blogillespie

Paige's First Lost Teeth!

2012-01-27T12:27:00.001-08:00

Michael's 4th Birthday!

2012-01-27T12:20:00.001-08:00

Christmas Morning

2012-01-27T12:08:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, James!

2011-12-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today is James' birthday! He went paintballing this morning (while we had a basketball game, a birthday party, and the Nutcracker), and then we went to Outback for dinner. He's not a big cake fan, so he got a chocolate pudding pie for his birthday!

The Nutcracker

2011-12-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

The girls' dance studio does a performance of the Nutcracker every year and we went to see it this afternoon. They loved it (though Ashley did comment that there was way more to the story than that and she wanted it to be longer and more like the book...). They weren't in it, but you can bet that Paige has the part she wants to be next year all picked out!

Student of the Month!

2011-12-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

Ashley was chosen as student of the month for December! The word of the month is kindness and she was chosen by her teacher and her classmates as the student who best represents that trait. I'm so proud of her. She really is kind to the other kids in her class and works hard to make sure that everyone is included when they're playing.

Santa Visit!

2011-12-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our house last week! He gave the kids presents and left them with magic candy canes to put in their windows on Christmas Eve so he will be sure to find them!

Redskins Game!

2011-12-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

James won tickets through work to go to a Redskins game and he took the kids. It was a beautiful day, even though, as Michael put it, "the bad white guys won...the good red guys lost." I told Ashley to take some pictures, and here's what she took--no pictures of football at all, but lots of the band and cheerleaders...ha!One of the first things the girls told me was that the cheerleaders, "were only wearing panties! Red panties! No skirts! Well, they might have had skin-colored leggings on, but we couldn't tell! They did come out later in the game with some pants on, though." haha!

Meanwhile, Douglas took a 3 1/2 hour nap and I had some lovely quiet time!

Ashley's 1st Basketball Game

2011-12-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Ashley is playing basketball this winter. She almost sat out the first game because the ref told her she had to take out her earrings. She was so worried her holes would close up, but after some (ahem) convincing, she took them out and had a good game. There are some really good players on her team, so they won 16-0. Ashley was really good at running to where she was supposed to, but wasn't that into the competitive thing. Maybe as the season progresses...Sitting in real bleachers was so much fun!

Paige's Pink Poodle Party

2011-12-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

We were in Chicago for Paige's 7th birthday, so she got to celebrate with some of her cousins! She wanted a pink poodle party, so I made poodle skirts for the girls. She had a great time, but my camera battery died and this was the best picture I got: I took pictures with someone's pink camera...and am hoping those turned out better!

Paige--Student of the Month!

2011-12-06T18:58:00.001-08:00

Paige was chosen to be Student of the Month in November for honesty! She got a book written by her classmates, a medal, and a pin from the principal! We went to a nice breakfast for her and are so proud of sweet, honest Paige! :)The principal putting on her medal.

Too Much Candy!

2011-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

James took the girls out trick-or-treating and they got so much candy! I hid it for a while (and no one noticed...) and then put it in a laundry basket so we could sort out all the good stuff. Douglas really liked helping with that! He's really good at finding treats and figuring out how to open them! He's really nice about sharing, too.

Ewww! Don't eat it now...

Fun Run!

2011-11-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

Right after school on Halloween, the girls did a mile long fun run. They both ran the whole way and did great! Ashley was the first girl to finish and Paige was right behind her!

Halloween Night

2011-11-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Preschool Halloween Parade

2011-11-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Michael's Preschool Pictures

2011-11-03T18:38:00.001-07:00

Here's why they should hire real photographers to do school pictures:

I just love this little boy. I hope when he's taller than I am that I'll remember the days we've spent together, just us, while Douglas naps and the girls are in school. September and October just flew by, and I don't see it slowing down in the near future. In the picture below, I was making "witch hat" rolls for our Halloween dinner and saved some of the dough out for Michael. He loves to help in the kitchen, and is good at cracking eggs, measuring ingredients, and loves turning on the mixer. Earlier that day, he noticed my painted fingernails (which hardly ever happens) and said, "Wow, Mom! I didn't know you could do that all by yourself!" He then asked for a marshmallow, and when I said he could have one, he jumped up and down shouting "YESSS!" He is just about the sweetest boy I could imagine. He broke a bowl this morning and said, "I'm sorry, Mom," then gave me a kiss and said, "Are you happy now?" At least three times a day, he asks if I can "nuggle" with him on the couch. It's hard to resist!

Apple Picking!

2011-10-23T18:28:00.001-07:00

My parents came out last week and one day, we went apple picking!

We liked the apple picker :)

I love this picture my mother got of Michael. That's a look I see a lot.

