Beautiful Girl

This young lady is now 7 years old!!!

We ended up celebrating her over several days.
We started on Monday with cake and presents here at home -
She asked for a castle cake... turns out most of the designs online either involve 4 cake mixes(!!!) or lots of plastic flotsam, so I came up with this minimized version.

Today she took these candied apple treats to school to share with her class.
And next week we'll have the annual gingerbread house party - so stay tuned to see how that turns out!


I know it sounds kitschy, but I really do remember so vividly bringing her home from the hospital and feeling like I was in way over my head.
There are still days when either Andrew and I will ask "What should we do?"
only to see the other shrug their shoulders and say "I have no idea!"

But really, Leah has made our job pretty easy.
She may be headstrong and opinionated,
but she's also responsible and caring and creative.

We are so glad to have her in our family to set the example for all the boys around here!
Happy Birthday Lovely Leah!

Turkey Day

Since we were just down in Houston last weekend - and since we had a thanksgiving style dinner while we were there - we decided it would be okay to stay home today.

We started the day out early running in the Turkey Trot.
(Notice the shorts and t-shirts... it was about 75 degrees out this morning)

The kids did a great job! They definitely earned their t-shirts.
We hung out for a little while after the race - making some crafts, eating some snacks,


and checking out the wildlife...


before heading over to the park to get some more wiggles out.


Then we relaxed at home (some lucky kids got to take naps - although I'm quite sure they didn't appreciate the opportunity) until time for dinner
at the Steak 'n Shake!
It was enjoyed by all - especially me since I didn't have to cook or clean up!



Here we are after dinner... notice the difference in what we're wearing?
The temperature dropped about 30 degrees between 12 and 4 so we had to dig out warmer clothing. That didn't stop us from getting yummy ice cream shakes though!

The Big Three!

Our Peter is three years old!
Since September he's been the oldest here at home and he is great company!
He has an excellent imagination and loves role-playing games. It's always fun to see the "creations" he comes up with when playing with blocks or legos.


This year, we happened to be down in Houston the weekend of his birthday so we got to celebrate with Grandma and Papa.

Once again, Peter requested a Fire Truck cake.
I'm hoping for something else next year - this one is a pain to put together!
Especially since he only ate the ladder and wheels...

We love you Peter!
Thanks for letting us celebrate with you on your big day!

Signs that Potty Training may not be going so well

When you find your son lying on the floor in a puddle moaning,
"I just don't know what to do..."


Well... that may be an indication that potty training isn't going so well.
I would have laughed if he hadn't been so sad.

But being the eternal optimist,
I'm going to assume he was just having a bad day and keep on keeping on...

Wish me luck!
I think this project is going to require large quantities of chocolate...

Which Witch Are You?

We've been having some problems at our house with whining lately, so at the beginning of October we had a FHE lesson to talk about it. We decided to make a goal to be more willing and less whiny. Each time someone was caught being willing witch or whiny witch(by doing any of the things listed on the cauldrons) they would get a sticker in the cauldron.

On Halloween, we counted to see which cauldron had the most stickers...
It was a very close race, but the willing witches came out ahead and won the Halloween treat!

BANANA SPLITS!
It was a nice consolation prize for not getting to go trick or treating.

Good to the last drop!


Despite not going trick or treating, we still managed to amass a large quantity of candy from all the parties over the last week. So we were all pleased to get a visit from another witch - the Candy Witch!

She took away all but a few pieces of our candy and left these fun toys in their place.
I've heard a rumor that she delivers the candy to the bishop so he can pass it out to the kids a couple of pieces at a time on Sundays.