We missed everyone! It has been ages since I have blogged but I just dont know where the time goes! We were in Colorado for a family wedding and then up at the ranch for a few weeks. Now we are back in AZ where it is boiling hot but somehow we have managed to stay cool and really enjoy the first half of the summer. The boys are in swim lessons every morning so that is how the days usually start. Then we have a park/splash pad playdate (it is 95 degrees by 9am) and then after an hour or so at a park we usually end up at someone's pool for through lunch time. We have been hosting a lot of playdates at our pool and we have been going to a lot with other friends. Braydon is officially swimming!! He can swim from one side of a pool to the other and stop for breaths when he needs to. It is soooo fun to see. When his instructor tells him to "swim to the side" she seems to always follow up with a comment on how fast he is! He may be a swimming star before we know it! He looks like a little fish and his stroke is very good. Aside from swimming B is just a joy. He has been LOVING his summer "work book" that we got and asks if we can work on it from the time he wakes up in the morning until right before bed at night. The workbook if full of writing, math, problem solving, letter sounds and sight words. He has a wonderful work ethic (already at 4) so it makes learning time with him soo rewarding! At the Ranch he and Grace were a team from the start. They spent most mornings in the field with butterfly catching nets and after catching half a dozen butterflies each they would head back towards the barn and do "work" with Cap'n to get there $.25. Work at the ranch is anything from moving old logs to damning up the irrigation ditches. It is so fun to listen to B talk with his brothers. He is usually setting the record straight with Caleb on something he has said or running crazy playing horses. They have such a cool relationship! Caleb, is adorable! with his eyelashes that can reach the sky and his smile that lights up his face he is such a joy. He has taken to saying some of the nicest things during the day and it makes him seem older than he is. He will say "Mom, dinner is really good, Thanks" or "Mom, I just love our family" It melts my heart! At dinner he has really picked up on a dinner game of Best and Worst so sometime during dinner he will start by saying "Dad, what was your best and worst thing that happened today?" and Rob and I seem to be struck each night at how nice it is that one of the kids is addressing us with questions!! Caleb is right behind his brother in the water this summer. He went from being scared to get water up to his waist to every day swimming with his head and ears under water and going 5-10ft at a time. He is not yet comfortable stopping for breaths but at least he is getting to the side! We are 1.5weeks into 6wks of lessons so I am excited to see the final result for them all. Last year we spent every Friday at a public pool with a water-slide and play area but Caleb never left my side, the first time there this summer and Caleb was no where around, he was down the slide, up the ladder, under the water features! It is amazing. I love the confidence he has in the water now! Zonie is also doing a workbook and brushing up on his letters and numbers and though he is just as bright at B the interest is not quite the same! "Blackie" is his current love. It is a 10inch tall horse that I found at GoodWill that has become his obsession. He loves Blackie!!! I sure hope that he finds a way to get around horses more and more because he loves it soo much. At the Ranch Caleb watched every horse that we passed with full interest and the few he got introduced to he still talks about by name. This was a neat trip to the ranch for Caleb as well he and Sam played better than they ever have before and they would jump onto the Polarise (sp) and play for hours. I loved it, once they did their "work" and got $.25 it was off to Clarks $.10 candy counter where they were big spenders and got two pieces of candy and a Nickle to put in their pocket! Quit a big deal! Austin....what to I say about him. On one hand Austin is my easiet and toughest little guy but on the other he is a HANDFUL with a brassy personality. Easy because he jumps beyond his age and keeps up with his brothers making life easy for me. No more hightchair, no more sippy cups, no more stroller. He is up and running with brothers, he is tough as nails, that kids can take a fall or injury like nothing I have ever seen! he just gets right and chugs on. The Ranch is a perfect example of him being easy. he would go out with the kids in the morning and not come back to the house until lunch time! None of the others would have dreamt of doing that at 14months! But now here are a few recent (this morning) examples of how he complicates the day and is NOT my easiest. He took a cup off the table this morning, went into the bathroom when I was in the shower and used it as a scoop. He scooped half of the toilet water out of the toilet bowl, the he crawled into the (empty) bath tub, took out the bath toys and sat in the puddle he had just created and played. Water was EVERYWHERE!! and lets not act like this is his first of any toilet incidents. He puts more things in the toilet that you can imagine and seems ammused enough with it that the "time out" or swat he receives somehow is worth it to him to continue. I was hoping to get him settled for a bit in a highchair this AM (though he has made it clear he does not want to be in it anymore) for breakfast so I could clean the table and in protest he through his cereal bowl full of Cheerios and milk across the room and screamed. That was another awesome clean up project to tackle before being out of the house by 8AM for swim. So though it is nice he can climb into the chairs, feed himself etc. He makes up for it in other ways. Austin is floating on his back already and can stay afloat without help for more than 30sec during swim. Then when he is face down in the water he has started kicking and getting himself to the side. He can only go 2ft under water to get the edge but Success all the same! and I feel soo much better already about having them in the pool with me this year. I have to say my favorite thing that Austin does right now is he runs up to his brothers throughout the day and gives them a huge bear hug! He grabs them soo tight and holds on so long that it usually turns into a wrestling match but it is the nicest thing! He LOVES his brothers and I love what good friends they all are. I am baffled every time I take a moment and really look at Braydon, Caleb and Austin. B has gotten so long and lean! He is a big boy!! Almost 5! Caleb has lost all of his "toddler" look and looks BIG and with Austin running, jumping and swimming he is certainly no baby either. I cant think where the time has gone but I do know that looking back at old blogs I am luck to have these as reminders of who they each were every step of the way!