"I picked one!"

Douglas slept on my back for at least an hour!

Checking out the huge pig!

About as close to the Donkeys as Michael wanted to get.

My dad convinced Michael to get a little closer.

Getting a hug from my sweet little boy. Seriously, he asks me at least 3 times a day if I can sit and snuggle with him. I love it!

This little guy is getting pretty tough.

My mother posed for us.....

...and Michael tried to copy her :) Pretty close! It was a fun day, and we got tons of apples!

Sleepover time!

2011-10-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Heather had another adorable baby, Eli, so the older kids came and stayed with us. We had a busy time and really fun sleepovers! If you think I could get Joshie out of those Buzz jammies, you're wrong. He wore them the whole time :)

Douglas is One!

2011-10-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

Douglas turned one on Sept 30th! We had Joey & Heather, and kiddos, Jake & Lanie & Jakey, and Uncle Loren over to celebrate. Ashley made him Cookie Monster cupcakes, which he enjoyed!

Josh was wondering whose mom lets him get that messy???

Our birthday boy!

Packaging

2011-10-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Nana and Papa sent Douglas a really fun new toy for his birthday. The packaging was really fun, too!

I knew I shouldn't have left the room!

Williamsburg!

2011-10-16T18:18:00.001-07:00

After the Warrior Dash, we went to Williamsburg! We did a really quick tour of my favorite spots. I haven't been back in a while--there are a few new buildings on campus, (the entrance to Lake Matoka is now a building and there's a fancy new ampitheater??) but it still looks mostly the same and was fun to visit and show the kids a part of my life before I was their mom.

Warrior Dash

2011-10-16T18:08:00.001-07:00

Jake came out to do the Warrior Dash with James.
Here's Jake at the finish line. I actually was trying to take a picture James in the mud pit--I didn't recognize Jake looking so warriorish. The lady at the finish line heard the kids cheering Daddy on, so she started yelling, "Go, Daddy!" into the megaphone. Pretty exciting. Here's James finishing:

After "rinsing" in the river.

Little warriors can borrow their sister's purple coat if they're cold.

I think Lanie and I should have gotten medals, too--for parking and walking in cornfields with no one tripping or slipping down muddy hills. It was quite an event!

Busch Gardens!

2011-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Busch Gardens with Jake and Lanie and the Johnsons! There were lots of rides even the little boys could do!

It was Douglas' birthday that day, so we got him an Elmo cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to him at lunch!

Waiting for the pet show.

First day of School 2011

2011-09-07T08:12:00.001-07:00

Ashley, our third grader:Paige's first day of first grade: She said, "Now I'm a big first grader!" I asked if she was happy she wasn't a kindergartener any more--her reply was, "Well, kindergarten was pretty great, but I think first grade will be even better!"

Michael's all ready for preschool!

In front of the school:

Hello, friends!

He was ready! There was no sadness. He asked, "Are you ready to leave yet, Mom?"

Playing in the kitchen with his friends from church.

There are only 3 boys in this picture! I thought there was supposed to be another one. Something funny's going on because there are twice as many boys than girls in the first grade and it looks like preschool is filled with girls. Michael is already friends with 4 of these girls, so it should be a fun year!

Douglas thought preschool looked fun, too!

Camping!

2011-09-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

We went camping with our friends, the Johnsons, over Labor Day weekend.

I packed a hat for Douglas, but it was too small!

We can't go too long without technology, so James set up the projector out in the woods. :)

A New School Year!

2011-09-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last year, on the first day of school, Ashley was too embarrased to let me take pictures with her teacher, and this year, Michael is supposed to be at his first day of preschool at the same time as the girls start school. Ashley asked me this morning if I would please walk her to her class on the first day of school. (I was actually planning on having them ride the bus, but the bus schedule changed, so we are now car riders again.) Anyways, next week, the first day of school is going to be crazy, so I took pictures at the meet the teacher tonight. They both know some of the kids in their classes and are excited for school to start.

Wild Weather!

