The Fantastic Four

For Fathers' Day I usually have the kids' portraits taken. This is this year's production. On our big portrait hanging on our wall you can really see the dirt in Drew's toenails. That's how his feet will look all summer!

First Smiles

Mallory has just started flashing big, toothless smiles. She is usually the most likely to smile when she wakes up in the morning and anytime Drew is around. Drew gets her to smile more than the rest of us combined.

Sprinkler Fun

We had a fun BBQ at the Marler's recently to honor Nathan & Laura (Marler) Hesmann's graduation from medical school. The kids appreciated Aunt Cathy's idea of playing in the sprinkler on such a hot day.

Cousin Joey isn't so happy about getting squirted in the face.

Ross, Harrison, Grant, Emmaline, and Drew wait for the water. Notice Drew getting ready to bolt.

Aren't big sisters great?

Elizabeth always has a great time dressing Drew up, and he is always a willing participant. He had no problem getting into the pink and white bunny suit. He reminded me of Ralphie in "A Christmas Story," although he was much happier wearing the costume.

Beach Baby

Of course Mallory is still too little to take a dip in the pool, but she was styling in her strawberry bathing suit to watch Daddy and the big kids go for a swim at aunt Joanie & uncle John's pool.

The Gang's All Here!

What a motley crew! For the holiday weekend, the Felker clan converged in Missouri to celebrate Mary Caroline's graduation. We had such a great time catching up with each other. The Reall's travelled from Chicago, the Carles travelled from Pittsburgh, and the Sanders travelled from Crestview, FL.

Jan and her kids - What a great looking bunch! Top row - Mary, Katie, Colton, Jessica, Jan Ellen. Front row - Edward, Jan, and Andrew.

16 and counting! Here is a picture of all of the Felker cousins (for now). Three more are on the way! Top row - Sterling, Edward, Julia, Katrina, Judson, Drew, Ross, Matthew. Front row - Carloline holding Kathryn, Audrey, Olivia, Sammy, Kayley, Elizabeth holding Mallory. It was a wild, fun weekend.

To celebrate Mary Caroline's graduation, a dance party was thrown in her honor. May-May (as the kids call her) danced all night with the kids who ADORE her. A fun time was had by all!

I captured Kayley break dancing.

Audrey danced ALL NIGHT LONG! Every time I looked on the dance floor, there she was. That girl can boogie!

While we were all together, cousins Caroline and Judson were baptized. It was great to be a part of and to see John baptize his first daughter and Jud baptize his first son.

Ross and Matthew had a good time hanging out, playing baseball, and sword fighting.

The "twin cousins, " Elizabeth and Julia share the same birthday (9 hours a part!).

AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!! After months of anticipation, Drew finally gets to see his fellow superhero and best buddy in the whole wide world, Sterling. I have been hearing, "I really miss Sterling" since we left. The Sanders live in Florida, so the distance is really hard on us all!

The three newest Felker cousins - Kathryn (2-21-07), Mallory (4-25-07), and Katrina (3-9-07) - three more are on the way!

Words of Wisdom

Drew tries to teach Mallory something each day.

Our daredevil

Elizabeth right after the accident. She looks SOOOOOOO much better now! We're amazed at how well she is healing.

"911... What's your emergency?"

What a week it's been! Three of the four kids are on antibiotics. Mallory is taking medicine for thrush - no big deal.

Then, Ross gave us a chicken pox scare. It's going around in his class. I picked him up from school on Tuesday, and he mentioned something about thinking he might have the chicken pox. Now, I love my son, but he can be quite a worrier at times, so I pretty much brushed him off. When I finally got around to looking him over just to ease his worries, I noticed about 15 spots on his face, neck, arms, tummy, and back. I thought, "Oh, great!" So a quick trip to Dr. Lee ensued where she assured me that it was just bug bites. What a relief! That made sense to me because we'd been at his ballgame the night before, and bugs do love his delicate skin. The next morning a got a call from the school nurse describing EVERY spot on his body - plus he apparently had about 20 more. I explained the situation, and she asked me to come in to have a look. I asked if she really thought it was chicken pox and she said yes. When I got to school, she said he was the 4th kid to be sent home that morning with c.p. So, I immediately took him back to Dr. Lee, who after further inspection, concluded that he had a strep infection. Hence, antibiotic prescription #2.

Now, comes the most traumatic incident. Last night we had just arrived at my parent's house for Ben's graduation party. The kids were playing outside. The adults were inside enjoying good food and good conversation. I went into a back bedroom to feed Mallory when I heard Elizabeth crying that "really, really hurt cry" (you mom's know what I'm talking about). When I walked back into the bathroom, a crowd had gathered around her. She was laying in her daddy's lap with a washcloth on her forehead. (Apparently, our little daredevil was jumping on the trampoline and tried to jump up and grab the highest leaf she could reach on a nearby tree. She crashed into it instead.) Someone pulled the washcloth away to reveal two big lacerations. My sister, a nurse, said, "Oh, yeah. She needs stitches." So, off to the hospital we went, and after five hours in the E. R., she came home with a total of 14 stitches. And that totals 3 Felker kids taking antibiotics!

Please pray that things settle down for us this week!