Pictures, Anyone?

Fall is a great time for family pictures, and I want to take them! Email me at hollydstoker@yahoo.com to schedule your session for $35.00-this includes a disc with your edited portraits-but hurry, the Fall Special ends November 30th!
You can see my work by clicking here.

MoNDaY...

I made breadsticks and the boys wanted to help so they each got some dough to make their own creation. They both made snakes and these pictures were taken after the boys had played in the dirt while the breadsticks were baking...I promise they weren't this dirty while we were baking!
Kamden's turned out really good but he pulled it's head off before I could get a picture.

And here's Ethan's. Try not to notice all of the dirt on his face.

Then for our FHE project we picked up all the apples that had fallen off the tree...




And after our hard work, we enjoyed some peach cobbler and ice cream!

I Have A Blister On My Heel...

...but I got to see Jared, the Subway Guy, and Carolyn Holly, a local news anchor.

This morning I woke up long before anyone should ever have to and got myself ready to do the Women's Fitness Celebration 5K. There's a group of ladies that do this every year so I signed up for their team-Buck's Beauties, led by the fearless Ida Buck. She enticed us out of bed in the wee hours of the morning with the promise of muffins and juice at her house where we met as a team, picked up our shirts and race numbers, then headed out for the festivities.


Along the way there were volunteers handing out water and roadside bagpipers!

We made it!

Yesterday we took the kids over to the Women's show-basically a lot of sponsors and vendors-and the boys got to sit in this race car and even write their names on it! They were pretty excited to meet a real race car driver and hung their autographed pictures on their bedroom wall.

Check Up & A Few Funny Stories...

Today was Owen's 2 month check up. He:
weighed 12 pounds 11 ounces.
is in the 85th percentile for height.
got 3 shots-the doctor gave Ethan, Kamden, and I each a piece of chocolate to help us cope with the trauma. I'm not sure who had a harder time-me or Ethan. He was really concerned about Owen getting hurt.
is doing great-a healthy and happy baby!

Funny Story #1:
Callie made us some yummy chocolate cookies and Ethan saw them sitting on the counter. His observation:
"These cookies kinda look like poopies...except they have chocolate chips in them."

Funny Story #2:
We went through the drive-thru at McDonalds and instead of passing out the food, I kept it up front until we met Jeff for lunch. About 2 minutes after we'd driven away from McDonalds I heard Kamden say in a very distraught voice:
"Oh MAN! Look at my hands!"
I'm quickly running through my mind the possible things that could be on his hands and I realize that the possibilities are endless so, in a cautious-not-sure-if-I-want-to-know voice I ask:
"What's wrong with your hands?"

"THERE'S NO FOOD IN THEM!"

Funny Story #3:
Our realtor came over to take pictures of the house last week and he's REALLY tall. When he walked in, Ethan was kind of awe-struck and said "Wow, Mom. Bob is bigger than Daddy!"
And I said, "He's really tall, huh?"
"Yeah. Taller than a giraffe, I think."

This Week

we hung out in the backyard a lot. The boys and I set up the tent and they've had fun playing in it while Owen just relaxed in the chair on the porch. He LOVES that chair, I've even brought it inside a few times because he'll just lay there and look around and I can get a lot done. Ethan found his fishing pole and we tied a little plastic fish to the end and the boys spent some time 'fishing' off the porch.



I almost got a picture of him smiling...

Last night we had some friends over and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the backyard...

And I FINALLY got some pictures of Owen smiling! Thanks Callie :)

Van Leuven Weekend

Last weekend my sister and her family were in town so we went up to the reservior for some fun-filled boating and, of course, LOTS of playing in the sand.









Dad got up the ladder and skiied, it was the 2nd time I've ever seen him do this and it was amazing! I can barely get up on skis so I can't imagine how difficult it must be to get up those steps while being pulled behind the boat. It was funny to watch the reaction of the other people on the shore, everyone just stopped what they were doing and watched as the man went by on a ladder...my sister got it on video and I'll post it as soon as she gets it uploaded...so hurry up Kristen!



After about 6 hours we decided we'd had enough sun and sand, so we headed to mom's for dinner and the BSU game. Another fun weekend!

Attempting...

...to make Owen smile. As you can see, he's more interested in the camera than his goofy mommy. This is what happens every time we try to get a picture of him smiling. But he's been doing it for weeks, I just haven't yet accomplished capturing it on film.

Blessed.

Labor Day weekend was a busy one, I can hardly believe it's already Thursday again.
Friday night Jeff's parents and his brother Brad came to stay with us and Saturday morning we all went to the dam. Jeff, Mark, and Brad all went boating with my dad while the boys and I hung out on the shore with Becky. The boys had a great time playing in the water:


That evening we had pizza and played games with Jeff's brother Brad, his parents, and his brothers Kelly and Tyler, and their wives and kids. And of course Kamden did a great job of showing everyone his favorite past time:
On Sunday we had Owen's baby blessing and we are so greatful for the love and support of our family and friends. We know it takes a lot of time and effort to get away for a weekend and we really appreciate those who traveled to be with us and everyone who came on Sunday.
I feel so incredibly blessed to be the mother of three boys and I am so thankful that they are all healthy. Sometimes I get comments about how active they are, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Even though it feels like I've done a million loads of muddy laundry this summer and can't keep the floors clean for ten minutes before there are footprints across them, I remember how greatful I am that they can be active and keep me busy...even if it's with laundry!
During one of my ultrasounds with Owen there were some concerns that he might be born with some health problems. We were asked if we wanted any testing done to find out for certain and if knowing would effect our decision to carry out the pregnancy. We knew, no matter what, that we wanted this child and would love him. Even though it was always there in the back of my mind that we could possibly have some struggles ahead of us, I knew that I was blessed to be carrying this child. I'm so thankful that he's here, healthy, strong, and growing. Owen has truly been a blessing in our home and, even though the last 7 weeks have already flown by and I wish he'd stay little longer, I know he's going to have some fun adventures with his brothers. And I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
The blanket was mine when I was a baby and has been used on each of our sons' blessing days. They've also all worn the same outfit.You can see more cute pictures of him here.

The Stoker Clan:


We spent the afternoon eating (enjoying the corn from my dad's garden) and watching (while dodging the ball) a game of:

Monday was spent with Tyler, Jolynne, and their kids. We went to lunch before going to a park:


and a nature center where we saw lots of big fish:

Ethan started preschool this week, he's been asking for over a month if he can go to school but last year it didn't go very well and he only went for about 4 weeks. This year we are doing a little group of about 9 kids where the moms all take turns teaching. We also get to go on some fun field trips, so we're pretty excited!

On Wednesday I took the boys to a park we hadn't ever been to, we're deffinatley going to have to go back!






We watched this guy fly a cool kite-I've never seen anything like this before. He had a type of harness around his waist and would move the kite with his body while it was up in the air.

The boys got to be:

There were also lots of big things to make music on:


It's been another busy week in our lives but I wouldn't want it any other way. I am so blessed.