sad sock day

Today the threadbare spot on the bottom of one of my socks finally became a real hole that I could feel as I walked around. So, I threw it away. Good-bye beloved sock! I spent $12 for the pair in 2002 and wore them ALL the time, so I guess it was a good spend.

Jonah... Guitar Hero?

Jonah can't stop playing air guitar, unless of course he is playing his real guitar at home. We have always said that Aaron will be a praise and worship leader, and now maybe Jonah will be the lead guitar for Guns and Roses (or pick your rock band of choice)!!! :)

Baptism Day, 6/7/09

Here are a few random pictures from last Sunday. We (the Mann and Smith families) baptized Ruby Wisdom and Canaan Jem into the Family of God. The baptisms went very well. We were happy that Pastor Chris didn't drop either of the babies as he was on crutches. We are all praying that both of these children will walk with Jesus as they grow and are excited to watch their faith and relationship with Christ develop.

It was a joy to have four of the children's grandparents there for the big day; Grammie and Poppy and Grandpa and Grandma (McCarty). Thank you to everyone who attended the baptisms and for everyone else who has joined us in praying for these wonderful additions to our family. God has truly blessed us.

The New Date Night?

Bryan and I are trying to regularly schedule a "date night" on Saturday evenings, provided that we're both conscious after bedtime and up for an exciting date! A few weeks ago we had our first real "date" since Ruby was born. We worked together on our garden and drank beer, then sampled some cheeses that we had bought in Leavenworth last month (Bryan's parents came for a visit and we took them there for an overnight).

It is funny how the world changes; dates are now beer and yard work. The funniest part is that I enjoy this new, slower side of life. I wish we had picked up on this years ago. I cherish the one-on-one time that Bryan and I get together. It is a blessing for both of us and gives us a chance to recharge a bit. I hope that as life gets busier and the children grow older that we are able to remember to set apart special time for just us. If it seems as if we've forgotten to do this, will you please remind us? Thank you!

Here are a couple pics of our garden now (please ignore the weeds)... our fingers are crossed that we will actually yield some veggies from it. The boys are very excited.

Cute Kids

Aaron and Jonah helped Grandpa make log benches at the farm on June 4th. The set they made was for neighbors out at the farm, but the boys were happy to help since the benches are the same design as the ones at our firepit here at home. Aaron is typically very serious about his hearing protection, but in this shot they are wrapped around his waist. Jonah says, "Hearing protection? Who needs hearing protection?"

Ruby is sweet and lovely; she liked the sound of the chainsaw, from a safe distance of course. She was trying to fall asleep, but we managed to catch a great shot of her while she was enjoying the outdoors. I'm sure she'll be in the middle of the action with her brothers in no time!














I think that this was Jonah's favorite part of the project. He really enjoyed playing with the pile of sawdust!

Hearing Impaired and Bubbles

Are all two-year-olds hearing impaired? Jonah seems to not hear anything that we say. I tried a new trick recently... I've starting asking him very quietly to turn on his ears. It is so sweet, although the effectiveness may be short-lived. He will stop his current activity, use his fingers to "click on" his ears, and he is magically able to hear what I am saying. Frequently, he will even respond in the way that I am hoping for. I guess he doesn't need hearing aids after all!

Ruby is making more vocalizations and has recently starting making a noise by blowing air through her lips. I don't know how to give words to the noise, but we've all made it before. Let your lips go loose and flop around a bit. The cute thing abour Ruby's "blpppt" is that she blows bubbles at the same time. She thinks that she is pretty fancy and her talking typically produces a bunch of smiles to show us how smart she is! What a lovely young lady.

How cute is this little lady???
Shots of Ruby on the front porch on Sunday, May 31st!

New This Week....

Here are some new updates from the Mann household...

1.  We successfully made it to/from Spokane for Bloomsday on May 3rd.  The five of us did great on the walk, completing it with Grammie and Poppy in about 2 1/2 hours.  The boys were in the double stroller and Ruby was in the front pack.  The Smiths stayed back at the hotel as Micah developed a nasty stomach bug that surfaced about 30 minutes before we left the hotel for the big race... sad, but we are happy that Micah is better and we look forward to doing it with them next year!

2.  Grandpa and Grandma Mann visited for a week.  During their visit we took an overnight trip to Leavenworth (and stayed at our favorite hotel, The Enzian), visited the zoo and spent an afternoon at the beach.  Overall, we had excellent weather for a May visit to the northwest and it was a great opportunity for the children to spend some time with their grandparents.

3.  We now have a pet caterpillar.  He/she is a fuzzy yellow bear and will turn into some kind of Virginia moth if he makes it that far.  The boys love him.  We have discovered that he likes to eat lettuce, strawberries, apple (maybe) and the nectar out of the rhodedendron flowers.  Keep your fingers crossed that he makes it to a cocoon!

4.  Aaron has learned to climb the fence and does quite well at it.  Bryan jumped the fence last week to retrieve a ball and Aaron was immediately interested.  While he tells me that he "jumps" the fence, he is climbing it, but I'm still impressed!

5.  Jonah likes to be difficult.  He seems primarily interested in making Aaron's life difficult and not listening, being generally disagreeable.  On the upside, we've been putting him on the potty and he's made a few poops in the toilet!!!  Life after diapers may be in our future... NOT!!! :)

6.  Ruby gets prettier every day.  We pierced her ears on May 9th; she and her cousin Micah had a "girl's date" with their mommies for the special occasion.  It is probably the most girly thing we'll ever do with her in the near future!  Right now she seems to be entering a growing spurt and wants to eat all the time.  I'm trying to accomodate her the best that I can!

7.  Bryan and I are doing well.  Ruby has been pretty fussy, but we're working through that.  Otherwise, we're keeping our heads above water and trying to enjoy the chaos!  We are excited to be facilitating Financial Peace University at our church this fall and are preparing for that!

Love to all,

Bree

Ruby is a Rock Star!

Last Friday night (3/27), Ruby slept 8 hours straight!  Since then, she has slept between 8 and 9 1/2 hours at night, immediately followed by a 2-4 hour nap.  What an answer to prayer for Bryan and me.  After Jonah was up forever at night, this comes as a huge blessing for us.  Sleep is so good!

Hi all,

We had a family photo shoot in early January... wanted to get some family photos of the four of us before our new baby arrived as we had no family pics.

Patti Ramos was our photographer.  She also teaches birth preparation classes (which was excellent) and is a doula (birth partner/assistant).  Please feel free to check out the pics online at http://www.pattiramos.com/themannfamily.html.  We were really casual at the house and she got some fantastic candid shots of the boys.

Enjoy!

Love,

Bree

Trying another blog

Well, we decided that with the birth of a baby girl that "The Boys Mann" just didn't work for a family blog anymore, plus we were really lazy about posting to the site.  I am hoping that starting a new blog will give me some motivation to keep it up to date.

Welcome to our family!

Love,

Bryan, Bree, Aaron, Jonah and Ruby