After Church Snacks

This is how Kaylee was found after church on Sunday. Mom said, "What cha doin' Kaylee?" Kaylee responded with juice dripping down her chin, "I'm just having a li'l bit Mom." Notice the entire pound of strawberries with ONE bite out of them on the place mat. I think there were 4 left by the time we got there...but it was just a li'l bit. And her face tells it all! She was INTO those strawberries and didn't even look up at us while eating them :)

Tyler looking so grown up. Eating his main staple...I'm hoping someday he will grow out of it, but for now PB and J is an absolute.

Kaylee lookin' all cute before she changed...what a knock out eh?

Audrie enjoying her homemade roll before she even got through the entryway :)

Me, all pregnant with numero quattro!

Crafting Itch

I have had the WORST crafting itch lately. So I've been working on a few things, wreaths, chore charts, curtains, among other things. Anyway these chore charts turned out so cute that I had to post them. I found the tutorial here but had to change it up a little since I don't have wood cutting tools. I got everything at Hobby Lobby (I'm so sorry if you don't have one near you) and already had some really cute chore clip art that I used. Anyway, the idea is you do the chore and then you slide the magnet over to the done side. Hopefully they will be FUNCTIONAL as well as cute :)

My halloween wreath took more time then I would have liked, and it only turned out so-so, but it's not too bad :) Happy crafting!

Katy, TX

Well, I think we're finally settling in. The kids seems to be getting into the routine of school and adjusting to the new school system. Kaylee's imagination is taking off since Ty and Aud are gone most of the day. I have more time on my hands then I know what to do with so have tried to get some very needed projects done. We have most of the house unpacked, there are a couple of things that still need some organization, but otherwise things are looking good. Andy hasn't been home as much as we hoped, but that's because he's still taking some classes twice a week, plus he has hit a busy season. Here are some pictures of our home! There are still things to do, such as the front yard, but I have to finish the inside first! Curtains in process :)

Rowan Canoe Trip

Every year Andy's company puts on this Extravaganza out in Louisiana. We've never been able to go as it always seems to fall on conference weekend, or we've had a small baby or something, but this year we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. So we drove 5 hours into the backwoods of Natchitoches, LA (don't ask me how to pronounce it!). Admittedly, I've never had a high opinion on Louisiana...but this trip was a pleasant surprise. While we were there Rowan had set up some fishing contests and golfing tournaments, both of which we weren't ready or really wanting to participate in. So we spontaneously found a little canoe rental place and went canoeing as a family for our Sat afternoon adventure. It was SO fun and so beautiful. I truly had no idea that there was such beauty in Louisiana. The rental place was very "hick" and the guy just dropped us off, gave us a map and said good luck. I was a little surprised, but we did fine and didn't even get lost :)

The river was so low that we could touch our oars to the bottom no problem, in fact we had several episodes of getting "beached." I guess they are having major drought issues, but it really made for a very calm river and a very laid back Mommy.

Tyler and I headed up one boat and to his dismay I wasn't as fast as Dad's boat, which was a hard pill for him to swallow. But it being my first canoeing trip I thought I did pretty good...AND lets not forget I'm almost 7 months pregnant! Hopefully Tyler will understand someday that I'm pretty tough :) Until then I'll just be known as the slow boat rower.

We stopped half way through our little adventure and "parked the canoes" and had some snacks. The kids mostly dug in the sand and seemed to enjoy that even more than the actual canoeing :)
At one point in our adventure we parked on a rock bed that was just gorgeous. Apparently we are amateurs at docking because at one point we looked back and saw one canoe floating away :) Andy is in mid run trying to rescue our rented boat! The kids thought that was pretty funny. I as a child would have started bawling at the thought, but my kids are so much more laid back then I ever was. Funny.

Andy has a picture from his mission where him and his companion are doing this near a beach. I am still unsure of the significance, but due to the BEAUTIFUL picture I just had to include it. Someday I might understand what it's all about, but then again maybe I won't :)

The kids and I all together.

Andy and the kids all together.

And cute Kaylee got the best seat in the house...a cushion! Pretty fun stuff. We're going to have to do this again someday soon :) Maybe we'll get the nerve up to camp near a lake and do the full blown outdoors adventure. We'll see.

Chocolate

While in the grocery store getting a huge load of groceries I toss in a bag of chocolate chips, as you never know when you need to make an emergency batch of cookies. My three year old, Kaylee immediately asked to hold them and said, "Mom, chocolate makes me happy. It makes you happy too, huh." My thought was, "Why yes honey...yes it does." Out of the mouths of babes....

Baby Number FOUR!

We found out on Thursday what baby #4 is going to be. It took quite some time as this little one was being quite modest and wouldn't let the technician see, but we are continuing the Whicker tradition in having lots of GIRLS!! Yep, another girl. Tyler literally burst into tears when I told him. It was heart breaking and humorous at the same time. It was like I had a choice and chose a girl, but at the same time he really, REALLY wanted a brother. There has to be purpose in those that come to our family though and this little girl surely has no smaller purpose. We are excited to say the least :) Oh, side note. While we were in the ultrasound office Kaylee began to understand what was on the screen (at least we think she did). After she found out she was a girl, and pointing to the ultrasound screen, she inquisitively asked, "Can I just jump in there?" The ultrasound tech replied, "I've never heard that one before." What a creative mind she has, but who could blame her? She wanted to meet her sister!

It has been very interesting to see how with each pregnancy the preceding child has known what the baby is going to be. When I was pregnant with Audrie, Tyler woke up from either a nap or in the morning (I can't remember which) and asked where the little girl was before we knew the gender. Audrie woke up one day and kept asking when the birthday party was going to begin. She kept saying, "when is she going to be here?" and continually checked the door all day long. Finally after some questioning as to who's birthday it was she said, "my sister's." Of course she didn't have any sisters at that point and none of us knew we were having a girl. Kaylee also came up to me recently, also waking up, and said, "where's Sammy?" to which I replied, "who's Sammy?" She responded, "Sammy, Mom. Where is she?" I got the same exact feeling as I did with the other two kids when they had their experiences, so I knew she knew and didn't doubt it. Obviously she was right and we are seriously considering the name Samantha and calling her Sammy. Pretty cute if you ask me.

New School!

I know I am SO BEHIND. School started 3 weeks ago, we are beginning our forth week and I am JUST getting to this post. I'm sorry moving into a new home and area has been tedious :) Anyway, Tyler and Audrie have absolutely LOVED the fact that they get to ride a school bus and I am not about to complain either. I love it even if we have to get up a little earlier then normal, it is well worth not having to sit in a car line (yes that's how they do it in A LOT of places here in TX) forever.

We watch from a distance, usually hiding behind my sunglasses, in our morning attire and unbrushed hair...it's not pretty, but I guess I just don't care.

This is what Kaylee does while everyone is in school. She pretends ALL the time. She is my most imaginative child. It is so cute how she keeps herself busy. She's playing with one of our old phones calling Grandma and asking her to come over to play. Sometimes G'ma says yes and other times she says no. IF she says no, the call is abruptly ended and Kaylee slams the phone down, turns to me, scowls and says, "She can't come!" It really got me giggling.

Everyday when we go to pick the kids up from school Bella comes with us. She has begun to understand the schedule and anticipates her "walk." She waits all day to do this. On this particular day she found her leash and was getting out of the drawer. I thought it was pretty clever!