Monster Tri!

Last weekend the boys completed the annual Monster Triathlon, and this time, Levi and Joel all ran! Every one of them did a great job and had a lot of fun! Joel was a little nervous about his first race, but he was so brave and ended up having a lot of fun. He has already declared he is going to do the race every year. Levi loved every minute as always and felt very experienced, responsible and grown up moving up to the older age group with longer distances and doing very well! Philip has not been able to run much the last year or so with a sore ankle, but he finally healed up and was excited to get back to doing triathlons again. It was a fun couple of fun mornings and a tradition we look forward to continuing. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be able to race as well!

 

 

watching Daddy swim and cheering him on!

Philip wore his Darth Vader costume during the run, the boys LOVED it!

Rachel is 3 months old!

Rachey Lou is three whole months old! Her babyhood is whizzing by and I'm trying to soak up all the sweetness while I can! She is very happy and laid back, but when she is mad or frustrated she really lets us know! We all love her and she enjoys the attention when she can have it :)

New Stats:
weight- 13 pounds 9 ounces
clothes- 3-6 months or 6 months
shoes- size 2
diapers- size 2

New Skills:
rolls both ways, but doesn't use this to get around just yet (yay!)
sucks her thumb (usually her right)
stands very well in daddy's hand
sleeps well most nights (10ish-5ish then eats and goes back to sleep until 7ish)
laughs
grabs anything in reach and tries to get it into her mouth

Favorite things:
sucking her thumb
being outside
watching her brothers
the ceiling fan or her mobile
her "play mat"
nursing
water/baths

Dislikes:
being alone
when her brothers are too rough
waiting to eat
feeling gassy

becoming thumb obsessed!

Life with three brothers...bugs and soccer practice

We are loving getting to know our sweet girl and her personality is getting stronger by the day. Rachel is a precious little love and we enjoy all of her sweet smiles an giggles!

Nathan is TWO!

Our sweet, wild, youngest son turned 2 last week! We are both exhausted and entertained by him at this age and can't wait to see all he does on his way to age three. Nate is smart, daring, funny, silly, curious, social, coordinated and energetic. He hardly ever sits still and loves to be on the go and with people. Nater is a joy to be around and we feel blessed to have him in our family. He keeps us on our toes, laughing and feeling the love :)

New Stats:
weight- 25 pounds 11 ounces (25%)
height- 35.75 inches (90%)
head circumference- 50 centimeters (80%)
shoe size- toddler 6
clothing- 2T

New Skills:
fully potty trained!!! (even wears undies to sleep)
forward roll
eats well with utensils
jumps
knows a few colors and shapes
knows almost any body part you can think of
climbs anything/anywhere he wants to go
speaks in sentences and clearly enough that most people can understand him

Favorite things:
foods- yogurt, fruit of all kinds (especially bananas), tomatoes, milk, french fries, cheese, peas
books- Little Blue Truck, Big Red Barn, Go Dog Go!, Very Hungry Caterpillar, Moo Ba La La La
toys- "singing cars", balls, light sabers, mini action figures
TV show- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
Songs- "Happy to You" (he leaves out birthday), Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Color- Orange
Activities- labeling anything and everything and pointing it out to everyone :), making sure you notice all the things he notices, kicking or throwing a ball, running around outside, swinging and sliding, playing with toys


Dislikes:
not being allowed to complete a task himself "I do it!!!"
not being able to choose his own socks and shoes
brushing his hair

Current Tor-nate-o Sayings:
"I do it!"
"See the motorcycle, Mama?"
"See the airplane, Mama?"
"Hi, Rachey Lou, smile at me!"
He also labels everything in the house/yard with what it is and who it belongs to
"I have a snack, Mama, please?"


We celebrated his birthday with a simple family party in our back yard and I'm pretty sure he loved every single moment and enjoyed all the attention. He chose hot dogs and fruit for dinner and requested "chocate cupacakes" for dessert. All the kids painted pumpkins and played in the back yard. It was such an laid back party, perfect for our little guy!

What a blessing it is to have Nathan in our family! I cannot believe he is already two and changing rapidly into a little boy from our sweet baby. He is learning new big kid things every day and ditching every baby habit rapidly! Makes me happy and sad all at once, but I guess that's motherhood!

1 year old and 2 years old in Daddy's boots

busy Busy BUSY!

Man, oh man, we have had a busy past few weeks! My life is a bit crazy right now. It sure is challenging taking care of a baby while keeping up with two elementary aged kiddos and trying to keep house all at the same time! Managing my time to fit in a blog post is just about impossible most days. So, here is a bunch of pictures to show what has been going on with the Boyer crew the past 5 weeks...

Now that the weather is not so hot we've been spending a lot of time in the back yard and at the park

The boys often play "American Ninja Warriors" and make obstacle courses with our playset

 

A "successful" picture of all the Knochel grandkids at Bennett's 3rd Birthday party!

Watching daddy play softball...Rachel had a blast! ;)

Levi and Joel are both having great years at school so far and love being at school together. They walk in together every morning and get to see each other at recess every day as Levi is leaving while Joel is arriving to the playground.

We warmed up the spa one evening and Rachel loved her first swim!

The little two kiddos get to run lots of errands with me! (no way I'm doing that with all 4 if I can avoid it!)

Levi loves to read Nate his bedtime books

On my birthday we all met at a park near Philip's work for a Pei Wei picnic and then later that week I met my sister Molly, nephew Ephraim and Mom for a picnic breakfast and stroll in the gardens

 

We went to the Fort Worth Air Show and had a great time in the Bell Helicopter tent, good food, shade and ear plugs :)

I'm drowning in laundry...4 little people create so much! This is 3-4 days worth of the kids clothes

 

A bunch of our family was able to join us at church for Rachel's Baby Blessing!

Both big boys are playing soccer and have 2 practices and a game every week...it's a bit all consuming right now!

The boys loved having Papa at one of the games! My parents have come to a few as well, lucky grandkids!