Boys and frogs

I totally thought that boys putting frogs in their pockets was only in the movies...until this day happened...

This frog was the source of our entertainment for at least three hours.  He didn't even seem to mind being put in the boys pockets.  After a few hours I insisted the boys let their best friend go...oh how dramatically sad we were to say goodbye! Did I mention that I LOVE having boys!!!

Just the boys

big smiles and deep dimples...melts mommys heart!

baseball season is here again and this time its machine pitch.  Recognize the coach? yep, its Jacob and I'm the team mom! Its a Counts family operation!

School is in full swing.  This is Nicks interpretation of Tuftla trees from our Lorax theme last week

Arachnids week this week

waiting for the day he can finally take the field!

Curtis's First Day

Here he is...our big boy waiting for class to begin!

cheesy cheese face

This past Wednesday Curtis began classes at The Children of the Holy House Catholic Institute .  He goes each Wednesday from 9 to 12.  He loved it and is eager for next Wednesday already!  This Institute is a wonderful supplement to our home schooled education for Curtis.  He is surrounded by wonderful faithful friends and a curriculum rich in the beauty of our Lord.  We are eager to see how this Institute will bless our family this year, and also pray that our family thru Curtis can be a blessing to the institute!

Minn-ee-sota!

Drafted this a few weeks ago and never posted it...oops!!

We headed up to Lake Vermillion in Northern Minnesota last week.  This is our second trip (hopefully of many many more!) to this wonderful resort and cabin.  We spent an entire week enjoying the beautiful weather, cool water, and wonderful friends!  The beach area of the resort was just beyond our front porch and the kids played there for hours upon hours.  We rented a pontoon two of the days we were there and spent the whole day trolling around on the massive lake.  The other five days were just spent relaxing on the lake, skiing, tubing, and lots and lots of fishing.

Curtis had the opportunity to ski this year.  We were so proud of him when he said he was willing to try it.  The first time he tried he wasn't able to get all the way "up" and ended up squatting on the back of the skis for most of the short ride.  After his tumble he gave us a big thumbs up...though he wasn't quite ready to try it again.  The next morning he woke up wondering when he would get to try again.  He was able to get up and ski the next three times he tried...and with a HUGE smile on his face! We were so proud of him for being willing to try again even though he was definitely scared after that first fall.

Nicholas was in heaven the entire week, outside + water = perfect day for Nicky!  He loved to fish and was self labeled "bait man" on the boat.  He would fetch worms for everyone and even held Emily's fish while she took the hook out of their mouths.  He is such a joyful little guy and we all loved seeing him get excited about each new adventure.  His least favorite part of the lake was Curtis skiing.  Sweet boy had a melt down when Curtis fell...and kept telling us all how scared he was.

Andrew was amazing, as always!  He was super easy going and just enjoyed all his cuddle time with Mommy and Daddy.  He loved the boat and enjoyed nice long naps to its soothing white noise.  He started smiling a lot while we were there too, nothing better than a gummy baby smile!

Also, while we were in Minnesota we got to spend a lot of quality time with Jacobs grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins.  They were gracious enough to feed us and we gave them lots of entertainment with two rambunctious boys!  Those boys have a special sweet spot for their second cousin Robbie! He is such a wonderful man and is fantastic with our boys.  Too bad he lives so far away or he would be a wonderful babysitter...though the kids may never want us to come home!

Andrew's Baptism

Andrew Gabriel baptized August 5th

Andrew with his Godparents Kesa & Brian.  Love these guys so much! We are honored they agreed to be his Godparents!

Sweet boy wide awake and happy as the priest baptized him

Andrew with Father Santy

What a wonderful and beautiful weekend we had celebrating the baptism of precious Andrew.  We were surrounded by lots of friends and family as Father Santy welcomed him into the body of Christ.  Andrew did wonderfully throughout the service and was wide awake just looking around as the water was poured over his head.  Curtis and Nicholas were right in the middle of the action as always and were super excited to watch Andrew get baptized.  After the service everyone headed back here for a reception.  Thank you to our entire family for helping out with all the details.  We are so blessed!!

Hands Full

Five of the SEVEN boys my cousin Kelly and I have between us :)

free food at Chick Fil A :)

Too much rain this week = perfect puddles for little boys to splash in!!

New light fixture...love it!!

Got my hands super full this week! Trying to figure out how to be a mommy of three, Daddy is out of town for the first time since Andrew joined us, I have a special project to work on (more on that later), The birth announcements are finally here...check your mailboxes later this week, and we have started back with our homeschooling.   I would love to write a lovely post but seriously I have way too much to do and too many boys to kiss :) Check our shutterfly site for a ton of new pictures...here is one of my favorites...

Amazing Pictures!

Here is a little peak at the beautiful pictures our very talented friend Sabrina ( sabrinakphotograhy.com) took.  We are absolutely IN LOVE with these beautiful pictures she captured during our first week as a family of five.  I'm holding out a bit on posting all the newborn pictures.  She took some amazing shots and they will be arriving in your mailboxes on our birth announcements very soon.  Trust me they are spectacular!!!