The first shall be last....

Happy Birthday Carson!!!

Carson's birthday is Jan. 5th. It is right at the beginning of the year. He is the first birthday of the year in our family. However, all the other children's birthdays are in September, October, and November. Five birthdays in a row, just weeks apart from each other. By the time September comes,the start of birthday season at our house, Carson feels like it has been forever since his birthday. We have to remind him that his birthday really came first and everyone else had to wait forever for their birthdays to come.

Learning to lead....

Emily loves to be part of everything, including Family night assignments. She got up next to Logan and he showed her how to lead a song, as best as you can "show" a two year old. Then the next week during Family night, she independently stood beside the piano when I sat down to play the opening song and she started directing. No one had to tell her what to do, she just knew that is where she belonged and did it!

Emily's Princess Bed...

We found this cute bed on craigslist and Emily was so excited to have her own bed. We went to Walmart and found princess sheets. She carried her bedding out to the car all by herself!

New Schooling for Logan...

We are embarking on a new adventure this year. Logan is now doing school at home through Idaho Virtual Academy. He enjoys choosing how he starts his day with the subject of his choice. He can kick back with his feet up on his desk while participating with his live online classes. He will eat lunch while doing his reading for English. One of our first Science

We had fun watching this rubber glove expand and then eventually pop off of the jar!

Hello Santa....

When I went to see if Emily was awake this morning I found her just
laying in bed talking to Santa.

"Hello Santa..." said Emily,

followed by some discussion that was undecipherable to me.

We have tried to get Emily to sit on Santa's lap a few times without success.

She will wave to Santa on signs in the store and

now she will talk to him while laying in bed....maybe a photo with Santa next year?

Christmas Cookies....

We decorated Christmas cookies with Grandma Lockhart last week. The girls really got into the details on their cookies, carefully placing their decorations. It is a good thing I took a picture while they were decorating since they didn't last long after they were done decorating!

Cookie Monster...

The holidays are a good excuse to make cookies. Not that we need an excuse, but I usually save desserts for Sundays. Emily was happy to "get into" the activity of making cookies too. She donned that hat herself after finding it left on the floor after the big kids went to school.

Reading with Grandma...

Emily picked up a book in her mouth and crawled like a puppy and barked for Grandma Lockhart to read a story to her. It was cute when she panted "yes" with her tongue hanging out.

Build a Bear (or horse)....

Just before Emily's 2nd birthday I received a coupon in my email from Build A Bear Workshop for $12. You could use it on any of their products to pay for entirely if you chose their standard bear or you could pay the amount over $12. Emily's eyes were so big as we walked up to this store. She would pick up an un-stuffed animal hug it and put it back. After she had done that with each animal we told her she could keep one and she went back and got the horse (much to her Aunt Tami's delight!)

She was so cute as we went through the process of building her horse. She carried the box with her new horse all the way from the store, across the mall and out to the car.

That was the best coupon I have ever redeemed!

November Birthdays...

(Jonny's 15th Birthday)

We have 3 birthdays in the month of November, all about one week apart. By Thanksgiving we have celebrated 5 birthdays since September 1st. I really love decorating cakes and I get some good practice in this time of the year.

(Kristina's 13th Birthday)

The kids get to choose their kind of cake and their favorite dinner too. As they are getting older there is more variety to the choices. Jonny wanted pizza for dinner, Kristina wanted Aunt Tami's homemade noodles in homemade chicken soup. And Katie wanted my homemade bread bowls with homemade broccoli & cheddar soup.

(Katie's 11th Birthday)

Katie chose an ice cream cake made by Aunt Tami. I got to write on it but that is it! Whew... (Katie received gifts too, I just don't know why we didn't get pictures...birthday burnout maybe, sorry Katie!)

Steve was in Arizona for Jonny and Kristina's birthdays and so he participated in the celebrations via Google Video Chat! It was fun when he showed them their gifts over the video. After 12 hours of intense driving Steve made it back to actually eat some of Katie's ice cream cake! Having Daddy home was a great present for all!!