2011-08-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

We have been having a crazy weather week! This is what the sky looked like last night:I didn't mess with the picture at all. The sky just kept changing colors. It was so weird. Earlier in the evening, we saw this beautiful (double) rainbow:
On Tuesday, we went to Michael's (the store) to pick up some art supplies for a class the girls are taking. We were about done--I was looking in the cake section for some cute cupcake liners when there was a loud rumbling and then the shevles started shaking and then the ground and the whole store. Ashley was sitting in the cart, checking things off the list, I had Douglas in the sling, and Paige and Michael were walking with me. I grabbed Ashley out of the cart and motioned for the kids to follow me up to the front of the store (or at least out of the shelves). Assuming everyone was following, I was walking quickly down the aisle. I looked back, and Michael was back by the cart, frozen with fear. I ran and grabbed his hand and we ran up front. I think it'll be a long time before I forget the look of fear in his eyes when I looked back and it's gut-wrenching to me that not only was he terrified of what was happening, but also, that I was walking away from him. The last time I was so scared was last summer, in our car crash, when we were spinning circles on the highway in the middle of the night in the pouring down rain and I didn't know what was going to happen. (everyone was totally fine, then, too)

I guess people who are used to earthquakes would think I'm being totally dramatic and blowing it way out of proportion, because besides some bracelets, ribbon, and fake pumpkins rolling around the store, nothing actually happened and it didn't last more than a minute. I have never even heard of an earthquake here and it was really hard when all four kids were looking to me to find out what was happening and if we were going to be alright and I had no clue what it was or what we should do. I guess I know now!

Oh, and we're getting a hurricane this weekend. I do know a little about those, though :)

Tea Party!

2011-08-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

We had a little tea party this week for the girls and their friends in their Primary classes. We were going through boxes in the basement and came across my china, which has been packed away since Paige was a baby, and the girls asked if they could have a real tea party with real teacups if they were super careful, so we did. I think everyone had fun!

Sleeping Baby

2011-08-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have a hard and fast "never wake a sleeping baby" rule, but when you're the 4th child, you have to get woken up sometimes.

My Birthday!

2011-08-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday last week!

Aunt E sent a really cool water bottle!

My parents came up!

What a fun day!

Youth Triathlon

2011-08-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, I was signing the girls up for some fall classes at the Rec Center and I noticed that they were having a youth triathlon the following weekend. It was for ages 8 and up, so I asked Ashley if she wanted to do it. She thought it sounded like fun, so she did it!
She was a little out of her element, as you can see, but it didn't bother her at all. She was just doing 3 things she loves to do anyways and other people happened to be there, too.
James gave her some pre-race advice. I think he was telling her to pace herself, to rest if she needed to, and to have fun. She certainly took it to heart in the swimming portion. She can swim really fast, but while all the other kids were doing freestyle, she was doing her own style. She swam mostly like a fish under water, then on her side and then a little on her back, and finished up under water. It was really funny!

Racing to get to her bike!

Her favorite part of the race!

She finished up running strong!

Yeah!

Her cheering section. Her medal, and a coupon for a free Chik-fil-A adult meal. Big time!

It was a 50m swim, a 5k bike ride, and a 1.5k run. She did it in 33 minutes! We were so proud of her and glad that she had a good time!

Mommy & Me Time

2011-08-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

When Paige was little and Ashley was in preschool, Paige and I would do something special for "mommy & me" time. Then, when Ashley was in kindergarten, on the days she didn't have preschool, Paige would rush us home so we could put Michael down for a nap and we could have our m&m time. Since she was in full-day kindergarten last year, there hasn't been a lot of time for just us, but this summer, Ashley has been taking a dance class late at night (haha--it's 7:30= "late" for us!) We get the boys to bed, drop Ashley off, and have our mommy & me time. So far, we've been shopping, gotten strawberry milkshakes, gone on walks, and had fun together. Last week, we went to see the horses by our house and I took some pictures of her. It's funny how different kids need/want different things--m&m time is really important to Paige...and I love it, too! :)

Douglas and the Bear: 6-10 months

2011-08-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Douglas' Career?

2011-08-01T05:44:00.001-07:00

Douglas is great at "singing" along when other people are singing. He also loves to wave his arms wildly to conduct the music. We might have a future musician on our hands!

Michael's Lego Tower

2011-08-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

Rice Krispie Treats!

2011-08-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

Visitors!

2011-07-29T12:37:00.001-07:00

Our friends, who used to be our neighbors in Colorado, drove all the way from Canada to see us! We had a great time! We went to the pool, a waterpark, into the museums, and had fun just being together. The girls were in heaven! I only took pictures the day we went into the city.
Paige and Ashle on the metro: Dorian and Ashley:

All the kiddos (except Douglas, who was attached to me!)

Dorian and Paige were the brave ones:

Here's Ashley NOT holding a bug:

Apparently, this is a tomato bug:

Budding geologists. This was the exhibit they were dying to see:

Friends Summer 2011

2011-07-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

These two are great friends...as long as no one is looking!

Douglas and Natalie...

2011-07-29T12:14:00.001-07:00

...sitting in a tree.

Douglas July 2011

2011-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is his classic "sniffle sniffle" look.

You can see his top teeth in this one. He's got 7 teeth already and the 8th one (bottom right) is just about ready to poke through.

More Florida!

