 5th and we were so glad to see the sun and some warmth!

Wild Oak Ranch

2010-06-10T17:35:00.001-05:00

While all of our stuff was on the moving truck heading to the Pacific Northwest, we spent a few days in San Antonio at the Wild Oak Ranch with Mimi & Pop and the three (almost four) Goldenbergs. We had a blast and these pictures do not do justice to the fun that was had by all! We love this place and are ready to head back again next year!

the rattlesnake river where we spent most of our time:

Poor Cal fell asleep sitting up in a chair and then collapsed over while waiting on the rest of us to get ready to go out for dinner. Power naps are needed after a day at the Ranch!
Uncle Bub's 35th!!

finishing off their slushies:
you can't beat a hammock & a box of animal crackers!

Spring T-Ball

2010-06-03T17:18:00.002-05:00

Ella and Will both played t-ball this Spring and being the photo-savvy parents we are, we only brought our camera to the last game of our shortened season. Our photos our minimal but they both really enjoyed their first baseball/softball league and look forward to playing again next spring!

Here's the proud Purple Daisy:

and the proud Brave:

the cheering section:
Fun Times!

Spring 2010

2010-05-01T16:30:00.003-05:00

Our spring 2010 was quite busy as we prepared for our big move to Seattle! Unfortunately, blogging lost a bit of priority to us! In an effort to catch up...here goes a very abbreviated recap of a few events....

We went to the arboretum with Mimi and Aunt Kristi & Greer and these are my only pictures to capture the fun day.

here's Ella, Will & Cal excited to open Easter cards that came in the mail from Grammie and Poppa:
Easter morning pictures:

I wonder if we can ever convince Will that it's okay to pose & smile for pictures!

our attempt at a cousin shot. this picture cracks me up! they all look thrilled, don't they!

Will's 5th Birthday!

2010-04-15T16:56:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Will's birthday in style at Adventure Landing. Will had contemplated long and hard where he wanted to celebrated his big day and the games and go-carts sold him on Adventure Landing. He had a blast at his party!

Here's the birthday boy showing us how old he is!

sweet siblings...
let the fun begin...

Will's Toy Story Cake...

golfing with perfect 5 year old form....

Cal "driving"...

Happy Birthday Will! You are an amazing blessing to us!

moving is fun!

2010-04-11T18:46:00.004-05:00

i am going to move! my name is...ella. i am going to move to seattle, washington! i am 6 1/2 years old! i will have to go to a different school! i will get a new house and make new friends, too! there is lots of seafood! i looove seafood! i will be able to ride alot of boats.

Her First Date

2010-02-16T18:47:00.002-06:00

And the only one for the next 15 years according to her Daddy!

Ella had her first Daddy Daughter Dance tonight. She loved it! She was picked up at her front door with a dozen pink roses and treated like the princess that she is all evening! They had their picture taken, decorated a picture frame, Ella made a necklace, they had cookies and lemonade, but most of all they danced! Taylor Swift was the artist of choice so dancing was a bit of a challenge at times for these two! They appropriately ended the night dancing to "My Girl".

May Ella always remember her first dance and may this date be the standard to which she measures all of her dates!

SO MUCH SNOW!!!

2010-02-14T15:33:00.008-06:00

We had an absolute blast in the Texas blizzard of 2010! We received 12.5 inches in just over 24 hours. It was amazing and the kids had two great days playing in the snow!

Big Will all bundled up!

the Snow Princess:
Cal loving his first snow:
check out all those flakes!

our day one snowmen:
on day 2, Ella went out in her PJs to get our newspaper:
view down our street:
our sideyard:

backyard shots:
this would be the kids' soccer goal buried under the snow:
day 2 snow fun:
Will caught in action throwing a snowball:

one unfortunate neighbor who lost a ton of branches off of a beautiful live oak.
mmmmm....eating snow!
Will and Daddy making the big ball for our next snowman:
Day 2 snowman (much improved from day 1, I'd say!)
ella girl...notice the snow is up to the top of her boot!
Michael with his nice snow creation. Ella is the photographer so it's hard to tell but it was a few inches taller than him!

Snow angels...awesome!

SNOW, come back again sometime! The Baker children loved you and maybe next time we'll have the appropriate winter gear to enjoy you even more!

Cal's 3rd Birthday

2010-01-24T08:11:00.002-06:00

How can it be that my baby boy is already three?

We celebrated Cal's birthday this year out at the Great Wolf Lodge just the five of us and had an absolute blast. Here are the excited kiddos just after our arrival hanging out on the top bunk of the "wolf den"....which I'd like to add, is a genius creation in hotel room design.

Here is one of their favorite photo spots, the Bear Paw, where we enjoyed ice cream after the kids heard a bedtime story in their pjs:
the boys hanging out in the kiddie pool....such fun!
The next night (his actual birthday), we kept the Baker family tradition alive by having his birthday dinner at Pappasito's. Here is the big guy standing in his chair as "hey baby, que paso?!" begins.
We love you, Cal, and are so proud of you! This past year has been full of milestones as you have begun to talk so well! You have progressed from not being able to speak at all on your 2nd birthday to speaking in full sentences with much expression. You adore your big sister and brother and they adore you back. You are the "rough" one in the family and almost all of your hugs turn into tackles. You are full of joy, you love to be silly, you love to make people laugh and you love to laugh yourself. You are strong willed but are learning more about obedience every day! You learned to run, ride your big wheel and jump over the last year. Your Mom and Dad love your hugs, your sloppy kisses and your ear-to-ear smiles. You make us so proud! Happy Birthday, Big Cal!

Ella's Big Day

2009-12-30T08:10:00.003-06:00

We've known that a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy was in Ella's future for awhile now. We often heard about the grandiose size of her tonsils from our pediatrician and then over the last year she had strep throat at least a half dozen times. After determining she was a strep carrier (positive test with no symptoms), all agreed that the inevitable was here so sweet Ella had her tonsils and adenoids removed on 12/29/09.

We were prepared for the worst as far as recovery goes, so Grammie and Poppa graciously took the boys off our hands for 3 days. Turns out this girl is pretty tough and having Mom's and Dad's undivided attention for a few day was pretty great, so who would want to sleep or rest, anyway!

Here's the brave girl with her bear, Rainbow, right before surgery. They gave her goofy juice (aka Versed) before taking her back and boy, was she goofy! We were cracking up and wishing we had a video camera as she slurred her words and laughed at herself.

And here she is right after waking up. She held on tight to her oxygen mask at first but thankfully did not need it. She had a few slushies while in recovery, did amazingly well with very little pain, and we were out of there just a few hours later.
Her recovery was perfect and so far we have been a strep-free family after her surgery...woo hoo!. We've also noticed her snoring (or shall we say "heavy night breathing") is much better! We are so thankful for modern medicine and competent physicians!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2009-12-25T23:39:00.000-06:00

Let me start this post out by saying how pathetic that the only pictures we have from Christmas is on Michael's iPhone. He did manage to capture a few of our many memorable moments of spending the holiday with our families.

