HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS!!!

Marcus 4 years old

Sweet Marcus

Enjoying a hot summer day with his brothers -- 3 years old

With Mommy and Daddy at the zoo -- 11 months

Marcus with Daddy at the zoo -- 11 months old

Family photos  -- 11 months

Family photos -- 11 months

Marcus --9 months

Marcus 3 months

Marcus -- 1 day old

Marcus, we can hardly believe you are 4 years old today!  We are flooded with memories when we sit and think of the day you were born, the days, months, and years in between...God has been SO good to us.  You are such a true joy in our lives, and have forever changed us. You are a very caring big brother and make all of us smile and laugh every chance you get.  We love it that you have a tender heart and sweet spirit, that was in our prayers long before you were ever born.  You are a true blessing from God and we love you so much!  Have a very Happy 4th Birthday sweetie!  

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Keeping Busy

Marcus and Mommy after our date

Riding bikes in the garage

Wow, I think this is a record for me...almost two weeks without a post. Time is just getting away from me. Last weekend Levi had a state anesthesia conference in Osage Beach. While he is in school he is required to attend one state conference per year. This year I was able to go with him! Levi's Mom and Amanda were kind enough to take on the task of staying home with the boys, so that Levi and I could have a weekend away together. The older and more ornery the boys get the more times like these are so deeply appreciated, as it is definitely no small task. So thank you Terri and Amanda for caring for our children while we were gone. It was really a fun time, a relaxing time for me, and nice to remember what a date is! :) My parents were kind enough to send us to a nice restaurant one evening while we were away, which was so special too. It was so nice to just sit with my husband and visit over dinner...without multitasking the whole time. We had to laugh several times at the thought of how different it was compared to our usual dining out experiences with the boys. :) Aside from Levi attending the conference we were also able to get a little birthday shopping done for Marcus at the outlet mall, which was also tons of fun! On Sunday we were glad to get back to the little guys, and it was great to hear that they did so well while we were gone.

Tonight Marcus and I had a date night, just the two of us. It was so fun! His little friend Spencer goes to a private school here in town and they were having a carnival tonight. We were invited, so Marcus and I were able to go and enjoy that together while Daddy stayed home and played with the little guys. Marcus loved the bouncy house, the blow up slide, fishing for prizes, a duck game, and a real train ride! It was a lot of fun. They also had a strength show where guys were bending huge nails, horse shoes, ripping phone books, and breaking cement blocks. Marcus thought that was so cool, and he even was given one of the bent nails to take home. I loved getting that one on one time with him, he's really growing up quickly. I can't believe our baby will be 4 years old next week!

Special Time with Daddy

Marcus always enjoys the 45 minutes between the little boys bedtime and his bedtime. It's a chance for him to get Mommy or Daddy all to himself. Tonight he and Levi decided to play lego's...actually these are Levi's legos from when he was a little boy. Marcus loves to build things and he was especially proud of the house and car that they made tonight. If you notice the house has two fan like things on the side. He said that was the two air conditioners. (coincidentally our house has two air conditioners as well) I thought these were pretty cute so we took a few pic's.

Homecoming and family fun

Marcus and Papa waiting for the parade to start

Greg, Mavin, Grandma Ballew and Carson

Marcus, Cole, Ryan, and Carson

Greg, Alexis, and Mavin
Sweet family
Greg and his "mini-me"
Sweet baby Mavin

Kaitlyn, Meghan, and Marcus ready for candy
Cole and Papa Ballew
Our friends Jim and Nora
Carson and Papa
Deann and Ryan enjoying the parade

This past weekend my whole family was able to come up and visit us.  It was a great time, and happened to be Homecoming for Truman State.  (where I went to college) It's hard to believe this is my 10 year reunion from college...wow time flies...

We all enjoyed the Homecoming parade and fun together at the park afterward.  It was a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon, then we had a cookout and watched MU pound Nebraska.  We loved being able to spend time with my whole family, and getting to love on baby Mavin was extra special too!  He's such a sweet, smiley, and easy going baby.  I was teasing Greg that when he's wearing him in his baby carrier Mavin looks like Greg's mini-me.  Actually I can see a lot of his Mommy and Daddy in him, but when Mavin gives a big grin he especially looks like my Dad.

It's been great weather here and the boys and I have been getting out and walking (well I walk and push the twins in their double stroller, while Marcus rides his bike) on the trail around the schools.  It's a great path and I've had some really funny conversations with Marcus each time. It's funny to see/hear how his brain works sometimes.  He's a pretty funny little guy and keeps me laughing most of the day!

Beautiful Weather

On Monday and Tuesday of this week Levi worked on his thesis paper. Thankfully he made some great headway on it and is so excited that it is almost complete! The weather has been so beautiful that we decided to take the kids out to the lake to get some fall photos Tuesday afternoon. We like to take them this time of year too because it falls right in between their birthdays. So I guess you could say these are their 2 yr and 4 yr photos. It was a challenge as usual, but when you take a ton of pic's you will usually come out with some good ones. Cole is VERY attached to his thumb right now, and they are all three on the move most of the time,AND we got chased by a yellow jacket (or something like that).--This all made for an interesting photo session...They had a good time though and so did we!