Man of the hour

Today Charlie turns three. If I had to classify each of the boys (and I know I shouldn't really do things like that) I would say Alex is quirky and serious, Benjamin is cheerful and klutzy, and Charlie is bossy and just kind of crazy. A lot of times he'll just talk for the sake of talking and not really say anything. He'll say things like, "Mom, I need you to come here because I did but I didn't and I guess." Last night we had been at Scouts all evening and right after we got home Charlie had an accident (which to his credit is becoming more and more rare.) I was asking him why he didn't go in the bathroom and he said, "Because I was not very awesome." We didn't know he was even aware of the word "awesome". But he provides a lot of awesome moments for us.

I can't post any pictures I've taken in the last week or so because they're all on our main computer which is having problems.

So instead, here's a painting his aunt Amy did for us:

We've done this for each of the boys when they are two or three. Pretty cute, eh?

Because this is kind of a birthday related post I'll also note that Wesley turned six months yesterday. And here's where I'd post a cute picture of him sitting up since that's his newest trick.

Big Bear

A few weeks ago we spent the weekend at a cabin in Big Bear with most of the Haslam clan. We had perfect weather- sunny and snowy, and didn't even have to put chains on the car. Ryan found some skis at the cabin and we brought them with us when we went sledding so Alex and Ben could try them. They did pretty well for their first time. Later Papa gave each of the grandkids a dollar for walking barefoot in the snow. Here are some pictures Nancy took.

literally

After Alex's baptism we asked him what it felt like and he said, "It felt like a warm wave washing over me."

Yup, that sounds about right.

Speaking of the Olympics, I can add doubles luge to my list of Things I Thought Were a Joke At First, along with The Wiggles and the Obama Chia Head.

(I just found out there is also a George Washington Chia and a Hillary Clinton Chia.)

Well, let's see here. Way back at the end of January Alex turned 8. Which meant that this happened:

Somehow I lost my picture of the cake. It was one of those light saber cakes made out of cupcakes lined up in a row. We also ate ewoks (gummy bears), mini light sabers (pretzel sticks), and had yoda sodas. The kids had to clean up after a meteor shower (find all the foil-covered starbursts in the backyard), go through a Jedi training obstacle course, and play the balloon game where they tried to keep their balloons in the air with their light sabers without letting the balloons touch the ground.

Then, this happened:

I guess it was inevitable that I would someday have a calling as a den leader, what with all these boys we have. I just didn't think I would be going into Cub Scouts along with Alex. Ryan is the Cub Master so it's kind of fun. Cub Scouting is a strange new world that I'm just barely learning to navigate.

And of course, this happened:

We had lots of family and friends come and it was just a nice baptism. Alex and Ben did a great job singing "I Want To Be Baptized", the talks were great, the baptism went well, and the confirmation was beautiful too. We had a gathering at our house afterwards with giant Subway sandwiches. Also, you'll be glad to know that Ryan got a haircut later that night.

Then, this happened and we spent many an hour watching for a couple of weeks:

And now I'll try to get back to some more regular posting.