2011-07-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

After the Gillespie reunion, the kids and I spent a week at my parent's house. We had a blast going to the beach, playing at the splash park, swimming in the pool, going to the puppet theater, going on adventures in the golf cart, and riding bikes!
We celebrated GranCarey's birthday by going over to New Smyrna Beach. We showed the kids her old house and all the places we used to go when we visited. When we got to the beach, the lifeguards were all blowing their horns and we were convinced we saw a shark right off shore, but it turned out it was a pelican and the lifeguards were actually just yelling at the surfers. It was pretty exciting anyways and it helped the kids stay really close to shore. If you look really closely in some of the pictures, you can see something that looks like a fin.
Douglas really, really wanted to eat all of that yummy sand.

GrandMama builds the best sandcastles!

This was really sweet. Michael was standing all alone and Paige walked up, checked that he was ok, took his hand and jumped in the waves with him for a long time.

Ashley noticed and wanted to get in on the action. I think the girls must be on their knees.

The kids love going to get the newspaper with GrandDaddy in the morning. It's an event.

Watching tv is fun, too :)

Chasing the sand hill cranes.

There is a great splash park and playground right by my parent's house!

Douglas grew 3 teeth while we were on vacation. He's working on 2 more now. He's been a total champ about it and hasn't been too fussy. He's just been biting--a lot.

I love Paige's scrunched-up face in this one. She's trying her best to hold those boys in there!

Our Family

2011-07-19T20:58:00.001-07:00

Ashley Elizabeth, age 8

Paige Marie, Age 6 1/2

Michael Jordan, age 3 1/2

Douglas James, age 9 months

Orlando Temple

2011-07-19T20:42:00.001-07:00

The main reason all the Gillespies went to Florida was to go to Jake, Lanie, and baby Jakey's temple sealing. It was such a sweet ceremony and a wonderful time for their beautiful little family, and for the rest of the family as well. Here are some pics I took outside the Orlando LDS temple.

Abbey and Ashley:

Charie and Douglas:

Abbey and Paige:

Jake and Jakey:

Papa and Paige--Paige had somehow gotten stuck in the foyer of the temple. The automatic doors opened for her to get in, but she wasn't big enough to make them open to let her out. Papa noticed her crying in there and rescued her.

Sisters:

Three White Dresses

2011-07-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here are Lillian Faith Blakesley in her blessing dress, Ashley Elizabeth Gillespie in her baptism dress, and Lanie Ambs Gillespie in her wedding dress.

Buddies!

2011-07-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

In the Gillespie family, everyone has a buddy--a cousin that was born in the same year as they were. Here are my kids with their buddies:

Ashley and Madeleine:
Paige and Mary:
Michael and Jack (Ben is part of this buddy-ship, but I didn't have a pic with him, too.)

Douglas and Jakey:

Ashley's Baptism and Douglas' Blessing

2011-07-19T18:03:00.001-07:00

Ashley was baptized in Florida on July 3rd! All 16 of her Gillespie cousins got to be there, plus all of her Gillespie aunts and uncles and both sets of grandparents! She's the oldest cousin, so she was the first. I'm so proud of her for setting such a good example and for being so responsible and sweet.
Before her baptism, the 4 babies born this year were blessed by their dads. First Jakey, then Douglas, Parker, and Lillian. It was a little wilder than any baptism or baby blessing I've ever been to with all those kiddos under 8 years old, but it was so great to all be together and we're so glad everyone was there!

Baptism Preview

2011-07-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Ashley will be getting baptized this Sunday in Florida, so we tried on the dress before we packed it. James' mother made this dress and her Gillespie aunts were baptized in it. She's growing up!

Amusement Park!

2011-06-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

After getting her ears pierced, we headed to the amusement park with our friends to finish off Ashley's birthday celebration!

Pierced Ears!

2011-06-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

After opening presents, we went to get Ashley's ears pierced.
No holes:

A while ago, one of my friends recommend going to a tattoo/piercing shop rather than the mall since their techniques are different and they actually know what they're doing. I called the pediatrician to see if they'd do it in the office, but they wouldn't, and they also recommended a tattoo parlor. So, on her 8th birthday, I took my daughter to a tattoo parlor.
Here she is with the really nice piercing lady:

Ta-da!

Ashley's 8th Birthday!

2011-06-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ashley turned 8 on Monday! We had quite an exciting day!
First, she opened presents:

This was so sweet. Paige didn't have a present for her, so she got an envelope, ran to her purse, and grabbed a handful of coins for Ashley. They were both so excited about it. I love their expressions in these next 3 pictures:

Michael got a super hero cape, which he has worn in public several times since Monday. I love it!

