Fourth of July - Boat Parade

An annual family tradition on the Fourth of July. Two insane parents taking 8 children on the parade around the lake.

Strawberry Picking

We love to pick strawberries, and fresh from the fields they taste as good as candy. Nathan and Lindsey spent most of their time eating them, big surprise. Emily had a dentist appointment early that morning, so she chose to rest at Grandma's house.

The biggest thrill for Nathan was (SURPRISE) the tractor that had a trailer behind that brought us out to the field. "Mom! Here comes the tractor!" was all I heard every five minutes or so.

Spray Parks

It is our goal this summer to visit a different park each week for a picnic lunch. Several of the parks in the city have new spray parks. It was just a bit too cool and the kids didn't want to get too wet, but they still had fun.

Slip & Slide Replacement

Maybe this is why our slip and slide got a hole in it after the first use - maybe is was just poor manufacturing. I will let you decide.

Slip & Slide

A summer classic for the Baldwin family - and the whole culdesac.

Three Baldwin Kids

Dueling Mowers

Gene went to put something away after mowing and found this...

John Deere Tractor

We have a battery operated purple Barbie Jeep that Lindsey got for her third birthday, and we knew Nathan would have to drive it as well.

But Bapa rescued the John Deere Tractor out of someone's pile to head to the dump. It needed some work, and has a weak battery, but it was free. The boy LOVES his John Deere Tractor.

Spring Fun!

Well, it is only May 17, but already we have had some great summer-like fun. We are out riding bikes nearly every day and even got the sidewalk chalk out.

Maggie, The Kitten

So, we felt a little empty in our house since we lost our beloved Sasha. This time, I thought it would be fun to try for a kitten. Since our last three cats were black and brown tabbys, the biggest requirement was that it was not a black and brown tabby.

We went to Pet Smart on Wednesday, but there were only cats, no kittens. We went on Friday to pet the cats again, and darn it, they had kittens. This is Maggie, her brother was Bart and her sister was Marge. As cute as the three were, I knew Gene would have killed me if I brought all three home.

Lindsey probably has the most fun with her - carting her around everywhere, wrapping her in baby blankets and pushing her in the doll stroller. Nathan has yet to pick her up, he will pet her, but that is about all.

Pet Smart was a great option, for $60, she was already spayed, micro-chipped and came with her first year's license. Those three alone would cost over $100, so she met my requirement for being economical, if you can call a cat economical.

Three Baldwin Kids

Lindsey on Two Wheels Only

Lindsey has spent the last two summers with training wheels. She really didn't need them, except for starting and stopping to help her balance the bike. We worked with her for two evenings on starting and stopping. By the third evening, I kind of ignored her to talk to the neighbor and she tried it herself. She was all over the place and so proud of herself. It was fun to watch. Now she begs to go out and ride her bike. I only wish the weather would comply. This was taken on our one nice day so far this spring, on her first bike ride to the park without training wheels.

Gene's Turkey

Gene's first year turkey hunting, third time out, and he gets a turkey. Anyone know a great recipe for cooking wild turkey? My solution is to leave it in the freezer long enough for it to get so freezer burned that I have to throw it away.

Changing Oil

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Gene was out changing oil on his truck and Nathan being the true boy, was out helping him. He said, "Daddy, I need to change the oil on the Jeep." So Gene propped it up with a piece of wood, gave him the creeper to lay on and a wrench to do the work.

Sears Portraits of Lindsey (5) and Nathan (2 1/2)

Click on Title for link to photos.

Easter

Easter came and we were thinking that a beautiful spring was on it's way, but two days later, it snowed 7". Granted that snow melted by the next morning, but it still was a shocker.

Nathan and Lindsey look cute with their haul, but when are you too old to egg hunt?

Three Baldwin Kids

Lindsey's 5th Birthday

Lindsey's 5th birthday was a blast! We booked Jump-n-Party for her and her friends. They have 5 large blow up slides and obstacle courses that the kids ran around on for 1 1/2 hours. Lindsey requested a Barbie cake, the second one I have made. It turned out pretty good. (Hopefully Nathan won't want one, so I won't have to make another.)

Whatcha got in your mouth? Nuffin'.

(I believe it is a Hershey's kiss.)

Emily's 10th Birthday

For Emily's 10th Birthday, she had three friends come with us to Polka Dot Pottery. Emily painted a cute cupcake box. The theme was Polka Dot, if you couldn't tell by the polka dot cake and her shirt.

Can't believe she is 10 already!

Gene & Jana in Vegas

So, for the first time in 11 1/2 years, Gene and I went on a trip without kids. We stayed for 4 nights at the MGM Grand. Our goal was to see a lot and get some rest. Well, we saw a lot. As for the rest, we didn't do much. We walked everywhere, up to nine hours a day. In the MGM Grand alone, there were 3 Starbucks. We got lost in our own hotel.

