What am I going to do about my big sisters....

Mayson got ahold of Asher this morning and prettied him up. He's smiling on the outside, but on the inside you know he's thinking "Why did I have to be born last!? If I was bigger than you I'd never have to endure such treatment!"

Pine Wood Derby

Kaleb had his pine wood derby yesterday, and he did awesome. He got second and we were really proud of him. The car that won was neck and neck with Kaleb the whole time. They raced a few times, and Kaleb's won a few times and the other boy's won a few times. The other boys just happened to win the last one, which was the tie breaker. He was really excited though and had a lot of fun! Notice the cool paint job that Kaleb did all by himself.

Spring Break Fun

Besides our trip to Kentucky, we also went to the Children's Museum and Playground World this week. It was fun to have the kids home to play with, and to not have to worry about a schedule. I think they are sad to have to go back tomorrow!

Mammoth Cave, KY

So for spring break this year we were trying to come up with something fun to do with the kids, and we got the suggestion to go to the mammoth caves in Kentucky. So Larry took a couple fo days off work and we were off. We stayed in a cabin at Jelly stone Park, and let me tell you, I have decided that this is my kind of camping! We had a bathroom with a shower, always a bonus, a full kitchen, there was a set of bunk beds for the kids, a futon for one of them and a separate room for Larry and I. We had a front porch with rocking chairs and of course, you have to have a fire pit for marshmallows. It was cheaper than a hotel, and way more fun. Plus, with the kitchen we got to cook all of our meals so it saved a lot there too. It was a great vacation, and we loved the cave tours we got to do.




Here you see some of Rhyan's personality coming out. We have decided she is going to be the joker in the family. The really creepy looking picture above is her fish face. She does it quite often and thinks she is really funny.



Here you see Asher in heaven! This is his first experience with Trix, and as you can tell by the look on his face - he is impressed!

Mammoth Cave - New Entrance: This was one of the tours we did at Mammoth Cave National Park. The Mammoth Cave system is the longest cave system in the world. There are 367 known miles of rooms and passageways in this cave, and they say that every year they discover more. It is amazing! There is a year round constant temperature of 54º so it was comfortable inside with a jacket on. This tour takes you through a manmade entrance to the cave, and you have over 500 steps to get down and out at the other opening. You go down through all these narrow passageways and go into different rooms. This is one of the only parts of the mammoth cave system that is wet, so there are stalactite and stalagmites and other formations in this part of the cave. One of the most famous is the frozen Niagara. It looks like a waterfall in the rock - very cool! This tour was mine and Larry's favorite of the four tours we did. It was really fun and Rhyan held my hand and walked the whole way. Thats a lost of stairs for her little legs, we were impressed!

Mammoth Cave - Mammoth Passage: The Mammoth Caves are huge, so we did two of the tours they offered. They have a whole list of them, but this was all we could afford, and that the kids could handle. This you go in through a natural entrance, so you just walk do the hill and there it is. The tour takes you though one of the largest rooms in the cave, and shows you where they did some of their mining for stuff to make gunpowder out of during the war of 1812. Almost all of the Mammoth Cave system is dry caves, so there weren't any formations in this area, but it was impressive for the sheer size of it.

Diamond Caverns: The cave was beautiful! It was a wet cave, and is definitely what you think of when you think cave. It is just covered in stalactite and stalagmite and cave bacon and other rock formations. It was really pretty and the kids liked the "cave kisses" when they were getting dripped on throughout the cave. When we were in the car looking for the cave entrance before we went in, I was joking to Larry that they just built the building on top of it so no one else could get to it. Well... that's exactly what they did. You go in the building and down a set of steps and there is the entrance to the cave with an archway built around it and a gate.

Lost River Cave: This cave was really cool because you get to ride a boat into it. The river bubbles out of the ground and starts at the blue hole (the first picture), runs about 400', then disappears into the ground. So at the mouth of the cave you take a boat in, and have to duck down as low as you can because the boat itself (nothing more than a metal raft, no roof or anything) barely fits underneath the rock at the opening of the cave. It was pretty fun because hunched over as low as you could go the rock was still just barely above your head and the kids liked that they could put their hand up and rub the rock. Apparently back in the day there was a night club at the opening of the cave, which is what the metal awning you see in the picture is from. THey would have a band under that awning, and there was a bar and a dance floor and everything.

Asher is 9 Months Old

Our little baby boy is growing up. He was 9 months old on the 7th and I can't believe how fast it has gone. He now weighs in at 21.5 pounds. He is so chubby, I love it!! He is crawling all over the house, getting into the dog food and water, pulling himself up on the bottom step and anything else low to the ground, he will eat anything he can get in his mouth... or get you to put in there, he is clapping and waving, and is just so dang cute!! I'm thinking he is going to be a talker like his sisters, he loves to sit there and jabber at you about life. We are so lucky to have him in our family. I don't know what we would do without him... I'm really glad we decided to go for number four. He is such a good baby. It amazes me how many people comment to me on how good he is and how happy he is all the time. We spend a lot of time at the kid's school, and he just hangs out and smiles at everyone. I guess we've been really lucky, because he just seems normal to me, all of our babies have been like that. I guess the fact that we have really easy babies is probably part of the reason we actually made it to four!







Funny side note... we were at Costco the other day and the kids were getting samples (can't go to Costco and not get samples!) Anyway, Asher was sitting next to Rhyan in the cart, and he had been leaving her a lone the whole time when we stopped to get a strawberry shortcake sample. I was talking to the sample lady, and I hear a woman behind us laughing. I look at the kids and Rhyan has the saddest look on her face because Asher is practically climbing on top of her and was trying to get her strawberry shortcake in his mouth before she could do anything about it! It was really funny to watch, so after I had realized my neglectful ways, I got him his own sample, and Rhyan was relieved to have one to herself and not have Asher steal it away. He has got quite the personality. He makes us laugh a lot. He has become Rhyan's best bud and she sure loves her baby brother. I love these pictures because they show his personality in some of his expressions. As you can see... he loves to blow raspberries right now.

Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward...My friend Alesha is playing a game on her blog and I decided to do it too. So this is how it works - The first 3 people to leave a comment on this (my) post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Come on! You know you want something from me!!