February Highlights

In February:

Seth took David to an indoor archery range to shoot his bow.

Jane Anne and the kids had fun making lollipop valentine's. 

Mom inspired cards:

Kid inspired cards:

Jane Anne made a strawberry ice cream cake for Valentine's day. (The ice cream melted just slightly before it refroze... no one cared, of course.)

David got his first Valentine heart box of assorted chocolates (from Vermont Nut Free Chocolate). His reaction was priceless. 

Thomas proudly showed off his rock collection at Collections Night at school.

We went visited Lake Tahoe as a family on President's day.

We went sledding and played in the snow at Tahoe on President's Day.

Thomas received the character award for his class.

David was on the honor roll with all A's and B's.

Jonathan earned a 4.0 for his second term.

Calling Momma from Paradise

Seth was talking to his mom, Mimi, on the phone.

I said to Thomas:
"You see how Daddy called his Momma. When you are grown you need to call your momma sometimes."

Thomas said:

"I will... as long as I can get a good connection from Hawaii."

January Highlights

Seth and Jane Anne rang in the new year in WA, remembering and celebrating a dear friend's life.

Jonathan, David, and Thomas finished a season of indoor season.

Jonathan went on his first youth retreat. He went to Silver Spur Christian camp in Tuolumne, CA.

David started taking piano lessons.

David, Thomas, and Elsie started going to Pioneer Club on Wednesday nights at church.

Jane Anne started going to MOPS.

Haircuts

On Saturday, the boys got haircuts.

Jonathan
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"I don't have to brush it and it is so short, I won't have to get another haircut for a while."

David
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"Um, well... I like it. I did decide to get it a little shorter this time."

Thomas
"Why did you choose this haircut?"
"It's my style!"

[laughter]

Nonsense

Thomas and David accidentally collided. It was a serious head-butt that brought both boys to tears. 

After the tears stopped flowing, I tried lighthearted humor to make them smile.

Momma: "Did it knock some sense into you?"

Thomas: "No. It knocked nonsense into me!"

Elisabeth's birthday

Elisabeth turned five on November 17th. We had such fun celebrating her birthday, it would be a shame not to post any pictures.

Elisabeth chose to have a Care Bear themed birthday.

A few months before her birthday, our neighbor gave her a hand-me-down Care Bear. That's when her love of Care Bears was born. Not too long after that, we found we could record the Care Bears (it comes on TV during the wee hours of each Saturday morning).

Five is such a great age. It was super fun to watch her open presents! The boys were very excited for her.

I surprised her with a rainbow Care Bear cake. 

Elisabeth had her first friend birthday party on the night of her birthday at Pump it Up. She had blast (see Cyclone blast picture as evidence)! It was extra special to have Gran and Daddo there to celebrate. 

We had cupcakes at the party. 

Afterwards, Elsie was tired (and full) and she readily agreed to have her cake the next day.

Elsie's 5th birthday was almost as special she is... almost.

Be Nice

A week ago, Jonathan and Thomas were struggling to get along. If I said it once, I said it 50 times, "Be nice!" Inevitably, they had to be separated.
A little while later, Elisabeth gave Jonathan this picture.

"Jonathan saying nice things to Thomas"

Games

"A long time ago they had games way worse than Gameboys." 
David, age 9

Clothes!

This was startling to me. It caused me to pause and then smile...

A week ago, Elsie sat down to color and said,

"Momma, I am going to draw a picture of the clothes I want to get for my birthday."

When my boys received clothes as presents, they looked at them in disgust. I had to counsel them on reacting in a nice way. Elsie already knows what she wants to wear on her birthday. She even has her hair barrettes picked out! Her birthday is 9 days away.

David's 9th Birthday

On September 2, David turned 9. To celebrate, he wanted Avengers and Spiderman decorations. We had fun celebrating and being silly.

David has a good friend in Oregon that has a bow. When we visited over the summer, David had a chance to shoot and loved it. His biggest request was to get a bow for his birthday. Seth told him bows could be dangerous. He was surprised and delighted to get his bow.

Our Hawkeye

Captain America