Arkansas

This is Shawn checkin in. I recently made a quick jot back to Little Rock for a music conference called Newsong. The conference was informative and motivating. The church that put it on was First Pentecostal Church of North Little Rock (Pastor Joel Holmes). The church was amazing. Here are a few shots that I took with my phone. We did one of the songs we learned there Sunday night at church. It's called The Blood Still Works (Malcom Williams & Great Faith). I have the vocals and the chord sheet if anyone wants it. I will check back in later in between Melissa's postings.

Sleep! Glorious Sleep!

Sleep is like the unicorn - it is rumored to exist, but I doubt I will see any.

I found this quote on line and it pretty much describes how I have felt since Kohen was born. He is a horrible sleeper. I expect babies to wake up once or twice to eat at night, but he's been a little excessive.

With that said, I just want to thank the Lord with all my heart because the little, precious, schmootzie pooh SLEPT ALL NIGHT!

That's right folks, he didn't wake up until 6 a.m. to eat. He then went right back to sleep and he is still sleeping at 9:00. It was wonderful!

Of course, I still didn't sleep because my mommy sense was tingling telling me to check on him 5 or 6 times. I'm sure if he can keep it up I can beat my mommy sense to smithereens and get some much needed sleep.

Melissa

There really is not very much to update about myself.

I do laundry, sometimes.

Pick up every one's stuff around the house, sometimes.

Clean the bathrooms, when I feel like it.

Mop the floors, every now and then.

And I occasionally vacuum.

Vacuum is a really strange word, huh? Why isn't it Vacume or even Vackume? Maybe someone can leave a comment and let me know why Hooked on Phonics didn't work for vacuum.

I did start sewing lessons with Sis. Jenkins. She really is an awesome seamstress. If you need any sewing done, you should look her up. If I can sew anything of merit, I'll post it. She has helped me make a skirt that turned out way better than I thought it would. I would really like to sew a number of things, its just finding the time. Not just time, but without kid time. The big boys aren't a problem, but Mr. Kohen is at a very curious stage and spends most of his days exploring our home. Toilets, dog food, tiny chokeable toys and the "God only knows where he got that" stuff keep us both busy. No time for sewing.

I decided to home school the boys this year, I'll post the why's and wherefor's later.

In May, My lovely sister got married and had a pretty beach side wedding.

We made these bouquets, they turned out nice, huh?

Kenson and Karter

I decided to write Kenson and Karter's update together since they typically do the same things.

2010 has been a great year for the boys so far. No major illnesses, accidents, or broken bones.

Kenson turned 8 in February and he had a sleep over with his buddies.

From Left to Right: Caden, Mike, Ethen, Kenson, Landon, Karter. Back Right: Kohen. Center: Polly

We went to Lego Land in March. All of the rides are pretty much geared for younger kids. This was perfect for the boys. These two are the biggest chickens EVER! The display behind them is made entirely of Legos. It's a race track complete with race cars and a huge crowd in the grandstand. The people in the grandstand are made out of Legos too. The detail is incredible.

They both received "A" Honor Roll in school this year and Sis. Casey survived having both of them in her class... at the same time...everyday. She's a saint.

I'm really excited to report that they actually completed a year of Bible quizzing. Now, they didn't learn all of the verses, but we did hang in there and went to the last tournament. They were supposed to learn 183 verses and I think we ended up learning somewhere in the 130's. I say "we" because as every BQ parent in the Beginner division knows, these little guys don't learn verses on their own. :-) Is anyone proud of ME for learning 130 something verses? huh? Guess not. I'm really proud of them for lasting to the end ( and myself for that matter, cuz I really, really wanted to quit in April.)

As you can see, they get really nervous right before they quiz. It's sad, really, to put them through this kind of pressure. They're trying to let off some steam with Rylan and Dylan from the Paso Robles team. (Hey, That rhymed! Steam and team...get it?)

This is Bakersfield 1. Kenson, Karter and Caden. See the lady with the red hair in the back? That's Sister Diane Newton. THE LADY HAS PATIENCE! It's not easy trying to get these guys to calm down and practice or to stop interrupting questions like a bunch of crazy, crazed....craze.....crazies. (there really are no analogies for crazy bible quizzers, how sad....)

We decided to get the boys a crew cut this summer and get rid of all their hair. This the "after" pic. Landon the Great came along too.

That brings y'all pretty much up to date!

Happy Birthday Miranda

Happy 13th Miranda! I can't believe you are a teenager.

I love you,

Uncle Shawn

Kohen

Kohen is growing, growing and growing. I hate how fast his first year is going by. He is already 9 months old and at his last doctors appointment he weighed 19lbs. Just like his older brother Karter, he decided to get 5 teeth at one time. I already miss his toothless grin and its only been a few weeks. As you can see by the last picture, he is already reading at a first grade level. (ha, ha) He is crawling everywhere and climbing on everything. He stands by himself, walks with one of his walking toys and raises his hands to praise the Lord. Kohen is a total blast. I'm so glad we decided to try for girl and I'm so glad God gave us Kohen instead.

Playing the drums with Uncle Shannon

Asleep in the car

Playing with Karter or in actuality Karter playing with him. (this doesn't always work out so well)

Reading a book. He's a genius!

Kohen's dedication

Back and better than ever!

Apparently the numerous fans of PettisX5 have been in a frenzy for updates on all of us. Since it's been about 6 months since there has been a post (who's responsible for that? huh? Someone is in BIG trouble), there's just too much info/pics to post all at once. I'll give an update for each member of PettisX5 separately. Since I'm really into organized chaos (it's my middle name. I have several.), I'll post from youngest to oldest. So stay tuned for the next post!