We spent our early Christmas in Austin this year. It was extra special for all of us since it was Caden's and Caroline's first Christmas (though they slept through most of it)!

Here are the kiddos chowing down on Uncle Jason's candy pretzel sticks:

Opening their stockings on "pretend Christmas Eve" after enjoying a delicious dinner at Pappasito's:
On "pretend Christmas morning", Cal won the prize for the largest present! It was bigger than him, for sure!
Here are the kiddos on Christmas morning checking out what Santa brought them:

We had a wonderful Christmas and loved celebrating the season of our Savior's birth with our families!

Ella's Reindeer Party

2009-12-20T15:25:00.006-06:00

Around Mohawk Elementary, it's tradition for the kindergarten classes to have a "Reindeer Party". Ella loved the whole thing and I must say, it did not disappoint! The kids moved from station to station filled with different activities. Will already can't wait for his next year!

The snack station (always a favorite)!

Ornament making:Super cute reindeer bags that were filled with goodies by the end of the party!
listening to a story:
my girl:
Mrs. Mooney's sweet class:

just couldn't resist...

2009-11-07T23:37:00.000-06:00

Who can resist a girl and her matching doll shopping at Sam's together? Not me!

Halloween

2009-10-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Our kids loved the chance to trick or treat in Austin this year! We went with the community helper theme (our first year with a theme...usually it's just a random assortment of characters).

Here's policeman Will:

Doctor Ella:
Fireman Cal:
Big Cal was very unsure about the whole costume thing until he realized people were putting candy into his bucket. Once he put those two things together, he was glad to keep his fireman outfit on and mumble out a very cute, but impossible to understand "trick or treat"!

Carnival Day!

2009-10-25T14:51:00.001-05:00

We had so much fun at the Mohawk Carnival. The kids had a blast and we came home with tons of junk (including 2 goldfish who barely lived a week) which means our kids had the time of their lives!

The entry photo shot:

Cal's turn:
Will loved kicking the soccer ball:

The family favorite was the cake walk (of course) and we left with three new desserts...YUM!
winding down after dinner!

This super fun carnival was just one more reason why we love our neighborhood elementary school!

Soccer Mom (and Dad)

2009-10-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

With two kids playing soccer and many Saturdays out at Breckenridge Park, we figured I'm officially a "soccer mom" (doesn't that make me important to politics...or something like that!)

This fall Will played his first season of soccer. Here he is ready to play. Go Sting!

Me and my boys!
#1 fan:
Love these kiddos (and they love each other)!
Will in action:
His favorite part of the game: the bridge and snacks!
This boy kept us on our toes all season, as he loved to run away. (yes, he really was the out of control 2 year old and his parents had lost control!)
Ella in action! Go pink ponies!

melt my heart!

2009-10-10T14:33:00.001-05:00

Who can resist a picture of this sweet sleeping boy?!

Especially this sweet sleeping boy wearing this full leg cast! Melts his Mama's heart!

Meeting Caden and Caroline!!!

2009-10-05T14:25:00.004-05:00

On September 26th, our family was blessed with the birth of adorable twin cousins for our kids. Since they arrived a little early, we weren't sure if they'd have to go to the NICU or if there would be any complications, so just Michael went to Austin for their birth. The kids and I had our own "birth"day party for their new cousins which helped with their disappointment of not being there for the big event. Here's our cake:

the excited big cousins:
here's Cal about a millisecond before burning his finger and discovering a fact of life he'll not soon forget: Yes, mom and dad were right, fire is HOT:

the blowing of the candles!
Shortly after we sang and enjoyed our birthday cake, Aunt Amy called and told the kids the names of their new cousins who had just been born. Everyone was THRILLED and could not wait to meet Caroline and Caden!

The next weekend, we ventured down to Austin to meet them. They are precious and amazingly good babies!

The boys:
The girls:
Will and Ella were in love!

and well, Cal, he didn't want much to do with these little guys!
here's another attempt to hide from these little ones who have stolen his aunt and uncle and overtaken their house!
we really wanted a cousin shot, so Michael had to jump in just so Cal would agree to be in it.
Welcome Caden and Caroline. You are well loved and we could not be more thrilled to have you in our family!

Here we go again....

2009-10-01T20:45:00.003-05:00

This precious 2 year old boy we call Cal is a bit on the crazy side and his mom is a bit on the laid back side. So you put those two things together and you get a boy who gets to walk around on a fractured fibula for five days before seeing a doctor.

Really, it was the most uneventful injury. He went to jump off a bench and I think he thought I was going to catch him. Since I wasn't looking and was trying converse with fellow mom Christy, I didn't catch him which resulted in a hard landing. He cried for about a minute, limped a bit and went right back to playing. Therefore, we left the mall with a limp and an unworried mom. Now fast forward five days, his mom and dad noticed he still limped at times, took him to the doctor and voila....here he is:

He will wear this full leg cast for 4 weeks (we're halfway there already) and should be good to go come October 13th. As for me, I've learned my lesson...limps are always significant in a child (so says the orthopedist). Point taken!

We love you Cal and are so proud of your adaptability to this big ol' cast. Mommy and Daddy are so sorry we made you walk around on a hurt leg!

A Beautiful Celebration

2009-09-26T20:44:00.009-05:00

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Mike Guffre....

On Labor Day, we celebrated my precious cousin Elizabeth marrying the man of her dreams Mike. Our big two were honored to be a part of the wedding ceremony as a flower girl and ring bearer. Here are some pics of the gorgeous outside wedding (probably not in the right order).

Ella, Will, Payton and Camryn waiting for the big event...

3 beautiful girls...Camryn, Ella and Payton hanging out in the bride's room...

the Baker three...
flower girl rehearsal before the ceremony...

Unfortunately, we don't have any shots of them in action but they did great. We brought suckers to keep Cal quiet during the ceremony which actually had the reverse effect. Instead of sitting quietly with his mouth occupied, he made a huge mess and was very vocal about it all. So, Michael and Cal headed out to run around in the mansion where we wouldn't disturb anyone (other than the millions of dollars of valuables in the place) while the big two sat with me and were quite entertained with suckers...

More pics! 7 flower girls and 2 ring bearers...
Ella's on her way to party at the reception!
Baker and Cal waiting for lunch to begin...
My Dad and the lovely M.O.B. Ginny...
A quick photo op for our sweet Cal...

and lastly big Will hanging out in the grass with a leaf...
Congrats Elizabeth and Mike! We are so happy for you guys!

Big Will goes to Pre-K!!!

2009-09-25T17:23:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month, our sweet Will started back at preschool. He goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays and is having fun being in the big kid class. Here he is heading out the door on the first day...the boys out front of the school...

heading in with no hesitation...
putting his folder away while Cal supervises...
Back in the car, it's just you and me, Cal. Where do we begin?!
The years are flying by...seriously! So proud of you, my Will!

