Baby Michael Picture!

I was having fun with my camera and Michael the other day. Josh reminded me that I hadn't done any baby pictures for him yet, so I got to work!

The blanket that he's laying on was made by Josh's mom, it is so neat!

Michael or 'Uncle' as the boy's call him, is now4 months old and weighs 13 pounds!

He just started rolling over.

He love to 'talk' and play with soft toys. He loves a little stuffed bunny that I frequently wash because it ends up socking wet with drool! Josh says he is worried about flood damage with this one!!

He is a very happy baby. The kids love to make him laugh!

I guess that he didn't want to make his brothers and sister jealous by sleeping through the night early than them, so we are still working on that one!!

He is really strong.

Katie and I especially know just how strong his baby hands can grip. Hair is really hard to get back from him and quite often he wins!

Joshua still LOVES Michael. He gets so excited he grabs him really hard while grinding his teeth.

He also wants to be helpful by giving Michael his favorite blanket, but instead of covering his body he always puts it on his face. Michael doesn't really appreciate that very much. Michael is pretty good about letting me know when Joshua is near him- WAAA! I can't believe he hasn't gotten more gentle with him yet. It was much easier with Joseph who doesn't like babies, so I never had to worry about him touching them!

Hope you are all well and happy!

Family Fun!

Today we took our kids on post to the stables to ride horses. We "rented" a horse for an hour. Sometimes the army has some nice perks. It only cost $8 to use a horse for an hour! The kids took turns riding him while Josh and I walked or jogged with them. It was so fun to see the kids faces.

Katie loved it! It made her a little nervous to trot but she wanted more!

This donkey was just wandering around and came over to where we were sitting to hang out. He was really gentle and the kids enjoyed petting him and getting right in his face.


Joshua was probably the funniest to watch. You could tell he wanted to ride but not quite sure if he really wanted to ride. He had this funny expression on his face. He looked so cute on that big horse.




Katie playing on a swing where we they sat and waited for their turn.


Joseph going fast on the horse. He loved it!

Joseph loving on the donkey.

What a dumb ass! (the donkey not Joseph)

Last weekend we went up to Grandma and Papa's Payne's house. We had a lot of fun sitting around visiting with them and looking through their photo albums. We got spoiled on all of the good food they fed us.

Thanks Grandma and Papa!!

Michael was sitting in his seat while I was giving the boys and Josh hair cuts. I guess I was taking too long because when I looked over at him he was asleep!!

Just inn case you didn't know my kids have an obsession with dinosaurs, especially Joseph!

About 30 minutes from our house there is this big dinosaur. Usually when we pass it we need to get somewhere or the kids are asleep. Last week I had to take Katie to some school testing right across the street so we finally got to go visit the dino! I think the kids play on it for about 45 minutes! Lots of fun!

We went on the greatest camping trip a few weeks ago.....in our backyard!!

We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and all slept in the tent (except for baby Michael- good thing for baby monitors!). After the sticky marshmallows we took the kids in and washed them up. We still had electricity, and best of all we dragged a real mattress out for Josh and I to sleep on! This was a great way to camp with little kids! We all had a blast!!!

Katie reading to Joshua in the tent. They love getting to use flashlights!

This was the neatest rainbow that I've ever seen! It went across the entire sky. I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture. You can't see it in the picture but there is a smaller rainbow under it that almost went across the whole sky. It was pretty impressive!

Hope you are all having a great week!