Toilet time

Matthew has started to have an interest in the bathroom and sitting on the potty seat, so we've humored him a few times to see what happens. Nothing has happened yet, but we'll keep letting him sit there. Especially if it makes for a cute photo...

Sunny day memories

Remember those four or five random nice days we had over the past couple months? Here's what our outside play looked like then:

Here's what our outside play has looked like the rest of the time:

When is our summer going to come (and stay)?

7 months

As usual, time has flown by and Aaron is another month older. He has been busy army crawling all over the house, and within the last week he learned how to get himself to sitting from crawling, pull himself up to his knees, which quickly led to [gasp] pulling himself up to standing. This kid is a go-getter for sure. He is often found stuck in tight spaces, and his little arms and legs are bruised from crawling and climbing, often over his brothers' toys. He's pretty tough, rarely crying if he tips over or gets run over by a brother. Here are some photos of the little guy's seventh month highlights.

 First bites of food.

 I'm not sure if this is the intended use of an exersaucer.

 This either.

 Cuddling at the park with Auntie Laura.

 And with friend Ellie on vacation in Zillah.

 Enjoying some banana.

 Playing with mega legos, but distracted by the camera strap.

 This would be so much cuter without a certain brother's bottom half in the background. 

 Climbing up.

 He's a multi-tasker...crawling while carrying and chewing on a toy.

 I think he wants something.

Ah. Something else to chew on.

Love him.

Eusterzelischror 2012

Our annual vacation with the awesome Eusterman and Stamschror families was last week.  What once was a 3-kid vacation has now blossomed into a 9-kid vacation (including babies in the tummy!).  We've come a long way since college:)

Daniel, Matthew, Aaron, Elizabeth, Cecilia, Noah, and Maximilian have become great friends, just like their Mommies and Daddies.  Thanks for hosting, Stamschror Family, and thanks for another year of great memories!

 Eusterzelischror 2012: The kids sure have grown up over the years!

 Living in Zillah comes with many benefits: lots of playing outside on large concrete pads, huge dirt fields, shooting (see later), fires, and more!

Traffic got a little heavy on the concrete pad.

Aaron loved being outside in his new Ergo Baby carrier.

Inevitably, all play moves to dirt after a while.

The three amigos 2012: Ellie, Daniel, and Noah. 

Casey has many skills.  One is as a giant horsey ride for nearly all the kids.  What a sport.

Matthew.

Huge rocks.  Kids.  Kids sitting on huge rocks.

However, chairs are usually more comfortable.

The small patch of grass in the back was great for "Ready, Set, Go".  Matthew likes to get a head start.

Casey asked for our help ridding his land of an infestation: Sage Rats.  Don't be fooled, these furry little things are a real menace to fields, and when there are 40+ ravaging your property, you need to take serious action. Here, Chris and Matt help spot targets for Casey.

All kidding aside, they really are a menace to land owners.  So much so you can hire exterminators that specialize in getting rid of them.  You can also get rid of them yourself the old fashioned way.

Sometimes it's hard to wait for your turn to use the .22

"Enemy at 11 o'clock moving SW behind the grass!"  Spotters always help.

Even the ladies had fun trying out the guns.

Cutest picture ever.  The men were so proud.

Daniel had plenty of chances to use his sunglasses in the Eastern Washington sun.

 MS Windows Desktop background submission idea.

"Daniel, please smile for the picture."

"Daniel, I'll give you candy if you smile."

Once Daniel heard we were going to build a fire he went into action.  Needless to say, we had plenty of wood.

 Fire and camp songs!

EUSTERZELISCHROR 2012!

See you in 2013!