Ella's 6th Birthday Party

2009-09-25T16:33:00.005-05:00

For her 6th birthday, Ella planned her entire party...like really planned it! She wanted a kindergarten party complete with centers, recess and snack time. And so we did just that! Oh and yes, this was a month ago...September has been a busy month and blogging has just lost rank! Here's our sweet girl waiting for her friends to arrive (please disregard the dead flowers in the bottom corner....remember, the whole losing rank thing!)

the handwriting center...
craft center...
Cal and Poppa trying to entertain themselves before the party starts...
the girls got busy at the craft center first...
I attempted to help at the handwriting center...
Mimi taught the math center...
Pop and Cal did the alphabet puzzle...
Dad taught the yo-yo center...
cute girls with their yo-yos...
Grammie did a spelling lesson (she's the one to thank for our word walls, too)...
and finished by reading the story, Why Quincy Couldn't Quack...
sweet Will was so attentive and loved being part oh his big sister's party!
more to come....

Our Kindergartner!

2009-08-24T21:20:00.005-05:00

Since I'm not sure who's more exhausted after the first day of kindergarten...Ella or Mom, I'm going to make this a quick post! Here's a chronological look at one of the biggest days in our Ella-Girl's life!

Here she is... so excited to head out the door this morning!

Walking towards the school...
a picture tradition in the making...
walking into school with her daddy...

finding her locker...
Ella and her sweet teacher, Mrs. Mooney...
settling in...
Ella and her friend, Duncan...
She's more than ready for this! Not so sure Mom and Dad are ready, though!
Our last shot as Michael and I were walking out. She was getting to work!
After picking her up at the end of her first school day, we celebrated with ice cream and friends. What a great ending!

A few highlights of her first day...

-She came home with much of her lunch untouched.

-"All they did was talk about rules."

-When asking about her 6th grade lunch buddy, I asked Ella what her name was..."No, Mom, it's a HIM!"

-"She was at school a LONG time"

-"She can't wait to go back and do it all again tomorrow!"

a weekend away...

2009-08-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

To end our summer, the five of us ran away to the Wild Oak Ranch for a few days. It was wonderful... especially this fake beach that fed into the Rattlesnake River (a lazy river with nice clean, chlorinated water). We spent 90% of our time here just playing in the sand and floating the river. Did I mention that it was wonderfully relaxing? Yep, that's right... our family vacation was relaxing for mom and dad, too!
our crew just after we arrived and were exploring the grounds...
hugging on my boy...
sunglasses are a must every minute for Will! He'll tell you he has sun allergies?
snack time by the pool....(also our only family photo shot of the weekend...oh,well!)

sand fun...

Cal wasn't as crazy about the sand so he usually hung out in the water while the others played in the sand. And I usually joined him!

Ella mastered swimming around the Rattlesnake River...
It's so rare that we have a shot with all three of our kids together and here's three in a row. Photography success!

Big Cal posing for the camera practicing saying "eeese"...
I think this is a lost sheep,
and this is the shepherd going to find it. You just never know when kids will choose to act out Bible stories:). love it!
We ended our last night with s'mores. Perfect!

and quite messy!
What fun! It's so hard to see summer coming to an end! We had what was probably our very best summer ever. Now we've moved onto things like school shopping, sleep training (I just thought I was finished with that when my kids were babies) and gearing up for our Ella to turn six. Life is busy but thank you God, so very blessed!

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-08-14T00:20:00.001-05:00

We had a BLAST spending some days at the Great Wolf Lodge with Grammie and Poppa. Our kids are the perfect age for this place and soaked up every minute there! They loved the bedtime show and story time, the wave pool, watching the bucket drop (though no one was brave enough to get under it), the tube rides and the not-so-lazy river. Ella also had a blast doing their MagiQuest which was strange yet slightly intriguing in my opinion.

These first two pics are random but our crew was a bit obsessed with having their picture taken on this bear. Oh and they were a bit obsessed with what was inside the bear's store, too....ice cream and candy!

We stayed on the treetop hall...a.k.a. the penthouse! Our room had an upstairs loft which was super exciting to our children!
We ran up and down this hall about 30 times a day! Sorry neighbors!
Ella and Cal...
The only shot of Grammie and Poppa with the kiddos. They were dressed and about to head back to Austin while we stayed and played a few more hours.
Will...
A barely blog-worthy family photo, but figured every once in awhile I should give photographic evidence that these children do have parents!
Sweet siblings...
So much watersliding fun...
Cal loved the blue and yellow waterslide in the little kids' pool. Up and Down, Up and Down, Up and Down until we could finally distract him elsewhere!

Ella and Will loved the big kids' slides!

And on a final note, here's Baker making his landing. Why did I include this random pic, you might wonder? Well, this is the perfect shot of his different sized feet, of course. Love you, Baby!
I would highly recommend GWL for the preschool and elementary age kids. Such fun! Thanks Grammie and Poppa for our great time away with you guys. We love you!

Amy's Babies

2009-08-12T10:10:00.004-05:00

Ella and I had a blast celebrating Amy's babies at a fun baby shower back in July. Yes, we realize they're Jason's too but Amy's Babies has a cute ring to it. Here's Amy and the two proud grandmothers!

The excited aunts and only girl cousin!
Ella was Amy's present helper. She loved having a job and feeling helpful!

Here's Amy and her preggo friends. Amy's the only one who can claim twins in this shot (or so I think).
One of our kids took this picture of Uncle Jason and his sweet mom, Janell (or Ms. Janell to our kids).
And a wrestle shot of Ella and Cal after the boys arrived at the end:
We are so excited about this little girl and boy and can't believe how close we are to meeting them! Hang in there, Ames....you've almost made it!

Lake Fun

2009-08-02T17:19:00.010-05:00

Some of our dear family friends were quite generous and shared their beautiful lake home with our family. Here are some pictures of our long weekend there. In case the pictures don't quite do it justice, our re-entry into Dallas life wasn't easy!

Here are the big two hunting for bugs:

And their hot Dad very enthusiastically searching for bugs, too!
searching...
Here's Uncle Bub striking a cool man's pose or something like that:
Our crew LOVED fishing and managed to catch quite a few catfish. Behind the shadows of this pic are Ella and her daddy with her first catch:
fun times:
beautiful Greer:
love this picture! sheer delight in the simple things!
Cal loved reeling in the line. We could just drop an empty hook in the water and he was thrilled to reel it in. He even reeled in a couple of real catches which made it all the more exciting!
The sweet G-berg family heading out on Greer's first Sea-Doo ride:
Part of our daily routine was taking the mule over to feed the cows. The kids loved it and I'm pretty sure the cows "beefed up" while we were there thanks to our kids' attention. The below pics are way out of order but blogger isn't cooperating for me to arrange them, so here are some pics of one of our nightly feedings, but not in the correct chronological order:
Will smiling back at Mommy while Pop takes him through "Dead Man's Gulch". Immediately after this, Will quickly informed me there are no dead men. shew!Here's a pic of life in the country: Ella driving Greer to feed the cows and of course, there's no need to put the sweet girl in a car seat with her 5-year old cousin driving! Ah, the country life!

