Noah's 5 - AGAIN!

And now for Noah's final birthday party of the year. Well, almost. I guess he has ONE MORE celebration, but we will get to that later. Daddy and I were having an unheard-of childless vacation at the end of March. Grandpa and Grandma Campbell were going with us, so Grandpa and Grandma Randolph came down to stay with the kids - and to return Noah. (Remember he went to their house for spring break? I realize I am a little slow in posting, so I am trying to keep you all in line...) Turns out a week away from each other actually made the boys miss each other. (They actually talked to each other on the phone a couple of times but it mostly just turned into a giggle/screamfest.) But it was fun to see them back together again.

With everyone here, we decided to have Noah's family birthday party. Which meant one more cake. And more presents. Grandpa and Grandma Randolph gave him a scholarship to Star Wars camp this summer. His picture doesn't show it but he was very excited. He has asked daily about when it would finally be time for camp. He also got a countdown calendar from his mommy and daddy. He doesn't know what it is for, but he knows that 72 days from then he will be getting something special. My mom can't believe he is patient enough to wait that long to find out what he is getting. (Apparently she thinks his mom never would have accepted that idea. Maybe he just trusts us more.) But the waiting might actually be harder on mommy and daddy - we know what is coming. So, like I said, one more birthday activity for the big five-yr-old. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

Ok, last holiday post. I promise. This was just too fun not to share. Do you remember me talking about the BIG Christmas program that our choir does? While Christopher and I have not been a part of it yet, Noah was this last year. We went the year Benjamin was born but Christopher was hesitant. Our OB goes to our church and we wanted us to buy her the seat next to us just in case.... I was sort of hoping that my water would break during the 'Hallelujah Chorus'. Not because I wanted that to happen, really, but just because I thought it would make for a great story later on. That didn't happen. Benjamin was born 4 days later. But this year... We are going to get our big story this year... When we announced our pregnancy to the choir/orchestra last week we jokingly asked about 'Baby Jesus' auditions because IV will be just about the age they like to use for the show. Well, when our weekly 'Joys & Concerns' email came out today, this is what it said:
Christopher and Stephanie Campbell are pleased to announce they will be expecting baby #4 around Halloween. They asked Kevin when the Baby Jesus tryouts are for Christmas at Resurrection. There will be no tryouts - Baby Campbell will be Baby Jesus 2010. How neat is that? Baby Jesus' parents both beng involved in the Music Ministry. It doesn't get any better than that.
Sooo... you should probably put it on your calendars now. Tickets go on sale in August and I just know they are going to sell like hotcakes this year. You won't want to miss it!

Happy Halloween!

No, it really wasn't 7 months between posts - it just seems like it. If your children are anything like ours, Halloween in a subject that comes up quite regularly. We decided to take advantage of that and get a head start on the planning. Yes, we know full-well that there is a good chance opinions will change between now and then but it never hurts to try. Last year was a first for me in that I let everyone pick their own costumes and didn't make them follow a theme. It was no surprise that Benjamin followed in his big brother's foot steps at the last minute and gave up his ghost idea to be a Transformer. Now Noah already has his next three or four years of costume ideas picked out. It is no surprise to us that he can remember these ideas and lists them in exactly the same order every time he talks about it. (One little problem, he really thinks his vampire costume should come with green teeth. So, should you ever see any while you are out, please pick them up for him. We will all be eternally grateful.) This year, he hopes to be a Ninja. Lucky for us, Santa brought him a ninja costume last year. Again, no surprise, Benjamin has decided he would also like to be a 'Minja'. Only problem? He wants to be a "Grey Minja." Santa brought him the same RED costume. Halloween happens at night, right? I can tell him he looks grey in the dark, right? I'll keep working on it... Now Abby is going to be a little bit more difficult. There really is not much she doesn't love. Except for the weed whacker. She doesn't love that, so we will toss out that idea. She could easily be any animal. She can make every animal sound, although my favorite would probably be a cow. Or a wolf - she does a great howl. She also really likes Elmo right now. She calls every Sesame Street friend Elmo. Even Abby Cadabby! So, we still have her to work on. But, really, it is the last one that is throwing us for a loop. We just can't decide. A wee 'Casper'? Or a mini 'Jack'? Which do you think is better?


PS. Special thanks to BIG SISTER Abby for allowing us to use her sonogram picture. "IV" (read Ivy) hasn't had any pictures yet. :)

Happy Easter!

A little bit of a posting time laspe... Sorry about that! Someday I'll get all caught up - maybe then you will understand. For now, let's get on with Easter. We had a perfect day! Daddy had to be to church at 6:15 this morning. It's a bummer for daddy AND we don't get to do the early morning Easter stuff, but it all worked out ok. The bunny left some goodies for the kids on the breakfast table but he hid all the eggs at Grandma's for the kids to find when we went for lunch. It did not take Abby any time at all to catch on. There was a little confusion as to why she had to move on when each egg seemed to have something worth shaking inside. She was pretty quick to learn how to break in and get out the goodies. The boys were all about numbers this year. It was too quick but everyone seemed pleased with their spoils. After lunch, we had some outdoor time for the new bubbles and mini kites. Mostly the kids just loved running outside. Boy, it feels good to finally be outside again. Next up was cousin Nick's birthday. Noah picked a whole bouquet of daffidils for Nick. Not sure if 13 yr old Nock was as pleased as Noah and I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them together. When will I learn?!? Lots more time for playing then the TV came on. I got to watch 'High School Musical' and do this... (my favorite part of long, holiday, no-nap days!!) while daddy and Grandpa took the other two to the park. All in all, it was a beautiful day!