Happy Baby Benjamin!

Benjamin is SO happy when he wakes up! I just have to get a picture sometimes when I go in and find him jumping and smiling and ready to see me. It always makes me smile too!

Random Happenings

Most every friday the kids and I go to Jason's deli right after we pick up Grace and get ice cream. It's a little things that we have all come to really look forward to as we start the weekend!

Grace wearing her "Mississippi Cotton Ball" aka "Mississippi fuzz ball" that Aunt Suzanna gave her.

Sometimes friends come for ice cream too and that's really really fun!

Our swing set is full! 

Grace Girl-- working on a cartwheel

One Friday was Talk Like a Pirate day at Krispy Kreme. You had to dress and talk like a pirate to get a free dozen doughnuts. We did it and had fun to boot!

Don't hate me when your'e big, Ben. 

Benny Boy loves the swing!

And he LOVES to eat! He eats oatmeal for breakfast every morning. Yogurt most days for lunch, and loves chicken and dumplings (pictured here), veggie soup, lasagna, beans and rice or just about anything else for supper (but we usually have one of these every week)

We are Go-Fish Pros!

Lately we have been stopping by Granny and Papa's house once a week or so for home made popsicles and swinging outside. It's so nice to live near grandparents!!!

Ben is starting to hang with the big boys. ;)

Where Are The Kids Hanging Out Lately?

Just look for the Bikes!

3 of the 5 families on our street will move from 2-3 kids this year! 4 of the 5 have a full-time stay-at-home mom around. What a blessing it is to live where we do!

Louisiana Tech Bricks!

A few weekends ago Andrew came to Ruston for a football game and we met him for lunch and a walk around campus. Then Jonathan stayed with Andrew and Papa and the kids, Granny and I came back to Shreveport. (Football games are really not so much fun with little kids). We had a great time walking around and finding our bricks and visiting. The other Nida boy cousins came too!

Nida Boys

 2 of the 3 kids and Jonathan's brick.

 1 of the 3 kids and my brick. Grace could NOT find my name... turns out she was looking for "Abbie Nida" not "Abigail Milford". Things change, you know.

 5 cousins together

 and sweet little Benny Baby.

 And one last picture of me and the big kids who were hot and not in the mood to take a picture in front of the great Wyly tower of learning. HA!

Two Front Teeth

Grace apparently takes after me when it comes to pulling teeth. She drew a picture of what it feels like to have 2 front teeth ready to come out! It HURTS! But she is way to scared to pull them. I really love this picture though.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

I can't believe little baby Jack Nida is 4 years old! He is such a blessing to our family and we are SO thankful for him! He makes us laugh ALL the time and just has the best personality! Jack is very much into all things boy, especially sword fighting and The Chronicles of Narnia. Granny got him children's set of the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe books that he reads over and over and over (especially the battle part). He also likes the movies (even the old BBC versions!). For his birthday he wanted to have a battle with his friends and pretend to be King Peter, so that what we did! We had a Narnia birthday party! My pictures are out of order, but you'll get the drift of our fun day...

 I made horses out of pool noodles for races to chase the white stag. This was a lot more popular than I anticipated.

 The biggest hit with the boys was the sword fighting. The weather was so nice and cool outside even though it was early September, that they were able to run and basically beat each other up for an hour. all over the yard.

 Since most of the kids didn't know the story, I read them an abbreviated version of the book when they arrived and then handed out costumes I made from fabric found on the sale and dollar tables. The boys dressed as "knights" and the girls had "princess capes".

 I made red velvet cupcakes and buttercream icing and they had hot chocolate in goblets with "golden" plates and silverware.

 I covered the front door in brown paper and drew the wardrobe door on it. Jack thought this was great!

 The cake was super easy -- Aslan walking in the snow with four gold candles. :)

 The birthday "Banquet Hall".

 All of the kids made poster board crowns when the arrived.

 The princesses enjoyed many many cupcakes while the knights spent their time in battle.

 They also spent much more time decorating their crowns. :)

 Jack also chose to have Strawn's strawberry pie for breakfast.

 King Peter the Magnificent!

 Our crazy family on a crazy but super fun day celebrating our crazy and super fun 4 year old!!!

Sick Eyes and Hugs

All the kids have been sick. Ugh. This is really the only bad thing about have lots of kids. When sickness enters our home it seems like it can take forever to pass through everyone and make it's way out! Grace had a bad cold all last week and then this weekend Jack started showing symptoms and even running fever. Then Ben decided he couldn't be left out either! So lots of ear drops and eye drops and dr visits and pharmacy runs and sleepless night and tears and tears and more tears later I think we are finally (fingers crossed) coming out of the fog. And not a bit too soon because I'm pretty sure I've been confined to the house for a solid week other than the dr office which doesn't count.

BUT even though they are sick I catch these boys doing sweet things like this when I walk into the room. They really really do love each other and play SO well 99% of the time... Even when feeling yucky.

What a blessing! I LOVE having three kids even it does mean a little more work sometimes. :)