The boys watching Pop feeding the cows:
Despite the lack of enthusiasm on their faces, Will and Cal loved the Mule and would gladly run errands with Pop as long as they got to ride on the Mule.
I loved my backseat view! So precious!
Cal would go sit in the Mule as a big hint that he was ready for a ride. Pop would gladly oblige!
Ella was our brave one that rode the tube all by herself:
There she goes smiling the whole time (note to readers: the lack of wake behind the sea-doo should be an indication of the speed in which she's traveling):
We ate lots of watermelon:

And went on lots of Sea-Doo rides!

All in all, we had an absolute blast, a great time away as a family and the kids are still referring to their lake vacation!

So excited!!

2009-07-31T17:07:00.002-05:00

Here's our adorable Will the day before his cast was taken off. On July 2nd, our brave, tough boy got his cast off and I must say it was more traumatic than getting it put on in the first place. Evidently, everything is a bit sore and tight after being in a cast for 6 weeks. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and summer hasn't slowed down since!

By the way, he was eating blue cotton candy at the time of these pics which explains the blue lips!

just another night in our never dull life...

2009-07-16T23:40:00.005-05:00

This night started out with a mini photo session of these precious girls! These 5 pictures can make me tear up in a hurry (and I'm not even the crying type, I must add!)....

And it ended in a show & dance party with some very cute pajama'd kids.

Note to all: Will started out the show with no shirt. Pj shirts were a bit of a challenge with his big ol' cast! AND yes, we do feed him and he eats ALOT!

September 3rd is approaching way too fast! sniff, sniff!

Cal's First Love

2009-06-22T12:12:00.005-05:00

They say that breaking up is hard to do. Cal is having his first heartbreak and he just can't let go. It's with his beloved paci. As parents, we decided to help him part ways with his beloved by the gradual snipping method. For the past week, his paci has slowly disappeared until he's left with this pathetic plastic thing:

And still, he's true to his love. He just can't let it go!

Here he is today before his nap. Poor Kid!

Guess Mom and Dad might have to make the break for him. It's going to be a looong week!

Summer Happenings...

2009-06-22T11:46:00.007-05:00

Here's a few highlights of our summer so far:

We've had lots of fun playdates, like this one:

We've read books with Poppa and Grammie:

We've eaten LOTS of snacks:
We've read books wearing Daddy's crocs:
The boys got summer haircuts:

We've watched plenty of videos, some even upside down:
And we've eaten corn on the cob hot off the grill...YUM!

Our summer is off to a great start! I LOVE Summertime (except the 100 degree heat, that is)!

the boys

2009-06-01T11:35:00.003-05:00

Will and Cal love to be outside with Daddy while he works in the yard. Here's a few recent pics of a Saturday morning with Daddy:

Sharing or fighting?
One armed mowing:

A Night to Remember...

2009-05-23T20:04:00.004-05:00

We had a fun night planned for last night. Mimi and Pop wanted to take the kids (and their parents, too) to Benihana as a fun start to summer. So all the family except sweet Greerie-Greer gathered around for a super fun dinner (something about a very busy 1 year old, a hot grill and a long dinner weren't a good mix...but we sure missed her). Here's a few pics of our meal!

Sweet Will was a bit scared at first with all the smoke and loud banging but on Dad's lap, he enjoyed every minute. Here's the happy boy:

Thanks Mimi and Pop! We can't wait to go back!

So after our fun dinner, our 3 kids were having a blast racing up and down the bridge over the Benihana fish pond when...

Our big two had a little collision and Will took a tumble. He landed awkwardly, let out a loud scream and my immediate thought was 'this can't be good'. Sure enough, as soon as Michael and I looked at his arm, we knew we had a problem. Thankfully with our family right there for backup, Michael and I hurried him to the pediatric E.R. that was about a half mile away. Amazingly enough, we were in and out of there in 1.5 hours with a fractured radius. I didn't think to photo document until we were done, probably due to consoling and comforting my scared and hurting 4 year old boy. So here's the big man with his splint, sling and head wrap (only to mark his bravery, no head injury) as he's about to head out the door:

Mimi and Pop brought pajama'd Ella and Cal up to see him once we realized this was going to be a fast process. Here's Will's nurse taking him and Cal on a wagon ride:
Heading out of the E.R. enjoying his popsicle:
Showing off his new stuffed car (thanks to www.adamsanimals.org), which he's yet to put down. I think it will always be a special treasure for this boy. I know it will be for his mom!
Here's the brave boy telling Pop about the adventure. Pop was listening much better than this picture depicts...I promise!
A very relieved big sister and her medicated, happy brother:
Our first night home was pretty rough but Will is doing so well now! Every now and then, he whines about his arm aching or his fingers hurting, but he's really having a blast with all this attention. He will wear his splint and sling for the next two weeks and then will be put into a cast after the swelling is gone.

The timing isn't great with this happening on his first day of summer break, but yet it's times like these we realize just how blessed we are! Swimming, karate and parks can wait...we are just so thankful for our healthy children and that a broken bone is our biggest worry these days! Thank you, God!

Preschool Show and Graduation

2009-05-23T19:51:00.004-05:00

The kids ended their preschool year with a cute show. These pics are dark but you get the idea. Will is standing to Ella's right in front of her.

Ella's official preschool graduation:
Cap and Gown...WOW!
Two very cute children:

A family pic:
Will and his best bud, Eli:
Ella and her best friend, Karis:
Quite the foursome...
Ella, Aunt Kristi, Mimi and Greer:
the graduating class:

Wonder what we're going to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next three months?!

In The Month of MAY...

2009-05-23T19:42:00.003-05:00

We had parents' day at Gymnastics for our two gymnastics stars (bit of an exaggeration, but at least they had fun!):

We celebrated a precious girl's FIRST birthday:

And we ate ice cream sandwiches with good friends:

More to come...

Easter Festivities

2009-05-15T09:22:00.009-05:00

We had a fantastic long Easter weekend! We stayed busy celebrating our Risen Savior with lots of family time, Resurrection egg hunts and lots of candy egg hunts, too. Grammie, Poppa, Aunt Amy and Uncle Jason all came to town for the weekend and we also celebrated Will's 4th birthday. We were busy, but had so much fun!

We started out the weekend at a big hunt on Good Friday. As evidenced by the below 4 pics, the kids were thrilled to be subjected to a photo shoot before the hunt ever began!

It went well, don't ya think?!

And below is the famous choke hold pose. Ella has really mastered it!
"Here's my belly button!"
Love the below shot of the biggest and littlest Baker Boy!