The one thing Ashley actually asked for. She's growing up!

A real 1/2 size guitar! GrandDaddy had something to do with this one...

We'd had enough cake, so we had birthday pancakes.

Penguin Party!

2011-06-26T11:24:00.001-07:00

For Ashley's 8th birthday, we had a backyard penguin party! They did a lot of sliding like penguins on the 2 slip n slides and played some penguin-y games. I think they had a lot of fun!

My niece, Abbey:

Paige got stung by a wasp at the beginning, which was sad, but she was really tough and got to enjoy most of the party. Luckily, that was the only party casualty. I showed the girls how to make those balloons look like penguins and then they made them all!

The pinata!

Most of the guests:

Opening presents:

We went to Outback for dinner with cousins that night! What a day!

Matching Ties

2011-06-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Boys aren't quite as much fun to dress as girls, but with a husband who'll wear matching ties with his little boys, they're pretty cute! (This was taken after church, and yes, Douglas is totally zonked out!)

Douglas 8 months

2011-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what our sweet little boy looks like these days :)

Almost Summer!

2011-06-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

We plan to be doing a lot of this this summer!

Butterfly Release

2011-06-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

We got caterpillars in the mail and they all turned into butterflies! Our neighbors have quite the garden in their back yard, so we decided to release them there, hoping they might stay around.

The neighbor kids. We call these neighbors "the boys," even though there are 2 little girls in their family. We also have "the new neighbors" (who have now been here almost a year), and the "across the street neighbors." We're very original, and apparently, not so good with names :)

Kids May 2011

2011-05-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ashley--almost 8
She is excited about finishing up second grade and summer vacation! She's most excited about her 8th birthday! We are planning a backyard penguin-themed party, since she loves all things penguin. She's looking forward to getting baptized this summer. She is really responsible and loves being treated more grown up, and she gets to get her ears pierced on her birthday. Her favorite subjects in school are science and art and her favorite color is light blue.

Paige-6 1/2
Paige is a really good girl. She loves to help me and she loves learning new things. She is a great reader and loves reading stories to anyone who will listen. Her favorite subjects are math and music and her favorite color is still pink pink pink. She says really funny things and gets along well with most people.

Michael-3 1/2
Michael is a really sweet boy. He loves Douglas to death and is thrilled when Douglas interacts with him. He is excited to start preschool in the fall. When he grows up, he wants to be a Daddy. The other day, I asked him what else he wanted to be--a fireman, a teacher, a doctor??? No, he said, I be a Daddy and.....a Mommy! His favorite color is green and he loves anything Star Wars. He carries his "light saver" around and likes to "slice" people!

Douglas--8 months
Douglas is a really content, happy baby. He loves being held, and, as the 4th baby, has learned to fall asleep most anywhere. He fell asleep in the middle of the loudest fireworks display I've ever heard last night, and in the pool today (while I was holding him!). He's doing the army-man crawl now, sits up well, and eats lots of food. He'll eat anything the rest of us are eating, but does not love baby food. He loves being held by Ashley and being entertained by Paige and Michael. He's sleeping from about 8pm to about 7am most days.

Strawberry picking!

2011-05-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Paige's heart-shaped strawberry:

Habitat

2011-05-30T19:13:00.001-07:00

Ashley is learning about habitats in science. Here's hers.

Sitting Up

2011-05-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is sitting up now!

Major Hunk

2011-05-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

Our "major hunk" finally got a haircut! He's even cuter now, I think :)

Easter Pictures 2011

2011-05-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Michael's ABCs

2011-05-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Florida Spring 2011

2011-05-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Since we were already in Florida, we decided to drive up to my parents' house for another week of fun! It sounds like an easy drive, being in the same state and all, but it took about 10 hours, which is more like for.ev.er when you are traveling with a 6 month old, especially one who won't take a bottle or eat baby food... Thankfully, my parents met me in the middle and drove us the rest of the way to their house. We made it and had a great time. We dyed Easter eggs and decorated cookies, went to a fabulous puppet show, and went to the splash park right by my parents' house. (I drove the golf cart over there while Ashley held Douglas next to me and Paige and Michael were strapped in where the golf clubs go--we were quite the sight!). We also got to visit my aunt and go to the zoo right by her house and had fun swimming in my parent's pool and spending time with them!

Key West!

