Dane

I can't believe Dane will be 4 in a few short weeks. He has always been my little boy. However he is growing up. I think his has had a few growth spurts recently. He is very smart. He remembers his lesson from week to week in Primary. It really surprised his teachers when he told them the lesson had been on Daniel in the lion's den the week before. The best words I hear from Dane these days are, "I'm going to go poop in the toilet." That has been quite the road for this guy. Hip Hip Hurray I think we are through that one. In celebration of Dane turning 4 here a few pictures and funny stories below.

Funny Dane stories...
First one when we were doing the Navity for Christmas, Dane was a sheep with the other little boy cousins. That way they could wander around a bit and it wasn't too big a deal. Gabby had made little hats with fluffy ears and we were painting the noses black. However when we were getting dressed Dane wanted to be a black sheep. He insisted that he wear one black and one white scarf. I hope that doesn't have anything to do with the future.

Not the best pic, but you can see everyone from our little family. Oliver is Joseph and thrilled about it. Alex and Bry are shepards, Seth a wise guy as we called them. Dane a black sheep and Cecilia an angel. The other kids are cousins. We did the nativity on Christmas Eve at a nursing home. I hope it is a tradition we keep. I loved it.

Second funny story... I was laying by Dane one night to settle him down and cuddle a bit. Very gently Dane reached over and touched my face and said, "Tag. You're it." I had to laugh. I tagged him back, but it didn't count because I'd touched his sleeve. I had to really find him because he'd made a barrier with the blanket around himself. Needless to say I didn't do a very good job settling him down.

time for a new pic

It's a .....

GIRL!!!!!! If you can believe it Jeff and I had a little girl on May 5, 2011 at 4:27am. Actually she wasn't that little considering she was born 2 and a half weeks early. She weighed in at 9.9 pounds and was 21.5 inches long. We are all good and everyone is smitten. Her name is Cecilia Maurine Nelson.

new car

I have wanted to post for a bit but haven't had my pictures uploaded. So instead of waiting any longer here goes...
We bought a new car that will fit our family with the upcoming addition. It is a 12 passenger van. Jeff was not sure if he wanted to go that big. I just didn't want it to be white. I have been tired of not being able to have the boys bring a friend anywhere or car pool. We ended up finding a silver 2010 Ford 350. I think the reason Jeff was okay with the van was thanks to Mike and Danielle. Thanks you guys-- you really helped me out.

The boys love it. The first night we took a drive Oliver commented, "I get a whole bench to myself." However, when he saw a slug bug and tried to punch one of his brothers, he couldn't reach. "Oh no, it's too big." he cried. I had to laugh.

I am liking the van. Driving it hasn't been bad either. I don't find it too much different than my parents past Suburbans or Excursion. I just can't wait until the running boards come in. I have to pull myself in right now.

Anyway when Jeff gets back in town (gone for 10 days to Chicago to take boards), I will get pictures up.

Hope died today

Last Saturday we got some baby chicks. We are hoping to have the boys help take care of them and when the chick mature get some eggs to boot. Each of the boys picked and named a baby chick. It was quite cute to see. They all did pretty well, but I worried about the 2 smallest chick. And rightly so-- Oliver named his chick Yoko, (after Ice Age 3) and Bryant named his chick Hope. Both these 2 little chicks had a short life. We all felt really sad when Yoko died. I think she had gotten wet on the coldest night. Even the heat light didn't save her. Then later that next evening Hope died. She just didn't fend for herself. I feel really sad saying that Hope died. Bryant came up with the name all by himself. Even if Hope is just a little baby chick it seems somewhat profound. Luckily the rest of the chicks, Baby, Sydney, Kimney, and Goliath all seem to be doing well.

St. Baldricks 2011

Here are a few pictures of the event. We had lots of fun. The news was there and the boys were shown. Pretty cool. At home we shaved Dane's head too. Now there are 5 bald boys running around. As Tyler put it they are easy to spot, hard to distinguish.

A lot of catching up

Somethings to remember and write down before we forget....

We planted 7 apple trees for family home evening this last week. You could say we miss them from Syracuse. The boys were so excited. Oliver had the lesson for Family Home Evening. He asked, "Can we work and plant the trees?" What does a parent say to that? The boys were great and worked until every tree was planted. We had to pull out a flashlight to finish the last ones. The scripture for the night-- paraphrasing, You reap what you sow, but not always for a couple of years.

The boys all got their report cards and did great. Oliver got into the gifted program for next year. Bryant wrote a poem form a contest. I love his poetry. Seth won a math contest at school with the first graders. (Bry's 4th grade team came in second). It is great to see their motivation. Alex and Dane are also learning in leaps and bounds-- phone number, letter, sounds and colors.