Sorry

Okay, so its been awhile. We have been so busy, and I have been trying to spend less time on the computer, so no posting has been done lately. Hmm, what has happened? Here's a what I can think of right now.

Barry finished his first semester in the ministry program. I am enjoying him being home every night (until the Fall.) Although, I am currently ignoring him in order to write this.

His sweet Grandfather, Pawpaw, or Great Paw to my kids, passed away. Do any of the Lanes have the negatives to the photo shoot done at Chuck and Lee's about 4 years ago? I don't have a copy of all the Lane men and would like one. I want the kids to remember him.

Austin graduated from Kindergarten. I'll get some pics up from that another time. He played on the piano for everyone. No shy bone in his body.

Hmmm... I know I'm missing something.

My sister visited a few weeks ago with her sweet little ones. I miss them. Move to the Ham, Katie! jk

Kendal had her dance recital. It was so sweet. She was business when it came to dressing and hair fixing and being back stage. Not sure if I can upload her video off the camcorder (are they still called that?)

Barry and his stepdad, Karl, have been clearing out the woods in our yard so we can have a play place for the kids in the SHADE!!! Super excited about that. I dread playing outside when it is SOO HOT and I have to put on sunscreen. Its an event. Can you tell I'm complaining about it? Karl has a super duper weed eater that can take down small trees.  I can't wait until its done. I'll then be fencing the yard and Barry has an awesome idea for a tree house. The kids are already talking about what they want to put in the tree house. so far, I've heard they want to put checkers in there and the game Cootie, along with a potty. I then noticed the little Diego potty was moved out on the back deck.

Jacob is doing great with potty training these past few days. He is letting me know when he has to go poopoo. He always tells me when he is sitting on there that he has to do a "mongous one." Too cute. He insists on sitting on the potty with the lid AND seat up. Strange.

And then its Birthday Season at Lane Manor. Starting off with Jacob turning 3, then Barry with the big 30!!!, Kendal will be 5, and finishing it all is sweet little Hannah having her first. All these within a month. CRAZY!!! I need to plan on not being around Barry in the fall.

Here's something funny to leave you with:

PBJ is a staple around here. The other day I was getting it all out and Austin ran off and got his new baseball bat and started singing, "Peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ZAGBL6UBA

The little memories

It seems like at the dinner table these days, we end up sharing stories and little sayings that the kids use to say. They crack up laughing at them, and they always seem to refer to "when I was three." This is especially funny when 2 year old Jacob gets in on the action. Sometimes I try to document the important dates - Christmases, Easters and birthdays - making sure I got the pictures I needed. Really, though, its the little things that I don't want to forget; the everyday things they are doing that will soon turn into "remember whens." So, here are a few of them:

Austin:

Use to play with my egg separater in the bathtub and wave it saying "Poo Ki Ki!"

Instead of saying "Uh oh, spaghetti O's!" said "Uh oh, spaghetti ghost!"

Called Frosted Mini Wheats "Coke" and I could pass them off as cookies to him.

He would call Kendal "Sweet the Pea."

"Creamy cheesy eggster, eggster, eggstersons!" - Not sure how that one started. I think that was a Daddy thing.

He really likes to clean the toilets these days.

We have this new thing now where I call him "kind sir" and he calls me "kind mommy."

Reading lesson time is now also called cuddle time.

When he was two he would say he was "Stimaman" instead of "Spiderman."

Barry liked to play a game with him called "Go Away Dark!"

Kendal:

When she was around 1 year old she use to rub her face on us when we were holding her like a cat.

These are not as funny unless you could actually hear her say them.

She would say in a low voice, "Hey baby!"

If you told her she had a little booty, she would say, "No, I got a big booty!"

Until just recently she would say girl - "gore."

She can definitely make a mess, but is a great cleaner upper.

Says she wants to be a mommy when she grows up.

Jacob:

We were eating corn on the cob and he was handed half of one, to which he replied he wanted a "mongous" one. He loves using that word now.

He likes to sing this sweet little song with the lyrics, "I love my daddy. I love my mommy. I love my cookie dough."

For a while he thought he was a race car and run around "shifting" gears.

Hannah:

When I pick her up, she starts gently squeezing the back of my arm. 

Twinkies

Okay, so we are watching Wall E for the 20th time this week. Everyone but Austin and I have had a stomach bug, so tv time has been a lifesaver. So, back to Wall E. There's a part in the beginning where the cockroach climbs into a twinkie. My kids had no clue what it was. I told them, and somehow they thought the cockroach was called a twinkie, then wouldn't believe me when I explained what was what. So after watching the movie several times this week and hearing them laugh at the "twinkie" (cockroach) I did what I never thought I would do - I bought a box of twinkies. Maybe I should have left it alone, but the kids had no clue what a twinkie was! We all ate one at lunch today and they weren't overly impressed with them. Neither was I. I kept thinking I should have gone for the Swiss Cake Rolls. Mmmm...

Austin's Piano Recital

Austin had his first piano recital on Sunday. He's such a performer and thrives on being in front of people. Not nervous or shy a bit. He played Heart and Soul first and then Ode To Joy. I didn't get the second song because I was filming on my picture camera and it only takes short videos. I was planning on taking a video of the first stopping it and then the second. When I tried to take the second song it stalled and had to finish saving. Arrgghh!!! He started taking lessons in January, but has been teaching himself to play songs. Heart and Soul is one of them. I love that he taught himself to play Amazing Grace and figured it out on both the white keys and black keys. He really loves playing!

Hannah is 9 months old!

Hannah is 9 months old today. My friend Adria took these of her Saturday at a get together. I love them! She did such a great job.

Easter Pics

Here's some pics from Barry's Aunt's on Easter. The kids had a great time hunting eggs. Austin now has a new way to smile:

Jacob sporting his new hat. I couldn't resist it:
Kendal blowing bubbles:
Hmm, no, not Hannah. Barry's Aunt gave me a ton of digital pics of the kids from past holidays! That's Kendal on her first Easter:
And there's sweet little Hannah:

My Boys

When Barry was little he had some lederhosen from his aunt and uncle that lived in Germany. His mom has a picture of him in one when he was 2, so she had the idea of having the boys taking their picture in them. They turned out pretty cute. Austin wasn't too thrilled to be wearing "Germany clothes," but he sure does look like he was enjoying it. I think these could only have been better if we could have gotten Barry in there matching them. Yikes!