Such a cute clan of McInelly's. Kate has two older brothers who will be oh so protective I'm sure. Mike said Jack, her oldest brother, talks about protecting Kate all the time. He's only 4, isn't that so cute!
The McInelly's get to come to Washington for the summer and we are soooo excited! Mike has an internship with Microsoft and so the whole family will be up here for a great Washington summer!
Here is Brody and Chase cheering Blake on while riding Chase's bike. Chase just took it upon himself that he was done with training wheels and basically taught himself how to ride in one day. After seeing the older boys doing it, Blake wanted to try it and do it just like the other boys.
Here are the kids in Chase's preschool. We went to Huntamer pumpkin farm. We do a co-op so every 6 weeks we host the kids at our house. It's really fun and all the kids are so cute.
We decided to try homeschooling this year with Brody. But he does go to a few classes at ORLA. It's a school run by the Olympia School District that is really organized for homeschooling families generally. Brody attends a reading class on Mondays, then an art and computer class on Wednesdays. He really enjoys it. Here he is on the playground between classes.
Kristi, my bestest friend since sophomore year of high school, and I decided to take a girl's trip. We drove up to Seattle and stayed in a hotel for a night without kids!!!! We shopped and ate (Cheesecake factory twice--I had the red velvet cheesecake 3 times! I actually brought a slice home to Chris but ate it before he could! It's shameful, but once you eat that cheesecake, you will understand!) The girls night out was sooooooooooooooo much fun! We laughed so hard and talked and talked and talked. Kristi is really like the sister I never had. I was telling Chris how I was a little embarrassed as I realized how quickly I fell back into that "single" phase....meaning, life was all about me and what I wanted. Anyway, reality hit when I came home and I hugged my kids and they said, "what did you bring me?" Ahhhh, nothing, but I have a lot of stuff I brought home for mommy! Hee heee! It was fun to be selfish for a day and a half! I told Chris I want to do it every fall. He said you should go more than that! Done! You heard it folks. It's documented. Chris was very good to take the kids for me and let me have a moment to myself. He's a great husband and father to our kids. I didn't worry about them for one minute. I knew they would be having a blast together.
Here we are the day before Thanksgiving with all this wonderful snow! Our kids were in heaven. After the snow was gone they kept pulling the sleds around anyway, and Brody says, "Mom, we need it to snow again!"
Cousin Olivia came down to play with us a couple of days before Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving day was one of the best Holidays I've had so far since having kids. So, holidays are of course great, but with young children, sometimes holidays tend to be hectic and chaotic and anything but relaxing. This Thanksgiving Blake took a nap during the feast and the kids even let us finish most of our conversations! It was so much fun spending time with my family. I'm so thankful so many of us live close to eachother and it's possible for us to get together often and share traditions and great memories together. In this picture the kids are listening to every work Uncle Zack is saying. 
Someone's going to get hurt....but luckily no one did. The kids had so much fun playing together. I love how each year there are more cousins coming to the family. I love a big family and having lots of cousins. The more people who love and care about you the better eh?
We took Brody and Chase to "Tangled" the Disney movie about Repunzel. It was VERY good. I highly recommend it. This is the best pic I had. Sorry Chase! We went the day after Thanksgiving and thanks to my mom, we didn't have to bring Blake who wouldn't sit still for any show. He's not into them yet. 
Blake is really getting into an "exploratory" stage as Chris labels it. I will post another picture of him climbing onto the counter and then into the top cupboards. He is into EVERYTHING, and fast. I can't leave him alone in another room because I'm wondering what kind of danger he is getting himself into.
For example, this picture is when I was in the laundry room and he came to me with a bag of cheetos. The last thing I saw was him walking away from me. The next time I looked at him, only about 30 seconds later, he had walked over to his high chair, and climbed up into it and sat himself down and poured out the cheetos. The tray was on already, which I'm not sure how he managed to get up and over that overhang. He was sitting there as if he was saying, I was hungry so I made myself a snack.
Lately, Brody and Chase have discovered my scarves. I think they look like fancy sheperds.
We documented Brody as well. He sleeps on his stomach at least half the night.
They are such good boys. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. I was leaving Costco with all three of the boys in the cart. The employee checking our receipt says, "How wonderful it is to have these children. They are such a blessing." I looked at him and immediately my eyes got glassy. I said, "I know. It is a blessing. I think about it every day." 
Here we are at the table eating hot dogs, chips, and fruit.
Brody's friends included: Seth, Chase, Paul, Gavin, Jude, Lucas, Cross, Calvin, Rhett, and Ava.
It was a great party thanks to Chris. He is a fabulous Dad. I appreciate all the effort he makes to be close to our kids and raise them with love and compassion. Brody had a great time and he felt really special.