Here's Ella and one of her sweetest friends, Anna.

Yes, you see this right, there's no pics of the actual hunt. We were way too busy knocking other kids over and ruthlessly going after the most loot. (Actually quite the opposite...we had to coach our kids it's okay to pick up an egg among the large mass of other kids. Aggression is lacking a bit in the Baker kids, except with each other, that is!) But we were sure to get a family pic at the end!
Easter morning began with fun Easter bags from Grammie and Poppa!
Modeling our cute Easter swimsuits:

And the indoor hunt began thanks to rainy Texas weather!

Cal loves his Poppa!
We ended our Easter Sunday after church with lunch at Mimi's and Pop's and another indoor hunt with Greerie-Greer!

Happy first Easter, sweet girl!
And an infamous cousin photo shoot out by the pool. These photos give just a few examples of why I'm not a children's photographer!

And finally some last attempts at a family shot!

We had a blessed Easter! He is Risen, Indeed!

(oh and in case you're concerned, we are still very much an Aggie family despite our orange Easter wardrobe. I prefer melon, but Baker informed me our boys don't wear melon!)

Will's 4th birthday Celebration

2009-04-20T11:17:00.011-05:00

Our sweet Will turned four on April 6th and the precious boy was celebrated all week long! On his actual birthday, he selected Pappasito's for his birthday dinner. Mimi, Pop, Uncle Bub, Aunt Kristi and baby Greer joined us for the fun.

Here's Mimi minus one grandchild:
A birthday hug from sister:

Here's Will riding the broom pony while just about the entire restaurant sang to him:Who knew he'd be so excited to open up a new Thomas video?
The next day we had a mini party with his preschool class. Here's the big 4 year old with his Wall-E cookie cake and birthday crown:
The next day, Will helped me bake Easter cookies while still wearing his birthday crown (oh, and my crocs too).
In between the time of these pics, we had another birthday dinner with Grammie, Poppa, Aunt Amy and Uncle Jason at Will's next choice: Pei Wei. The boy loves their honey chicken and eating with chopsticks. Too bad the camera never made an appearance at that meal!

Finally, we celebrated Will with a small friends party at Chuck-E-Cheese (plan B after getting the phone call 2 days before the party that his original location, Planet Pizza had closed.)

So proud of his "Ranch" birthday cake complete with a pond, dirt trail and the favorite four-wheeler!
Full body rolling of skee-ball:
We love you Will and cannot believe you are already 4 years old! You make us so proud and bring so much laughter and joy to this family!

Exciting Addition...

2009-04-18T21:23:00.002-05:00

We have added an exciting blog to our list on the right that we must point out to all you Saturday Morning Donuts readers! Click on the Cases blog and check out the exciting happenings for Aunt Amy and Uncle Jason. I won't ruin the surprise here, you have to go read it straight from them! While you're there, you can also read up on our family happenings since they are much better at the blogging thing than we are right now.

We'll be back soon with a Baker family update!

going, going, gone!! (writtten by me)

2009-04-01T10:50:00.004-05:00

I lost my first tooth on April Fool's Day. I was wiggling it with my tongue and it just fell out. At first it was only loose. I am such a big girl now. I hope my new tooth fairy pillow gets here soon. Here's more pictures of my new hole where my tooth used to be:

How We Spent our Spring Break

2009-03-23T13:14:00.015-05:00

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

2009-03-13T12:36:00.005-05:00

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...

2009-03-13T12:11:00.009-05:00

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!

consider yourself warned!!!

2009-02-19T17:30:00.004-06:00

if you have a queasy stomach or don't appreciate preschool humor, then you should stop reading now...really! below is a convo that we have had quite a few times lately with our very matter-of-fact Will upon catching him eating his "treasures" he's just picked out of his nose:

mom: will, do not eat your boogies. that's yucky germs!
will: no mommy, germs aren't yucky. they're yummy!

Our Day O' Love

2009-02-15T22:24:00.007-06:00

This year was one of our best Valentine's Day yet! We spent the whole day together as a family doing all the things we love and wore out our heart cookie cutter in the process! Our morning started out with heart-shaped beignets. It was my first attempt at making beignets and possibly my last, as I might leave the effort and the mess to the Cafe Du Monde kitchen. Here's our finished product:

Here's our happy Valentines:

After breakfast, Ella and I got busy making Valentine cookies:
Here's Will helping us in the decorating process by eating the sprinkles that fall on the table:
Ella even had a heart shaped PB&J for lunch...After lunch, we bagged up some cookies and delivered them to some of our nearest neighbors. We had spent the day talking to the kids about the greatest act of Love by using John 3:16, so we decided to include part of the verse on our gift tags to our neighbors. All five of us had fun delivering these sweet treats!

After a trip to the Galleria to eat at Five Guys Burgers, do a little shopping (me) and playing (baker and kids), we came home for family movie night. Here's B.M.C. (big man Cal) not too interested in Wall-E but loving the family time.
Here's Ella and Will enjoying their popcorn and M&M's and a very special Valentine's drink (Big Red....shhh, don't tell the grandparents they had their own soft drink)
This is where Ella ended the night:
And this is one happy Daddy!This is where the boys ended the night. Notice the rare sweet moment between these two with Will teaching Cal how to do the puzzle:And a final shot of our joyful boy and a glance at his tonsils (in case any of you were wondering).

Cal's Second Birthday

2009-02-02T10:07:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday, we celebrated our baby boy turning two. In keeping with our family's tradition of second birthdays, we celebrated with a family party where we served his favorite foods. We all dined on pizza, berries, craisins (mixed in a green salad for the adults), orange juice, Thomas cupcakes and homemade ice cream with Cal's favorite candy, mini M&Ms, mixed in.

Here's the birthday boy as we sang to him. He was quite unsure about it all and looked back and forth while being sang to with a serious look of uncertainty.

Ella and Will were huge helpers for Cal with opening his presents. I'm guessing this is the last year he graciously accepts their help!The year of Little People gifts! He loves them all!Sweet little Greer was so tired by the end of the party, but was such a trooper! Thanks for celebrating Cal with us!

Happy Birthday, big Cal! We all love you dearly and can't imagine our family without you!

Cal's 2 year stats: 30 lbs, 38.5 inches, 20.5 inches (head)

Surprise, Surprise

2009-01-25T14:06:00.008-06:00

Every couple of years we seem to have a pretty big surprise in the Baker family. In 2003 our first surprise gave us Ella. Our next surprise was Will in 2005. 2007 brought us Cal.

What could possibly be the surprise in 2009?

Thanks to modern medical science we don't have to name our surprise this year. Instead of adding to the family, Amy and I took a long weekend away from the kids in Cancun.

I woke Amy up on the 16th and gave her an hour to get dresseed and ready to go to the airport. I had child care arranged for the weekend and our bags were already packed. We had breakfast in the DFW airport and had lunch on the beach in Cancun. Here is a few pics from the trip.

