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!!

Okay, I know I've been a slacker on updating our blog. I will try to be better. We have had a ton of stuff going on here, everyone has been sick, and I haven't been feeling real motivated to get it done. Oh well, you are all up to date now on our life here in the great state of Ohio. In case anyone has not heard yet, Larry was accepted into the Pediatric Dentistry program here at Case Western and will be starting in June. He is very excited, and we are excited for him. The fact that we have an extra two years here isn't necessarily a joyous thing, but it's okay. We have enjoyed our time here and have good friends here, so I am sure it will be over before we know it. Time seems to fly by lately anyway. I can't believe it's already March! The kids are doing great in school, and Asher and Rhyan keep me busy and entertained at home. Larry works all the time, and we definitely don't see him as much as we like, but one day that will change. Life is busy and good, we have definitely have a lot to be grateful for.

BFF's

Asher and Rhyan have become best buds lately. I think that the fact that Mayson and Kaleb are gone all day has made Rhyan need a new friend. She is so fun to watch with him. He thinks she is hilarious and is always laughing at her, which of course encourages her to be even more silly. I love watching them.

Just Another Night in Cleveland

Well... this one is up mainly for my mom's sake. I know how much she loves the area here! It's always great when the neighbors start calling you to see what is wrong and you have no clue what they are talking about until you look out the window and have a van parked in you driveway and police cars all around. Apparently they pulled this guy over and he pulled over in our driveway. So, after they pulled him out of his car, searched him and his car, and had someone else come to drive it away the excitement for the night was over. Who pulls into someone's drive way when you get pulled over by the cops?? Only in Cleveland. After there were cop cars on the street again a couple nights ago, Larry and I have decided that this seems to be happening more frequently lately. We have been very lucky, we've had no issues since we've been here. Only two years and four months left. Hopefully we'll make it out unscathed!

My Snuggly Baby

Can I tell you how much I love having little babies who like to snuggle with me. Asher is so sweet. He loves to be held and will lay his head on your shoulder and snuggle with you. That, and he's kind of in love with his mom right now, which is totally okay with me. I can't believe he is almost nine months old. My baby is growing up! He is almost crawling, but he doesn't really need to because he can get pretty much anywhere he wants by rolling and pulling himself around. He is quite impressed with the fact that he can eat big people food now, and let me tell you... he loves to eat. There's a reason he is so plump. He has also figured out how to put a binky in his mouth all by himself, and as you can see in the last picture, he is quite impressed with himself that he can do it!

Chubby Baby in the Tub

Asher loves to take a bath. He has discovered splashing and toys and can't quite figure out the trick of where his hands go to when he puts them in the water and they disappear under the bubbles.He's such a chub and so cute!
Hmmm...what is this? It looks delicious!
Below you can see that Asher is quite pleased with himself for having successfully gotten Rhyan's Boots bath toy and no one has taken it away from him yet.
If Barbie could talk... "Someone help me please! My foot has been swallowed up by mounds of rolling flesh!"

Elmo Live

Rhyan got tickets to go to Elmo Live for Christmas this year. The whole ride down to playhouse square she was singing the Elmo's World song. Then, when we got there she was all full of questions. "Is this where Melmo lives? Where's Melmo? Is Melmo in the shower?" She was so cute. We got inside and she got her drink, and was eating her M&M's and having a great time watching Elmo, Ernie, Big Bird & Cookie Monster. Of course, all the other characters were there too, but those were the only ones she was very concerned about. At intermission she really wanted to go up and see Elmo and was pretty concerned about whee he went. Anyway, we finished out the show and then we were back to the "where's Melmo? Is he playing with his friends?" I tried to convince her that he had to go to bed too because it was late, so then it changed to "when can we come see Melmo again?" She is so dang cute. It is so fun when they are little like her and so excited about things!

Mayson's Winter Concert

The kindergarten kids had their annual winter concert at school, and as always it was fun to watch them sing. They sang and danced about penguins and snowflakes and such. Mayson was excited, and her and her friend Jenna decided we needed a picture of them to put up.

City Council Meeting

The kids were invited to the City Council Meeting and presented with certificates for their contributions to the community. Our school does the bear drive every Christmas and donates them to Providence House and Rainbow Babies Hospital to give to the children there. This year the school collected two thousand bears. The student council was being recognized for helping to put together this project, and Kaleb is his class rep for student council this year. Plus, they specially recognized those who brought in the most bears. Thanks to our bear collector neighbor Judy across the street, the kids brought in 42 bears each. So, Kaleb and Mayson were both recognized for their contributions.

Oxford is a Cool School!

Well, it's official. Oxford is indeed a cool school. The FOX8 news team came for a pep rally and they had a blurb on the news about Oxford. The kids were extremely excited about the whole thing, and Chick-fil-A was there giving them these little stuffed cows and free for certificates. As you can see, Rhyan was not impresses with having to sit for the pep rally, but she thought the cow was pretty cool.

Asher Pictures

Here's our cutie pie Asher. He is such a happy, smiley baby. He is totally intrigued with Ziggy, and anytime he is around just sits there and watches him. Or, if he is within reach grabs him or tries to climb on him. Thankfully Ziggy is very good natured about it.
As you can see below, the girls love to dress Asher up in fancy accessories. Here he has on Rhyan's hat... but sometimes its the pink bunny slippers or something equally as girly!

Sisters

I just had to put these pictures of my girls up. They can be so dang cute sometimes, and as you can see, they love having a sister to play with. They were wrestling and tickling each other and I just thought they were too cute to pass a up on a picture.

Mayson Loses her 1st Tooth

Mayson came down one morning and said her tooth was really loose and going to fall out. It was really loose, so I asked her if she wanted me to give it a yank. After a little of Larry's topical anesthetic and a few twists it was out. She was so proud. She called dad up to let him know and showed everyone at school. The tooth next to it was loose too, but not anywhere near loose enough for me to want to try to pull it out. Anyway, two days later on Saturday while we were cleaning the attic, her and Rhyan were playing and apparently Rhyan head butted her, because the next thing I hear is Mayson telling me that Rhyan knocked her tooth out with her head. So, we couldn't find the tooth so we vacuumed, and Larry went through the gunk and found the tooth. So, as you can see in the next picture, Mayson is now down two teeth and quite proud of the bigger hole in her smile.