Chicks

This past Sunday afternoon, Hannah went out to feed & water the big chickens.  We had a hen sitting on some eggs but we weren't too hopeful because this has happened in the past without success.  So I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes when I hear Hannah yelling and see her running through the yard.  She bursts into the house and excitedly tells us that we have a new baby chick.

We all drop what we're doing and run out to the coop to see.  There was actually two tiny little chicks that had clearly just hatched.  I'm so glad the kids got to have baby chicks that were born at home rather than being ordered.  I had those experiences growing up and I want our kids to have them too.

Yesterday Hannah & Sammy helped the baby chicks get out into the chicken yard and the Mommy just followed right along.  We stood around and watched as the Mom enjoyed the fresh air & sunshine and the babies ran around her pecking the ground and exploring.  Later in the evening I was throwing out old bread for the chickens and decided to give a piece to the Mom since she wasn't out in the big yard to get some.  I opened the door to the coop and threw in a few chunks.  One of the little chicks picked up a piece that was almost as big as itself and ran off with it!  They are too cute.

Fingers crossed that the survive!

Ocean Isle ... or a Family Vacation

Every July Bobby's aunts & uncles, from his mom's side of the family, go to Ocean Isle beach for a week.  Every year they invite us but something always seems to prevent us from going.  Until this year.  

Tuesday we loaded our van with suitcases, the pack 'n play, beach toys and a ton of other stuff then headed to North Carolina.  We stayed with our sister-in-law's parents and drove 35 minutes or so each day to Ocean Isle to spend time with family.

There was a lot of time in the car but it was so worth it to see everyone.  We got to hold our new baby nephew, finally!  Hannah & Sammy got to play with their cousins.  They saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.  Amos got brave and started jumping off the side of the pool.  Bobby's aunt came to the rescue when I left my going-out-to-eat outfit back at the house (over a 30 minute drive away remember!)  It was wonderful.  We were sad to leave but glad to be back in our own beds - or in the kids case, in a bed period.  They were troopers and slept in sleeping bags on the floor beside our bed.  Our host & hostess were wonderful and have a beautiful home but you can imagine it's a bit tight with 4 extra adults and 6 kids :-)  It really was hard leaving Dave & Karen since we don't get to see them nearly enough.  I think the kids hugged everyone multiple times before we finally got them into the van.

At least we have pictures and memories.  And knowing that we'll see them again in two weeks helps too!

Uncle Bobby gets to hold Jake for the first time.

 Samuel asked to hold Jake first -which really surprised me b/c normally Hannah wants to hold the babies first.

 Dave calls Jacob "Jake-o-rama" but Sammy calls him "Jake from State Farm."  

 At the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!!

 The kids are dancing to one of the Frozen songs.

 Sam & Sam watching cartoons while trying to wake up.

 Swimming!

 Jake falls asleep on Uncle Bobby.

 Oh those cheeks!  And that little mohawk.  Clark babies are definitely the cutest.

{There are a few more pictures but they're on the iPad so I'll post them later.} 

Two

I can't believe I'm typing this.  Time goes entirely too fast.  Our sweet Amos James is two - TWO!!

Every day we stand amazed at how much he is growing and learning.  I'm sure it's because he has two older siblings but it seems as if he has done everything faster.

Amos:

• talks in two to three word sentences.  His favorite phrases are "I got it!"-- "Okay?"--"Not me."--"What's that?/Who's that?"  
• loves to play with Hannah & Sammy and his little friend Molly.
• loves Matchbox cars & dump trucks.  His 2nd birthday party was Construction Truck themed.  He will just lay in the floor, rolling his cars & trucks around.  You can tell where he's been by the cars/trucks all lined up.
• still prefers his brown knit baby blanket and two stuffed monkeys to sleep with.  
• at his two year check-up he weighed 30 #'s and was 35 1/2" tall.  
• is definitely our most strong willed child so far.  
• still loves our cat, Ellie, and always wants kisses from her.  
• is just so dang smart!  I know he learns a lot from Hannah & Sammy but still.  
• is sleeping in a toddler bed but we normally find him beside the bedroom door with his blanket and monkeys.

{one day old}

 {one year old}

{2 years old}

The 4th

...burgers...

...family...

...home made ice cream...

...fireworks (roman candles, smoke bombs & sparklers)...

...laughing...

...Mama & Daddy...

...Bonnie & Tim...

...my kids running and having so much fun...

-Samuel helps make the burgers.-

 -Amos loved the "poppers."-

 -Tim, Daddy, Amos-

 -My silly Mama & sister.-

-Rebecca gets in on the holiday spirit.  My Mama made this cute dress out of a onesie.- 

 -The kids were mesmerized by the fireworks.-

Summer

I'm so glad it's summer.  Winter is still my favorite season but more and more I'm appreciating the laid back pace of summer.  Easy light meals, swimming, less germs floating around...  

We finished our school work the first two weeks of May.  Obviously we went to the beach for a week and then returned to finish AWANA then start a week of vacation Bible school at our church.  Once again I was one of the craft coordinators so I got to spend the entire week making crafts with all the kids.  It was so much fun.  I love working with kids.

After vbs was over we took about a week to recover from the early mornings (we're obviously not morning people around here!)  Plus I needed to get caught up on cleaning.  Our house was a disaster.  We got signed up for summer reading at our local library - even little Amos gets to join in the fun.  He gets a kick out of putting the stickers on his chart.  

We've been:

•  swimming - one set of friends has a house on the lake with a pontoon, etc and the other friend has an in-ground pool.  What a blessing to us!
• spending a lot of time at my parents house just hanging out and eating all of their snacks - like the Little Debbie cakes that I won't buy.  
• reading so we can turn in our summer reading charts and get our prizes.
• working on fixing things around the house so we can sale it and move into a bigger house.  The Clarks have officially outgrown their house!  Seriously, we kind of outgrew it after Sam but we've made it work :-)

Now let me get moving so we can make some Snickerdoodles before Daddy comes home!

Swimming at Ms. Joyce's house with all of her grand kids!

 Amos is exhausted after swimming all morning.

 But he ends up playing with Connor instead of napping.

 An afternoon at the fish hatchery with my sister.

 Hannah & Sammy were in Sparks with Miss Diann -AWANA.

 And Amos was in the nursery with Ms. Betty again.

 Just a random cute shot of Spiderman and Batgirl on the trampoline.

Growing

Well, once again our little family is expanding!  We are all so excited.  Well, I say that but I'm sure if Amos understood what is happening he wouldn't be excited.  I don't think he's going to like sharing with a new little baby.

Baby #4 is due December 31st.  Since I've had three c-sections we'll have the baby about a week before that.  I'm excited because we won't have three birthdays in January.  Bobby is excited for the tax purposes :-)

As I said on facebook - start praying now for a girl.  It never hurts to ask!  We really do want another little girl but we'll obviously be happy with whatever our Heavenly Father has in store for us.  So really, just pray for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby.

Not related to this post but I forgot to put up these picture earlier in the month.  We went to the Relay for Life at Seneca High School earlier in the month.  My sister works for Jantzen so we were planning on walking for their group.  Unfortunately it started pouring rain and storming right when the survivors began walking so we didn't get a chance to walk at all.  

The kids enjoyed the cool windy weather though...

The Beach