So much has been happening.

I am writing this blog during an unusually calm morning. It is 8am. Breakfast is done, B is at the small kitchen table painting. Caleb is still sleeping off his chicken pox and Austin is walking around the house with a yellow construction hat on his face bumping into things. When he hits a couch, or table hard enough to fall down he moves the hat and starts cracking up; then he stands up, replaces the hat and off he goes. Hat on Face boy has been doing a variety of crazy things. Yesterday I found him sitting at the dog bowls with his toothbrush. he was dipping it in their water and sucking on it...gross. This poor little man is teething too so he has not been eating all that well but has found that he can make the dogs Jump, beg, and chase depending on how he distributes his food to them from his highchair. He has one bottom molar in and now the other is breaking through. We have been using a lot of orajel! My little Chicken pox Caleb is such a little trooper. He has been so pleasant considering what he is going through! His little body is working so hard and he is miserable most of the day but you would only know it 30% of the time. Last night was the longest he has slept in two days and since he is still sleeping I have to think he needed it! His fever hasn't gotten much over 101 but we are trying to keep it at bay with Advil. last night he couldn't eat without crying. When he opened his mouth we could see pox on his tongue and cheeks, we are doing soft foods tonight! The other unfortunate place they have pooped up is the soles of his feet...not much walking around either. On a funny note they were in bed last week and Rob and I could hear Caleb (maybe teasing, maybe just saying it) saying Hanna, Hanna, Hanna, Hanna. It was really cute. Speaking of Hanna, Braydon is doing great! What a helper!! He is done a wonderful job keeping his brother happy or helping when Caleb needs something. They are such good friends and when Rob and I see them interact we know how lucky we are. I am sure you have all heard by now but B did score 4 goals in the last soccer game! It was very exciting. The season is over now but he is already asking about next season and the good news is that I think we will have a bunch of kids from his class on the team! All the boys were out front with us the other week when Rob and I were doing lawn work, the boys hold the dustpan and trash bag when it is clean up time and B has taken a big interest in pushing the lawnmower with me. But when we were all done Dad and I did some "kid" projects. Rob made a frame out of an old piece of molding while the kids painted a piece of plywood in chalkboard paint. Rob Framed it out and now it is haging on the fence outside! It is a big hit! The other project was to re-do the $2 car we had gotten at a garage sale years ago. The stickers have been coming off and it looked a little tired so with B's choice of spray paint (for plastic of course) and some tape the coupe looks brand new. My favorite part of it all was watching the kids help. When it was time to use the saw B went and got his Fisher Price protective goggles on and Caleb held the wood tight. B learned to use the spray paint (Caleb...not so interested) and did a really nice job. See for yourself!

