Handsome haircuts

Jared did it again! Handsome haircuts for the 4 boys. They felt like a million bucks with their clean faces and bright smiles. I love to see them dressed up in new church shirts as well. Levi had the biggest change, cutting off 3 inches of locks! It was funny b/c this week each of the boys had some sort of "wound" caused by a sibling. Austin had been cut with a key (Isaac). Isaac got elbowed in the eye (Austin). Wesley got bit and nail marks (Levi). Levi fell down and got bruised (wrestling with brothers). Pictures like these remind me how lucky I am to have these sweet boys. Even though the day to day stuff is hard with constant bickering, cleaning up after them, teaching them how to get along and do chores, never ending laundry and cooking... I am so grateful for motherhood. I will miss these boys and taking care of them someday.

Baseball days

Spring baseball is in full session. Austin is playing Coach Pitch for the Savannah Sand Gnats (despite the creepy insect, Austin's favorite color is forest green!), and Wesley is pitching for the Washington Nationals. Lots of practices and lots of games, several times a week. We love the fresh air, although I do get tired of running around and throwing dinner down the boys at an early 4pm. The love the snack time after the game. Gpa Lowe is always very supportive and helpful with driving, and even Pipa/Gma Wilson made it to a game. I do enjoy the game more than last year, now that my boys can actually make contact with the balls and I can see the love that they have for the sport (following their dad's footsteps). Wesley and Jared have had good communication and how to improve on the game, although it is hard and involves tears sometimes. Jared is doing his best to "coach" Wesley, and it hopefully is drawing them closer.

 

Austin's outfits

We have a little creator in our family. He loves to build cities, stories, tell us of his dreams and pretend he is a spy. Here are a few pics of his school days. He makes them look brand new with how he matches them! He also dresses Levi, with matching socks and hat!  My creative boy Austin loves to find new ways to make hand me down clothing into some great outfits! His mind is always building, inventing, finding and imagining...which is the same with what he wears.

Bees in the Attic!

The Bees from our attic!  Over 10,000 bees were discovered one hot Saturday afternoon. Jared climbed up and saw this large mass of blackness swarming in our attic. We had had them over a year and didn't even know it. We had seen some dead bees inside light fixtures upstairs, and then saw some bees trying to get inside our roof from our street view. We were kinda of freaking out, not wanting to spend $1500 to get them removed by exterminators. I last minute posted an ad on Craigslist saying, "10,000 bees in our attic. Come get the free honey!" It worked! We were contacted that day and saved. 

It took all afternoon, but they were vacuumed up. What a mess it made with all the honeycomb, insulation from the attic, bees and flies in my home and dirt everywhere. I felt like we were part of a Discovery Channel or something with how much we learned about the bee and honey making. What an answer to our prayers about figuring out a solution to this epidemic. Once the honey drained out of the cooler, it was pretty cool to taste it warm and knowing that it was from our own backyard. Neighbors were all wanting to witness the experience and for some reason, we weren't afraid of letting even our smallest kids near the swarming bees. They wanted inside that cage to be with the queen! Amazing experience.