"I'm the Great Bambino"

So Cael comes up to me this morning with a big tootsie roll in his mouth and reenacts a scene from his favorite movie, The Sandlot.

Halloween 09

random pictures

Here we have Katie and Alyssa on their first day of school, Bailey with her new baby cousin, Cael in his new "homerun hat" from Maga, all the kids at the splash park (they look cold!), and Cael and Ben swinging.

Bailey's 1st Day of School!

My little girl's in kindergarten. And wouldn't you know it, she wasn't a bit nervous. Bailey! Who hates new situations! I guess all the times she's been there for her sisters' activities made a world of difference. When we found out she would have Alyssa's old teacher, she was ecstatic, because she already feels like they're friends.

Today I put her on the bus and then met the bus at school to get more pictures. When I said goodbye as she walked into school and I got in the car to go home, I was shocked to discover I felt. . . sad. I thought I would be awash with relief -- freedom! Afternoons to myself! (Cael naps). But I guess today I'm just gonna feel sad. My baby's growing up.

Easter

Leave it to my dad to discover silly things to do with plastic Easter eggs.

Half Marathon

Here's the evidence. I really did run that thing. It was worth it to see Team Tillman on the finish line. Isn't Brandon great? He made those shirts the night before after I'd gone to bed and surprised me.

Leprechauns

The girls spent an entire Saturday last month making leprechaun traps with Cole and Haley. They were very elaborate -- bridges, trap doors, and the old "knock-out-the-stick-and-get-stuck-under-a-Wendy's-cup" trick. The finishing touches were some misleading (shamelessly lying) notes to Mr. Leprechaun, i.e. "There is gold in sied," and "This is a house for you and it is not a chrap," along with a light dirt-dusting for footprint identification.

Random

I can't help but put this up. Classic kid fun. They don't require much for entertainment.

Sunday phone call

This is what Cael does during the Tillman Sunday phone call. (We put him on mute, and he talks the whole time. He laughs along with everyone, says "yeah" at all the right times, makes funny noises, and thinks he's a part of the action).

Putting those kids to work!

We've also done a lot of construction lately -- helping my parents finish their basement. The kids helped bring in the insulation.

sledding video

More sledding

Introductions

Cael met his uncle for the first time last week.

Homecoming!

This was our first view of Seth and his first view of us after two years. We made quite the spectacle, but what can we say? He was our only missionary! We had to get it all in.

Royal Rumble

I'm pretty sure Uncle Bret was the instigator of this wrestling match.

Birthdays

December is celebration month for us. Here are some birthday pics. Christmas and our anniversary were in there somewhere too, but I apparently have no record of them.

One of Katie's birthday gifts was a spa set. The banana oatmeal mask was quite the undertaking.

Okay, okay, it's been a while.

I'll do a quick run-down in the next few posts of what we've been up to. First of all, we've definitely gotten in our share of fun in the snow.