Chase

This past weekend, my sister and her little boy Chase came into town for the weekend. It was beginning to be a nice little visit until my mom, Kaitlyn, Savannah, and Carrie all came down with a nasty virus. So I took Chase out for the afternoon to play and visit my Dad.

Here are a few pictures:

Baby Shower!!!

Today we had Vanessa's baby shower! It was precious! Everything turned out wonderful and we all had a nice time. Baby Girl got tons of cute outfits! She will be the best dressed baby in Lake County!

I didn't get a ton of pictures (too busy talking and hosting!) but here are the few I did get. They aren't very clear....apparently I had something on my lens.

Thanks to everyone who came!!!

Doors

Recently Owen has been having issues with doors. When they open, no matter where they lead, he makes a bee line for them. And if they close, he has a meltdown. It is especially bad if Mommy or Daddy goes out and then shuts the door behind them. Check out this video:

Savannah's Silly Shots

This evening Savannah got a hold of the camera and decided to have an up close and personal photo session with Owen. Check out some of her best shots!!!

Forked, Play Date, and Head Shaving!

This week the Oliver house experienced a first. We got forked! We have been rolled at least three times since Mike has been a high school teacher but never had the honor of being forked - that is until Sunday night :)

Poor Kate got into a little trouble on Monday morning so she was tasked with deforking the yard. :) Fortunately for her they only forked a small concentrated area. In my opinion, not a great effort.

That same afternoon Owen had a play date with his favorite gal (other than me and his sisters) Abigail.

Today Mike decided to shave his head and to let the girls do it. Brave man!!!

I think the girls did a great job! Of course as soon as Owen laid eyes on Mike's new haircut, he cried and hid his face :)

Father's Day 2011

This year for Father's Day, Mike decided that rather than have a lot of gifts or go out for dinner, he wanted to do some fun family activities....this almost always makes me a little nervous :)

We started the day by going to church.

Then we came home and packed a picnic lunch and headed out to Hidden Waters Preserve for a little mid-morning hike.

It was pretty darn hot out and we figured out later that we actually walked about 2 miles, most of which was on sandy and uneven ground which was difficult with the stroller.

I may be smiling in this photo, but in reality I was hating life!! :) It was so stinking HOT! After an hour, we were all feeling like this:

On the way out there was a field of cows and we stopped to see if we could pet them. I was the only one who actually touched one - they were pretty uninterested when they figured out we didn't have any food :)

We stopped at the exit and ate our picnic lunch. Man were we ever happy to get back in the air conditioning :)

After lunch, we came home and had Daddy open his gifts and cards.

Then we went over to my Mom's house and took a quick dip in the pool.

After swimming, we had worked up quite the appetite so Mike grilled us up some yummy steaks for dinner! It was a nice day together as a family celebrating Daddy :)

A lot of fun with a little napkin :)

Last night after dinner, Owen swiped someone's napkin and had a ball with it! Check out the video :)

Movie Night!

Last night Kaitlyn went for an overnight girls night with Mike's Aunt Debbie so Savannah had the house to herself. Mike and I took her to Blockbuster to pick out a movie. She chose The Little Mermaid 2. Mike and I also got a movie so we talked Savannah into watching her movie on the laptop in her room. Check out her set-up!!!

And here is Owen trying out another way of crawling!!!!!

He's got his arms and legs straight with his little tush in the air!!! So funny :)

Little Houdini

Lately I have been calling Owen Little Houdini. Every time I turn around he's gone! Even though he hasn't perfected the normal crawl, he is super fast with his belly or army crawl. He loves to follow his sisters around the house! We are having to get into the habit of closing gates and closing doors to keep him out of the girls rooms where there is an endless supply of choking hazards!

Last night I was cleaning up the kitchen while Mike was getting the girls into the shower. I looked up and Owen was no where to be found! After a moment of searching, I found him in Savannah's room looking at her books! So cute!!!

That makes two teachers proud!!! Then he tried out traditional crawling :)

He seems to really want to crawl normally and he has even perfected getting back into a sitting position from laying on his belly (I was very impressed!) but I think when he can't get where he needs to get fast enough, he just flops down on that belly and goes!!! :)

A New Pace

Even though school has only been out two days, we are already operating at a totally new pace. In the morning the girls and I are able to sleep in about a half an hour longer! And in the evenings, there is no homework, no rushing through the dishes and the baths to get the kids into bed at a certain time. Tonight after dinner, we played outside for over an hour!!!

Here is Kate blowing bubbles and flying the paper airplane that Mike made for her.

As usual, Savannah is upset about something and having a meltdown :)

And here is Owen swinging in his swing. He looks totally different from 6 months earlier! What a big boy he has grown to be!!! :)