Spokane

 Cousin Biker Gang:  Funny because lincoln did not have a bike but was happy to run along...

 

We went on a picnic on mount spokane and the boys invented this fun game called "Tackle the Mama"  they would run at me full speed while I tried to snap a few pictures.  It was all fun and games until Calder threw his shoulder into it and the impact made even Shane groan in empathy.  And that is telling you something because Shane has zero sympathy or empathy for me ever.  I shook it off though. 

 

 Calder's serious look...he is 24 in this picture.

 The girls.  BFF's BFF's for EVER and EVER... as the kids say these days.

 Love this kid who loved the strawberries.  Especially, the GREEN strawberries...

 Well, hello there Shane.  Nice to meet you.  This look is exactly one I have seen on his father many many times.  They are so alike.  Same skin tone, same red red cheeks whenever they are hot.  Same squint into the sun.  

Picking berries with grandma and verrrry very overdue auntie...

We have been to Spokane two times this summer!  It has been awesome.  Everyone received various grades on their car riding behavior.  Tayler usually earns an A+.  The three boys in the family rarely receive above a B....but....it all averages out.  This was our first trip.  Strawberry season was just starting and we were all patiently awaiting the new baby niece/nephew to be born.  That baby stayed put for a while!  On this trip Tayler brought her friend Hannah and we just hung out and played.

Calder Turns Four

Calder turned FOUR! (Back in June).  We celebrated his four years of life with a small get together. The BEST part of Calder's birthday was the present that Tayler gave him.  She picked out a toy chain saw and I will remember the first time he played with it for the rest of my life.  He was so proud.  He donned his safety goggles, walked out to the maple tree in our front yard, and started sawing away.  After a few seconds he stopped looked right at me and said, "mom, it's not working" in the most serious tone I have ever heard come out of his mouth.  You see, he thought the chainsaw really would cut down the tree and it came as quite a shock that it would not.  I thought that we were going to have a meltdown on out hands but he took it all in stride and happily "cut down" many other things around our yard for the rest of the morning.   BOYS.

Calder,
You are a handful.  You are all boy and three has been a tough year.  You have strong opinions and are stubborn (which, we can't be too upset about because you get that from both your parents).  You are either loving on your brother or fighting with your brother.  There is no in-between.  You are always loving on your sister.  We love you more than all the moon and stars.  You have a fiery little personality and life would not be interesting without you.  Dad tells you every night that he is proud of you.  It is true. 
We love all of you, Mom and Dad

 



Ice Cream Cake for actual birthday (Trick Candles are the best with 4 year olds)

Shane's Birthday

Waaaay back in March Shane had a birthday. We celebrated with grandma and grandpa westby and ate burgers and yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  It was a good day but I wanted to put up this picture of the Westby's.

Lincoln wasn't having the worst time of his life...I promise.  And Calder...I don't even know.

 

Serial Casting

 

Calder had his first serial casting.  He will probably do this every few years for...well, probably forever.  He did great.  He did not complain at all.  Serial casting involved going to Children's Hospital every Monday and Thursday for three weeks.  At each appointment his old cast would be taken off, his Achilles would be stretched and a new cast would be put on.  Everyone signed his cast and drew pictures every time which was fun.  You can see how his little toes are curled a little in the picture above...every night we would stretch those toes to try to get them to loosen up a little.  Overall, he gained some range of motion with the casting.  The biggest change we see is that in the morning he is more "loose" before he would be up on his toe first thing in the morning until he was stretched out again.  The reason we are doing serial casting is to, hopefully, put of Achilles lengthening surgery for as long as possible and the more his Achilles is stretched the less it will be shortening.   I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Children's Hospital is a great place.  By our second appointment the front desk people recognized us and were ready with all of our badges, wrist bands, etc (security is pretty tight).  Sometimes, Calder complains about wearing his AFO but he is a trooper.  A lot of kids with CP will just refuse to wear their braces (tear them off) which causes all sorts of problems. 

 A lot of ferry riding for this kid during the procedures.

Lincoln is Two

Lincoln turned two back on April third.  We had a little party.  We sang and ate donuts and played.
This kid is a cute two year old.

Lincoln,
 You have started talking more and more.  Your talking is much different from your older siblings.  You think about every word and then push each word out of your little body with such force that it is comical.  You are big on hugs and kisses.  Giving not getting.  You throw your arms around my neck squeeze tight and then plants a big kiss on my lips...but if I try to do the same to you-no way.  You want to play tag as soon as Dad is home from school, "Play. Tag. Dad.?"  Lincoln, you watch your brother like a hawk and copy every single thing he does.  If he says something you repeat it.  This has caused some arguments between the two of you.  You ask about T all of the time.  Where is T?  T in her room mom?  T outside mom?  And then you hide your face and play shy.  It is adorable. You are afraid of Chocolate.  Her tail is just face height and you have been accidentally whipped in the face one too many times.  When I pick you up you say, "Hair Move Mom"  You hate to rest your head on my hair.  You sleep in a big boy bed now.  You moved out of a crib just a few months after Calder.  You were about 18 months old...and would not stop climbing out in the middle of the night.  It was ridiculous.  You climb everything.  Shelves, book cases, ladders, trees...  We love you so much.  Even though we might not act like it when you come ambling out of bed at 4:45 in the morning with a giant grin on your face.  We love you. 
Mom and Dad

Fun Run

The

 

The Vikingfest Fun Run was this weekend. Is it May already?  I still have to write about April...

The boys did so great!  T was not home and wasn't really interested in running anyway so it worked out.  The boys start running young.  This race is technically for four year olds.  But, they don't mind if you sneak a three year old in. Well, the last two years we have SNUCK a two year old in.  Last year we snuck in two year old Calder and this year we snuck in two year old Lincoln AND three year old Calder.

Before the run. 

Run Run Run.  Lincoln had the funniest run. 

 Right after the last picture Calder stopped dead in his tracks.  The only thing we can figure is he was waiting for Lincoln to make sure he wasn't left behind.  Whatever he was doing it allowed me to get this solo shot of him.

Ribbons and Popsicles at the finish line. 

Football

As we all know, the Seahawks won the superbowl.  The boys in our house had a lot of fun cheering on the team (not really, the two little boys could care less but they have fun pretending).  Tayler and Shane get pretty into it.  For the NWC championship game the Wynne family came over.  It was really fun to watch the boys playing.  They rode their hot wheels/car around and around the house.  Then at the very end of the game they watched a little.

 TOUCHDOWN!

 Also, what we have here is a One year old, two year old and three year old (out of order).

 

Grandma Karene was over for the Superbowl and it was really fun watching.  Calder was most excited about the skittles (he only got a few but he loved them)! 

 Also, I found this cool shirt on-line.  I thought it was pretty funny so I ordered it for Shane.  Bronco Busters!  But then I found out our friend Brian has the same shirt only he has the original one...so Shane's is less cool than that but still cool.

The boys go to bed at 7pm so they were in Pj's before the game was over.