birthday catch up OR a long post about my children

Well I promised some updates and then I didn't do anything. I guess I shouldn't make promises anymore.

I did post Sam's birthday. But I didn't post anyone else's. So here they are.

Luke's birthday was this summer. He still had that crazy hair back then. He made several different faces when asked to smile. He also wanted a monkey cake. I used one from Martha Stewart.

A few things Luke's up to:

He LOVES Henry. Or as he calls him - Hemry. He's always trying to play with him and help him out. Usually he is helpful.

He asked me to teach him how to play the piano. I tried, but Charlie was better at it and Luke knows a song now - which he plays over and over again. I think he's ready for more.

He's starting preschool here pretty soon. It's sad to have him gone, but it will be good for him. He's starting to recognize letters and numbers and he will have a lot of fun.

He is still very attached to his blankie. But he will take substitutes. Which is nice because the blankie gets pretty gross. He calls it his little spot blankie and he has a quilt on his bed he calls his big spot blankie. I love it.

Luke has started pronouncing things correctly. Things like

"Luke" - used to be Wuke or Wukie.

"Charlie" - used to be Chay, then Charwee, now Charlie.

"blankie" - used to be bwankie.

I guess they're all L things, but he over pronounces the L - which I love.

Luke has also started helping around the house. It may take him a while to get a job done, but he can pick up the toys or take out the garbage. He's also a pro at wiping things with a wet washcloth.

Charlie had a birthday recently too. His and Sam's birthdays are entirely too close together. He really wanted a killer whale cake. I wasn't that impressed with my rendition, but I think Charlie was. I used black outline frosting and black sprinkles.

Some things Charlie's up to these days:

He's into duct tape. He's been making bookmarks that he plans to sell at school.

He really loves video games. Most of my time talking to him is spent trying to get him to think of other things to do besides video games. Thankfully there's duct tape.

He LOVES little Henry. All my kids have always loved the babies that come to our house, which I really appreciate. They all talk about when they are going to be dads and have their own kids. Cute.

He loves his math homework. I'm not sure if the teacher has talked him into this or if he really likes it - but every time he comes home with it he tells me how much he loves his math homework. It's pretty funny.

Charlie has also been going to a Jiu-Jitsu gym with Jack and Sam, learning the fine art of arm bars, choke holds and the like. He seems to enjoy it. Although he did take a break for a while and complained to Dan that he thought it was supposed to be more hitting and punching people. (There really is none of that.)

Just a cute photo from Charlie's birthday. We were waiting for some of the kids to arrive so Sam (who also loves duct tape) started showing everyone how to make wallets. One girl didn't want to stop even though we were starting the games.

And while we're here I'll tell you a few things about Sam, since I didn't do that on his birthday post.

Sam loves his duct tape as well and spends a lot of his time making wallets, ipod cases, and iphone cases. He plans to sell them at school soon and has amassed a quite a collection. He has also given many of them away.

Sam likes to do things with his hands and has just learned how to cross-stitch. Some of you may think that's just for girls, but if he turns out to be a surgeon - he will be a very good one.

Sam loves his little brother Henry just like everyone else does. He often gets him up and plays with him if I'm busy sleeping, on the computer doing something else. He can also make him a bottle.

Sam has been helping me a lot lately. I asked him just today to unload the dishwasher. He did it happily. Then I asked him to sweep the floor. He did it happily and when he was done asked if there was anything else he could help with.

Recently Sam saved up a bunch of money. About $50 - a lot for our house. I think he got a lot of it for his birthday, but he had some big plans for it. It has slowly been spent, but always when he buys something for himself, he buys something for his brothers too. Especially the ones with no money.

On to Jack. His birthday was this summer and it turns out I don't have any good photos from it. Dan took a video of us singing Happy Birthday, but I'm not sure I should post a video of a bunch of kids who aren't mine.

So these photos are from Spokane - which I still haven't blogged about.


Here he is with his best friend/cousin Jordan.

A few things about Jack:

He's been taking private cello lessons for about a year now and is almost finished with Suzuki book 1. He enjoys it - which means he's sticking with it. We love it too, but it's hard to get in all the practice time.

He's also taking piano lessons and loves it. He's been playing a lot of Jazz lately which is something I never played. So it's kind of fun to have something different.

Jack is very helpful and an excellent older brother. He makes bottles for Henry, puts his pjs on, changes his wet diapers, and does a lot of jobs.

He still loves Legos. I don't think he'll ever stop loving them.

He is still attached to that hat. If he could wear it to school and church he would.

And even though he hasn't had a birthday - here's what Henry's doing:

He loves to reach up to the piano and play.

He loves to eat food by himself. Lately he loves sweet potatoes, peaches, and bananas.

He is usually a pretty happy guy. But he really hates it when he can tell we're all out here and he doesn't get to be with us (like for a nap). He doesn't want to miss the party.

He loves to find cords and chew on them. I should just put all our old, shorter (non-strangulating) cords in a basket for him to play with. The kids spend a lot of time barricading him or the cords - like in the photo below.

He has the biggest thighs of any baby I've ever had. Not sure what that means for him in the future.

And there you have it - my 500th post! If you got to the end and read that part - I feel like you should get a prize or something. But what would the prize be?