Aiden's Writing

Aiden has recently become very interested in writing letters and numbers. He is now writing his name almost completely without looking. Here is a sample of his recent work. He wrote the one on top and then I wrote it the correct way for him to copy. The kindergarten teacher in me wants him to do it with only the 'A' capitalized and the rest lower case letters. We really proud of him! Oh, I should also note that he is starting to orally spell words like cat, pig, mom, and dad. He'll be reading in no time!

Lowe's Build and Grow Workshop

We recently got some information about the free build and grow workshops that Lowe's puts on a couple times a month. Even though the kids are a little bit young, we thought we'd try it. We made see through planters. They provided everything including the dirt and tomoto seeds. The kids even got really cute Lowe's aprons and safety goggles. :) Malachi and Madelynn (showing off her planter)
Everyone working hard!

Malachi so anxiously waiting to open his planter kit. (sorry about the sideways picture)

Aren't they cute?!?!

We had a really good time and are excited to trying out some more of the workshops in the future.

First Baseball Game - Toledo Mud Hens

We decided it would be fun to take the kids to their first baseball game during the Toledo Mud Hens' opening weekend. We had fun and the kids did pretty well considering they are 3 years old. We hope to do more games this summer.

They are so cool looking in their shades and Mud Hens attire!

Family shot!

Enjoying ball park food. I swear all we did that day was eat! :)

A cute picture that I just HAD to include!

Fun With Friends

During spring break we were invited to go to a hotel with our friends for the night and enjoy spending time together with all six kids and four adults. We spent a huge amount of time in the pool, but unfortunately I didn't take my camera to the pool with us. Here are a couple of fun shots from our room.

This is how our trip started the night at bed time. Aren't they sweet?!?!

I went to get a drink with Chris at Red Lobster across the street from the hotel and this is what I saw when I got back. Josh informed me that this was the 3rd position that Malachi had been in since falling asleep. At one point he was laying on the floor. :)

This is the best of the group shots that I was able to get. It's not easy trying to get 6 kids to sit still for a picture. :)

Thanks again Chris and Josh for the invitation. We had such a great time with you. Hopefully there will be lots more time spent together this summer.

Easter Bunny

As promised, here are the pictures of the kids with the Easter Bunny this year. No tears! :) The first picture is the best one we got with everyone looking towards the camera and smiling. The second one is the funniest because they all have hilarious looks on their faces and no one is looking the same way. Only the bunny is looking at the camera.

Dome Climber

For Christmas Bryan (the trio's Godfather) and Cyndi got the kids a dome climber. It's been sitting in the box ready to be put together and just waiting for warmer weather to do it. We finally did it and the kids have really enjoyed it. They aren't climbing beyond the row at shoulder height, but we're okay with that! :) The kids saying "thank you" to Bryan and Cyndi for the cool toy and the shirts!
Demonstrating how it's done.

I decided to take advantage of them playing and take some more natural shots of the kids. These are a few of my favorites.Malachi James

Madelynn Mai

Aiden Cooper

Thank you Bryan and Cyndi for the cute shirts and the VERY cool toy. The kids run to it every time we go outside and it's big enough that they'll have years of fun on it.

Easter Highlights

It's been a really long time since I've posted, but to my defense, I haven't been able to get pictures to load on the blog, email, or facebook and I had been trying for at least a week. Anyways, I'm going to try and catch up with the past two months of our lives. Lets start with Easter. We enjoyed a peaceful day at home with Grandma and Grandpa Ketola and Grandma Callahan. It was so relaxing and the kids had a great time playing with their new things from the Easter Bunny. Showing off their new pajamas from the Easter Bunny.

Showing the eggs they found in our first Easter day egg hunt in the back yard. Madelynn is a great collector! After the hunt, they dumped all the eggs in a pile and shared.

Malachi enjoying his new Veggie Tales DVD and CD's. He would NOT let go of them!

Aiden got Wii Music from the Easter Bunny. He is addicted to the Wii!

Madelynn checking out her princess/Dora theme basket.

Malachi checking out the colored eggs.

Aiden and Madelynn really getting into the process.

Making no bake Easter egg nest cookies at Grandma Callahan's house. Malachi tasted most of his jelly beans BEFORE putting them on the cookie. :)

I took pictures of the kids in a giant Easter basket that I borrowed from work. Here is Aiden's best picture.

Madelynn had way too many to choose from. She loves posing for the camera.

Malachi wouldn't sit and pose for any shots, but I managed this one when he finally stopped for a break. I absolutely LOVE this shot!

My favorite shot of the day!

This was the best group shot from our little photo shoot. Not too bad!

I have a picture of the kids with the Easter Bunny too. I'll post that later.