We had a great time in Cancun and the kids had a great time with Mimi & Pop and Amy & Jason while we were gone. Thank you all for helping me pull off the surprise and for taking care of the kids.

Bed Head!

2009-01-07T19:30:00.000-06:00

What has happened to Cal's lifeless, fine hair? Here's what he looked like after his nap this afternoon:

As you might observe from these pics, the boy takes awhile to wake up....not sure where he gets that?

Movin' On Up!!!

2009-01-06T15:28:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday was a big day around this house!

Here's where Cal woke up:

And here's where he went to sleep:

And here's why:

The boys sleeping peacefully in their matching big boy beds:

Really, where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday (okay, so maybe last year) that we laid our newborn baby girl in that crib. We have had three precious babies sleeping in that crib every night for the last 5 and a 1/2 years. And now it is officially retired or so we think:)! You'd think that would bring a tear to my eye...but yet it doesn't!

Here's Ella in her new bed (queen size to most people but princess size to her!). We decided to pass her twin bed onto Cal and give her a new BIG bed since we know slumber parties are right around the corner. Can you tell she's a bit excited...

And our sleeping beauty...

Christmas Eve Fun!!!

2008-12-30T10:37:00.008-06:00

We arrived in Austin on Christmas Eve afternoon. Pretty soon after our arrival, the kids went out in Grammie's and Poppa's front yard to put out their reindeer food they picked up at Santa's Village.

Cal spent much of the afternoon watching his beloved train. Uncle Jason made a tunnel out of presents which was super fun to watch!
We had our Baker traditional Christmas Eve meal at Pappasito's. I brought my camera but forgot to take a picture. It was delicious! Ella had her first bites of lobster. Just like her mama, she loved it!

After dinner we came home and opened stockings (aka large gift bags with pictures of a stocking on them).

Cal had a Christmas VeggieTales in his stocking and immediately had to start watching!Christmas Eve pictures in our new Christmas pajamas. Could they be any cuter (the kids and the pj's)?:Even Ella had to take a pic of Mom and Dad in their new pjs!Just before bed Ella, Will and Poppa put out the chocolate chip cookies that they made with Grammie earlier in the day and a mug of milk for Santa.After such a busy and super fun day, it was off to bed!

Happy Birthday Ginger!

2008-12-30T09:45:00.006-06:00

We had a family birthday celebration for my Grandmother right before Christmas at her home. Lots of family were there to celebrate and we all had a blast!

Here's the birthday girl:Cal enjoying Ginger's new pet:Cal being tickled by Mike:Some of the girl cousins whom Ella just loves (Ella, Camryn, Sydney and Payton)Ella and Sydney:

The cousins did their own rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas where each person takes a number to sing and put motions to. It was pretty funny. This was Ella's and Will's first year to have their own number and they loved it!

Will was two turtle doves and he did such a good job! He got to sing the most times and kept up with the song perfectly.
Ella was five golden rings and she was super loud and cute:Here's Bub doing his six geese a laying. Yes, he's actually laying a foil egg. Classic family entertainment!Here's Sydney's eight maids-a-milking:At the end of each verse, the whole crew does the partridge in a pear tree:Fun Times!!! We love you, Ginger!

Christmas With the G's

2008-12-30T00:12:00.007-06:00

We had a blast celebrating Christmas with Mimi and Pop and Uncle Bub, Aunt Kristi and Greer the weekend before Christmas. We did all our usual Christmas festivities...just a few days early. We had our Christmas Eve meal of tamales and chili and Christmas Day meal of Shrimp and Steak...yum!

Here's the attempt at a cousin shot on Christmas Eve:

Much better when Mimi and Pop were added to the pic!Christmas morning started with the discovery of stockings stuffed with goodies:

Will loved delivering presents:

Pop opening his "Dinner of the Month" Club certificate:Presents, Presents and more Presents!Ella loved opening up her bedding for her new really big bed:

After the presents were all opened, it was so fun to start playing with them! Here's Ella and Daddy taking on Uncle Bub in a mean game of Guess Who:

Big Will loves his new Matchbox cars:Cal really was here for all the celebrations! Sorry you're not in more pictures Big Man!

Seems like I should end this post with something to the effect of "Merry Christmas to All and to all a Good Night"! However, our Family Christmas Celebrations were just beginning...

Birthday Party for Jesus

2008-12-29T23:41:00.004-06:00

Ella, Will and Cal hosted a little birthday party for Jesus a couple of days before Christmas. The kids decorated cookies, attempted to make Christmas tree ornaments and listened to a brief rendition of why Jesus' birthday affects the how's and why's of our Christmas celebrations. Our crew certainly had fun celebrating with their friends!

Not quite sure how sanitary 8 preschoolers decorating cookies is with finger licking and cookie consumption...both of which are displayed in the photo below. The fun is well worth the germs, if you ask me!

The looks of concentration while cookie decorating:
Happy faces:
Baker's attempt to read to the kids about Jesus' birth:

This is where you could find Cal for most of the party, enjoying some fun one-on-one time with Pop:

We did have a birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus which was the highlight of the party for me...but it went uncaptured by the camera.

Ella's and Will's Christmas Show

2008-12-29T23:36:00.002-06:00

If you look closely you can find our two preschoolers performing at their Christmas show. Ella is on the back row in a red dress and black bow. Will is on the second from the top row in front of the kiddo in the striped shirt. As you can tell from the pics, Mom and Dad didn't have front row seats. They sang Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday Jesus. Great job, you two!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-17T16:04:00.005-06:00

Before I was a mom, I had always thought annual Christmas card pictures with the whole family would be such a good idea and fun keepsake through the years. Well here we are in our 6th Christmas with kids and we have accomplished our second ever all-family Christmas card picture. (Oh and yes, last year's was actually taken at the beach back in August so that really may not count, but that's beside the point!) Here are some shots from the process a couple of weeks ago:

Five people (3 of whom are 5 and under) looking picture worthy in the same shot is not such an easy feat. In reality, all 5 of us joyful in the same moment can be a feat at times...but that's a whole different post!

And because we love a challenge, we added sweet little Greer to the crazy Baker crew and attempted a cousin shot. Here are our results:

This last one is my personal favorite! The girls are falling, Cal's finally decided pictures are fun and Will is all pictured-out. Nothing like a candid shot!

Merry Christmas from the Baker Family!

Things I am thankful for... (by Ella Baker)

2008-11-19T18:28:00.003-06:00

I am thankful for my friends and family and my house. I am thankful for my grandparents and my mommy and my daddy and my two brothers and my cousin Greer and my aunts and uncles. I am thankful for the Bible because you can read Bible stories in it and they really happened. I am thankful for my silkies and Kit and my dolls so I can play Dollies and be the mommy and my beads. Happy Thanksgiving!