Hey Guys!

Hey everyone. My growing boys are all doing wonderfully with stories of their own to share. I will try to keep this one to a storytelling post because I think those are the most interesting! B has his first little crush at school. The girls name is Hanna and apparently he is smitten! The Monday he talked about her all day. Wed he took a major fall on the playground when trying to get a basketball for her and now Friday I showed up to get him, I am standing at the door and tell him hello. He briefly looked up from the reading corner where he had a book in his lap and said "hi, mom....your gonna have to wait. I am reading Hanna a story". His teachers not only laughed at the 'shrug off' I got but mentioned that it has been like this all week and that he is inviting her to join him in every activity he does. So everyone. Note to self: when B is grown and introducing us to his serious girlfriends we can alway bring "Hanna" up as an icebreaker with the new girls. Beyond having a crush B is getting more and more handsome and independent. Since the family photo shoot we have been spraying his hair to the side (at his request) and I must say he is very good lookin! Independence and looks are both on the rise....hey, come to think of it maybe he is wanting his hair done to impress Hanna...Hugh....I will have to ask him. Anyway. Independence....Jess was in town and introduced some well welcomed ideas about letting the kids get to more things in the house. For example we now keep pull-ups in their room. Cereal, bowls and milk in places they can reach so that breakfast can be started when they want. It is going really well and the boys love it! I have to say it really free's up my mornings as well. They are pouring and eating while I drink coffee and help Austin! I love this...Thanks Jess. Caleb is a COWBOY...oh, but at this point I guess we all knew that. Boots are still being worn everyday. Belt very often but depends on the outfit, and horses are still the toy of choice. He has taken to keeping all of his horses in a backpack (horse backpack) and wearing it all over the house. When he finds a good play spot he stops...puts the bag down and unpacks his prized possessions. It is really cute. The other..not so cute thing he has started doing is repeating things just for the sake of repeating. Example: "I love horses, porses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses, gorses etc." Now repeat what you have just read at top volume and you have some perspective on Caleb's new hobby. Austin is a MESS! Literally! The other day all the boys were in the backyard playing and I look out the window to smile at Austin for his cute singing and I see him elbow deep in the (cold) fire-pit. He had taken the top off and right when I looked up dug his arms into the soot. As I shake my head and start drying my hands to head out he pats his cheeks and rubs his tired eyes, then hair. He was Covered! So I put my hands back into the dish water and figure that if he is already this dirty why make him stop. I watch with amazement for the next 7minutes while without any purpose Austin proceeds to get himself completely black (minus calves and feet). His lips look florescent next against all the soot and his eyes an amazing blue. I am glad he had fun because it was not all that easy to get off and the tub needed a scrub once it was all said and done. Along the lines of Messy Austin has stared protesting when he gets his diaper changed. He arches his back, screams and squirms. This has been met but some significant effort to enforce the "correct behavior" and just when I thought I had won the battle he has found my weakness. He no longer squirms when the diaper is getting changes he now waits till the diaper is undone and then reaches down and grabs his dirty bum/package. Oh, but it gets worse....the process of stopping this has been moving along nicely but just this morning he reaches to the side (didn't see this coming) and grabs the diaper (in one AMAZING ninja move) by the velcro and slings is...poop and all across the kitchen.........Seriously?? One more glimpse of a day in the life of singing, repeating, poop flinging, flirting boys. Love you all.

Oh, where to start....??

We are still chugging along here at the Doane house! Boys are growing like little weeds and we seem to cross one event off the calendar just to have the luxury of another event to come :). Most recently we had a wonderful Bday for Caleb! All Cowboy themed of course! He looked the part all day long, new boots, new cowboy belt, new pear snap shirt and he was ready! The kids came in droves! I think we counted 25 kids! Yikes!! They all played "snake in my boot" (a take off from clothes pin in the bottle). Did the pinata ( a horse) ate cake, ran around outside, inside and jumped on the trampoline. It was a blast for everyone there. Of course no party could go perfect so when we start to cook the hot dogs we realize the propane was out and Grammie and Grampie spent the next 35min broiling hotdogs for the masses (thanks guys)! 50 hotdogs were consumed and with those gone and drinks running low I felt very unprepared!

