Half way to 16....what!?!

Yep. Ldog is eight now. Well, he's actually been eight for a couple months. I realized while planning for Liam's birthday (the 17th of this month) that I hadn't done a post for him yet. So Landon here is what I want to remember about you at this age....

-You are finally tall enough to ride all the roller coasters at Six Flags! However, when faced with the tough choice between going to Six Flags for your birthday or receiving the Star Wars Millenium Falcon Lego set, you chose the lego set. We made you think about it for a while and after your deliberation you came back to us and said, "Mom..Dad...Six Flags lasts a day....the Millenium Falcon will last forever!"

-You loved loved loved your second grade year. You and Mrs.Beaver were a great match, she appreciated the way your unique brain works and you adored her gentle way of teaching you to challenge yourself and grow in character and responsibility. You made lots of friends, but got especially close to Beau and Jake. We pray that third grade will also be filled with close friendships, a loving teacher, and academic growth!

-You continue to get better and better at helping us around the house and with your brother and sisters.  Mom knows the challenges (and perks;) of being the oldest, but I only had one sister to help with! You show a great deal of patience to your sisters even when they are pushing your buttons and we appreciate that more than words can express. And you guide your brother and help him so much, that sometimes we have to remind you to let him do things himself. But you are so giving of yourself and want to be the leader so badly that you don't always understand why we ask this of you, but some day you will!

-Your favorite things to do are legos, reading, video games, drawing, playing with your best bud Liam and your school friends and dad, bike riding, exploring, science experiments, swimming, and golf.

-We are working on being responsible, having a good attitude even when things don't go our way, and remembering that we don't know as much as we think we do;) This encourages us to do our best to be good examples to you in these areas as well.

-You are healthy and happy and we are so blessed by you Landon Bradley!

We love our Daddy

I am beyond thankful for Kevin's fathering skills. Seriously, when I married him I knew he was an amazing man, but you really don't have a complete picture of your spouse's parenting until you're in the midst of it. And well...I don't want to boast....just compliment and express gratitude....babe, I believe you are the best. You have stepped up to the extremely tall task with humility and a constant willingness to do everything that it takes to care for these precious children God has entrusted us with. 

I want to share these cute Q and A's that our children's minister, Molly, prepared for us.

(Kallie = pink, Klaire = purple, Liam = green, Landon = blue)

All about my Dad

What is your dad's name?

Thomas the train

Kevin

Kevin

Kevin Thomas Staples

How old is your dad?

3 1/2

2

23

33

What does your dad like to watch?

baseball

football

golf

all sports except soccer and volleyball

What is your dad's favorite food?

broccoli

cereal

jalapenos

crab legs

What is your dad's job?

doing dishes

bouncing

making helicopters

making helicopters shows for GES

He's smart because...

he is a big grown up

because he loves us

because he did math at school

because he went through college, got a driver's license, has a wallet, and is way ahead of me b/c he isn't even in school any more

My dad works hard at...

his office

dishes

his work

his job and protecting us

My dad always tell me...

a secret

to play

to eat my food

that bug bites build character

I'm happy when my dad...

does backflips

does clown shows

lets us play the Wii

spends time with me

I love my dad because...

he is really Thomas the train

he loves me

he takes care of me

he loves me and I love him

(Liam is aiming at Kevin:)

Pink Hearts

We cut off eight inches of our gorgeous silky hair! I normally wouldn't have been willing to cut off this much hair from their sweet little heads, but Miss Piper motivated me. She made me think more about the receiving end. I usually would have said (and almost did say!), 'Nope! Sorry, I would give 3 or 4, but not 8. I am just not comfortable with that.' But thinking about the little things that were done for Piper during her illness and how much a small gift meant to their family made me take a deep breath and say 'Okay this is just hair, we can do this.' And all of the hair that Pink Hearts receives goes straight to kids wigs! What a huge difference a wig can make for a little girls self esteem.....anyone's actually. So thank you Piper for showing me that I can take bigger steps:) 

We are so happy that we did this. The salon was filled with little girls of all ages giving a minimum of eight inches of hair and they were all supporting each other. It was such a neat event. 

