ISU Fans

My good friend Amanda came to visit back in January, and she brought Piper this cute little Iowa State outfit. Of course it was way too big for her then. It is still a little big for her, but I wanted to try and take some pictures of all 3 kids wearing their ISU shirts -- and I was worried if I waited too much longer that Lila and Wyatt would no longer fit in their shirts. However, I had already taken several pictures of Piper. It was approaching nap time. Which meant my little Cyclone wasn't very cooperative.

I tried giving her the stuffed Cy to keep her happy.

I got one good one.

Then I attempted a shot of all three kids.

Hey, over here! Look at me!

Well, they're all looking at me at least. (I was making funny noises to get their attention, so Lila and Wyatt started to copy me.) Now, I could have stopped here, but I decided the following sequence was just too funny not to share.

My little sports fan was tired. Even big sister and big brother giving kisses weren't cheering her up.

Maybe a change in position? That stopped the tears, but...

"Let me see all these teeth Lila has."

Hey Piper, look at Mommy!

Lila thinks it's funny that you're exploring her face. Wyatt wants to know what's so funny?

Ok, Piper, you're really cracking Lila up with your curiosity.

So close!

"Mom, can we be done now?"

And Wyatt is off. That's ok, we'll just do the sisters. No wait, Lila, you're going to tip her over.

That's better.

Hmm. Maybe she'd be happier if she wasn't being held. 

"I don't want that stinkin' bird. I want to be done!!"

Definitely time for a nap.

See? After a nap, we're still not smiling, but at least we are no longer a grump.

Cooking Up Trouble {8 mos}

Piper turned 8 months old this past week. At 8 months, she can crawl like a pro, feed herself Puffs (which are like Cheerios), sit up without support, and has started to pull herself up (to kneeling). I don't think it will be long before she is pulling up to stand. Her world is expanding rapidly! She also babbles a lot... "dadada" and "lalala" (Lila thinks that "Lila" might be Piper's first word!)

For her 8 month pics, I decided to have a little fun :)

After playing a little dress-up, she changed back into normal clothes, and we took a few more pictures.

She loves to stick out her tongue!

And one last photo (the next morning) with the turtle.

Play Time!

Since it's been so hot outside, we've done a lot of playing inside.

About five months ago, Piper could only play with Lila's toys IF Lila wanted to share them.

But not anymore!! :)

"Hmm. What does she have over there?"

"Yeah, I'm playing with Lila!!"

Such contrasting heads... one so dark, one so fair.

You can't tell it in this photo, but she was laying there just kicking her feet!

"What else is there I can play with?"

Lila had abandoned her dolls to play with Wyatt's cars.

Piper found something that interested her... Mommy's camera!

"Hello, Mommy!"

"Oh, I see where everyone went!"

"Hold on, guys, I'm comin' over!"

More feet kicking.

Overhead view.

It is very rare for them all to play together so nicely. It doesn't take long for someone to decide that somebody else has a toy they want. But here is proof that it CAN happen! :)

Last Days of Summer

Tomorrow is Lila's first day of Kindergarten... which means that today is the last day of summer. Not according to the temperature. It is still above 100 degrees and may be for awhile. But since we are entering "the school years", our "summer" is officially over. And what a busy summer it has been.

Since the beginning of June, we have done the following:

• Taken a 5 day vacation to Missouri for a family reunion (all of us).

• Participated in two weeks of swim lessons (Lila).

• Participated in a "fairy tale" week-long preschool camp (Lila).

• Went to Germany for five days (Ben).

• Started eating solid food (Piper).

• Visited family in Kansas for four days (all of us).

• Stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Amey for a few more days on her own (Lila).

• Participated in week-long Vacation Bible School (Lila).

• Went to France and Italy for four days (Ben).

• Threw a fun birthday party for a 5 year old (Colette).

• Went to Guatemala for 10 days (Ben).

• Participated in a "barnyard friends" week-long preschool camp (Lila).

• Designed two logos (Colette).

• Started crawling (Piper).

• Taught Sunday School for 3-4 year olds for the month of August (Ben & Colette).

• Participated in two weeks of swim lessons (Wyatt).

With all of that activity, we've still managed to find some fun, relaxing times at home too.

This picture is a couple months old, but I wanted to show Piper's good friend Molly. She is 6 weeks older than Piper. They get to hang out and practice their budding skills while their older siblings play together.

Piper can sit up without support now, just like Molly is in this picture.

Playing in the backyard pool has been a source of fun during this hot summer. Our poor grass has needed some water, so one time Ben turned the sprinklers on while the kids were in the pool. Added fun!!

Here Lila is running through the sprinklers.

And Wyatt jumping into the pool.

Piper even got in on the pool action! Here we had the brilliant idea of putting the sprinkler toy around the pool.

They like it when Daddy gets in the pool too :)

This was Piper's first time to get in the backyard pool.

One Sunday the girls wore matching dresses, so I pulled them outside to the back porch swing to take a few quick pictures.

Lila tried to get Piper to smile.

Piper wasn't cooperating though.

Oh well. Lila had enough nice smiles for the both of them.

Here Lila is reading a story to Piper. This book she was saying the story from memory, but Lila can read fairly well these days. I have been impressed with the words that she can sound out on her own.

One evening just for fun, I put two pony tails in Piper's hair. They looked kind of funny because the only hair she really has to pull up is on the sides and top.

That night she just hung out with Daddy on the swing while the older kids played in the yard.

It was good times until she bonked her nose.

Remember Piper's friend, Molly? Well, Wyatt and Lila enjoy playing with her older brother, Evan. One time they decided to play dress up.

Silly kids.

One morning I just pulled the kids outside for a quick group shot. 

I tried and tried to get Piper to smile, but no luck.

At least I could get the other two to smile.

Are you smiling, Piper?

No, are you smiling, Wyatt?

After one last attempt, we went inside where it was cool :)

In fact, the past few weeks we haven't been playing outside very much due to the extreme high temperatures. But one morning last week while Piper was napping, we played outside for a little bit.

You can see that Lila is sweaty and flushed... only takes about 2 minutes outside for that to happen!

Lila enjoys swinging on the glider and Wyatt likes the airplane swing.

Going down the slide.

Climbing back up to the slide. Yes, he's not wearing any pants. It's a common style for him.

Our poor backyard. We have a broken sprinkler head, so we haven't been watering the back half. You know it's dry when Wyatt (who likes to wear shoes even less than he does pants) comes inside to put on shoes because the grass hurts his feet! I'm ready for some cooler weather... and some rain!