Let the Games Begin...

and if crawling wasn't enough...caroline has decided to add "pulling up" to her repertoire of skills!! coming to get her from her nap the other morning i was met with this picture:

she is almost 9 months, and this is certainly an age appropriate skill, i think what makes this so funny to me is that she is so little...she can hardly see over the top of the crib!!

this antic has added some additional fun to my life specifically at naptime/bedtime. that is when we begin our routine of...caroline stands up, gets stuck, cries till i can't stand it anymore...then i rescue her. repeat x587.

then...yesterday...i heard james giggling in the playroom and saying..."mommy, mommy...car-line stand up!!!" i run in there to find this...

this little expression says it all...watch out mom!!

my baby does not want to be a baby anymore!!

so needless to say, my life has changed dramatically in the last week. baby proofing, round three has begun.

another new pasttime in our home consists of the boys going upstairs together, changing clothes all by themselves and coming down in some very interesting ensembles. this was james latest choice: (please note the PJ shirt he is wearing stylishly over his PJ pants, neckhole around his waist. don't be surprised if you see this in the next issue of vouge.)

ben david continue to amuse me with his bedtime prayers. most recently he has prayed that a fox would not come into our house at night, and that his mom would feel better (he's prayed for my broken toe every night for over a month now)...this is generally followed by his closing line "just like i always ask you!"

and then..as i am walking out the door, he asks me if we can go to a parade. i have no idea why...but he generally asks me that either before nap or before bed.

our lives continue to be full of the fun and unexpected with our three little munchkins:)

March Madness!

aims...this one is for you!!!

("mamie" has lovingly deemed this caroline's "sexy pose":)

so...i promise, the argentina blog is coming! ben is going to have to work on his pics this weekend.

meanwhile...quick update on our little caroline! while still "little" according to the percentile charts...she is already 8.5 months old! she actually started crawling about a month ago, and i have yet to get a video of it..but here are some "still" shots:)

catch me if you can!

speaking of still...that she is NOT!! little miss c is very busy these days getting into her brothers toys, locating every electrical cord in the house, saying "da-da-da" over and over along with various other syllables and loud shrieks/noises, and most recenty...she has started waving bye-bye!! she continues to thoroughly enjoy the unlimited free entertainment supplied by her big brothers, and they in turn think they are pretty cool for being able to make her laugh at well...just about anything! the past week, that included ben david's robot impersonation (actually...that's kind of been ben david's preferred method of communication as of late, james of course doing his best to imitate). we continue to enjoy this little girl and her sweet demeanor!

while we are all pretty ready for some warmer weather, the boys did get our for a few moments to play in our march snow tuesday morning...

little miss c was content to watch from the window. actually...i think she secretly wanted to join her brothers, but that will have to wait until next year!:)

Sunny Days

Last weekend ben took a few pics of the boys playing outside on one of the beautiful warm days we had...here are a few shots! james was a bit more interested in posing for the camera than ben david this time around. makes me eager for spring and more outside time!!

in addition...stay tuned for a great blog on ben's recent trip to argentina with his buddies, claudio and andreas!

Spiritual Truths from the Three Little Pigs

this post is more for my benefit...the funny little conversations you have with your kids are priceless and if i don't record them somewhere, i know i will never remember in years to come! the other day, ben david and i were playing blocks together. he actually, brought up the idea of having a "good foundation"...
ben david: "mommy, you know we should make sure we have a good foundation before we start building."
me: (thinking...wow...what a teachable moment!!) "you are right ben david!! that reminds me of the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. do you remember that story??"
ben david: "yes!"
me: "it sure was important to have a strong foundation when the floods came wasn't it. how about the foolish man who built his house on the sand? do you remember what happened to him?"
ben david: "yes! (and with great gusto) they huffed, and they puffed....and the blew his house down...not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!!!"

and there you have it. matthew 7 meets the three little pigs.
when you think about it, those three little pigs did indeed have a lot in common with the wise and the foolish man. i can see how the stories could get mixed up in a little almost 4yo's mind. in fact...this might even be good sermon material.
until our next "teachable" moment...

Just One More Sled Ride...PLEASE!!!

so, this picture was just too cute not to post!

let me preface by saying that in addition to our fun sledding adventure at the wrays last weekend, the boys also had a great time sledding with their anderson cousins!

today, ben and evan had an impromtu playdate with all the peeps...and this pic was captured!

apparently, james and annascott took it upon themselves to get this sled out of the garage and bring it to the dads, requesting just one more sled ride!!

these two are both quite independent little ones and the fact that they are exhibiting "teamwork" here is impressive!!

now, if we could just get them a little snow:)

Winter the "Wright Wray"

with the snow and ice came some fun adventures at mamie and deuces! there was much fun to be had with our wray cousins, and as with most things involving ben and dan...this too was creative, exciting...and a bit crazy! but DEFINITELY VERY FUN and VERY DIFFERENT!!! i mean, who else out there can say they got pulled behind a tractor in the snow that weekend??? like amy said...this is redneck sledding at it's best! and special thanks to amy for these pics!!

sweet giggles