2011-05-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

James has been working in Key West, Florida quite a bit since we moved here. At one point, I wondered why we didn't all move down there and have him commute up here as necessary. When he goes, he normally stays in the military barracks, but last month, all the rooms were taken, so he got put up in a fancy hotel on one of the few beaches in the keys. He called me around 10:30 Sunday night and said we should just come down and stay with him for the week. It was SOOO crazy, but I booked tickets, e-mailed the girls' teachers, packed suitcases, and was ready to go at 9:00 Monday morning.
We had a blast! We went to most of the beaches on the island, rode a train around and learned more about Key West than we ever wanted to know, swam in the pool, went to the aquarium and saw sharks, saw several 3 foot iguanas running around, ate delicious Cuban and Italian food (not at the same time), and had fun being together.
Here are some of the highlights:

There was a magic show at the Toy Factory and then he made balloons for the kids--

Paige is so brave!

The hotel pool:

We were mostly excited to ride a train. We didn't know it was a 90 minute learning adventure :)

Douglas was great on the trip!

We love the beach!!

April Fools!

2011-04-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Our April fool's day centered on food this year :) Here was our dinner: (all candy!) and our dessert (meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting):

Michael thought it was hilarious. He was so excited for the girls to get home so we could trick them.

6 months!

2011-04-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe our little guy is 6 months old! His stats are:

Height: 25 3/4 inches =25th %

Weight: 14 lbs = 3rd %

Head: 44 cm = 75th %

So basically, he's a little peanut with a big head...

School Pictures-Spring 2011

2011-03-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Douglas' New Teeth!

2011-03-06T14:20:00.001-08:00

Our little guy is growing so fast! He got one tooth last week and I just noticed another one this morning!

Douglas and the Bear: 13 weeks-5 months

2011-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

100th Day of School

2011-02-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

Paige's class dressed up like 100-year-olds to celebrate the 100th day of school. Here's our best guess at what she'll look like in 94 years. She'll still like pink, she'll wear slippers, knee-high socks and sweaters so she won't get cold, and she'll have short, curly grey hair and wear glasses. When we first took the rollers out, Paige was not impressed--she said, "I'm supposed to look like an old lady, not a clown!" A bunch of baby powder for the grey, some wrinkle lines, powder, blush, lip gloss, and a flower clip later, and she was satisfied. Because, says Paige, "old ladies like to look pretty!"

Conversations with Paige

2011-02-15T05:50:00.000-08:00

Paige is my thinker...and planner...and worrier. She has always said the funniest things, and lately, I can tell she's really trying to figure everything out.

Last night before bed, she asked, "Mom, how can you tell if a boy is righteous?"
Me: What do you mean?
P: Well, I really want to marry a boy who's righteous, but I don't know how to tell. I have a couple boys in mind...
Me: Really--who??
P: It's a secret...I can't tell you.
Me: You can tell me anything.
P: No, it's a really big secret. I can't tell you. Mom, do I have to have a baby?
Me: No, you don't have to.
P: Does it hurt a LOT?
Me: Yeah, it hurts, but it's worth it. It only hurts for a little while and then you have a baby forever.
P: What if I don't want a baby in my belly?
Me: You could adopt a baby.
P: No, I mean, do I just tell God, "No, thank you."
Me: Um, kind of...
P: But what if I had a boy baby? What would I name him? I mean, there are lots of pretty girl names, but what would I name a boy?
Me: Maybe your husband would have an idea.
P: MAYbe...

Oh, Paige, I love you. I hope your husband will be righteous and a good listener. He's not going to be able to get many words in anyways...

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T19:46:00.001-08:00

We started our Valentine's celebration this weekend at a fun church family dance. There was a dinner, a dessert competition, a craft table, a photo booth, and of course, dancing!

James and the girls rockin' out to Taylor Swift:
Superman firefighter dancing with Daddy:

The photo booth:

There were fun props:

heehee:

And the girls had to wear heart braids and clips to school today, of course!

Boys' Haircuts

2011-02-12T12:40:00.001-08:00

Before:

After:

My Little Brother by Mother Goose

2011-02-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

I love you well, my little brother,

And you are fond of me

Let us be kind to one another,

As brothers ought to be.

You shall learn to play with me,

And learn to use my toys;

And then I think that we shall be

Two happy little boys.

Sledding!

2011-02-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

It snowed last week! Our friends, the Johnsons, said they knew a great sledding hill, so we went with them to check it out. I was a little skeptical at first because our yard has a nice slope to it and the kids are pretty happy sledding on that--plus, since James had to work, it meant I had to take Douglas outside in the cold. It turned out to be an incredible sledding spot that looked like some bunny slopes I've seen (minus the chairlift, unfortunately! It's really the driving range for the golf course...), and we all had a great time.

The little yellow dot in the middle is Michael. We got out of the car and the kids all ran over to the top of the hill. I was about halfway there when Michael took the sled, sat down, pushed off, and zoomed down the hill, all by himself!

Another of Michael:

Hi, kids!

They convinced Karl to walk over to the other side and try that even longer hill. Douglas was really toasty!

