Bye Bye Binky

Josiah at 19 months with one of his best friends...Binky.

Well, it is a rite of passage for every toddler, right? Josiah's rite of passage came this week. He has this little pocket on his bedrail that we have been encouraging him to put his binky when he gets up from a nap or in the morning. Sometimes he did it and sometimes he wouldn't. Wednesday morning he wouldn't so Dave told him he was going to have to throw it away if he didn't put it in his pocket. Josiah decided that HE would be the one to throw it away and so he did. He opened the trash, threw it in, said "bye, bye binky" and shut the trash. And that was that...until naptime at school that day. Josiah certainly did not understand the consequences of his actions. I had a spare binky but knew if I brought it, we would be taking a couple steps backwards so I left it at home (and threw it away when we got home). Apparently, Josiah was "demanding" his binky and took a VERY long time to go to sleep. It has been a hard week for him. He asks for it before nap and before bed, takes a lot longer to fall asleep and once in awhile I catch him getting a couple of sucks out of one of Hannah's binkies. I serious think the kid is having withdrawals! So pray for the little man that he will do better in the upcoming week and if any knows of a "binky patch", I think this kid could use it!

Libbys Got Talent

I was going through my videos on my camera (because no, I can't figure out how to get them from camera or computer to a DVD...I'll get there...) and found these ones from our vacation with Grandma and Grandpa. I was cracking all by myself so I just had to share...





We have this video of kids song that Hannah absolutely loves. She just goes right up to the TV and starts marching and dancing. I had to catch it on video. I hate to admit it but that video has helped me make dinner, clean the house, fold laundry and whatever other job that is no easy feat with the 3 little cherubs running around.

The Great Outdoors

The Libby Family - Camping 09

We had a really great weekend camping. We went with Lauren, Tim, Isaac and one other couple and their 3 girls. It only rained for an hour or so on Thursday but was beautiful the rest of the time. During the rain, we had DVD player going under the tarp for the kids with plenty of snacks. Yes, this is luxury outdoor living. There is water and electricity at our site. Now that we have kids, we wouldn't have it any other way. The kids played great and had fun together digging in the dirt, swimming, running through the sprinkler park, making smores and especially throwing rocks in the lake near our site. Next year, we hope to go maybe 2 times during the summer and possibly stay a third night too...we'll see!

The kids having fun making smores. I think Josiah's caught on fire though...why does that NOT surprise me???

Though the package was VERY clear not to make Jiffy Pop over an open campfire, it came out great and was quite delicious! Dave was especially glad to have his popcorn...

Lauren and I took the boys on their very first canoe ride. Though it was as fast as Pappy's boat, they loved it. Josiah wanted to paddle...um, maybe next year.
lThis cracked me up. Every time I put Hannah over one of the sprinklers, she would lift her little feet up. It was so funny...such a girly, girl!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 having fun together!

Josiah LOVED running through the sprinker park. He kept trying to block the holes with his foot.

Caleb eating a favorite breakfast of his...chocolate chip pancakes!

Caleb and Isaac got into the wiffle ball game on. This is Caleb running into home into a bunch of people he didn't know. They were so great with him, giving him high 5's and cheering him on.

Josiah found a new friend, actually Sammie found Josiah. He would just sit with Josiah and take his hand and walk around with him. It's amazing to me how kids don't care...they just pick up friendships wherever they go.

Speaking of friendships, here is Caleb and Chloe. She kept telling him to sit on her lap. Yes, they are the same age and I think they might even be in the same preschool class this year...

Isaac, the little miner. Thank you Uncle Tim for buying Auntie Lauren this headlamp. She only blinded us all weekend with it!

Is this not the most precious picture at the end of a busy day camping...they are even holding hands...so cute. Ok, I'm sure it wasn't planned that way. Josiah just kept falling off of his little air mattress sleeping bag!

Still Catching up and Our Dino Dig...

Ok, so I didn't get to update any sooner than now. But here are a couple more vacation pictures and some from this past week. This week we are visiting some friends tomorrow, going to summer camp for a couple of days and then it's off to camping! We are going with Tim and Lauren and some friends of ours who haven't been before. So far the weather is supposed to be good and we are excited for a fun family weekend! And I don't have pictures of it yet (because of course I forgot my camera that day so I am waiting to get them off my mom's camera), but the big news of the week...Donna and Eric are engaged! It's official! The date is set for April 17, 2010...their 7th anniversary. Lots of planning to come. I am so excited and happy for them! Congratulations Donna and Eric!

Vacation pics...continued...

We got a chance to visit our very dear friends Tom and Marci and their kids, Dallas and Dane.

I just had to post this...I know, to you it's just a little girl pushing Hannah in the stroller but to me it was a moment. When we lived in Illinois, I started watching Dallas when she was just 6 weeks old...and now she is pushing my baby! How surreal!

A great picture of Grandma and Hannah outside enjoying the great weather.

Auntie Tammy brought this Slip-n-Slide and the boys had so much fun with it.

Josiah loved it!

The cutest kids at the 4th of July fireworks sitting in the back of Grandpa's truck.

I found this car at a yard sale this weekend and I am sooo glad I bought it. Hannah loves it! Yesterday, we went for a walk. Caleb rode his tricycle, Siah pushed his truck and Hannah was so happy to ride in this right along with her brothers.

Caleb had a birthday party this week and him and Siah got these cool dinosaur eggs. You had to dig away to find the bones inside. It was like an hour of entertainment for them...thanks Luke!

Here are my little archeologist with their dinosaur findings. They were so proud.

Catching up...

Well, looking through my pictures there are still so much more to post including some more from our trip but I am starting with what we have been up to for the past couple of weeks. I'll probably update again in the next couple of days just so I can catch up on all of it before we head for our camping weekend next week!

Part of one of Caleb's birthday gifts from his friend Luke was a birthday celebration dinner at Rainforest Cafe. So we went this past Wednesday and the boys had fun together. They enjoyed it being just them and no little brothers or sisters.

Camera giving me a hard time but these were some fun cups that the boys got with their dinners.

While we were there, a magician came to our table to do a couple of tricks. This is Caleb having a giant dime pulled from behind his ear.

Caleb and Josiah with Caleb's birthday gift. Dave parents and us got this for Caleb. Now that we have our own fenced in yard, it is just perfect and the boys love it! It is one of my new favorite summer sounds to hear that truck go in our yard.

Josiah's first year in VBS. Our takes place at night so he was tired but he did have a really fun time!

My camera is acting goofy lately but this is Caleb getting ready to play one of the games up on stage with the other kids. He enjoyed VBS even more this year.

Our friends invited us over for a backyard campout. We did the real deal with them last year. But this year with 5 kids for them, we decided to go this route. The kids had a blast! Missy's kids made this sign for the campout. It was so cute.

We went to the lake when we first got there and of course Caleb and Josiah had so much fun. They are now particularly fond of swimming with Noodles.

Hannah Banana hanging on the beach. There was a little girl named Ella who was enthralled with Hannah and shared her ball with her.

Hannah on the beach with Wyatt...the 2 youngest campers. Hannah was so not wearing her hat for me.

Before our cook-out, we took the kids on a bike ride. Caleb is the shirt with the 4 on the back. He is so loving riding his tricycle with his very own helmet.

Missy's son, John-William put a treasure hunt together for all the kids. The treasure at the end was a bunch of squirt guns...which they had fun getting the adults with!

We brought our fire pit to their house and made smores after dinner. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fire pit. It is coming in quite handy this summer.