Pretty ears

Kylee has been asking for a while to get her ears pierced. We told her after she was 8 she could get it done. Kylee and her cousin Paloma decided to do it together. This weekend we were finally able to find a little time to go and get it done. The 2 girls that got their ears pierced in front of us had a hard time. One girl had one ear done and did not want to do the other one. This made Kylee and Paloma a little anxious about getting their ears done. Kylee and Paloma ended up being very brave about getting their ears pierced. They got it done with just a few little ouches. Those ears look so pretty now.

shoeless Brayden

I want to remember all the funny things about our children. Brayden tends to have a lot of them. One thing that Matt and I have noticed about Brayden is that he is pretty lazy. When he takes off his socks and shoes he can't seem to finish the job. He usually ends up with one sock still on. It doesn't seem to bother him and usually spends half the day lopsided.

Brown eyed boy

Here is a little about monkey #4. Blake is 5 months old now. I think that we can officially say he has brown eyes. He is following in his siblings footsteps of measuring long at his appointments usually being in the 90th percentile. That means he grows out of clothes quickly. He is at the grabbing stage. He especially likes to grab at long hair that comes within arms reach, the girls don't really appreciate it. Blake slobbers a lot. When I hold him facing out I will hear his drool splatter on the ground, or I feel it when I step on it on the carpet. My left shoulder is usually wet because he sucks on my clothes. Blake is a content baby. He likes it when people talk to him and often, when he is fussy, he will will cheer up if you give him a smile and a little baby talk. He also likes to be held. He doesn't last very long hanging out on the ground by himself. Blake is a quiet boy and does most of his smiling when he wakes up in the morning. Blake is loved by all his siblings. They are all willing to play with Blake and help him to be happy. I love the touch of his small soft hand, his toothless smile, and the sound of his little deep voice. A final note for all those who say that 4 is the same as 3, it is a lie.

Tribute from Camille

(From Camille's Blog for my birthday)
Oh! NO...I have not forgotten!
Sister # 3




Kristel and Katrina.....too cute.

Dear Kristel, Kristella De ville, Kristelitas, brown-eyed girl, Turkey Monster.



Why do we love you?...this is why:

YOU LOVE..


and..

(minus the monks)

you especially like it when this:



is inbetween your..


(you love feet in general even without hair)

You have an unmatched ability to sniff out invisible hidden scents like a puma..



You,sister #3 are the best at ORGANIZING and anything involving meticulous tasks that send the rest of us CRAZY!

You are an AMAZING preschool teacher and especially with your four ones... not forgetting the new an improved darker model..the 1stBROWN CALDWELL!


p.s is there such a thing??


All of us would agree you WON the best husband award..




because he enjoys playing with these:



plus he is also..



your LOVE LANGUAGE is physical touch..



You are the best mom,wife, phone chatter, house cleaner, TV watcher,newley americanized, treat-eater, daughter n law, sister, preschool teacher, ward secretary, newsletter editor, college swimmer, friend to many, sea-world lover, project finder organizer, sister missionary,spanish speaker, lover of life and all thats great...


one-of-a kind SISTER # 3

HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY!

p.s if I am 27 how are you 31????!!

ballet, ballet, ballet

Julia loves to dance, and she dances all the time. If you ask her what she is, she will tell you she is a princess. If you ask her what princesses do, she will tell you they dance. I caught this short video clip of her practicing her ballet in the kitchen while Kristel prepared dinner. Brayden interrupted Julia, and she gave him a little of her ballerina attitude.

Creative or Deprived?

When Brayden wants something, he doesn't take no for an answer, and he has an impressive ability to stay focused on the object of his desire. Brayden constantly tells us about toys that he would like to have. However, he doesn't understand the word "no", and answers excitedly, "Oh thanks!, I can't wait!". I have noticed that lately he has taken things into his own hands and created his own toys. Since his cousins, the Gaspar de Albas, received a Wii game last Christmas, he has mentioned numerous times that he would like one. After months of unanswered requests for his own, Brayden made a Wii controller out of paper. When he has company, he offers to let others use his Wii control.
Brayden was looking at a party magazine with different themes. He saw the theme of Pokemon and has begun asking for Pokemon cards. After not recieving any he looked closely at the pictures and made his own cards copying the little pictures as best he could. Even Kylee took pity on him and gave him a REAL Pokemon card she got from her class treasure box.
Brayden has also made some paper remote controls for his paper robot.

We are not sure if this is an indication of how creative he is, or how deprived of toys he is.

Sound Effects

Julia is a fun little girl to be around and as her language skills develop I am especially enjoying talking with her. She is at a fun age because she is starting to understand more. She is able to express herself better even if we don't understand all the words she uses. I especially like when she tells me stories. In conversations with her she likes to use sound effects to explain herself. I love hearing these little highlights to her stories, and they do help her get her point across. If she is telling a story about how she was scared, she will stop mid sentence, let out a scream with a wide-eyed startled look on her face, and then continue on in a normal tone. Lately, she frequently accents descriptions of her potty training efforts with "sshhhh" sound effects and grunting noises. You have to pay close attention because she doesn't repeat herself, but I can't help smiling every time I hear her.