Playful Normalcy

Brother time is good. Happy boys are great!

Please remember this picture. I thought they were filthy, though it was fun to let them be messy and 'into' their play.
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When these yellow roses bloomed, we found petals all over the house and yard. Anything within Ranne-height was stripped and scattered. Scott encouraged him to leave petals on my pillow, which made it sweet and forgivable that our bushes were suddenly bare. These flowers are my 'Mother's Day' flowers, fresh and very fragrant.
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Ladies Pedicure and Movie Night:

This was great. The ladies watched two chick-flicks, painting their nails wild and crazy colors (Briana branched out from her general cream polish to mauve!)
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Zoo Trip:

All the walking tuckered this guy OUT. Or perhaps it was the apple, like Sleeping Beauty.

Cousins are great!

Uncle Brendan and Auntie Sarah

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Around the CSC:
Kevin's visit brought many smiles from Trey. It was great!

These boys put themselves and me in Daddy's office for time-out. We're learning all over how to sit without being distracting. Trey's arrival seems to have made them think I'd be too busy to mind them. Perhaps so. ___________________________________

Okay, now THIS is messy. The next day, it got worse. All this sand down the bath drain is going to cause problems soon. An friend in the church was helping Scott with the electrical on our house. Ranne took advantage of the distraction to strip and make mud puddles with the garden hose. I was cleaning floors. UG!

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CSC Summer Kick-Off Party

Calendar Review for Summer. It's going to be busy, wild.

What the boys do when everyone's busy. Great smile, Ranne.

Games til 1am!

All You Care About These Days

Perhaps not the BEST title since Toby's picture is not here. But some good shots anyway. Sweet, sweet Ranne.

Dear Tremaine:

Free Fun and Sad Parting

Betty just left us for Montana. She was very ready to return to her beloved and home. We are grateful for all she did: converse with me!, talk with boys, smile at boys, pat on boys, hold Trey, sew and mend, change Trey, bathe Trey, cook, clean bathrooms and dishes, watch boys while I got out a little to walk and shop,.... What a gift that was! We're all sad to have such a breezy, happy person leave us.

Ranne continues to listen closely to conversation. After Scott, Betty and I were talking about people taking adventures in poor weather, Ranne said, "Ethan and I were hypothermic in class Sunday."

Toby still doesn't speak super clearly. He was continually 'hanks'ing us for helping him and spoke of his newly discovered slippers this morning as his 'flippers'. VERY sweet.

Trey's first bath was a sweet adventure. Both Ranne and Toby were there to help, so apart from the startling noises, he seemed to enjoy it. He does look a bit unsure, though.

Betty gave him his second bath. As you can see, he seems much more at ease. It was precious to see him studying her as she washed him.

The Saturday after Betty arrived, I was invited to watch Mama Mia with some family who had an extra ticket, my cousin's wife's ticket. She was stuck in Colorado and unable to go as planned. Here is the group. Everyone looks great, though I was very undressy, wearing maternity clothes still:

Here are Ranne and Toby just enjoying her presence as she sewed our curtain panels together. What a gift that was! We bought less expensive curtains, meaning they are sold in generic sizes so we had to purchase multiple pieces. Now it's great, the way we can open and close them without the gaps to adjust.

Cute boys: Ranne needs a new super hat now that he's grown out of the Superman hat Toby is sporting.


Ah, his favorite way to be held at the moment.


The real Frees.


The Scott Frees (it's an honor).


So, Betty left. I cried. Scott took her to the airport with the elder boys. When Toby discovered, in the parking lot by the car, that Grandma was not returning with them, he sat down right there and wept. Ranne, then, admitted he would miss her. Toby came home, found his blanket and nursed it on his bed in a very sad spirit. Ranne hugged on me. We read books. Now, I'm off to nap. Might as well since everyone else is snoring.

Skipping

Occasionally the house is clean, the fridge gets wiped when the groceries are low. See the sparkle?



Before company it can look nice, or at least clean.



Ranne's first pictures to take with the camera. Very well-centered!



Grammy was with us for about a month, staying mostly with Aunt Dora. The Wilson's home, where she lives with her daughter and their family, was burnt in a fire. While repairs where being made, she came to visit. It was great. We had a zoo outing with her and the Johnsons. What a beautiful day. Scott was working that Saturday, but the boys did awesome for me. Seems like the consistently favorite exhibits are the polar bears and seals. They are usually the most active animals.

Student Center Ski Trip:

The men who were not interested in skiing. They networked their computers and played all day!


The skiers' weather on the slopes.


Pictures of those hanging in the lodge, which is where I stayed. I was known on this trip as the 'pregnant lady'. I'm glad to be done with that label!


Ever seen a triple baby shower? It was pretty interesting. The women all felt like they were racing to the finish when opening gifts. We've had more than eight? babies due in a few weeks span. About half of those have arrived.

Except for Vera, the elderly woman on the left, all women in these pictures are pregnant.



For those of you who kept asking. This is nearish the end of pregnancy #3. Self-portrait, which explains a lack of a head.

Daddy's big helper.


Ranne's Birthday Party

A few friends among many.


This is only half of our toppings for the party. Vistors were asked to bring their favorite ice cream topping which included coconut, rootbeer, sprinkles....



A day earlier, on the actual birthday.


Thank you Frees and Foldings!


And Aunt Dora, thank you for thinking of Toby!

Big Smiles and Hard Players.

Ranne's awesome grin, for those of you far away who see it seldom. Toby had a long day of play!

Randomness:
Putting in a basketball hoop at the center. Hopes are for summer bonding on those late nights playing ball.


Ladies' Movie Night. See our sugar!



The Day After ...Welcome Tremaine Robert.


Unfortunately I forgot the card for the camera, so we were unable to take pictures the night of Trey's birth, but these are the next morning.

A very sweet thing: Ranne came into my hospital room to meet his little brother for the first time. In his hands were clutched beautiful flowers, his big, blue eyes peeked over their blossoms. "Is Trey okay?", he asked. "Yeah, come see him.", was the response. He came over, handed off the flowers to me and put his hand gently on Trey's head, "I'm sorry I stepped on your head Trey." When Trey was inside me, the boys would be rough, bumping him and stepping on me when I was sitting on the floor or couch. Once we said, "Oh! Ranne watch out. You need to be careful. You just stepped on Trey's head." I guess (how sad!) he carried that guilt around until he could see his brother was alright.

Home at Last.


First outing with the boys by myself. It went GREAT.


More Student Center work.






The new goal, sifting gravel to clean up the place and more were done. The students who helped did lots of work.

Play-Doh Play Day at the Bowles. Their generous gift to Ranne on his birthday was a morning of play! How wonderful for the boys AND me. We all had a great time, not to mention, it stretched out his birthday an extra month. What a neat idea.




Signing off. I'll try to stay on top of this better. I hadn't realized how many months since the last posting!