Down the Slide

After moving into our "new" house Carson and I agreed that the kids needed a swing set. We moved in October and thought spring would be a good time to get a swing set. Well, it's spring and guess what? We've got a swing set. The company we ordered it from called Monday night and asked if it would be okay if they came Tuesday to install our new swing set. I of course said it would be fantastic to have it a week earlier than scheduled. So, Tuesday morning two twenty-something guys rolled up in a pick-up truck with our swing set boxed up in the back end. After seeing each individual piece of the swing set laying in the back yard I was thinking to myself, thank goodness we are not trying to put this thing together by ourselves. It may never get done if it were up to us. It took over eight hours to assemble the swing set. I believe Carson and Owen watched six and a half hours of the assembly process. I made them come in for lunch and our hair cuts took an hour. After six hours of observation Owen and Carson got tired of watching and decided to help the process along. The workers thought it was funny that they were so willing to help out. If they only knew...

After eight long hours of watching our swing set starting out as pieces of wood, hooks, ropes, pipes, hardware, chains and plastic, it transformed into a beautiful piece of play equipment that our children can play on for many, many years. The looks on the kids' faces were priceless when they finally got to play on the swing set. They were full of excitement and wonder. We were blessed to have our swing set put up on such a beautiful day (72 degree and wind free.) It was a perfect day, especially for four little Wright kids.

Let the process begin.

This is how far along they got by lunchtime. Carson and Owen made an obsticle out of the swing set while the workers were at lunch.

Isaac was very concerned that the slide was broken.

Owen lending a hand.

Yea! It's finally done!

Carson and Stella on the swings.

Owen and Isaac climb the ladders.

Looking yonder.

Isaac going "down the slide," head first and very fast.

Carson testing how high the swings really go.

Swinging on the bar.

So much fun to be had.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

We took the older boys to Sesame Street Live on March 07. It's the second time Carson and Owen have seen Elmo and the gang. Before going to the show (little) Carson asked me if I remembered how it rained the last time we saw Elmo. Thinking back he was right. It was a chilly rainy day two years ago when went to see the show. This year the sun was out and we got to see it in the new arena. Both boys loved their first Sesame Street experience so much. I think it had a bigger impact on them than what I realized. The things they remember about their first show amaze me (and they weren't even two and a half years old.) Two years later, they liked it just as much. The show was fantastic. Some of the highlights for Carson and Owen were the characters, songs and dancing, Elmo lights, cotton candy, fries, and lemonade.

Carson and Owen before the show.

Owen working on his cotton candy beard.

Mmm ... sugar!

Carson, Daddy and Owen enjoying the show.

Heading home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

All you need is love.

Love is all you need.

Jump

What does one do on a Saturday night before bed?

Jump, of course! The kids had a blast!

Stella takes a leap with Carson.

Owen!

Carson flies.

Ike and Owen


Who knew jumping off the fireplace ledge could be so much fun?
Simple pleasures.

Our January day.

What does one do when it's almost 60 degrees on a January day? What if you knew Papa, Mimi, Great Grandma Porter and Great Aunt Kristy are all in town?

Well...

We start the day by gathering sticks in the backyard with Papa. (You will know why that was an important job in just a minute.)

We get to play with our new basketball hoop that Papa and Mimi gave us for Christmas.
.

Great Grandma Porter even got a game in.

What a shot, Carson!

Game on!

Owen

Papa plays, too.

We got to have a weenie roast in the fire pit in our backyard.

Stella, Mimi, Isaac, Papa, Owen and Carson cooking dinner.

Mimi, Isaac, Papa, Owen, Stella and Great Aunt Kristy.

Yum. Yum.

Weenies roasting over an open fire.

Carson eats the hot dog he cooked.

Isaac has one, too.

Stella loves 'ot dogs, as well.

Owen's third hot dog. Mmm, they were good!

And for dessert?

Marshmallows of course!

Owen and Carson roasting marshmallows.

We called Owen the master marshmallow roaster. He was full of advice on how to cook marshmallows over an open fire. He never burned a single one. His marshmallows might be warm by next Christmas. He held his stick so high above the fire that they didn't even get warm. He ate the marshmallows everybody else roasted. Smart boy.

Pop! Pop! Pop, pop!

It's here! It's finally here!

The kids gave daddy a popcorn popper for Christmas. Of course it was on back order, so we patiently waited a month for the popper to arrive. The big boys have been waiting to eat popcorn and watch a movie with daddy.

The popcorn machine came, we plugged it in and it was game on! Much to our surprise it's a pretty cool little machine. It makes great popcorn and is a lot of fun. (We may still be in the honeymoon stage with it, though.) The three minutes it took to warm up the kettle seemed like an hour to Carson and Owen. But, once the kernels became white fluffy popcorn life was good again.

Carson and Owen watched Star Wars with Daddy and ate popcorn. It was a good day.

It's ready.

Owen loving his popcorn.

Carson eats his popcorn.

Carson, Owen and Daddy lovin' life.

Stella's Style

As many of you know Stella is the only girl. She's only got brothers. Stella so badly wants to be big like her brothers Carson and Owen. This makes me a little crazy. I want her to "stay little" for as long as possible. I know that my children grow up way too fast and it happens right before my eyes. In many ways I'm so ready for my "babies" to be older, yet I still long for the days when they were teeny tiny babies and would let me hold and cuddle them for as long as I wanted. I honestly try to enjoy each stage my kids are in and find the positive in it all because I know it's not going to last very long.

This takes me back to Stella. She adores her older brothers and wants to be just like them. She wants to be so much like her brothers that she's started to wear their underwear. Yes, I said their underwear. The second she has the opportunity to take her pants off she does. She will scour the house until she finds a pair of her older brothers' underwear, put them on and will act as if everything is normal. The underwear goes over her diaper and onesie so they stay on the petite 22 pounder fairly well. She will put them on the right way, inside out, backwards or inside out and backwards.

Sometimes I swear she thinks she's one of the boys. (This concerns me when I think of potty training.) Yet, on the other hand, Stella will put on her new sparkle dress-up dress and heels and prance around the house like a pretty girl. One day she had her dress and heels on with her brother's underwear. Stella definitely has a style of her own. If she gets in her mind that she's going to wear something, she does. Yesterday she chose to wear a coat all day long. I mean all day! She wore it from the time she got dressed in the morning, through both naps, lunch, dinner and everything between. Many have worried about Stella being the only girl with three brothers. As of now, don't worry about Stella. She can hold her own! I promise! She's got her brothers right where she wants them and takes full advantage of being the only girl! She's a smart one.

Stella wearing "the" underwear.

Fancy dress. Fancy shoes.

It was a yellow headband and her brother's shoes this day.

Sunglasses all day long.

A girlie girl.