We've got a walker!

Quinn finally realized, "hey I can do this!". And off he went. With his cute little arms held up and flapping, kinda like a t-rex.



So so proud of himself.







Oxley Walking Stats:
DS1: 12 months
DS2: 9 months
DS3: 16 months
DS4: 16.5 months
DS5: 15 months

Skate Night, anyone?

Don't you just remember the nights at a rink while you were in elementary school? Or maybe even those "couple skates" in junior high, when the rink was the coolest place you could actually 'go' to?

Our church has an Awana Skate Night a couple times a year, and our boys love it. I'll admit, I was really nervous before the first time. Two parents (and me very pregnant) and four little boys who can't skate. Sounds like a recipe for diaster.

What I didn't think about was that they can tighten the wheels for the little ones, and make it possible for them to skate, er... walk/skate, on their own. And it tires them out immensely.


So much fun. Especially being there surrounded with church family.

Raising a Reader

I cannot even begin to describe just how tickled I am that I finally have a kid who is old enough to 'sit and read', and that he enjoys it!



So proud of your skills little man! You are a boy after your momma's heart.

Quinn's Chuckle

This son of ours has the best giggle/chuckle I've ever heard. It comes from deep inside,and permeates his whole being. It is heard when he sees something that makes him extremely happy. Such as... an animal, a bathtub ready for a bath, food, the silly faces of his brothers... Or at certain moments... when you open his bedroom door in the AM, when you catch him doing something he shouldn't, and especially when his mommy picks him up from the nursery.

What a chuckle.

First Lost Tooth, Finally

At 6 1/2, Caleb finally lost his first tooth! We seriously thought it might never happen! And the big one is already growing in! We hadn't even noticed!

Congrats big guy! Now, lets see how diligent the tooth fairy assigned to our house will prove to be.

If you need to keep a 14 month old occupied...

may I suggest this toy?





He discovered it in the toy cabinet on Wednesday, and played with it for 20 minutes. Then I needed to run upstairs, so I placed it with him in the playpen for another 15 minutes. Then he cried when daddy took him out of the playpen because he had to leave the toy as we were off to run errands. Later in the afternoon, I placed him back in there with it, and he played in focused concentration for 45 minutes.

And he is playing with it now, still determinedly trying to work those locks as I type.

I'm Just Sayin...

that our Quinn is quite the cutie.

Aidan turns 5 today!

Happy Birthday Aidan!

We celebrated last Saturday with a Lego Indiana Jones themed party. A buddy got him hooked on this video game, and then he got it for Christmas, and now plays it whenever he is fortunate enough to get permission.

His interest in Indiana Jones provides a little insight into this little man. He does enjoy Star Wars, and will play imaginative games with his brothers, but this guy likes play that is much more grounded in real life than fantasy. Hmmm... Must have gotten that from his mommy.

Anyways, his much anticipated party was a blast, and he had so much fun with his best buds. Daddy even planned an incredible adventure quest that even included dodging a giant earth ball that came rolling at them down a narrow hallway.

Gotta love bowling...

We took the kids to a small, but fun bowling alley last week to ward off the winter blues, and to celebrate the last day of a very long winter break. It was tons of fun, and we were in awe that they can basically do everything on their own now, and we can just enjoy ourselves and bowl also! (We did leave Quinn with someone.)

Ethan definitely had the most pizazz, style, and maybe even skill. Although he and Aidan ended up tying. :)

Get-Away

We visited an indoor waterpark 2 summers ago in the Chicago area, and had such a blast we knew we had to do it again. When we couldn't quite squeeze it in last summer, we realized it would be much more appreciated in the winter anyways.
Especially after Daddy was gone for 4 days at SnowBlast. And extra-especially since the school district determined the students needed a 4 week Christmas Break this year. (I understand their reasoning, and applaud their thinking outside-the-box to save money (cutting major heating costs this way), but c'mon, 4 weeks is a long time to be holed up in the dead of winter with 5 little boys...)

So last weekend we headed up to the Starved Rock area and tried out Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort. The one night hotel stay included our admission to their indoor waterpark (which we did on Friday afternoon), and their indoor amusement park, which we did on Saturday after driving around Starved Rock a bit looking at Bald Eagles (awesome). It was a very fun trip... aside from the all day vomiting from the twins on Saturday. But we pushed through it and still had a good time.
There is something so exciting about the anticipation of a trip like this for the boys, and the sense of adventure that bonds them and us together during it. I absolutely love it. Of course, we would have absolutely loved it more if 5 little boys were easy to get to sleep while sharing a hotel room.







































And what is cuter than this, really?