The girls received a free pedicure and manicure from the Pink Heart Fund which they loved!

Piper's Celebration

Thanks to all of you for your love and concern during Piper's illness and passing. She met Jesus on May 12th and she is dancing with her brother Drew. We yearn even more for the day....

'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'

-Revelation 21:4

Piper we will never forget many things about you, but especially your gorgeous eyes!

Kevin and I at Kari and Jordan's house after Piper's celebration service with the Staples family. It was a beautiful day.

Us with Piper and Peyton last August.

We wore and still wear lots of PINK for Piper. Even Klaire;)

I would like to share a song with you that has touched me especially during this time.

Blessings by Laura Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0&noredirect=1

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace.
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, prosperity.
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

All the while, You hear each spoken need. 
Your love is way too much to give us lesser things.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love.
As if every promise from Your word is not enough.

All, the while, You hear each desperate plea.
And long that we'd have faith to believe.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win;
We know that pain reminds this heart, that this is not, this is not our home.
It's not our home.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life;
Is a revealing of greater thirst that a world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights;
Are Your mercies in disguise?

I encourage you to read Kari and Jordan's blog to learn more about their experience. I pray that you are blessed through the sharing of their faith and courage during a time of great challenge and sadness.

http://www.clarkkiddos.blogspot.com/

Our little princesses

Klaire. Kallie.

I was out taking these pictures this afternoon and thought gee I should really do a post about Kallie and Klaire today. So I am giving myself a pat on the back right now:) Aren't they looking so grown-up?!?! I got these dresses at Target and Klaire was a bit disappointed that her flowers weren't purple. As many of you know, Klaire is all about purple and Kallie is all about pink. We have been fortunate to have many hand-me-downs from another set of twins so we don't have to shop for clothes as much, but when we do, I try to find outfits that come in a pink and purple version. Thus the reason Klaire was wondering why hers had pink flowers. Well, we can't always get the perfect outfit right ladies! ;)

As we know, one of the challenges of being a mom of identical twins is knowing how uniquely different and individual your twins are when many people around them do not. Before becoming a mom of identicals I hadn't thought much about twins or what life might be like for them, so I don't fault people for not going the extra mile to get to know our girls. I wouldn't have either. And it's hard to truly get to know any child (or adult!) without spending lots of quality time with them and they are only three. However, they are already so different that it makes me want them to be known individually very much.

So I guess I am realizing that I am going to have to be more of an advocate for their uniqueness. When they are older I am sure they will tell EVERYONE all about how different they are with out my help! But for now, here's what I think.

Miss Kallie. Or Kallie-Co. Or Kallilily. Or Pips (short for pipsqueak)

She is a perfectionist. She is super sensitive. She loves to please us and gets very distraught when she doesn't and will often appologize to us multiple times. But she is also not afraid to get into trouble and can be very stubborn. She is the first to run to hug one of us when we get home and she tends to feel the need to tell us bye more than the other kids. She loves to read so much that she sits and rereads her books every day. She sometimes retells the story as is and sometimes we get a totally new one. She also LOVES to sing. Oh my goodness. Just ask the boys, it drives them bonkers. She makes up a new song every day it seems. She plays by herself well and tends to be a bit more on the intraverted side. She is very detail-oriented and doesn't let me miss a thing. She hates going to sleep with a messy room, so we almost always clean it completely before nap and bed time. She uses a napkin at every meal. She is bit clingy in new situations, but always ends up doing whatever it is (birthday party, playground, etc.) She jumps off of everything and loves to do 'backflips' (a somersault on my bed onto pillows) and run. Her favorite animal is a pink flamingo of course and her favorite food is pancakes with whipcream and fruit. She has a dimple and a smile that Landon really loves. She also loves to tell jokes and get people to laugh. She is very affectionate.

