Isabella is FOUR!!

Isabella turned FOUR on Friday! It's hard to believe that my "baby" is four already, but I wasn't too sad surprisingly. She was so excited and counting down the days of course. I had given her a couple of options for where to go out to lunch, but knew what the answer would be... Chuck E. Cheese! :) The kids had a great time, and it wasn't too bad for Mark and I either! After naps at home, we had a little Princess party with just the four of us. Mark grilled, and then we had cake. Isabella got her first "big girl" bike, a princess one of course! (She's had her eye on it for quite a while now, but knew she had to turn four first!) She's already a pro at riding it, and Lincoln and her love to ride around the kitchen table. (Him on his four-wheeler of course...) Here are just a few pictures from the day!

You can imagine how excited Lincoln was to see Bob and Scoop at Chuck E. Cheese. It seemed like half of our tokens went to this ride! Here, Isabella is riding on Scoop like Bob does. :)

Posing with Chuck E. himself!

Right after Daddy wheeled her bike in!

Princess cake for everybody with a lot left over for Mommy! :)

Big Stuff! (She also got the proper safety equipment!)

Lincoln's Breakfast: Round Two

Okay, this is now at 9:45 this morning... I ran upstairs to clean the toilet while the kids were watching "Bob the Builder" in the other room. (They didn't even notice that I had slipped away!) I came back down a couple of minutes later to this...

Not only butterscotch chips this time, but paired with mini fruit-flavored marshmallows. Is this how the whole day is going to go? Needless to say, I wasn't quite as understanding with Lincoln this time around. (And not just because the remainder of the marshmallows and chips that weren't in the bowl were on the floor...)

Lincoln Got His Own Breakfast

This morning Lincoln came downstairs before I got out of bed. I'm not stupid, so I knew that I only had a minute or two to get downstairs to spoil any plans of destruction that he had. He met me at the bottom of the stairs holding this...

... a bowl of butterscotch chips. He had already gotten up on the counter, into the baking cupboard on the top shelf, and poured himself a bowl. I said, "Lincoln, is that your breakfast?" "Yes", he said with a smile.

35 Weeks and Counting...

Sorry there haven't been pictures of giant 'ole me sooner. I missed a month since the last set... Well, these should make up for it, though! This was yesterday, 35 weeks and 1 day. Mark keeps wondering if my due date is off. Now why do you think he wonders that!? :) I'm still feeling good, but suddenly can sympathize with why some women might not completely "enjoy" the last couple of months. Simple things like walking and bending seem to be a challenge lately! This one is definately more active and seems bigger sooner. All in all, I still love every moment of being pregnant!

Who Needs a Sister??

Every once in a while Isabella recruits Lincoln to dress up with her princess style! He's a very good sport, and actually somewhat enjoys it, I think. On this particular day, he especially fancied the red ballet flats! :)

Botanical Garden Trip

We took our first trip of the year to the botanical gardens last week when we had a little bit of a cooler morning. Mark got a family membership pass for Father's Day since it's one of his favorite places to be with all of the plants and hostas! It was an absolutely beautiful morning in the 70s. We were able to be there for a couple of hours, eat lunch on their outdoor patio, and be back home by naptime! Bella and Lincoln love it there just as much as we do, especially since they have one of the country's only children's gardens. It's an amazing place for the kids to explore with little houses, a big sandbox, gardens, caves, a treehouse, bubbling fountain, and a couple of fish ponds with bridges and stepping stones. Isabella is going back next week for a BotaniCool Little Spuds class for 3-5 year olds. We also love the Glass House with the butterflies. There are so many that they actually land on you sometimes so you can touch them! If any visitors are ever interested in going, let us know! We love visiting there and would be glad to take you! :)

"Ribbit" in the children's garden

The fountain in the children's garden

A beautiful fountain near the entrance

Posing in the Japanese garden

Crossing a bridge over a fish pond in the children's garden

Lincoln exploring one of the caves

Another bridge in the children's garden

Two More Classes Down!

Mark's now done with two more classes! Smarty-Pants got two A's, and now has a nice two weeks off before starting his next class. He decided to only take one class this next session, so he could focus some extra energy on getting ready for Baby!

Cupcakes for Daddy!

I know that Father's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to add this picture to the blog of the kids making Mark cupcakes for Father's Day. Isabella insisted that she wanted to make Daddy cupcakes and picked out strawberry with vanilla frosting. We had to make the frosting pretty, unusual colors, though! As you can see, the kids had a lot of fun icing them, and they were pretty yummy too!

A Chicken Problem

Well, not a problem with the chickens themselves, but something eating the chickens... As some of you know, we lost 9 of our 10 baby chicks when we were out of town a couple of weeks ago. (Our remaining "miracle" chick now has to live by herself until she's old enough to be integrated into the flock. Isabella named her "K-K" after what Mommy's name starts with!) Now, the animal struck again two nights ago and got one of our biggest hens out of the coop. Mark found her the next morning... :( Mark believes it's a raccoon, and now he must work extra hard to keep it away, since it seems to like chicken. We're beginning to get a bit bummed that we're all of a sudden losing so many chickens after no problems for so long...

Binky Bootcamp

Well, it's time for Binky Bootcamp now that the last couple of difficult weeks are behind us! Lincoln has been binky-free for one whole day now! :) (Including nap and night!) He's doing great, and knows now that "big boys" don't use binkies, only babies. It's a little bittersweet for Mommy, though. Just another way that he's growing up... :(
Update... 5 DAYS!! Lincoln also says many times a day, "NO BINKY!" very proudly! :)