All About Fall (by Will Baker)

2008-11-19T14:48:00.004-06:00

Did you know that I love this video?!The mouse thing is super funny and can talk. Daddy won't let me watch Yo Gabba Gabba because it's halloween and I had a bad dream about ghosts so Mommy and Daddy won't let me watch it anymore. I like Yo Gabba Gabba but it doesn't come on anymore my daddy says. Do your daddies let you watch Yo Gabba Gabba?

I had a fun fall. My favorite part about fall was trick or treating because I WUV candy.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:
1. my family
2. my house
3. my backyard
4. "all about fall"
5. trick or treating
6. winnie the pooh video
7. my grandparents
8. my bike but I'm not thankful for my helmet because when I put my helmet on, it hurts.
9. that's all!

The Orange Crush

2008-11-19T14:07:00.004-06:00

Ella just finished a season of fall soccer and was a proud member of the Orange Crush (though all they really crushed were the snacks after the game...but that is the point of 5 year old soccer, after all!) She played with her favorite neighborhood friends and was proud to have daddy as the assistant coach once again. While I managed to not take one picture the entire season, which in my own defense only consisted of 3 games for this girl, I did remember my camera at the ice cream party.

The team proudly showing their trophies:Will was so proud to receive his coach's helper trophy for being a great encouraging brother and riding well on Daddy's shoulders.

A boy and his apple

2008-11-19T13:59:00.005-06:00

So, I left Will eating an apple while doing crafts on the kitchen floor. I came back to find only a stem and a few seeds remaining and stickers on his face. That's a good 10 minutes of entertainment for this busy boy!
Really, this is all that remained of his big green apple...Gross, big guy!

Family Movie Night

2008-11-19T13:31:00.007-06:00

Popcorn, M&Ms, Pink Lemonade and Kung Fu Panda....Does a Saturday night get any better than this?

Bed Time Prayers

2008-11-13T22:53:00.002-06:00

This has been Will's prayer the last two nights in a row, completely on his own.

Dear God,
Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please heal Grammie.
Amen

Good Prayer Son, we are all praying the same thing.

(posted by Michael - contributing author, Saturday Morning Donuts blog)

Race Day

2008-11-05T09:08:00.007-06:00

We had a blast honoring Michael's mom at the Race for the Cure in Austin last weekend. Abbie's Army was in full force, the weather was perfect and the crowd was huge. There were some hysterical team t's and these two were among my favorites:

Don't let cancer steal second base. (funny sidenote: my mom didn't get this so Michael's sister got to explain it to her.)

Big and small...save 'em all.

This is not nearly all the people that came out to walk in Abbie's Army but the group that started out the race together:

Trick or Treating Pics

2008-11-02T21:57:00.009-06:00

This year, the Bakers debuted a beautiful princess (Sleeping Beauty if you ask her...though I'm not sure why), SuperMan and a Football Player (without a helmet...have I mentioned he's a bit strong willed?). It was especially fun for the kids to run around with some of their great neighborhood friends and arrive in a loud herd on a stranger's front porch yelling "Trick or Treat" while trying to get their pumpkin buckets up to the door first. Fun was had by all!

Here's our attempt at a Baker kid shot:

Here's our second attempt 3 seconds later when SuperWill was not going to take any more pictures.But then again when paired with his Super-power friend, he was glad to smile!

Such pretty girls (both inside and out) and sweet friends:

Does this look like an excited girl? She had a blast!

Big Cal in action:

Superman was done by this point. He laid down in a yard along the way and said he had enough candy in his pumpkin bucket to make his tummy hurt.

I LOVE Fall!

2008-10-31T21:09:00.001-05:00

Fall colors, pumpkins, fleeces, a month devoted to thankfulness...I really do LOVE Fall! The kids and I spent our morning at the Arboretum's Mommy 'n Me Mondays last week and had a great time. It was colder than usual as fall had briefly arrived in Dallas, but we still had a blast running around together. All three kids loved the pumpkins, the hay maze and Kindermusik.

Hanging out in the pumpkin house:

Can't believe this baby boy is already 21 months old! Really can't believe he cooperated in this photo op!
Ella and Will had a blast running through the hay maze (or so they call it).The big kids climbing on the pumpkins:

Ella and Cal dancing during Kindermusik. I wonder who's leading who?

A rare shot of Will, the boy who would rank having his picture taken pretty close to getting a flu shot. He is straining his neck muscles by saying "cheese" so loudly. I love pics of this handsome boy!Ella loved the petting zoo and brushing the sheep:

Cal is ready to be done. I think he was half asleep when this picture was taken. Love those sleepy eyes!

Abbie's Army

2008-10-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

As most of you probably know, Michael's mom Abbie was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She has a long fight ahead of her but we all know that she will BEAT the cancer and we all will see God moving through this new season in our family! While we would have never chosen her to go through this, we know that she is a strong woman with deep faith in Jesus and will continue to glorify Him no matter her circumstance!

We are getting a fun team together called Abbie's Army to walk in Austin's Race for the Cure. Here is a link to Abbie's Army. If any of you are in Austin on Sunday, November 2nd, come out and walk with us. It should be a great time! You can also make donations to the fight for the Cure at this site. Please continue to pray for our sweet Mom and Grammie as she will soon begin her chemotherapy. Pray that she feels well enough to join us at the Race.

The support for Abbie has been tremendous and means so much to all of us. Thank you for your encouraging words and prayers!

Three and a HALF!!!

2008-10-06T15:30:00.003-05:00

Will has been anxiously awaiting this day. Why, you ask? Well, today is the day that his response to the ever popular question, "How old are you?" changes. Starting today, he gets to answer that he's "3 and a HALF". He is so proud! So to celebrate, we stuck a candle in his after-gymnastics cookie and Ella and I sang "Happy half-Birthday to You".

In honor of his 3 1/2 birthday, he humored me by answering these questions:
Favorite Food: Hamburger with cheese and no pickles

Favorite Restaurant: Nick 'n Willys

Favorite Playmate: Eli

Favorite place to play: the "school park"

Favorite toy: my bike

Favorite song: the Wheels on the Bus

Not your typical Meatloaf Recipe

2008-10-06T11:33:00.003-05:00

Not sure why I'm posting this, but it's a recipe that is so easy with ingredients I always have on hand anyway. I've never been a fan of meatloaf but this one is actually pretty good. My kids love this stuff so just thought I'd share it:

2 slices whole wheat bread-toasted and cubed
1 egg, slightly beaten
medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 T parsley flakes
1 T dijon mustard
2 t worcestershire
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup

Saute onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil until tender. Cool. Mix egg, onion & garlic, milk, parmesan, parsley, mustard, worcestershire, salt & pepper, and bread cubes. Mix well.

Crumble beef over mixture and mix together.

Spray 13x9 glass dish with nonstick spray. Form meat into loaf 2-3 inches high. Pour ketchup over loaf and spread evenly.

bake 1 hr, 15mins at 325.

That's it! It really is surprisingly good!