Miss Klaire. Or Klaire Bear. Or Squeak/Squeakers (once again a take on pipsqueak)

She is not a perfectionist! We really wish she would be at mealtime, the girl eats like she has been raised by a pack of wolves. :) Really she does. She is my kid that can't stand not knowing what I am doing. And she is so curious. She asks many questions. Not as many as Landon, but he didn't have as many kids to compete for attention with at this age! She is also very stubborn, buts gets over things faster than Kallie. She isn't as sensitive....emotionally that is. She loves anything that has to do with ballerinas. She LOVES to twirl and move like a ballerina. She tells all with her facial expressions and loves the attention she gets from them. She has always had the most amazing pouty lip. She has a very unique way of pronouncing some of her words, it's hard to describe, but it is adorable to us. She says flamily (family). She likes to sing, but she prefers to sing songs she already knows instead of making up new ones. Ask her about her shape song. I think she is more of an extravert at this point. Her favorite animal is a purple flamingo (i think they are on the endangered list;) and her favorite food is grapes.....purple ones. She also loves to jump and run and is pretty brave in new situations as well. She loves to give me cheezy smiles as you can see in the second picture I posted. She told me yesterday after tripping twice outside, that she is allergic to walking. Love it. She is also very affectionate and loves for us to rub her back and play with her hair.

They both love their brothers, school, church, their friends, the Jesus book (their bible), and playing outside. They get into lots of mischief together that I think otherwise they wouldn't. Like coloring each other with sharpies and my chairs. Washing each other's hair with sand. Sneaking my make-up. Having water fights instead of washing their hands. The list goes on an on:)

But they are very very special and bring us so much joy! Love you girls!

I have a blog?

I haven't forgotten.......well maybe a little. But the truth is I just don't hold still for the computer. I can hold still really well for a massage or a good book however;) But a post seems like a daunting task! Anyway, enough with my whining here we go.

Our life in a nutshell since the last post. Very busy November. Very crazy December. Got Intralasik eye surgery. Love it. Found a new home for our dog Minnie. Cried for a week straight. Got over it after I found out she got adopted by a retired Kindergarten teacher who is spoiling her rotten and giving us updates. Still cry when I look at her pictures though! Spent our two week break in Colorado (or traveling to!) and enjoyed it thoroughly. The kids played and played in the snow, and so did Kevin and I! Then we came home to reality and reality is great, but not as much fun as vacation in the mountains! Kevin is about to pull his hair out at work he is so busy and the kids and I just jumped right back into the school year. Funny how we complain in the summer about no school and complain during the school year about too much school.........ah but we do. That is why I should be in charge of the school system:) And I am rambling.

The kids are all doing super. Happy and mostly healthy......it's impossible for us not to have a little something going on around here, but compared to the sick season we had when Landon went to kindergarten.....it's a walk in the park. Landon is in basketball for the first time, which is making our schedule a bit busier, but it's teaching him some good lessons about teamwork and practice. Liam wants to join the wrestling team because he believes he has super human strength, but we are going to hold off on that one:) We are thinking of letting him play t-ball this spring. They both love school and we are still very pleased with their school and their personal progress. The girls still get excited about Mother's Day Out, they hug me and run right into greet their teachers and friends. They celebrated their 3rd birthday a couple weeks ago with a 'Girls Only' party. We played dress up, painted our nails, danced with a ballerina video, put on lip gloss and stick-on earrings, and ate pink and purple cupcakes!

So that's the nutshell version. Our pace of life still continues to be consistently less chaotic the older the girls get, but still just as busy. One phase of parenting slows down, while a new one arises. One challenge gets easier while another one gets harder! But through it all I thank God for the lessons the kids teach us. Parenting is teaching me so much about the way God feels towards his children. The countless times he watches us make the same mistake and the countless times he shows us grace and the indescribable love he has for each of us. We are so blessed just to wake up every day knowing God loves us and that we will be with him someday.

