Jan. 23-31, 2011: Candids

Earlier this week, I was watching some birds take a bath in a puddle. It was humorous to me because it looked like they were lined up and taking turns. Just something that made me smile.

I saw Jaden playing in the yard one day this week and it looked like he had made a huge nest out of branches. So I had to take a picture of my little bird sitting in his nest.

Jacque tried out cookies today. Don't worry, they are just arrowroot baby cookies. But she was so funny in the way she would smash it against her face and then lick it until it dissolved.

This was a lazy day that we had this week where Jacque and I just hung out in our sweats all day. At least she looked stylin'!

Budge has been really busy lately between working out of town, studying, and going to class. So we decided to meet him for lunch at In-N-Out. I caught almost everyone with food in their mouth... even Jacque!

Just a boy and his dog... Ali isn't so little anymore!

It rained a lot this weekend. So there was a lot of mud in the backyard. And apparently, Ali likes the mud. She looks so guilty in this picture. The poor dog had to wait for Dad to come home and give her a bath before I would let her back in the house.

It's so pretty! My brand spankin' new refrigerator, complete with water and ice in the door. I love it!

Jan. 16-22, 2011: A Few Milestones

Jacque is more active than ever. She has started to crawl and can pull herself up to standing on just about anything. This is Xander after church trying to hold onto her until I can change her out of her dress.

Here she is trying to get to a water bottle that is sitting on the coffee table.

We went to lunch bunch today at the church. This was the first time that Jacque wanted to get down and play with the other kids.

And it helped that there were fun toys to crawl after and get.

This view of the parking lot at lunch bunch always makes me smile. The never ending line of mini vans.

One of Rohan's front teeth came loose this week. This is him pushing it out straight with his tongue. He spent hours that night in front of the mirror just moving it back and forth.

He finally let me pull it out. It was just hanging by a thread. And that sucking noise is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Oh, the things we will do for our kids.

This is what happens when we visit Dad at work. We come home with LOTS of scratch paper. Jaden couldn't wait to unroll it and start coloring.

We went for haircuts this week. There is a new Supercuts that just opened close to our house. So we went and tried it out and the kids got balloon animals from a clown that was there.

Jan. 15, 2011: Jana's Birthday

My birthday this year was fantastic! My boys gave me a HUGE balloon and flowers...

We shared amazing red velvet pie with my brother and his family...

And my sweet friend heart-attacked my door. Also, earlier that day, I had another good friend take me out for lunch and ice cream and then took me to have my eyebrows waxed for the first time! Now that is true friendship!

I love this picture of Jacque playing with the birthday balloon, but I also think it's funny that Ali is in the background eating off of Budge's plate that he left on the table.

And this is proof of what happens to little girls that grow up with a bunch of brothers. They learn how to defend themselves. :-)

Ah, Jacque! You will fit right in...

Jan. 1-14, 2011: New Year Odds and Ends

Happy New Year Everyone! My first week of January was pretty relaxed. The kids went back to school but I still had Budge hanging out at home for another week with me. It was nice in a lot of ways. We made a puzzle together...

And he and Jaden built a few train tracks...

The following week, Debbie took Heidi and I out for breakfast for our birthdays. Check out the hot chocolate! Sometimes you just have to splurge.

We also had a couple of days of amazing weather so we walked to and from school several times. Jaden rode his bike the whole way and Rohan rode his scooter home. Even Jacque enjoyed her ride in the stroller.

There are several things that have been different with Xander in fourth grade this year. One of them, which I have come to detest, is science fair. Xander and I realized that we do not work well together. However, he decided to grow crystals out of borax. After 6 different trials and lots of mistakes, we made it through...

I have a new calling as the Webelos leader. This was my first week and by the end of it I felt like I had run a marathon. And sweet Laura just smiled at the end because she knew exactly how I felt.

On a whim, we decided to go to the Wild, an indoor play area. Xander's good friend, Anthony, came with us. Right now they have an obstacle course and this was all of the boys at the end of it.

Jacque kept herself entertained with the baby toys. She kept watching a little boy run in this walker and then tried to do it herself. Not quite ready for that but it was fun to watch her try.

She was also fascinated with herself in the mirror on this toy. Such a cute little smile!