"That Didn't Take Very Long!"

2008-09-29T16:38:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday morning, we woke up to find our new pet frog belly up on the bottom of our bowl. Yep, that would be only 5 days after her adoption. So being the responsible parents that we are, Michael quickly "took care" of it while I distracted the kids. Later, Michael and I were ready to break the news to the kids and were prepared to have this great conversation with Ella and Will about life & death and pull in spiritual things about how we can be certain of our heaven (not frog heaven) if we believe in Jesus, etc. So, we sit them down and start out our fantastic parenting moment with, "Guys, we have some bad news...". Will's very prompt and oh-so cute response was "Well that didn't take very long" and he was done, moving on, pretty much ending our conversation. Even our sensitive Ella wasn't too concerned or bothered either by their beloved frog's death. So our serious, life changing talk lasted all of 10 seconds....they were inspired!

As a final note, we're certain that Anna would have lasted at least one more week had we spelled her name correctly as Ana. Our spelling must have doomed her:)

Introducing Anna

2008-09-23T21:03:00.004-05:00

Will introduces his new pet which he proudly named Anna. FYI, this is not her but just a pic I found on the internet but this is just what she (or he) looks like. Anna is an african dwarf frog who can live happily with Jonah, the betta, in his bowl on our kitchen counter. Anna was seriously harrassed by Jonah (there is truth to the siamese fighting fish name) the first day but they do seem to be living in fine aquatic harmony now. And so the Baker family pet collection continues to grow.

Ella's New Do

2008-09-19T10:35:00.003-05:00

Here she is just earlier this week:And after a visit to Cool Cuts 4 Kids yesterday for a chin-length bob, she left with this trendy hairdo. It is super cute on her but boy, does it make her look older. It is a real big girl do that is stacked in the back and left longer in the front. She loves it and I sort-of do but just don't want my little girl to grow up too fast and a real style just seems so old to me (especially since I still don't have a style!). It already begins....my daughter is much trendier than I am!

Mom of the Year Award!

2008-09-18T22:09:00.006-05:00

While I was busy saving the world or actually just cooking dinner a couple of nights ago, which does seem like quite a feat some days, I forgot all about Cal's afternoon nap (gasp from all moms of toddlers) and put the boys in front of a video. Within 10 minutes, I turned around to find them like this:

The amazing part of this story is not that they fell asleep in a chair and on the couch (which is a first for Cal, by the way) but that I really did forgot his nap. This kid loves his naps but I love them even more! I could be having the greatest day out doing something super fun, but I WILL be home to get that boy in his bed for a nap. I LOVE his naptime and usually work my day's agenda around his naps. So, this poor third child has once again proven himself quite adaptable and easy going, while I once again have proven myself quite ditzy. And Will also reminded us why he should never ever nap again, as he was up until midnight that night after his hour nap in Cal's chair. Wonder where he gets it?

Good Morning!

2008-09-18T21:54:00.006-05:00

Guess what delicious breakfast of champions this discriminating boy is enjoying?

Well, it would be pickles and pancakes, of course. Oh Yum!

Every morning, Cal walks straight to the refrigerator and using his own form of communication (mainly grunts and fingerpointing) shows me exactly what he wants. Most mornings he points straight to the orange juice container saying "num" (which translates into yummy, I think). But no O.J. this morning, the pickle jar caught his eye and he forgot all about his juice and had to have a delicious sour pickle. Sure enough he ate it first before he touched his whole wheat pancakes, that didn't have any syrup on them I might add...can't say I blame him!

First Day of Preschool

2008-09-09T16:41:00.007-05:00

The big two started at a new preschool today that we are all super excited about. Here they are this first morning just before heading in:

Here's big Will striking a pose after I asked him to show me how big he is now:And here's his "Like that, Mommy?" pose:
This boy makes me laugh!

Ella was able to bring Kit for Show & Tell which was an added bonus for the first day!

I missed my two big kids a ton this morning (5 hours is a long time! How will I ever survive kindergarten?) but am looking forward to some sweet time alone with my little man Cal.

Family Beach Trip 2008

2008-09-07T10:46:00.014-05:00

We just got back from a fantastic 5 days on South Padre Island. We went with the Goldenberg side of the family and had a blast relaxing together away from life in Dallas. The kids loved playing in the sand (mainly building rivers and pools), jumping in the waves, going on boogie board rides from Dad, taking naps on the beach for Cal, and swimming in the pool. Besides the multiple sunscreen applications for a very opinionated 3 year old, a great time was had by all! Here are just a few of our many fun shots of the week:

THANKS MIMI AND POP! The beach house was amazing and our time of fellowship was so refreshing!

Just as icing on the cake, we were able to spend a night at Michael's parents house on each leg of our drive. Here are pics of the kids having a blast on their new surprise at Grammie's and Poppa's. Here's one more reason our kids will be begging us to head south to Austin!

Our Ella is FIVE!

2008-08-25T12:00:00.002-05:00

I feel like that title cannot be right. How could she already be five?! It seems like yesterday I was rocking this precious baby girl:

And today we have this precious BIG girl: How could it be? The years have truly flown by and now I am the mom to a beautiful five year old girl who never fails to bring joy and laughter into this family. She is kind hearted, joyful, incredibly caring about her brothers, loves to play with her friends, and delights in crafts and singing.

She had a magical birthday this year and here is photographic proof of many of the events of this fun weekend celebrating her! She started out the festivities by a trip the the American Girl Bistro and Boutique with Mimi on the day before her birthday. Here they are enjoying their special girls' lunch along with Ella's new friend, Kit Kittredge: Ella and Kit:Here she is, excited to be bringing her very own Kit home:

Later that same afternoon, Ella was able to go to Petsmart and pick out her very own pet. That's right, we have a pet! It's a betta (fish are pets, right?). For those of you who don't know us, that's the only kind of pet these parents are ready for!

Here are Ella and Kit after picking out the perfect fish:By the way, Jonah is happy and always has a full tummy in his new home, our kitchen. Is it true that you can kill a fish by feeding it too much because fish feeding is a highlight of our day so far, so Jonah gets lots of Betta Bits?

While she was sleeping that night, we covered her floor with balloons. Here's our birthday girl sleeping with no idea about her birthday balloons:

Ella and Kit just after waking up on her birthday morning:

And an even bigger surprise was waking up to find Grammie. She and Poppa arrived after the kids had gone to bed, so she was super excited to see her!

After playing in the balloons with her brothers, Ella dressed in her finest princess gown and opened a few presents:

We then headed out to her princess Build a Bear birthday party.
Here's big Will (our only partying Prince) showing Daddy the bear he picked out:

The girls and boy naming their bears:The princesses showing off their bears:The birthday princess and Bear, her cheerleader bear:

The birthday girl and friends:

Happy 5th Birthday, Ella Girl! We love you and are so proud of you! Now, if I only knew how to get you to stop growing!