Happy 6th Birthday, Trent!

My second son is a year older today. I can't believe he is already 6! It seems like we were just bringing him home from the hospital yesterday. (I know, I know - cheesy and cliche, but true!) Trent is such a fun addition to our family. I can't imagine how life would be if he were any different from his own special self. Trent is our adventurous one and our curious one. (That can sometimes make for interesting situations.) He is a sweetie who likes to help as much as possible. Trent would live outside if we let him. He loves to ride his bicycle and do "cannonballs" into the pool. He has unending energy and a never-ending supply of questions and comments for mom and dad. Trent's favorite color is red, followed closely by green. He loves pizza, hot dogs and Taco Bueno. And oh, yes - Trent has learned to whistle! Some other things that Trent has learned or accomplished recently are: riding his bike without training wheels, learning to read independently, jumping off the swing at its highest point, climbing the outside of the stairs so he can touch the ceiling, saying the prayer in bible class, and almost diving into the pool. It's amazing how fast he is learning things!

God has blessed us with a wonderful child in Trent and we pray that we can be the parents that he needs and that he grows to be a man who loves the Lord and follows where He leads. Happy birthday to my sweet 6 year old!

Trent Through the Years

Baby Trent

Trent is really a happy child. There is almost always a smile on his face.

Trent has fine hair and a double crown on the top of his head, so when he was a baby he had quite the Alfalfa look all the time - it didn't matter how much we plastered it down, his hair always stuck straight up!

What is the same in these pictures?

A paci is the accessory that goes with everything, just don't make me drop it out of my mouth!

Trent being Trent

Just when I thought I had Trent and Paige asleep for naptime, I would find Trent in Paige's crib along with all the toys he could carry in with him.

Trent and his imaginative costumes

He really likes to be the goofy one.

My little monkey...

...appropriate mascot, isn't it? :)

Trent, we love you and pray that this coming year will be an even better one than the one we just finished. Thanks for being such a terrific son!

All in a Day's Play

Kids can be so imaginative, can't they? There is no telling where their imaginations are going to take them. Here are some random pictures of my kids being kids!

Here the foursome is playing "house" and are all having nap time on their "beds" at the top of the stairs.

Troy had read about trapping animals, so.....Paige got to be the guinea pig (or bear or lion...). I had to outlaw this particular game rather quickly. Notice the links attached to the top of the crate? Trent was on the stairs above holding the other end of those links. He thought it was great fun to "trap" unfortunate souls who walked below him. Not a good idea!

Ah, yes - the horse-drawn carriage.

I really have no idea why they strapped themselves into the back of Jim's truck, but they were having a lot of fun doing it!

We have had lots of rain and thunderstorms this year. The kids decided to build a fort to protect themselves from hail and tornadoes. They had a blast playing in it and even more fun making noise like a hailstorm.

The boys are really into knights and dragons right now (which goes along nicely with the girls being into Sleeping Beauty). Here is their portrayal of a knight riding his trusty steed off to battle a ferocious fire-breathing dragon (otherwise known as the couch cushion in the foreground).

This is the boys rendition of bull riding. We are in Texas, ya know!

Not to be outdone, Paige decided to try some bucking of her own.

It has been a lot of fun watching their imaginations come alive. I can't wait to see what they will do next!

Born on the Fourth of July

Happy 40th birthday to my big brother, Danny!

For this year's celebration we all met at Mom and Dad's house for dinner and birthday dessert. Mom made her delicious hamburgers. We had some good potato salad to go with them and we ended with yummy ice cream sundaes. The cousins all tired themselves out playing together and hopefully will all sleep late in the morning.

I can't believe my brother is 40! It's amazing how much younger 40 is looking these days. :) Happy birthday, Dan - love ya!

Here's my crew in my parents' backyard all decked out in our 4th of July garb.

The six Flanagan cousins.

Wow - everyone is looking at the camera!

Rose of Sharon

All right - thanks to Meg, we have figured out what this bushy thing is. It appears that we have a hibiscus in our backyard. After looking at the website that Meg gave me and following a few links, it looks like this particular hibiscus is a Rose of Sharon. Based on the information I read, ours is quite large. How about that - we do absolutely nothing to this plant and it thrives. We try and take good care of our vegetable garden and everything dies! Apparently, plants at our house need us (or more specifically -me) to give them a wide berth in order to survive. At least that will make my yard-tending chores easier. :)

Pretty Purple Blooms

We have a tree in our backyard that blooms for about one month each year. We have absolutely no idea what type of tree it is, but it does have some very pretty purple blooms and it is covered in them when it does bloom. As you can see, there are so many blooms they pull the branches all the way down to the ground. (If anyone knows what type of tree it is, let us know!) I took some pictures of the kids by the tree and thought I would share them.

I wanted to try and get a few pictures of all of them together by the tree, but one of them was not really in the mood for pictures, as you can see.

You want me to smile?

This is really no fun at all, Mom.

Aaargh!

How much longer do I have to put up with this?

So much drama!