Declan Door Climber

Declan Door Climber, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

This is our little monkey. I sense broken bones and lots of bruises in his future...not from him, but from his siblings who try to copy him.

Graycie Falling Asleep

Graycie Falling Asleep, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

We finished lunch and were just hanging out, then I look over and Graycie is nodding off in her chair. I almost couldn't keep from laughing while filming, it was quite entertaining. Enjoy!

Declan Rock Star

Declan Rock Star, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

Declan tries his hand at freestyle American Idol in his pull-up using a lipstick microphone, oh yeah!!

Gracie Helps Load the Dishwasher

Gracie Helps Load the Dishwasher, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

Gracie is apparently ready to help with some chores. :)

Dad Life Music Video

You have to check out this hilarious video by Church on the Move. It's called "Dad Life" and is done in Toyota's Swagger Wagon music video style. Hilarious!

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

** Download the MP3 at churchonthemove.com! **

DSC_0987

DSC_0987, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

More of Bella's dancing, so fun!!

So You Think Annabelle Can Dance?

DSC_0985, originally uploaded by Rippsteins in Wichita.

Bella always has to dance when music and/or dancing is on, so now that SYTYCD Season 7 has begun, she has a great time participating!

Gracie 9 months

Thought I'd load some recent pics of our baby girl.
We had blueberry pancakes for dinner tonight, and she loved 'em!!

She was reminding me of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory where the girl turns into a blueberry, so I said, "You're turning violet, Violet!" Then Bella goes, "You're turning violent, violent!"

Declan's Birthday!!

Declan turns 4 this Saturday, so we had his family b'day party tonight. He really enjoyed showing off his muscles and his gifts, especially his super cool yellow monkey rainboots! He also had a blast shooting Gabe with his new super soaker water gun, pretty much the only present he actually asked for, so we caved. :)

Silly Papa had fun chasing the kids around. He's really good at making a fool of himself. ;)

Then dessert! You have to check out this cake, made exactly as Declan ordered (green lizard, red eyes and tongue, brown tail, and rock candies). Way to go, Grandma!!

Surprising Shelf Life Trivia

I know plenty of non-refrigerated items are not of the "non-perishable" variety, but it surprised me to learn these are really only good for about 6 months:

• brown rice
• nuts
• spices
• baking powder
• bleach

So now you know. =^D

New Home Project

Went to Lowe's and bought materials to screen in our back porch. We'll see if this former homeowner still has some remodeling skills.

Here are some pics of the kids helping me with the first few walls.

Wow, what a slacker

So I just wanted to apologize to my family today for not posting anything since Gabe's bday. Fourth quarter is always the busiest time of year at work, and the workload still hasn't let up now that first quarter is done. I still work several evenings and weekends and it's getting old. Gracie is an amazing baby but has been the hardest to sleep train of our four. She would throw major fits at bedtime for over an hour sometimes, and she's always been a 3-hour timer for the call to eat! So Charli and I have both been pretty exhausted in the evenings.

But we are happy to say Gracie is now sleeping in her own room, not throwing fits any more, and sometimes skips a feeding or 2 at night (yes!). She's 7 months old now and is crawling all over the house and sitting up on her own, and she's a ton of fun, of course.

Now that Gracie's sleep training is going better, I'm feeling well enough to start tackling this blog again, even though work is not letting up any time soon. I'll start looking for any photos or videos we've taken the last 6 months and start getting them caught up. Love you all!!