Williamson County Fair, 2011 edition

Yearly traditions are so fun now that the boys are old enough to remember and anticipate special events.  This year we had a great time at the fair.  We stayed longer than we ever had, even through nap time!  We missed seeing the BMX bikers and the Ferris wheel was not there.  Ben had been looking forward to riding it all year, since he wasn’t tall enough last year.  The big boys were definitely more into the rides, and trying bigger things.  Jake really wanted to do the big upside down stomach flipping rides, and he probably would have if they would let 6 year olds on them. 

Nascar simulator

The little 1’s farm exhibit is always one of my favorites!  Here are some year by year pictures…

2011                                                           2010

2009

2011- maybe the last year they will think this ride is cool!

2010

2009

I can’t forget to mention sweet little Abby!  She was the best sport ever, hanging out in the stroller, eating a pound of snacks from home, and taking a little nap without a fuss when she had enough of the fair.

Zip!

Jake and Ben attended their older cousin’s 8th birthday this week.  This is a fantastic idea for a big kid party- a zip line adventure course.  Both boys did each of the 8 zips on the course, some of them 85 feet above the ground!  Way to go fellas!  I wish I could have been there to participate!

Jason and his oldest brother Tim

Mommy wants a turn!

Woven

The kids got a big thrill out of this web that appeared across our back door overnight.  It was taller than they are, so I think they imagined the elusive spider to be bigger than them too.

Meaningful work

The other night during the witching hour, things were really falling apart.  People were bored and there was lots of crying, fighting and misdirected activity.  In a moment of desperation, I recruited some kitchen helpers to use a device that turned out to be new and exciting to them: the cherry pitter!  Thankfully, all the boys wanted in on this job!  There was instant co-operation and taking turns!  It turns out this is a miracle device.

 

I also recently discovered that Jake is old enough to cut soft foods with a knife.  Give a boy a small sharp knife, appropriate supervision and some safety rules… he feels like BIG STUFF!  They do this in Montessori classrooms regularly, so I should have thought of this sooner.  He made a salad almost all on his own. 

It’s a…

As all 2 of my blog readers know, there is another little Pereira on the way.  Here we are in the ultrasound waiting room yesterday.  It has become a family tradition for us all to go see the new baby together. Historically, daddy is wrestling with a squirmy toddler the whole time while the older ones look on in fascination.  This time was no exception!  Mommy’s rules:  Be quiet and be still!  And there might be a treat afterwards if you’re good.  Thankfully, little baby #5 is growing well and looks healthy so far.  At the very end of the study, it was revealed, much to mommy’s surprise….

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had planed to offload a lot of clothes at a consignment sale next week, but now it looks like we will need to hang on to them for a bit longer.  We are so thankful for this healthy little boy.  Each time I see a fetal ultrasound I am so in awe of God’s creativity and power in his perfect design. 

The newest little Pereira

Jason’s brother and sister in law have recently completed the long process of adopting a little girl from China.  We joined the big party at the airport last Thursday to welcome little Belle Qing Pereira to her new home.  She has been loved on heavily by her 4 older siblings and has made a great adjustment to her new home so far.  Our boys are in love with their new little cousin.  She is the same age as Abby so that will be fun for them as they get older.

Enjoying getting to know her Papaw- he has a special way with babies!

Sweet Abby

Happy 4th!

We attended the Pegram 4th of July parade again this year.  Its fun that the boys are now old enough to remember these events from last year and look forward with great anticipation to doing them again.

We had Papaw and Ellie over for dinner and watched the neighbors set off their fireworks.  The boys could not wait for it to get dark, and we had a few small fireworks of our own.  Its scary how much they LOVE fireworks!  Careful!!!

I love how Jake’s face says it all in this picture!

Fun time with our cousins

 

Two of our nieces from Cincinnati came to visit while their older sister was recovering from surgery.  We had the best time taking them to the zoo and playing in the river by our house.  The raft was definitely the most popular activity of the weekend!  The boys were so excited the whole time they were here, by the end of the visit they were all more exhausted than we have ever seen before.  There was an awful lot of showing off and physical play among themselves, I guess just trying to impress their cousins.  The girls were so sweet and well behaved, but our boys were a handful!

The best daddy EVER

Our four almost five children are so blessed!  We love you!

Fun summer activity.

We borrowed this raft from some neighbors and took it out on the river across the street from our house.  The boys had the BEST time.  They only stayed in the raft for about 30 seconds, then the real fun was to swim in the river and push the raft around.  The river is quite shallow in many areas so they could touch bottom.  We explored a little tributary that runs through some farmland across the river from our house, which felt like a little adventure. 

Brothers