Eleven Years

Tonight my hubby and I get to go out to celebrate our eleventh anniversary (we had other obligations on Saturday, the actual day). I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband.  So much has happened in the last 11 years.

Now, it seems like we were just babies when we got married! I was 18 and Kevin was 20; why on earth did our parents let us get married so young?! I suppose they didn't have much choice, but it really seems crazy looking back.

Even though it seems crazy now, I wouldn't change a thing. God has really blessed our little family.  We've got 4 great kids and a cute little house.  And I'm so thankful for all the other Rodies around here and my family too.  Life isn't always easy, but it's lots of fun!

Teaser

This year I've taken quite a little break from photographing anyone other than my own children.  But when one of my oldest and dearest friends asked if I would do her little guy's 2 year photos, I just couldn't say no.  However, being 2, little "E" could say "no" just fine.  He was not very interested in having his picture taken by this strange lady he only sees a handful of times each year. Anyway, I thought all of my 4 readers might get a kick out of seeing our first attempt at a portrait of this adorable little family.

Summer School

One of the great things about homeschooling is that almost anything can be a teaching opportunity.  This summer, we've taken advantage of a lot of local farms that have Upick berries.  In the spring we picked strawberries, which we've done quite a bit.

Last month we got to pick blueberries, which is something we've never done before.  We've had lots of fun learning about seeds and sun how things grow. 

The really great part is that everyone gets to do it together.  Jadon picked about a quart of blueberries himself.

Chloe did great, she picked more than half a gallon!  What a champ!

Even Isaac got in on the fun, riding along on Momma's back.

Micah got a little distracted, but still managed to get quite a few berries in his bucket!

Zac at 10 months:

He's SO big!!

Mummum is a favorite word, no mama or dada (at least with any intention) but he's decided dinnertime is very important and "mummum" is about all he says until his mouth is full.

(yummy blueberry muffins from the blueberries we picked last month!)

He noticed stairs for the first time on Saturday.

(he also climbed stairs for the first time on Saturday)

Still loves his momma and big sister, but he's starting to warm up to other people now. 

But he's pretty happy on Momma's back. :)

He got his first tooth on Friday, 10 months and one day.  But he won't let anyone check it out. 

He's gotta keep chewing instead.

My Awesome Little Brother

My brother, Brian, came by today for most likely the last time for more than 2 years. He's off to Malawi next week with the Peace Corps.  While I'm sad to miss him, and a little jealous of the adventure, I'm mostly excited and proud of him! So Kevin took the day off of work to visit and we spent a great morning together before he left this afternoon. 

Of course, it's beautiful outside today, so we had to walk up to a local café for lunch.  The kids thought that was a real novelty and had a hard time not running in the street. 

We had to get a few last photos together, kinda fun.

And Chloe is really going to miss Uncle Brian.

We're all going to miss him.

If you want to know more about why he's going or what he's doing while he's in Malawi, click here.