Black Bart and the Slinky Dog

Yee-Haw!

Jake's 2 favorite gifts: horse and hat and the slinky dog.

Jake's new nickname: Black Bart

Frosty and the Worried Snowman

December Fun

Decorating the Christmas tree

We bought this train when Noah was about 2 years old. Jake was so excited when we set it up and has loved playing with it.

We have had so much snow this month. The kids had 3 snow days in a row! They spent a lot of time playing in the snow and lounging around in their pajamas. I spent a lot of time dressing and undressing kids in snow clothes and watching them out the window!

We had a great night out on the town! We were able to go to dinner and then to the Omaha Symphony Christmas program. It was nice to see the lights downtown and to enjoy a fun and relaxing evening. We have had 3 extra kids living with us for the past month. Some families in our ward decided they wanted to give our family a special gift and so they arranged for this night. The Symphony gave us the tickets for free and the families paid for our dinner. It was a very thoughtful gift and we had a great time.

Big Boy Bed

About a week ago Jake decided it was time to climb out of his crib and learn how to open doors all in the same day. The next day his crib was down and the bunk bed was assembled. It took a few nights of this...

He would cry and say "Jakey's bed? Jakey's bed?" It was kind of sad. But after just a few sleepless nights, he was doing this...

He is too little to be doing this.

Happy Halloween

Spooky Dinner: Blood with bones, Witches Brew, Brain Sandwiches

A Cowboy

A Ballerina Fairy - I wish I had made Lucy take her coat off for this picture, oops.

A Witch whose hat broke.

A Dead Pirate and his friend.

Happy Birthday Lucy

We had a lot of fun celebrating Lucy's 5th birthday. She was so excited from the minute she woke up and I don't think she stopped smiling all day long. She invited her friend over and they spent the afternoon playing and decorating sugar cookies.

For her birthday party, she requested a dance party. When making the guest list, she wanted to include all of Noah and Grace and Jake's friends as well as her own. We decorated the basement with lights and balloons and had a fantastic dance party with the hokey pokey, the limbo, and the cha cha slide just to name a few!

What We've Been Up To

Jake has been keeping us pretty busy lately. He is very adventurous and loves to climb. He has figured out how to climb up the drawers to get on top of the counters.

He also loves climbing the fence into the garden to pick tomatoes and eat them.

Jake has started taking showers while I get ready in the morning. He loves to play in there and I can get ready while keeping an eye on him. But the other morning, he discovered a new way to be destructive. He had a few trains in the shower with him. He took the cover off the drain and started pushing his trains down the drain. So I quickly got him out and then proceeded to use a hanger and magnet to pull the trains out. While I was taking care of this disaster, I did not realize another one was being created for me.

Jake had climbed onto the counter and managed to make this enormous mess.

He also loves climbing into the bathroom sink, turning on the water, and having a nice bath while fully dressed and brushing his teeth.

Noah has just finished his flag football season and did a great job!

Lucy has been helping me with a few canning projects. I have loved having her home to help me and to play with Jake.