Valentines and Birthdays

We had a wonderful valentines and we hope you all did as well. We celebrated on Friday and Brian took me to dinner. We are part of a co-op so we have two "date nights" a month. It has been fun. We took Annie with us and I think she had the most fun! She thinks large crowds are very entertaining and her cue to try to be louder then everyone around...so we try to keep her busy and it worked pretty well. We were able to visit a little, it went something like this..."(me)So anything new at work?" "(Brian)Well we have been try to... "(Annie)AUHHHHH AAHUHHH AHUHHHH!"..for my new computer." We had a good time at the end of the meal, after being so careful, Annie got a hold of my water and she and I ended up very wet...it was a cold walk to the car, but a memorable meal. :)

On Sunday we went up to celebrate Valerie birthday and had fun with family. Valerie threw herself a Harry Potter birthday again and being the designated cake maker I had to come up with another Harry Potter cake. So I chose to do the Griffindor Shield, using a new technique I saw called a buttercream transfer. It turned out great!

Val and Aidan

Brian and Annie

Kyler



Guinness


Conner and Karson




The cake and yes that is all frosting.

Seven Months, Wow!!

I can't believe that seven months have passed by. My little baby is getting so big!! She has four little teeth now and has been testing how they work by biting and grinding them. Annie really wants to crawl and when you sit her on the floor she will go to all fours and try to make a move...so far she just ends up on her tummy. It used to make her very mad until she discovered she can still roll and scoot around a bit. She is growing quickly but still needs her medicine. They just increased her dose and I cant believe what I difference it makes in her skin and her behavior...she is much happier when she has it, without it she seems pained and wants to be held all the time. We have to be careful what we feed her, but she loves food....she wont get any dairy, eggs or nuts for a while, but making the baby food makes it easier because I know exactly what is in her food.

Annie on the move.

Annie on her knees.

Update

Conner's teacher pulled me aside today after school. She said she was so amazed with Conner and his reading. It was his mid year evaluation and she said she has been spending about five or ten minutes with each student just to see where they are at with their reading. She said she spent over a half an hour with Conner and said he breezed through every book she put in front of him. She said they are only permitted to test up to a level ten in kindergarten, which is a second grade level and Conner read them with out any problems! She says she has never seen that before and suggested he start reading chapter books!! Wow!! He never ceases to amaze me!

Conner Turns Six!!!

It is so hard to believe my baby is six!! Conner has grown so much since starting school and wanted to have a party with friends. He wanted a Mario party, so we planned it and made invitations ... there were to be 3 kids coming, perfect. When the party came we had one, his best friend Marissa. He had a good time I think. He then chose Cafe Rio for dinner....he loves qasadillas. On Sunday we had a family party at Grandma and Pop Pop's house. He said it was a great birthday and he is already talking about his party next year! :) He is so cute and has a fun personality, his fried said to me...Conner is so silly! He is also very smart....his teacher says he tested at first grade mid year reading level in the fall and he never cease to amaze me with the words he can read, write and spell!!

Conner at 15 months, "birdy all gone." He has grown so much, so fast!

Wow! A camera!

Conner and his best friend, with his Bullet Bill cake.


His new pet from Grandma and PopPop.


Conner is so excited for everyone to sing!! He actually asked me if they would sing to him at church and then after school on Tuesday he told me that everyone forgot to sing to him. I think the singing is his favorite part!!

Annie's Six Monthes!!

Annie is growing so fast!! She loves to eat and watch her brothers. Annie can now sit on her own and loves to do so. Conner adores her and will play with her, talk to her and hold her when ever he can and she just adores him right back...she always has a smile for brother!! Annie is very sweet and most of the time quite happy, but has definite opinions about how things should go.

Christmas Vests

Thank you for the cute vests grandma!! The boys have worn them the past two sunday and I am sure they will get to wear them more.

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas. I am so grateful for our beautiful children and all our loving family. The boys were so excited for Christmas to come and their excitement seem to make everything magical. They were so happy to see that Santa had read their letter's and knew what they wanted...there was really no doubt in their mind that Santa would bring exactly what they asked for.

Christmas pj's

"Santa brought my skates!!!"

"It's my super duper computer!! "

Annie was so excited about everything she didn't want to sleep. The look on her face when she saw this knitted bear from my Anutie Isa was so sweet.

We cleaned out part of the basement and made a play area for the boys. The boys had no idea until Christmas day. Thank you Grandma and Pop Pop for the swing to put down there. It is used daily.

Kyler was playing with an ornament on the tree and Brian snapped this picture, so cute!

Thank you to everyone for all your treats, gifts, cards, thoughts and calls. Family, friends and love ones are what truly make the holidays special!!

Gingerbread Houses

On the eve of Christmas Eve we made gingerbread houses. I helped them to put together the graham crackers and they decorated them. It was so much fun to watch them and their unique styles. If I wanted to help decorate I needed instructions on which candy to put where. It was so much fun and we were able to use up a lot of the old candy from Halloween and Easter.

I loved the concentration and the tongue

Kyler did his house one side at a time, Conner did his here a little, there a little.

Conner was very meticulous, he planned it all out. He had a jellybean side, a all green side, a door and several other features designed with his gingerbread man in mind.

Kyler put one of each type of candy on each side then filled in the spaces. He had a door and a circle of treat trees around his house. He finished quickly and ate all the remaining candy.

Conner asked to have a picture taken of his house before he would eat any of it.

Christmas Best

Today being the Sunday before Christmas, the kids looked especially sharp. So I took a few pictures. They are growing so fast!!

Five Monthes and Counting!!

Annie is a sweet little girl and is growing so fast!! She started eating solids once a day and loves it. She is a very happy little girl unless her toy does not go where she wants....then watch out!! She adores her brothers and her dad...unless it is time to eat or sleep. Eating and sleeping is when mom is wanted.

Sledding

The weather has been frightful and the boys think it's delightful....except when Mommy says time to come in. We bought the boys some saucer sleds back in November and the boys have been dying to try them out. (we bought them early because last year we could find any once the snow came.) So we went sledding while Annie was napping. We could not go very far because the monitor only reaches so far...but the boys decided they liked the hill in our yard the best...for almost two hours they sled down the hill and crashed into the fence and the fence took it! They had a blast!!

"This hill isn't fast enough, Mom." (mom thinks that is a good thing because we don't want you in the street)

Such style!

"Here I go...here I go!!"

"This is so fun!!"

Kyler cheeseing it up after hitting the wall.

Conner's Thanksgiving

In Conner's class they have been learning about Pilgrims and Indians (Native Americans) and Thanksgiving. They had a pow-wow and a thanksgiving feast. He was so excited and had a blast!!Here is his pow-wow outfit...he drew a pattern on his vest and drum. He told me all about Indians which are called Native Americans and they eat fish that they catch by poking with spears, beef jerky and...gummy bears.
Here he is in his Pilgrim hat and collar. For their thanksgiving feast they had turkey, rolls and something that "looked like lettuce and tasted like broccoli". The Pilgrims lived in the "olden days" and wore hats and shoes with buckles.

We are so blessed to have smart, healthy children, food, a home and Brian's job...We have so much to be thankful for!!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

My Birthday

I had a very nice birthday, with so many wonderful calls and emails. Thank you to all who remembered me on my day, it truly meant a lot to know I was so loved.

Annie is Four Months!

On the 14th of November Annie turned four months old. She is growing so fast!! She rolls over, laughs and gets mad when her toys don't do what she wants. She is a happy little baby and loves her brothers. When we drop them off at school she cries all the way home. She loves to stand on laps, jump and rock...when she is awake she is very active.