Quick Post with Way Too Many Pictures

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much recently.  I've been busy with getting Bentley and Kendra to their respective schools, trying to exercise, feed the family, take people to the doctor, and do my calling.  All the normal stuff, plus feeding a baby every three hours (and trying to grab naps, because these feedings are pretty consistently every three hours during the night, too).  That would be pretty manageable, except Craig has been super busy, too.  He's had yearbook deadlines, papers to write, and a video to edit, so he hasn't been around much.  And when he's not around to help out, the blog is one of the (many) things that fall by the wayside.

He's mostly done, though, so hopefully I can get back to handling my life better again.  And by "handling my life," what I really mean is "making Craig pick up the slack."  Which makes my life SO much better!

Anyway.  A couple thoughts from recently...

-My parents are in Africa on safari right now.  (Don't even ask me how jealous I am!)  They were flying out through Dulles, but weren't going to be there long enough to be able to meet up.  Until there was "weather" all across the country, delaying their flight from Seattle, causing them to miss their connecting flight and spend a night near the airport!  So guess who got to see them after all?!?!  We went and surprised them at the airport, which absolutely delighted me-- you never get to do stuff like that any more!  Best of all was getting the opportunity to introduce my Dad to his newest grandson!

The whole gang, including my Aunt Ann and her friend Sharon, at my parent's hotel room

-And Grandpa Rex wasn't the only person Colton got to meet!  The following day, Favorite Aunt Rachael took the bus down from New York to visit, too!  So we've been having a lot of fun here!

We actually documented someone's visit!  First time for everything...

And we had to do a funny face shot, too, of course!

-On a completely different note, Bentley is finally really reading.  And by that, I mean that he has caught the vision of reading and stays up late holding his book up to the window to catch the light from our neighbor's porch light.  And I have to tell him to put his book away during dinner and he'll respond by saying, "But Mom, once you can read, it's like that's all you want to do!"  I know, son.  I know.  This whole "problem" thrills me more than just about anything.

Case in point.

Unbeknownst to me, Craig snapped this picture at the same time.  I guess he was trying to make a point about where Bentley gets this rude behavior from.  Or something.

-While I'm talking about Bentley reading, can I just mention how thankful I am for the teachers at his school who have been teaching him this?  At the beginning of the school year when I sat down to practice reading with him, I quickly realized that I have absolutely no patience and no skill for this sort of thing.  I don't know how to teach a kid to read!  And trying to get him to do it properly made me want to pull out my hair (or worse yet, scream at him for not doing it right-- can you think of a worse way to get a kid to want to read???).  So I'm glad that his teachers have done such a good job.  Clearly, I was not cut out for that task...

-A month ago when it was Easter, we got to spend the day with Craig's parents, doing your traditional Easter day stuff (egg hunts and eating ham and candy.  What more could you ask for?).  We didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are a couple:

I know Ryder's blurry here, but I LOVE how happy he looks!

And a not-blurry picture

Grandma holding Colton (all swaddled up)

And, because this has sort of turned into a photo dump (that wasn't my intent, but oh, well), here are a bunch more that I like:

Daddy Daughter Nap Time (and they're actually asleep here, not just pretending!)

Bentley makes me laugh these days

And Ryder sort of frightens me.  Who sits on top of stacked benches to eat a banana?!?

A crazy turtle Craig found in our backyard

Colton looks good in blue

And he's been smiling at us!  (Sorry it's blurry, but you get the idea.)

He also rocks the mohawk look.

I love this picture: love the hair, love the facial expression.

Have I made up for the fact that I hadn't posted in over a week?  Next time, I'll be back to my usual blathering about nothing.  I promise!