We continue to be heavily involved with Venture Community Church. We just celebrated two years of meeting together and look forward to seeing God work mightily through our small church in 2012.

Quick glimpse into the kids daily conversations...Liam 'Mom when I grow up I am going to drive a motorcycle. With a kickstand!' Landon jumps in, 'Well I am going to own a rocket boot store where I will sell my invention of the boot that rockets you into the sky.' Kallie then says, 'I want to be a kitty cat when I grow up mommy.' And finally Klaire says, 'And I will have a chihuahua with clothes.'

We never lack for entertainment:)

Nicci and I couldn't get Mark and Kevin out of our snuggies;)

Eating breakfast at the cabin.

The girls adore their cousin Lorelai.

They got Rapunzel stuff from my mom's side of the family.

What's it going to be!?!?! Remote control bumper cars! Yippee!

Playground in Redstone.

Very handsome boys if I don't say so myself.

The girls never complained about the cold weather. Only when snow got thrown in their face!

Go Eagles!

First hair cut. Ever. Yes, not single hair on their head has been trimmed since birth until a couple weeks ago! They did great and we only took off 2 inches which is hardly noticeable.

Klaire is just chill'n like she owns the hair salon, waiting for her turn in the big twirly chair.

3rd Birthday! Kallie was a pink princess and Klaire was a purple ballerina. Kallie's cupcakes were cherry chocolate and Klaire's were lemon blackberry! Klaire blew her candles out immediately and Kallie had a blow and spit technique so it took a bit longer!! Heehee

They were joined by friends from church and one friend from preschool.

To finish the party we de-accessorized and went for jump in the bounce house!

Creativity

Definition: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination:

God has blessed our household with an abundance of creativity and imagination. Within minutes of arriving at our home, one should not be surprised to be greeted with an invitation to come to the playroom for a dramatic performance complete with illustrations (made just for you:), a full tour of our home guided by superman himself, a comedic act with original jokes, or a gift of three-dimensional paper creations. You might also hear some terms around our house that you are unfamiliar with. Here are just a few:

skurches- the marks on the pavement one makes when skidding their bike tires

looks- places in our house where you might find something scary

muspuff- you don't want to be one of these, evidently it's something similar to a goofball

You might also hear about an entire family you never knew existed. An imaginary friend was not enough for Liam, he has had an entire imaginary family for a couple years now. He has a wife named Kate and three kids. Hatch, Pop-up, and Pop-out (because that is how they came out of his tummy when he was pregnant) One of Liam's current aspirations is to create an entire new sport, cloud surfing. He is working through the details of the jet powered cloud board, hopefully a parachute will be mandatory.

The girls are quickly following in their brother's footsteps. They are drawn to art and music and are already trying to be little comedians and story tellers. Klaire makes up her own tunes on the piano and she requires her music book to be open, her special lamp to be on, and an audience. Kallie can sing an original song about anything for a continual 5-10 minutes in the car and I really need to get that on film:)

I would like to conclude this post on creativity with a little writing exercise from Landon. First, let me explain that he writes sentences and scriptures as a consequence to certain behaviors. We started this when he was 5 1/2 and it has proven to be effective:) This past weekend he got very upset over something he accidentally did and then stomped off as I was still speaking to him. So he was assigned:

I will not get angry about accidents. 10x

I will not stomp off when mom is talking. 2x

And this is what he wrote:

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I will not get angry about accidents.

I will not get angry about accidents.

I will not get angry about accidents.

I will not get angry birds for my birthday.

I will not get angry bees to sting you.

I will not get angry elephants to smash you.

I will not get angry at anyone.

I will not get angry at the table.

I will not get angry at...................I don't know. Oh yeah! My cup!

I will not get angry at me and you, and you, and you, and you, and you!

And I will not stomp off when mom is chiter-chattering.

And I will not stomp myself.

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I couldn't help but laugh while reading it and tell him it was quite funny. Next time he knows he is to write his sentences correctly and save his creative writing for later:)