Happy Birthday Nana!

After I picked Cooper up from school we picked up some Cafe Rio and took lunch to Nana for her birthday!

Dress-up

I am loving having a girl to dress up!

60th Birthday Party

We met up at Mom and Dad's at 2 to start our decorating.  They were at church until 4 and we wanted it all done before Mom got home.  Nick had rented a helium tank the day before and bought 140 yellow and gray balloons.  Dave got to work on filling them all up while a few of us took turns tying them off.  It looked really cool to have the whole ceiling covered in balloons.

She was very surprised when she walked in the door and saw all of us there and her house all decorated.  We had a yummy dinner and then visited and opened presents.  It was a nice night!

Pops and Gram surprised everyone and came up for Mom's birthday.  I was sitting on the floor playing with Rylee on Fri afternoon and I saw someone walking up the driveway.  I asked Cooper to look out and see who it was and he said "It's Pops and Gram."  I didn't believe him right at first, but he was right.

Gram put Rylee in the box after Mom opened her presents and Ry couldn't decide what to think.  I was worried she was going to topple forward and bump her head on the box but she stayed up straight.  Pretty soon she'll be sitting up all by herself.  Time is flying by! 

Sleepy Girl

We went to Peggy's tonight to visit and Ry fell asleep on the way home.  She has ALWAYS got something in her mouth!!

Basketball

The boys are really into playing basketball lately.  They like to give Bert and I the play by play and ask us who we want to win. 

"Paws"ing to Praise

Jacks and his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Robinson

Bert and I were invited to the school assembly today because Jacks received an award.  It's called the "Paws"ing to Praise award.  The teachers pick one student from their class to receive this award.  Jacks' teacher had a lot of nice things to say about Jacks: "Jackson is a model student.  He is always on task and following directions even when others around him are not.  He is nice to everyone and willing to help anyone.  He always returns his homework and finishes his work in class.  (And does a beautiful job on it.)"

We love you and are so proud of you Jacks!!

Photo Shoot

We had a little photo shoot today and got some really cute shots.  She is at such a fun, smiley stage and I am loving it! 

Winter is Finally Here!!!

Daddy-Daughter

Ry has always been a Mama's girl and always wanted me to hold her.  She went through a period where she would cry as soon as Bert tried to hold her.  But she is getting a lot better about it now and will hang out with him for quite a while before she notices I'm gone.  He gets her ready for bed every night and I can hear her laughing at him the whole time.

Changing Time

Rylee is a pooper!  She always has been!  It is very rare for me to change a diaper that is just wet.  This evening I realized that I hadn't changed any poopy diapers the whole day so I asked Bert if he had.  He couldn't remember changing one either.  What a great day!!  I hope there are more of these to come!

Hair

When I was pregnant with Rylee I though a lot about what she was going to look like and I hoped that she would have hair (like her brothers) and long eyelashes (like her brothers).  I thought it would be so unfair for the girl to be born bald and lashless.  Thankfully she was born with hair and she had some short eyelashes which I hoped would get longer.  Her hair thinned out quite a bit after she was born, but it is now starting to fill in again and her eyelashes have grown longer too.  All that worrying for nothing!!

Testing The New Merchandise

Cooper spent the whole day playing with his new stuff.

Lauren came down this evening and we ate, put the kids to bed, and watched "Something Borrowed."  It's always fun when Lauren comes down! 

Cooper is 5!!!

Cooper has been asking for pancakes for about a week now and I kept putting him off.  I finally told him he could have them on his birthday, so he woke up to a yummy warm breakfast (which is rare in this house!)

I told him he could pick any treat to take to preschool to share with his friends and he wanted donuts.  He was so excited!

Cooper wanted a blue party with Wild Kratts cupcakes.  I got an idea on a blog to decorate the house the night before so that when Cooper woke up the house was already blue and festive.  He seemed to like the decorations but sometimes it hard to tell with Coop.  Then on the way to school, out of nowhere, he says "Mom, I really like my balloons!"  The late night prep was DEFINITELY worth it!

We had family over for cake and ice cream in the evening and all the kids got to pick a mask to wear and take home.  They were a hit!

Jacks picked out these cars for Cooper.

