Smoothies

I love a good smoothie and Channing and Linden do as well. This one was particularly thick and left a smoothie mustache.

My smoothie recipe:

1 cup of organic nonfat vanilla yogurt
About a cup of frozen peaches and strawberries (defrosted)
1 banana
1/2 scoop of vanilla whey protein

Blend then add ice and blend again. Delicious!

Ahhh! The Ladies Retreat

Nothing better than a bunch of ladies having a weekend away without kids...

Where's the girl?

The boys brought the recycling trash can in and then we couldn't find Channing. Do you see her? What gave her away? The sparkly shoes?

As a side note, she picked out her outfit. She was looking for this skirt to wear and asked the boys if they knew where her "pretty skirt" was.

Reading with Stefan

They all pile around so they can see. One of these days Gibson will want to see as well but for now he either crawls around doing his own thing or is already in bed.

Linden's donut date with dad

Since Linden filled up his good behavior chart his date was going for donuts with Stefan. Linden ate a hot one before getting his donuts and then apparently inhaled his strawberry and lemon filled ones. Can you say sugar high?

Her baby

This girl can rarely be found without her baby. Inside or out, she is carrying it around often and it is almost always wrapped up with her blanket.

My nightstand

Linden is often working in the kitchen on some sort of special things for me. He loves to draw, color, glue, work with glitter and put stickers on papers. He'll then find me tell me it's for me (normally because he's put a heart on it somewhere) and then put it on my nightstand. My nightstand is overflowing with love from Linden.

The Weather

I am loving the warmer weather and we decided to take advantage of it by walking to the park.

Of course the boys didn't play with the park equipment but set up camp in the wilderness area beside the park.

He wants out

Poor Gibson, he SO badly wants to go outside and play uninhibited with his siblings. Today everyone was out just off the deck and Gibson was laying by the door screaming at them. I was doing stuff inside and didn't want to go out with him and I'm not okay just letting him crawl around the yard yet because he just likes to eat too many things. (I'm pretty sure the crushed granite path is a choking hazard.)

Gibson finally pulled up on the screen door, walked out while holding onto the door then crawled his way across the deck to where everyone was playing. It won't be long buddy! You'll be going on bear hunts soon enough.

I'm so proud

Hadley has done GREAT in school! He was super at his addition speed drill but then all of a sudden got in a funk. I was kind of unsure how to help him. Where he use to finish the 30+ problems in 2 minutes he all of a sudden was really struggling to finish 18. We kept at it, I encouraged him with candy for each row of 6 he finished. Nothing really seemed to help.

We worked at it the other day, skipping the ones that didn't come to mind quickly then pinpointing exactly the problems he was missing so we could review those specific problems. He came home from school on Thursday and told me he had finished his speed drill. What?!? It's been weeks, maybe even months since he's done that. We did his speed drill for Friday and he finished the thing in under 2 minutes not missing a problem. I was SO proud. We even called Stefan and I had to take his picture to remember the day! Way to go Hadley! I'm so proud of you for sticking with it and not giving up! You're a super star!

Daddy's home and a new outfit

If Channing or Linden have a "good day" meaning no time outs or spankings they get thrown in the air by Stefan. Obviously Channing had a good day.

Gibson just got this outfit from Aunt Beth and Uncle Doug for his birthday. She was worried it wouldn't be cold again but since it's a light material I put it on him anyway and it was too cute not to take his picture in it. :)

Her Big Baby

Channing got this American Girl doll for Christmas when she was 1. She has become quite attached to it and carries it with her many places. I let her take it into Michael's the other day and then when we got home I immediately started on lunch. Channing disappeared which I didn't think much about. At naptime Channing started asking for her big baby, I searched but did not find it. I eventually found the blanket she sleeps with every night under the drapes so continued searching all over the house for her baby. No luck. I was 99% sure that she had brought it home from Michael's but I could NOT find it! I even called the store the next day asking if they'd found it. They said they had not. Then I was working in the laundry room and saw this.

Channing's baby had somehow ended up under the sorting basket in the laundry room.

