Matthew turned 4 in a big way! Grammy came out and threw a great pirate party. Matthew LOVED it.

Matthew's costume, which he ended up not wearing.



Viv and Uncle Jason



The blow up pirate ship Grandpa Mike bought for the party



Viv and Grammy



The treasure chests! There were 3 total. Grandpa Mike handmade the chests themselves and drove them out to Houston on his way to Georgia for work





More pirates



I made pirate tops for the girls. Viv also had a black diaper cover and some skull and crossbone shoes. Elise's outfit last about 5 minutes. It came off as soon as she realized that a big slide had been set up in the back yard.





The birthday boy checking out the decor



The hooks, swords, cutlasses for the kids to pick up as they arrived.



The tables





With all of the excitement Viv needed a power nap.



Matthew's cake by Auntie Mari



Singing "Happy Birthday"



The water slide! This thing was a hit.



My birthday pirate





Uncle Duds



Brian. This is the guy who leads our church. He knows how to party.



Mana and Texas Grandmama Carolyn with my girls



My dad made this watermelon shark for the party



I made a loot bag for each of the kids that came to the party. Time consuming but so worth it to see everyone enjoy them.



It was a good day. We're so blessed to have such amazing friends here in Texas.

Ok. Time to play catch-up. We've had a new camera battery for a few weeks, but with my parents in town I haven't had a chance to sit down and really sort through pictures until now.

Viviana and her frog friend waking up from nap time



Matthew and Grandpa spent a lot of time on the computer



Matthew's birthday was on the 21st and we just spent the day doing things he likes to do and eating the foods he likes to eat. The tradition in our house is Shipley Do-nuts on birthday mornings. Matthew loved that.



He got McDonald's for lunch and he got to run around on the playplace for a while. Then for dinner we all headed to Chuck E. Cheese's







Playing the pirate game











Pirate Baby getting ready for Big Brother's birthday party



I think Grandpa has become one of Viviana's favorite people



My parents bought Matthew a LeapPad for his birthday and he loves it. He's sitting next to me playing it as I type this.



The kids enjoy running through the sprinkler and I love the way Viv looks in this almost too small bikini









Another of Matthew's favorite gifts. An Optimus Prime fire station.





Giving his Mana kisses







The kids had their first pool experience last week. We went to Uncle Duds (Dudley) and Auntie Judah's (Judith) house. I think Gilbert had the most fun.

Viv and Auntie Judah



Uncle Duds, Hailey, and Elise









At the park with Grandpa before he went home.



My Captain America



Good times! I'll put Matthew's party in its own post!

I haven't neglected the blog purposely. Our camera battery seems to be on its last leg and we haven't replaced it yet. In addition to that, we've had several not-so-good surprises this week.

On a happier note, Matthew's birthday is coming and we have 4 of his grandparents coming to see him. I hope to have a new camera battery by then.

It's been a long week. I came down with a sore throat on Tuesday and spent the next two days taking it as easy as the kids would allow me. Matthew started complaining of an earache and sore throat on Thursday. Yesterday was spent running around buying diapers, getting Matthew's hair cut, and getting him to the doctor. Turns out he has an ear infection and possible another virus which is causing him to ooze green stuff from his eye. While we were at the pediatrician I had to wipe the same stuff out of Elise's eye. It never ends =). My sore throat is not getting any better and I'm thinking it's time to seek some medical attention... by myself with 3 kids... while Gilbert is driving up to Dallas... Good times =)

Viviana is walking!



Elijah turned 4 and we made our trip up to Spring to celebrate. The kids are always so happy to be together and I love that Elise is old enough to keep up with the boys now.



Viviana enjoying the sun room while everyone else partied outside in the heat.



Matthew's first spider



Matthew asked me to take a picture of us and I was pleasantly surprised with the turn out



Then he asked if we could take another one and I got this



Which quickly turned into this









We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time last weekend and they loved it.

Pizza face



So excited that he had a hard time sitting still while we were waiting for our pizza















Video proof of the Frog's newest accomplishment





Gilbert is on his way up to Dallas right now to pick up our new dog. Pez got out a week and a half ago and we've had no luck finding her. Gilbert was pretty eager to get a new dog so he found one and is headed up to get him today.

Well, let's hope we're all illness free soon. I'm off to figure out where I can see a doctor on a Saturday.