Happy #6 Mr. Joe

At our school they have a rule that you can not bring treats for your birthday. So instead I had him wear this and bring in a book to give his class. He didn't keep it on all day.

Alan had class on Joseph's Birthday but decided to come home to celebrate at the last minute. I of course wasn't prepared so we ran to the store to pick out a cake. Joseph said, "Mom, can't we have donuts instead?"

We put a trick candle in it to keep him huffing and puffing!! It was hilarious to watch him try, only to have it light up again.

My happy Joe!! What a blessing he is in my life. He is the one that never listens and can drive me mad in a matter of minutes. But then he can turn around and be absolutely perfect and sweet and kind. Not quite sure what to do about him. He LOVES anything with sugar in it as well as going over to friend's houses. He enjoys going to school and has constant energy! He is the first one awake and the last of the kids to go to bed. Most of the time his face has a big grin on it. He has the cutest laugh that makes happiness grow and is willing to share all he has.

He wanted a boat like Peter's. It's different, but he loved it anyway!!

We have a choice in our family to either have a Birthday party with friends or go out to eat with the family. Joseph has always been one of those people who likes to have friends around, so naturally he chose a party. The theme this year was Movie Theater Party. We had so much fun decorating and getting everything together for it. We watched "Sandlot." He has some really cute little friends.

I love you Mr Joe!! Happy Birthday!!

A new favorite place to PLAY

Eden and Miriam share a room, with Miriam in the crib and Eden in a big girl's bed on the other side of the room. The last couple of mornings and unfortunately nights this is where I have found Eden. We moved her out of the crib because she figured out how to climb out....we never thought she would want to go back in!!





Mostly they just like to hold on and jump. There was a time though that the crib was full of toys and they were just playing. With faces like that it's hard not to just let them play!!

Update 1/15/09 Last night we went to check on them before bed and found not one, but two girls asleep in the crib! Madness! -alan

My "Linus"

Eden has a hard time parting with her blanket. We have successfully made it so that we don't actually have to take it with us when we leave, but when we are home it is never too far away!! We usually have to go looking for it at nap time and bed time. When she gets sad she just wants her blanket and her Binky.

She loves the feel of it on her face!! She is always rubbing it on her face with the look of pure bliss showing in her eyes. It is wonderful to have such items that bring so much happiness!!

The Best Pet EVER

A Sea Urchin!!

Peter had a school project: to come up with the perfect pet and then make it. His was of course a sea urchin, since they make the very best pets!! I think we did a fairly good job at making "Spike" look life like!! We painted toothpicks and a Styrofoam ball black. Poked the toothpicks in and found some fun pushpins for the eyes and PRESTO....a sea urchin.
We have many allergies in our family when it comes to the normal type of pet, but Spike is here to stay for a while!!

We also had to make a bed for him to go to school in. And of course we had to have a blanket to keep him warm. He has officially taken over my bread basket.....which is OK, I wasn't in love with it anyway and he fits just right!!!

It's long enough....

For my First Pony Tail!!

My Baby is getting big!

Miriam is our wanderer at 9 months.....she goes all over the house exploring and finding fun things. The older kids have been good at keeping things picked up so that we don't have any choking hazards for her to find!! Her favorite thing right now to explore is the Christmas Tree and herself (as shown above).

Sundays are always hard days no matter how adorable you look!

She plays hard and finds different places to sleep since we are always on the go.

Miriam crawls just like this or does the army crawl. I don't know if it is the hardwood floors or if she just prefers it this way, but this is how we see her most often. As you can see from the pictures she is Chunky!!

This is one of our favorite pictures showing off her beautiful blue eyes, perfectly formed lips and delicious round cheeks!

One of my all time favorite things about Mim is her laugh!! She is so ticklish and loves to laugh at her brothers and sisters. The most precious thing was watching Eden play peek-a-boo with Mim and have Miriam just laugh thinking it was the funniest thing ever!! (the video add on isn't working right now. I will add the laughter later!!)

Brag Moment

I just wanted to tell my kids (in writing) how proud I am of them!!! For Alan's work party and than again for the ward Christmas party they were fabulous!! They were so well behaved at both of them. At Alan's work party 3 people made comments to me about how well our children were behaving and how polite they were.
Then at our ward Christmas party while other kids were running around and the noise level was one that makes you want to run around, they didn't participate or add to it!! It made me feel great!

WELL DONE!!!

Now if I can only get them to listen and behave at home we will be in good shape!! It's a leap in the right direction!!

a quiet Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was not what I had invisioned. It was quiet with 2 kids sleeping and only 5 gathered around the table, but we were together and really that was all that mattered.
There is so much to be thankful for. Family, friends, our home, the cars we drive, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, our good health, the country we live in, Alan's job......and all of that is granted by one source: a loving Heavenly Father. How blessed we are.

We did have fun baking and preparing together.



We also had a couple fun moments while stuffing our faces...
After Rebecca shopped Black Friday we got to spend the day with the Nichol family who we met in Laurel, MD. We LOVED seeing them and their adorable children....who didn't stop growing!!

Where's the BEEF?

Joseph said to me tonight, "Mom, Lions eat meat....and WE are MEAT!"

It is sure a good thing that we don't live where lions roam!!

A SPOOKtacular Halloween!!

The Halloween Season started with the search for the perfect pumpkins!

We had a busy week leading up to Halloween! We had Family Home Evening on Monday, the ward Trunk or Treat on Tue, Eden's Birthday on Wed, Alan's school party on Thur (which he dressed up for!!), class parties for the kids on Friday, and Trick or Treating on Saturday. We carved pumpkins, got costumes ready, baked and did everything else in between!!
The kids had a great Halloween with Hannah as a witch....

Peter as SantaJoseph as a Christmas presentEden as a black kittenMiriam as a cheerleader!!

With the ultimate prize being......CANDY!!