Out of the Mouths of Babes

First, let me mention that our boys (especially Ben) love to wear capes. Everywhere. All day. Sometimes they even wear them when we go grocery shopping. To demonstrate how serious they are about them: today as we were in the car & half way to town to watch a parade (yes, horses, marching bands, fire trucks, floats, & the like) Cedric realized that we'd accidentally left his cape at home & he insisted we go back & get it even if it meant completely missing the parade. Mind you, these are simply just blankets that they tie around thier necks. Well, yeterday evening I had asked Ben to get undressed so we could put on jammies & get ready for bed. Since Ben still wears a diaper at night I had gone upstairs to gather all the bedtime hoopla when suddenly I hear a little patter of footsteps running up & down the hallway gleefully yelling,

"Naked superhero to the rescue!"

It made me smile. So stinking cute! There is just something about being naked to a kid. I think all my kids would run stark naked all day if I let them. 

A Glorious Day

It's official. As of yesterday afternoon Evelyn is no longer in need of constant oxygen! She had a great check-up with her cardiologist in Missoula and after a thorough exam he gave us the okay to take her off the oxygen. We will be going back to see him in 3 weeks so he can confirm that her body is handling it well but I am confidant that our little peanut will pass the test! There may come times down the road when she will need it temporarily (when she gets sick) but otherwise we are free of chords and heavy tanks and noisy concentrators. So excited! And it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Evie had really started to become annoyed with the tubes on her face & the chords were becoming much more of a hassle as she is much more mobile these days. We celebrated her victory by stopping to get ice cream on our way home which she LOVED. She was quite mad at Papa when he took it away from her!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

"Just get it off & get me out of here."

"Ahhhh... This is much better!"

"Mmmm... this is yummy, Papa,"

"Life is good!"

Getting a Good Start

We've gotten an early start on home projects this year and Brian has already completed a big one in our back yard. I mentioned it briefly in the last post as a patio though I'm not sure that's exactly the right name for it. I am so excited about it because it REALLY cleans up our yard and basement walkout area, it's much safer for the kids, and it has a built in fire pit! Brian worked extremely hard on it for two weeks straight and he did an amazing job! I'm kicking myself for not having taken a picture of what it looked like before, especially the stairs going down to the basement. They look 10 times better now! The first night we used it was on Evie's birthday though I don't think she particularly enjoyed it much as she wasn't feeling very well, but she'll have all summer to enjoy it and we're all looking forward to getting a lot of use out of it. Thank you, Brian, for blessing our home and family in this way!

Not the best before pic. but you can kind of get an idea of what it was like before.

In addition to the fire pit, my sweet husband bought me a new bed spread this weekend. Mostly prompted by having a thick comforter that can only be dry cleaned and having a certain sweet child of our get sick on it, but Brian suggested it all on his own and I did not hesitate to comply. Now we have a set for summer and a set for winter... I am so incredibly spoiled & I love our new bed!

Our Birthday Girl!

This past Friday our little peanut turned 1 year old! God is so good! We set out planning a big birthday bash to celebrate this big milestone in her life & to thank God for the incredible mercy & kindness he's shown her in this first year. It was all planned out, food prepared, tables & chairs picked up and hauled home, new outdoor patio completed, gifts made, and over 40 people were planning to come when not just one but three of us (including the birthday girl) came down with some sort of flu bug. HUGE bummer! I had to call everyone on Friday and cancel the party that was supposed to be held the next day. Not only was it a major disappointment to have to cancel the party but it is no fun feeling crummy. Despite it all we still had a little bit of a celebration amongst ourselves. 

We are thankful beyond words for our sweet little Evelyn & the miracle that she is. May she continue to astound us in her strength, in her good health, & her joy. May God be glorified through the life story He has written for her. And may she continue to be blessed immeasurably.

Happy 1st Birthday sweet little Evelyn!

Behind the Times

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Thanks to very doting grandparents our kids looked quite lovely on Easter morning! We tried to get a nice shot of them all together and this is what we got... classic!

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

And I'm really not quite sure why we bother trying to tuck in the boys' shirts. They NEVER stay put!

Sugar High & Other Sweetness

There's nothing quite like chocolate toast!

Or cupcakes!

& she's just a little ball of sweetness in & of herself!

"Aghh! What happened to my hair!"

Ricky is quite the little chef. Likes to make lunch for any willing patron!

The boys had a camp out in the driveway with Papa last week.
Ricky was especially excited!

Went to Bozeman las weekend for my sweet sister Alivia's 13th birthday.
Got to see everyone including my beautiful Grammie! It was a very nice trip.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Alivia.
She's such a beautiful little lady!

The boys love to help in the kitchen.
I usually let them help & usually always wonder why I did! ;)

Brian's folks also came to visit last weekend. They were having grandkid withdrawals  & it was also Dale's birthday. We had a very nice visit concluded with a yummy steak dinner (thanks Mom & Dad!).

Major Milestone

Our little peanut has hit a major milestone this week & hasn't needed to use her feeding tube for 4 whole days! The only exception has been to give her daily medicine but all her meals have been taken orally. We are so incredibly proud of how far she's come in the last handful of months. In addition, her first little tooth has popped through on the bottom this week. It's been a wonderfully eventful week at the Schultz home!

All glory, praise, & honor be to our good & merciful God!