I can't believe he's 5!  Life seems to be zooming by!  Hope you had a great day Coop!  We love you!!

Big Girl

Rylee has grown too big for her tub and is now taking baths in the big tub.  She was nervous at first but is enjoying all the room to kick her legs around!

Best of Friends

The boys were playing in the hallway tonight and cracking each other up.  When I first found out I was pregnant with Cooper, Jacks was only 10 months old.  I freaked out a lot!  And I will admit that the first couple of years were pretty hard.  But, I absolutely love it now!  They always have a buddy to play with and, when they're getting along, they have a lot of fun together!

Vacation Day

Today was Martin Luther King, Jr Day and so my mom and sisters were out of school.  We met up at my mom's for lunch and then sat around and visited while the kids played.  Drew was sitting on Erin's lap and Ry was with my mom and he reached for her and wanted to hold her.  After a little bit, my mom took her back and Drew reached out for her again!  Hopefully they will be good friends because they are just 10 months apart.

Reading Time

Piano

Jacks had his first piano lesson today.  He was so excited and can't wait to tell everyone about it and play the new songs he learned!

Jessica's Homecoming

This is Bert's niece, Jessica.  She just got home from serving a mission in Argentina and her mom threw a party for her tonight.  It was so fun to see her and for her to meet Rylee.

After the dinner stuff was all put away the adults started playing Speed.  I don't think I have played that since elementary school.  It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Ry hung out with Grandma because Peggy had on some slippery boots so she couldn't play.

The boys had fun being chased by their cousin Jen.  She is always so good to play with them and shower them with attention.  They love her!

Haircuts

Boy did they need them!! 

Carpool

I have been so spoiled these last 2 years when it comes to getting the kids to and from school.  My neighbor, Tania, and I take turns driving in the morning and then another neighbor, Lana, brings the kids home from school.  Lana went out of town for a few days and so I was on pick-up duty.  We had a very full and noisy car! 

Smiley Girl

Rylee fell asleep while I was driving Jacks to school.  She stayed asleep for a couple of hours and when she woke up she was so happy and smiley.  I love that she always greets me with a huge grin in the mornings when I go get her out of her bed.

"Finger-lickin' good"

Rylee has always got her fingers in her mouth!  Or if she is holding your hand, she is trying to put your fingers in her mouth!

Bedtime

My favorite time of the day!!

Movie Night

Tiff set up the projector at my mom and dad's and we watched Dolphin Tale tonight.  It was a good movie and the kids had fun being with their cousins!

Helmets

Bert and I gave the boys these NFL helmets for Christmas and they have really been enjoying them.  They know all the teams now.  If Bert is watching sports on the TV, the boys come and sit down and start watching with him and get really into it.  I keep teasing Bert that he has ruined them.  But I really think it's fun that they have the same interests as their daddy and can spend time together watching/playing sports.

Babysitting

I babysat Tessa and Bree today while Ben and Becky went to a funeral.  They brought them over right before we had to leave to take the boys to school.  After we had dropped them all off I said to the girls that now that we had gotten rid of all the boys we were going to have a "Girl Party."  We watched Sleeping Beauty, colored some pictures and painted our nails.  Then we picked Cooper up from school and dropped Tessa off for Kindergarten in my mom's class.  We hung out there for a bit because the class had PE so my mom was alone in her classroom.  It was a busy, run-around kind of day and it flew by!

Disney Universe

We have all been enjoying the new game Jacks' got for Christmas.  It's called Disney Universe and it's been fun for the whole family to play.  I have been getting annoyed with how often they ask to play and how loud they get while they are playing, but I have to remember that "Santa" brought it and they are having a lot of fun with it!

Back to School

Christmas Break is officially over.  The boys headed back to school this morning!

Cleaning Day

We spent most of the day cleaning today.  We put away all of our Christmas decorations and then cleaned up all the holiday mess.  We weren't home much over the Christmas break and so we would walk in the house and unload our stuff and then turn around and leave again.  Our table is right inside the front door so it acquires most of the stuff.  It was nice to finally have it all cleared off.

Dinnertime

Ry was able to join us for dinner tonight at Peggy's.  We propped her up with blankets and she sat and played with toys while the rest of us at our dinner.  I'm amazed everyday by how fast she is growing!