What a fun time! The only problem is that now when it snows, our yard just won't seem so great any more!

Superstar!

2011-02-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Paige was the kindergarten superstar last week! She got to be the line leader, the special helper, have her class sing a song to her every morning, and more! The best part was that she got to bring in show-and-tell every day. She brought in her lovey, which is a stuffed dog named Butterball, her ponytail that was cut off (?? her choice!), her bitty twins named Alexander and Alexandra, her pink tutu and flower crown, and Douglas! We had a lot of fun visiting her classroom and I even got to read two of her favorite books (King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and The Tub People) to the class while I was there. It was a really fun week for her!

Here she is dressed up matching the Twins!

Why Girls are Fun!

2011-02-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

Ashley wanted to try on my wedding dress the other night and we had so much fun playing dress up!

Smiley Boy!

2011-01-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Haircut Pictures

2011-01-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

All of the girls in our family cut off at least 8 inches of hair last week! Paige's kindergarten teacher is currently going through chemotherapy and I told her that it's a really strong medicine that kills the bad stuff but it's so strong that it can make hair fall out. We talked about things we could do to help her and decided one thing that we could do would be to donate our hair to be made into wigs for other women who have to go through something like her teacher is going through.

Here we are before:

Paige did get cold feet at the last minute and told me she wanted to be like Rapunzel instead... Ashley was really excited to not have it take so long to brush her hair!

They were both excited to go to a real salon! The last time we went somewhere real was after Ashley cut Paige some bangs in Alabama :)

After!

Mine, Mine, Ashley's, Paige's

Haircut Preview!

2011-01-13T20:46:00.001-08:00

Here's what we did tonight! More pictures coming soon :)

Douglas and the Bear: weeks 9-12

2011-01-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist...

2011-01-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

...because one day, he's going to get married, and we'll need some embarrasing pictures. :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

We had a fun New Year's Eve with friends! Here are the kids who made it to midnight :)

Douglas is Three Months!

2010-12-30T21:03:00.000-08:00

Michael is Three!

2010-12-30T20:39:00.001-08:00

Michael turned three on December 27th! He got a big boy bike for his birthday!Opening presents:

ROAR!!

All he really cared about was that he was going to have a dinosaur cake. He "helped" "sprinkle" the brown sugar dirt and put all the dinos onto the cake.

My parents, Elizabeth and Richard, and Joey and Heather's family were here to celebrate.

Michael and Jack (Joey and Heather's little guy)

I'm pretty sure Uncle Jeremy had just this in mind when he sent light sabers to his nephews for Christmas.

Pizza Party!

Happy birthday, buddy! We went to the doctor and he's now in the 96th percentile for height and the 90th for weight. He's a happy, sweet boy and we love him tons!!

Christmas!

2010-12-30T20:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas!

Ashley made Michael a sword and shield. She's such a sweet big sister! They also all picked out books for each other and it was fun to see that they really tried to get ones that the other kids would like.

Santa brought a trampoline! He even set it up in 20 degree weather on Christmas Eve! Thanks, Santa!! He brought a safety net, too, but I guess he didn't have that much time.

Can we put our coats on and jump on it RIGHT NOW???

Of course!! We even let them play on it in the snow. We're such nice parents... :)

Sunday Before Christmas

2010-12-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

All the kiddos wore their special Christmas outfits to church today. I know Douglas looks a little bit like a clown, but I couldn't resist the matching bow tie!

Brothers :)

James' Birthday!

2010-12-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Friday was James' birthday! We celebrated with pizza, a movie, and brownies :)

First Snow of the Year!

2010-12-18T17:49:00.001-08:00

We got about 4 inches of snow on Thursday, and we got Thursday and Friday off of school! The kids had a great time playing in the snow, coming in, drinking hot chocolate and getting warm, and going back out. I could barely get them to come in even when it was completely dark out!

Gymnastics

2010-12-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

The kids had an open house at gymnastics this past week!
Michael will tell you--he's really, really strong--here he is showing off those muscles. He got up there all by himself! He climbed the wall with his feet without help, too!

He's a good jumper!

Paigie on the bars!

Ashley on the bars--

Paige on beam

Going up to a handstand.

Ta-da! Michael got a medal and a star ornament. The girls got little trophies.

Ringing the Bell!

2010-12-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

Ashley, Paige, and Michael all started gymnastics a few weeks ago. Ashley got almost to the top of the climbing rope the first week. Tonight, she got to try again and made it all the way to the top and rang the bell! I think she must have thought it was like a doorbell or something because the coach yelled to her to ring the bell and she yelled, "I don't know how!" back. It was pretty funny! Ashley was pretty excited!