As I said, one ends and another begins. We had an Egg Hunt Easter party this past weekend that was VERY simple donuts, coffee and bagels. The Egg hunt lasted no time at all! With the kids being older they all know exactly what to do and they raced out the door on a mission a short 3minutes and 200eggs later they were done! The boys found their Easter Egg baskets the next morning, brunch with friends and we were off to church at 11! All in all a GREAT holiday weekend!

As far as the day by day goes it is never less than amusing....so where to start. B tried to jump on the roof of a playhouse last week by climbing onto a picnic table and then taking a giant leap (leap of faith if you ask me, he wasnt even close to the playhouse!) Missed and hit is chin, I wouldn't say "split it open" but he was def bleeding for 5min and has had a scab for the past 9days. Immediatly after talking about what a bad decision that was he climbs out the window of the playhouse, stands on the window seal (falls) and tries to get to the roof again......When do they learn?

Caleb is proving to follow in his brothers foot steps. Last night they boys had found a metal framed hamper with wheels and were taking turns climbing in and pushing each other around the house. After that got boring they started running and pushing, this time letting go of the hamper to see how far they could go (yes they other brother was in the hamper). They were laughing hysterically and playing so well together it really looked like fun! But fun ended when Braydon pushed Caleb from the guest bathroom towards the kitchen at full blast. Caleb seeing that he was nearing the brick wall put his hands out to stop himself, hit the wall, the hamper fell and with his hands still up there was nothing to stop his face from hitting the metal frame on the hamper.....so yep....another busted lip, bruised gum (doesn't look that great) and a lot of blood.

Austin is a little butterball!! I fall in love with him more and more everyday as his personality continues to come out! He is a climber for sure!!! Just like his older brothers he seems to set himself up for injury ALL THE TIME! He climbes up the bunk (this is a HUGE no) races across the couch, climbs down the back of the arm chairs and gets into the trampoline all by himself! He is a monkey!!! A monkey that loves his older brothers and keeps his mama running. He is also in love with his blanket! It is so sweet. When he gets tired he goes and gets the blanket but rather than rubbing it on his cheeks or somewhere there is a lot of surface area he hold it to his mouth and rubs it right on the spots that his pacifier lets peak through (pacifiers have little tiny holes in them around the mouth). he sends himself into a bit of a trance when he does this. The blanket goes up, the belly goes out and if he is standing up he starts swaying side to side! I dont know why I think it is soooo cute but it really is. The rest of the days he is running everywhere trying to act older than he is but the blanket makes him seem vulnerable and little again!

Hope you all get to see these stories in action soon! I feel so lucky to get to see all this stuff first hand!! One lucky lady right here!!!! Miss you and love you all.

1year old!

We have no more infants in the house!! Only boys!!!! I cant believe where the time has gone and that all my boys are so big!

Austin celebrated his first birthday this weekend with much support from his older brothers. Braydon and Caleb were so excited they had a count down from 10days out! When the big day arrived they were eager to help set up, put juice boxes away, help make veggie platters and so much more. Just about the time the kids were about to arrive B and Caleb went out front to wait for them. Braydon somehow convinced Caleb to sit in the bench under our big front window and play catch with golf balls.
As you can imagine it didn't take long (the first golf ball thrown) for a golf ball to go right through the front window! The windows are old single pane and the amount of shatter was IMPRESSIVE! Balloons on the wall pooped, the couch was covered, the floor shown as if we had spilled a bottle of glitter. 20min of vacuuming while people showed up and we were back up and running! After that the party took off without a hitch! The boys had a blast!!!

Since then the boys have been playing with all the new toys! The biggest hit was a pull behind dog they have named Arffy. He now has his own dog bed, gets walked more than our dogs could dream of and gets pet constantly (it doesn't even have fur just plastic). The other big hit was a bathtub boat that is surprisingly similar to what Rob had as a kid! A captain, boat, fishing pole, life saver etc.

