Assorted November Pictures and Thanksgiving

 

Yes, I did take a picture of the wall Aaron colored.  Third child, first crayon on the wall.

 

Aaron wasn't so happy I scolded him and then tried to make him stand by the wall to take a picture of him with his masterpiece.

Aaron was a very tired boy after Grandma and Uncle Josh visited.  This is lunch, just a few hours after they left.

We had a "Girls Afternoon" and went shopping for Christmas presents.  The 11 Chase cousins do a gift exchange, and it was extra fun this year for the girls to pick things out themselves.  They also helped me wrap the presents.

Aaron looks like such a big boy after his first buzz.  Nothing too short, but still a pretty dramatic difference.

Thanks Grandma and Auntie Jessi for the fashionable Thanksgiving outfits!

Aaron got a shirt too.  Happy Thanksgiving!

It's tough to get all those cousins together and behaving for a picture.  I think this was the silly picture, though it's pretty close to what all the "nice" pictures looked like.  Cousin Peyton had already escaped by the time we did this one, just as Aaron had managed to slip away at the beginning and nobody noticed for several shots!

Aaron's Big Boy Shoes

 

Thanks Grandma!

 

(Look at me with two posts so close together!)

Let's Get Caught Up OR I Finally Feel Like Doing Anything

Hello again... sorry it's been so long.  I vow to do better.  In the last 2 or 3 weeks I have finally started to feel like getting things done, and updating this blog is one of those things.  Here are some pictures from the last couple months.  They're in reverse order, so the most recent are first.  I'm too tired tonight to try to rearrange them all...

 

Happy Halloween from Cinderella, the Cowboy/Sheriff, and Snow White.  (Yippee for winter jackets underneath!)

We recently had a vacation at Camp Okoboji for one whole week.  It was wonderful, except that it rained for 3.5 days.  We didn't get to the playground or hiking trails as much as we would have liked, but we rocked the games, crafts, and stories.  Here Norah is reading to Maggie and Aaron before bedtime.

We visited Tim's Godparents on our way home from Camp.  Isn't this a lovely family picture?  It's been a while since we've had one.  I guess we're all looking at the other camera though...

They had quite a few barn/farmyard cats and kittens.  All three kids LOVED them.  Maybe we should get one.  It could eat all the mice that seem to want to live in our house.  Ick!

Is this a senior picture pose or what?!

Pure joy on that boy's face!

Norah played soccer this Fall on a team of girls ages 4-6.  She was the youngest, and it was rough at first.  I'm not sure she really gets the game yet, though by the end she'd do everything except try to get after the ball when it was among other kids.  We'll work on the aggression next year!  Norah cried for days once we made her understand soccer was over for the year.

Aaron has to do everything like his sisters!  I'm not kidding... he even cries to have a pony tail put in his hair sometimes.

And the boy already doesn't listen when Mommy says, "Don't do that."  This still makes me laugh!

Norah is enjoying being homeschooled and having Mom for her teacher.  Here she's doing some math work with manipulatives.  Maggie and Aaron are big fans of math too!  Norah has terrific handwriting, a great mind for math, and LOVES to read.  She'll have no trouble working her way through all the Kindergarten (at only a young age 4!!!) material we have planned for this year.

Aaron got his first haircut in September.  We were very sad to see all his precious curls cut off, but they are coming back a little now that he needs another trim.  This picture reflects well how Aaron felt about the whole thing.  I held him on my lap and was covered in his hair after trying to wrestle him still the whole time.

Just in case you missed our big announcement!  We will be welcoming our 4th baby at the end of April, approximately.  As I said before, my energy has returned.  As of today I am 15 and a half weeks.  My next appointment is Wednesday, but all is well so far.  I lost 11 pounds (still had plenty of cushion, don't worry!), and have now gained 1 or 2 back.

Big things in our pretty boring life... Aaron isn't taking a morning nap anymore.  This was a common site at lunch for a couple weeks until Aaron got used to it.  The girls thought this was just hilarious, and Aaron would get so annoyed when their giggling would wake him back up.  :)