I ask the question again.

Why do we even bother?

More Pictures.

I seem to be doing a lot of picture posts. I apologize to anyone who likes deep wordy blogs. Four children do allow much time for thinking and writing. (At least not any thinking and writing that should be made public. Sleep deprivation will make your mind do some crazy things...) Picture-taking, though? I've plenty of time for that!

Twins!
Tate showing off his "boo-boo". Or, what happens to your hand when you put it onto a hot stove burner...
Rory-Girl being silly:

Adventures with Food.

Jonas and Elsa started rice cereal this week.

Elsa loved it!


Jonas seemed to like the highchair. A little unsure, but he liked it.


The cereal? Not so much!

And a Bonus Jonas smile:

The boys.

Being a brother of Rory means a lot of things. She dotes on you, loves you, and thinks you're the best "toy"/"Life Sized Doll" ever. But mostly?

It means she'll make you wear pink.

You can fight the pink with your mad Ninja skillz...

If you're even able to fight. Poor Jonas has no choice but to accept the pink. (Rory. She preys on the weak.)

Most of the time though, you just have to roll with it.

Also? Um...does anyone else see the resemblance?
Elton John? Tate?!

Chillin'.

Ellie and Jonas just hanging out on the couch...

Celebrating Rory!

Yesterday was Rory's fourth birthday! She had been told (by a mother who was sick of cleaning gum off of clothes and who didn't want her child to get sick from eating tubes of chapstick...) that once she turned four that she could have gum and chapstick. Rory made a point of telling everyone she knew about this deal. Yesterday was full of gum and fruity lip glosses. I've never seen my kid so happy!


She was also very excited to get a Singing Sleeping Beauty doll. (That's right. It sings. In a very high-pitched voice. But she loves it, and it's the only thing she asked for!)


Every Disney Princess they make. Seriously.


And finally, Tate felt festive.


We had a great day with my parents and with Tucker's mom and Mark. Happy Birthday Rory!

Caught on Camera...

...Elsa's rare smile!

It only took a silly baby-talking Grammy and a quick picture snapping Grandpa. (Also known as Oscar in this house...)

My silly, wonderful Tate.

Elsa...sleeps.

I still haven't been able to catch her smile on camera. She's a beautiful sleeper, though...

Jonas smiles.

Look at that grin! He's smiling!

Oh, and Elsa is just as happy as her brother. She's a tricky one, though. I can't seem to catch her big grin on camera...

Tate turns Two.

One last late post!

The day after Christmas was Tate's second birthday. Two! My goodness...

Christmas in February.

Well, not really. But I'm going to just post a bunch of pictures today. In February. From Christmas...

We ended up going to my parents for Christmas and had one of the best holidays ever there. Their house is nothing but relaxing, and we enjoyed being with family that whole day.

2006 Kia Sedona.

Need I say more?

Probably not, but I will! That beautiful van (Which I confess to loving slightly more than my husband) was a gift. A gift from our church, our youth, our Carpenter's family. They presented it to us on Christmas Eve, and I don't think either Tucker or myself have ever felt so loved. We were blown away. We cried like babies and our hands were shaking like crazy!

On the day this happened...
...I fell to my knees and prayed for many things. Wisdom, strength, health, mental stability (That one's still questionable...), finances, grace and finally, at the very end, a free minivan. I felt selfish and silly asking for it. We had two functioning cars. We would be fine. But I still asked. I continued that prayer throughout the pregnancy. And now? I'm beyond grateful for God's answer.

So thank you. Thank you to everyone who made that minivan a possibility for my family. You have no idea how much it means to us! Because of that gift, we will be debt free an entire year before we thought we would be. Because of that gift, two schools loans will be paid off instead of the money going to a new van. Because of that gift, our lives and hearts have been touched and we have a huge desire to do nothing but pay it forward. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Whoa.

So.

It's been awhile.

Let's get back into this blogging thing...