We had a new and disgusting experience with Austin this AM. He was crawling around and I noticed a small black ball in his mouth (who knows where these things come from was my thought) so I make it over to him, fish it out and examine, decipher its origins and see which of the older boys was gonna get an ear full for leaving small toys around. As I look close I am confused, I push on it ....it kinda cracks....and then POW! the stench!!! It was immediately clear that he had been sucking on a dingle berry (from a dog of course)!!!! DISGUSTING!!!!!!!! After choking down the vomit in my throat, everything/everyone got scrubbed! GROSSS!!!1

So this is what living with 4boys is like...broken windows and poop!

Sports!

Hey fam and friends. Hope this finds all of you well. Life in Scottsdale is at its peak right now! We are enjoying 75degree weather almost everyday and it is amazing!! Just like the weather suggests the boys have been outside non-stop! I love it. It makes me sooo happy to see them playing together, pulling sports equipment out of the garage, riding bikes, coloring with sidewalk chalk etc. Good times all around here in AZ. We are about to get some visitors from Texas and California, we are so looking forward to that!

With two birthdays coming up this month and the kids growing like weeds there is no time to waste!
Austin is officially walking more than crawling! He also got his car seat turned around so we now have three boys across the back all with their cute faces in my rearview mirror! Love looking back and seeing them all.
Though he is not talking yet I SWEAR he is mimicking me. He makes the attempt to say "Thank You", "ByeBye" and "all done" every time he hears one of the phrases. He will be running and talking in no time.

Caleb is now on the soccer team as well!!! Horray! We had to wait to see if there would be anymore registrations this season but since we have a small team and he was interested here we are! He loves it! As you can see by the pics he is one of the two cutest boys on the team (B being the other)! Rob got them both ready for their game this morning and everyone was excited!! I am just not sure who was more excited Rob or the boys? The cutest part of it all was that the jersey # was tucked half way into the back of their shorts cause the shirts are so big :) gotta love it! Caleb is still loving school and loves having his "own" friends!

Braydon is doing great. Soccer, school and soon to be Karate he is busy! He is a determined little boy! He fights tooth and nail to get the ball on the soccer field and at school his progress report showed that he has mastered everything that he was needing to work on in the beginning of the year.

The boys play so well together, Rob and I love watching and listening to their conversations. We are the luckiest parents in the world!

What a whirlwind!!

So how is everyone??? Kinda a loaded question for the Burke and Jenkins crews in Colorado :) Sorry guys. It seems that my family brought strep throat with us to Colorado! THe positive thing was that we waited to spread it until the trip was over (your welcome). The boys had been sick before we left but never complained of a sore throat so we decided to let the "virus" run it's course (it wasn't until later that the Dr. said they may have been the carriers). Then the day after we got home it hit! Jessica: strep. Me: strep. Sam: Strep/scarlet fever. Day Two of being home. Rob: strep. Mom: strep Dad:strep Grace: strep......Did I mention I was sorry????? I am really sorry!!! But here we are day 4 and most everyone is on the mend :) Just a little extra something from the Phx Doanes to you :).

Aside from the aftermath I would say the trip was a great success! We had an amazing time in Colorado. We got to see a bit of everyone thanks to mom and dad hosting a lunch before Rob jumped on a plane home. Thanks guys. The cousins also got to see a bit of each other over the weekend at the Ranch! Thanks for making the long drive JJ.

We all built a snowman as you can see from the pics. Rob took the boys sledding. We went to see the downtown Steamboat winter festival (sooo cool...great recommendation mom and dad). Most of the events were done on horse back so Caleb was in love! We saw kids pulled on shovels behind the horses, kids pulled on skis behind horses. Race after race, it was great!

We are back at home and soccer practice has begun! B is in his first REAL league and what I mean by that is that it is outdoors now and we actually play other teams. We get jerseys, both home and away...yep this is big time. He even has shin guards :) his coach is some mom/ex college soccer player .... oh yeah.... it is me :) we have had one practice and it was a lot of fun. I know a bit about 4yr olds and a bit about soccer but somehow I felt like I knew NOTHING about the two of them together :) We are all learning. Our first game is the 25th so keep your finger crossed.

We miss you all!! Doanes, look forward to having you out soon!