living the freeman life

Rochelle Marshall (left, holding youngest baby Bruton), Leah Zetterholm (right, helping Benjamin), Carolina (front left, Rochelle's daughter) and Caleb making the shakers.

Caroline and Caleb sharing the indoor sandbox!

Caleb and Angela admiring the cake that Mom made! A snare drum!

"What cupcake?"

A rain stick he received!

And a great book, "1001 Things to Find on a Farm" (sort of like a Where's Waldo?)

We gave out recorders to all the kids before opening presents
and they were a hit!

We ended the party with a drum circle, courtesy of Eric, Uncle Bennett, and David Dittbrender. All the kids participated by shaking their shakers, playing their recorders, and banging on the drums. So much fun!

Every one say cheese! (this is the best pic out of 20 that I took)

And here they are with their siblings: Benjamin with Naomi, Caleb with Adam, and Caroline with Bruton. So cute!

"...I can go twice as high..." (Reading Rainbow, anyone?) Caleb has discovered the joy of bug watching...especially searching for butterflies. Every day, we try to go out and see how many butterflies we can see. There are these cute white butterflies (moths?) that are so fun to watch flit from flower to flower. Caleb loves to chase them and while I never thought he'd actually get to hold one, it just so happened that one accidentally got knocked down into some dewy grass, and so Caleb got to hold it until its wings dried! Here are some beautiful pictures I got of him with the butterfly!

So, usually this time of year, my parents and brother take off with us to Edisto, SC for a week, but as we were going to have a 3 month old on our hands, we decided to postpone the beach trip until September where he would enjoy the beach a little more. So, instead, we opted to drive 2 1/2 hours to Townsend, TN (about 30 minutes from Pigeon Forge) Memorial Day weekend. It was quite peaceful as we stayed away from the “big city”. We toured Cades Cove and saw quite a few deer! Most of the time, we just hung out at the house we rented and relaxed, read, and ate good food. It was nice to not have internet there, as we weren’t (ok, I wasn’t) constantly checking my e-mail and Facebook. Here are a few pics that captured the our vacation!

Family picture in front of a waterfall we saw in Cades Cove.

Caleb grinning a silly grin for the camera!

Caleb hitching a ride on Papa’s shoulders while touring an old Methodist church in Cades Cove.

Caleb’s trying out the podium! Yep, still works!

Some wildflowers I saw on our tour.

You sure get big biceps holding this “little” boy! Adam and I are just chilling while the others walk around!

The beautiful water wheel that turned the grist mill that ground the flour (in the house that Jack built).

Caleb actually sat still on an old wagon so I could snap a picture! He’s growing up, isn’t he?

Grins from Adam!

On our way out we saw a very pregnant deer!

And a video of two deer we saw on our way out!

Adam getting some snuggles with Grandma! Look at those baby blues!

We took off to Beaufort, SC (down by Savannah, GA) May 21st and came back May 25th. We got to do so many fun things while we were down there!

Here’s Mimi giving Adam some tummy time!

Caleb got in the salt water pond on the Freeman’s property with Daddy and Grandpa Wayne. (I opted out this time.) He liked the water wings, although they didn’t keep him entirely afloat!

Now it’s Grandpa’s turn to float with Caleb!

Adam went shirtless (and pantless) most of the time while we were down there. Can’t you see how skinny he is??! (HA!)

I forgot to bring Adam’s bathtub, so he got his first sink bath! I think he liked it! (I think we need a bigger sink for the big man)

Grandpa Wayne and Caleb found a wee little crab (called a diamondback? razorback? something “back”) who was supposed to go home with us, but “somehow” managed to get away before we had the chance to pack him up.

Here Caleb is singing a song about mud that he made up himself. :)