Douglas Dec 5

2010-12-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

My Girls

2010-12-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

The girls got to open their Christmas dresses from GrandMama and GrandDaddy today! They looked very festive at church!
I look a little out of it in this one, but maybe that's normal these days :)I guess Paige and I do look a little alike! She thought it was really funny that I was taking pictures of us.

I think Ashley was a little smiled out by this point...

Douglas and the Bear: weeks 5-8

2010-12-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

Our little Douglas is growing! He was 11 1/2 pounds when we went to the doctor this week and was in the 50th percentile for everything!

(I didn't forget the 8 week picture after all! I found it on my camera yesterday!)

Paige's Thanksgiving Party

2010-11-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

Paige's class had a Thanksgiving pizza party on her birthday. Douglas, Michael, and I got to go in and celebrate with her.

She brought ice cream for her birthday treat.

She loved having the whole class (and most of their parents) sing to her!

Here is one of her little friends.

With one of her teachers.

I didn't take pictures of our real Thanksgiving, but we had a great time at our house with Richard, Elizabeth, Joey, Heather, and their kiddos!

Paige is Six!

2010-11-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

Paige turned six on the 19th! She is such a sweet, smart girl!

She got the Bitty Twins for her birthday this year!

She got to invite all of her friends over for a doll party where they had doll-sized treats (mini cookies, mini fishies, etc, and tiny cupcakes), lots of Chick-fil-A nuggets, played games with their dolls, and made matching necklaces for their dollies. I think they all had fun!

Student of the Month!

2010-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Ashley was the student of the month for November! Our county has a value of the month that the teachers talk about with the students and then choose one child who best represents that value to be the student of the month. In November, the word was honesty and Ashley was chosen by her teacher! James and I got to go to an awards breakfast where she got a medal and a book written by her class about her. We're so proud of her :)

Broken Thumb!

2010-11-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

We've had some excitement this week... James went out of town Sunday, so I went to church by myself, brought the Nursery snack, and taught the Young Women's lesson. We got home and I was pretty exhausted already. About five minutes after we got home, I heard a door slam and Michael scream. Apparently, Ashley wanted some privacy in the bathroom and Michael kept trying to get in. Unfortunately, his thumb was in the little hole that the door shuts into when the door was shut. I called James at the airport and he suggested neosporin and a bandaid. I didn't think he understood the severity of the situation over the phone (the ripped-off thumbnail and the gushing blood, especially), so we all loaded in the car and rushed off to Urgent Care where they took x-rays and said it was broken and put some foam thing on it to stop all the bleeding. Michael charmed all the nurses and was entertained by Paige with a blown-up glove for a really long time.
We went to the orthopedist yesterday and he said it's broken, but it will heal just fine and he put another splint and a bandaid on it. I'm not sure if I trust him, but the pediatrician called today to check on him, so I think I might go in and see what they think.
Here's my sweet little guy:
I can't do a post without a picture of cute little Douglas!

Halloween!

2010-10-31T19:31:00.001-07:00

We're back from trick-or-treating! We went with our favorite witch and Cleopatra this year. I'm wondering what in the world to do with all this candy...there's no way Michael and I should be left alone in the house with it tomorrow!!
This is the only group shot I got and it's fuzzy :( Notice Maisy their dog is also in costume! Douglas had a festive hat thanks to his cousins! Here are the moms and the babies, though Natalie won't be a baby much longer!

Uncle Loren came over!

He got roped into doing a Halloween craft with the kiddos...

Our fake pumpkins. Our real ones are almost carved...maybe we'll finish tomorrow!

Douglas' and Ashley's pumpkins on top, then Paige and Michael's on bottom. Ashley's was double sided--happy on one side and scary on the other. Paige wanted hers to be pretty and nice and Michael wanted his to be spooky (even though he does NOT like spookiness!)

Trunk-or-Treat!

2010-10-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

We went to our church trunk-or-treat and had a great time! We got there just in time for the candy and stayed late playing on the fun playground!Michael was in heaven! He couldn't believe everyone kept giving him more and more CANDY!!

Paige with Jaryn, the cute girl who volunteered to help me keep track of my kids in that long line up of trunks!

more candy, Daddy!

Bustin' a move in the barn. There was a disco ball and everything!

What a sunset!

Julia, Ashley, and Paige:

Every fireman needs a good horsey swing!

Evelyn and Michael. Just in case they decide to get married. Michael was trying to put his arm around her, but she wasn't having it!

Evelyn, Audrey, and Paige:

Michael and Wesley...I love their expressions in this one!

Ashley with Evelyn:

Ashley balancing out the teeter-totter. Those boys are heavier than they look!