I was really happy I had found it but have no idea how it got there.

Valentine's Day

It was a fun day eating candy and celebrating. We bought the kids new movies and candy. We realized after buying Pinnochio for Channing that we already owned it. Stefan was sure we'd never seen it and neither had the kids so he thought they wouldn't notice if we gave it to her anyway. That's what he thought. Hadley immediately told us we had it and would go find it. We talked him out of that, but it looks like we'll be exchanging Channing's DVD for a new one instead of just pretending that's what we got her. Are we horrible parents?

I got a close up of those new nubs

One of the highlights of the day was decorating cupcakes. We even decorated a few for the Jones' family.

A real live baby doll

Channing is pretty proud feeding Gibson his bottle. I think that she thinks it's a REAL baby doll that she can feed. Gibson was happy to cooperate.

The Rodeo

Every year since Hadley was 18 months old he has been to the the huge rodeo here in SA. The Cunninghams have been kind enough to let us go on their tickets with them but this year our crew has officially outgrown the 4 seats they get from Gary's work. So Pa, Gramma Gicki, Cara and Barrett took the 3 oldest to the rodeo and sat in the cheap seats. It was Channing's first time and she loved it. We had nothing but happy, exhausted children when they returned. They had a great time and I know will cherish the memories.

The last day

We had a a little bit of time before Granddaddy and Lala left to try and take a few pictures. It's hard work trying to get that many people looking and smiling at the camera. This is about as good as it gets.

Oh! and after almost seven years of living in this house we FINALLY got drapes in our dining room. Bonus, they make an awesome backdrop!

How he sleeps

This guy sleeps like this almost all the time. There is nothing better than a sleeping baby

Loving the visit

We are loving that Granddaddy and Lala are here, they regularly chase the kids around, wrestle with them on the floor, do push ups with the boys on their back, you name it, they stay busy.

Hadley's extra tooth

Since we switched dentists several years ago we found out that Hadley had an extra front tooth. We visited the oral surgeon a couple of weeks ago and he said he thought that Hadley's permanent tooth might not come down if the extra tooth didn't come out. So I scheduled the surgery while David and Carla were here so someone could watch the other three. The Dr. promised Hadley would be running around like nothing had happened by the end of the day and he was.

He wrote the tooth fairy a letter asking if he could keep his tooth and believe it or not, she let him. :) He was pretty proud of that huge tooth and he had lovely stiches sticking out of his gap. They should dissolve and in the meantime it hasn't phased him a bit.

The best big brother

Hadley really loves to give Channing piggy back rides. He offers and she regulary takes him up on it taking rides around the living room.

The gift

Lala and Granddaddy of course came bearing gifts. Linden got a 3-D coloring thing which came with these really cool glasses. :)

The attempt

It's always fun to try to get pictures of my kids. Thank goodness Carla was here to help. Plus a little bribery always helps. I wanted to get pictures for their Valentines cards. Here's what I decided on.

My sweet precious children

His cake

Gibson had his own birthday cake on Saturday and loved it. He tore into it but didn't realize he could eat it until Stefan gave him a taste. It didn't take him long to then scrape it off the floor and eat as much as he could.

The deprived vultures hovered until we gave them the go ahead to scavenge for any scraps not stuck in between the wood floor.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

He started the day with birthday cake and LOVED it!

We forced him outside in the cold to take a few pictures in the snow but he was not happy about it. He must be like his mama, he doesn't like to be cold.

Because he doesn't move fast enough

Gibson is the slowest out of the kids and that's the reason he gets his picture taken more than the others at this point. :) I guess I better take it while I can. It won't be long before he's running the other direction when I get out the camera.
And I do know that putting the pull from the blinds in his mouth is a choking hazard but I was watching....

A rare moment

For the most part Channing and Holden just get on each other's nerves but on this day Sarah said that they played in her backyard really well together. Those two are too cute!

The stroller is not just for girls

Gibson has a walker but for whatever reason he prefers Channing's stroller. Should I be concerned that annoying his big sister has already started. I thought that was the job of the BIG brothers not the little brother.