We saw some great shows. Gene's friend from work got us tickets to Nathan Burton, Comedy Magician. He was featured on America's Got Talent. Great show. Gene even got pulled up on stage. We had tickets to see Wayne Brady, Comedian, but he got sick, so they refunded our tickets. We jumped over to the tickets for the Blue Man Group, commenting that we just got canceled at Wayne Brady, and they gave us a discount. We got great seats, an hour before the show, just behind the "splash" section. On the last night, we bough discount tickets from Tix4Tonight for Cirque du Soleil's Mystere at Treasure Island. Very entertaining!

We ate well, but whoever said Vegas food was cheap hasn't been there in awhile. We also sat through a one hour presentation to purchase a time share condo at Planet Hollywood. It was only $68,000 for a two bedroom for one week per year. They wanted 25% down and then they would finance the remainder at 18.99%. After we completed our presentation, we got our free passes to Madame Trussad's Wax Museum, a gondola ride through the canals of the Venetian and a fancy Italian lunch.

I was a much needed vacation and break from kids and the daily life. I hope we can go sooner than the next 11 years.

More Shooters - Look at his form

Three Baldwin Kids

Three Baldwin Kids

AMBUSH

Not only does Nathan love shooters (guns), he has now taken to hiding and surprising us!

Snowed In - AGAIN!

For the second time in 2008, we have been snowed in and school cancelled. This time it was record snow. I think is was something like 20" in 24 hours.

Our lampost in the front yard was covered in snow, and at night, the light made the snow glow. It was pretty cool.

Baldwin Family Photos

Click on the title Baldwin Family Photos
Just type in the password Manito (case sensitive).

We had a great time!

Nathan Turns Two

Okay, so the boy is addicted to tools. We had aconstruction theme birthday party for Nathan. I made this pretty clever bulldozer/backhoe cake, he got a sawzall, goggles, a circular saw, a battery operated bulldozer, remote control truck and some walkie talkies. He is all set. A week later and he still carries both saws everywhere with him.

Click on the title "Nathan Turns Two" for his 2 Year Old Photos at Sears today!

Lindsey's Impromptu Unprofessional Haircut

Well, I knew it had to happen at least once in our family, and the recipient was Lindsey. The culprit, surprisingly, was Emily. I thought there was an age where you were too smart to do this kind of thing, but I guess not. Jana took a try at repairing it, just so we could get through church the next day and then get to the hairdresser to fix it. Total damage was a good three inches in length.

First Day of School 2008

Emily is in Fourth Grade! Where did the time go. She picked a "green" theme this year for all her school supplies. From her eraser to her backpack and lunchbox, everything is the color green. Lindsey didn't go to pre-school this year, we opted to put her in full day kindergarten next year. Nathan was a usual almost two attitude and refused to pose in the pictures. He was in the background and we kept telling the girls to back up so that they would be even with him. We finally go a great shot.

Nathan's Weedeater

Polka Dots with Sidewalk Chalk

We found out that sidewalk chalk makes a more brilliant color and a great body paint when you get it wet.

Nathan at the Zoo

We went to the Zoo on a recent trip. Nathan was fascinated with the gorillas, but the most fun he had was chasing a mallard duck during our lunch break.

Mo' the Mower

Nathan is obsessed with two things - the vacuum and the lawnmower. He is almost always pushing or dragging his little mower along with him. He is fascinated to watch Gene mow and often gets in the path of the mower, so we have to move him frequently. His second sentence was "Daddy mow grass."

Sasha

Our newest edition to our family is Sasha. She is a great cat. She definitely belongs to the kids. She follows Nathan everywhere outside. They are little buddies. Lindsey is faithful in filling her food bowl. Emily gets the pleasant chore of cleaning her box, but she also gets to have her sleep on her bed. Once in awhile she will climb on Gene's or my lap and take a nap, but not often.

Emily's Ski Season

Another season gone by. This day was the Slush Cup where crazy contestants could attempt to ski across a slushy pond about 10ft x 4ft x 4ft. Some ended up end over end into the slush, and some made it across. Emily enjoyed watching, but didn't dare try.

She is doing great at skiing!

Nathan at 18 Months Pictures at Sears

Nathan was too moody to finish out the shoot, so Lindsey got a few shots in.

Lindsey's Four Year Pictures from Sears

His Father's Son

I couldn't resist taking this picture. Then I softened the edges and turned it black and white. Too cute!

Nathan Binky Flip

We can only get him to do a 90, not the full 180.

Snowed In!

School was cancelled for a week straight. Gene snow blowed two and three times a day. You can see how Emily's head is as high as the neighbor's gutter. Pretty amazing.

Uh-Oh (He says it all)

In the Snow

We went out in the snow as a family to burn off some of the energy that we can't burn sitting in the house all day. Gene built a snowman with the girls while I pulled Nathan around in the sled. He also attempted to walk in his new boots in the snow, but if it wasn't packed down, he faceplanted.

Christmas Cookies

So we decorated some Christmas cookies while Nathan was taking his nap and the girls had a great time. We left them on the counter for awhile so we wouldn't smush all the creations when we put them in a container. Well, we forgot we left them there, but look who found them. After he discovered his cookie, I moved him to the high chair to finish.

Emily's Psalm Fest - Psalm 121:1-6

For Psalm Fest this year, Emily memorized Psalm 121:1-6