January Wrap-up

1. It melted my heart to see Maxwell feeding Sammy some jello. He can be such a good big brother.

2. I was really getting worried that it would NEVER happen, but Maxwell is officially potty trained now. Here he is telling me a story about a cow on our roof. What an imagination this kid has.

3. I'm always pretty slow about putting my Christmas decorations away.

4. Samuel loves to color and draw just like his big brother and sister. I love his concentration.

5. Breakfast date with Michael on his day off.

6. Wow, that is quite a chair.

7. We spent a Saturday morning making our traditional paper hearts for our glass doors. The kids actually cut out a lot of the hearts themselves this year.

8. This trip to the dentist was much more pleasant than the last one. Maxwell did awesome.

9. A creative masterpiece by Samuel Dale.

10. Poor little Sammy has had bronchitis twice in the past two months. And now, he has pneumonia in both lungs. Our doctor wants us to go back to our pediatric pulmonologist as soon as we can to see if there are any underlying causes for his frequent lung/bronchial infections.

11. Kathryn participated in another Mini Cheer Camp and they performed at a girls basketball game.

12. Sharing snacks...

Or not.

13. Samuel has taken a recent interest in books. I LOVE when my children discover books.

14. A trip to the doctors office for Samuel's 18 month check-up. 

15. These glasses from the game Fibber kept us entertained.

16. Maxwell assisting me with some muffins.

December Wrap-up

1. December flew by in the blink of an eye. Why does it have to be so mean like that:) My chickadees. If I'm remembering correctly, I looked over and saw these three doing a train massage.

2. Bath time for these two boys includes a lot of splashing. They are such good little friends. Maxwell often tells me that Samuel is his "best buddy". Oh how I love them, even though they have both caused me to start graying already.

3. A touring ballet company from Oregon came to the college and performed the Nutcracker. Kathryn and I went on a girls date. It brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. We both loved it. Hopefully we can start a new Christmas tradition. We ended our date with some frozen yogurt.

  

4. We took our preschool co-op to the food bank in our town. We all collected food and then delivered it. The director also let us assemble some food boxes and gave us a tour of the facility. She was a retired kindergarten teacher and did such an amazing job with our busy preschoolers. It was such a wonderful thing for all of us be a part of. 

5. Santa visited story time at the library. I think it was also the same Santa who came to our ward party, but I can't seem to find those pictures anywhere.

6. A quick picture after church. I was lucky to get one good one with how tired and hungry these three where. Oh wait...that was me!

7. Headstands.

  

8. We were so lucky to have Great Grandma Jones visiting for Christmas. She stayed with Michael's parents for several days, and they all came over to our home on Christmas Eve. It has been years and years since she has visited his parents for Christmas. We loved having her in our home and celebrating together. We delivered a few treats to our neighbors, ate dinner and acted out the nativity. After the grandmas and grandpa left and the kids were tucked safely into bed, Michael and I went to work. And then, it started to snow and blow...

Christmas pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Higbee, and a new robe from Michael.

9. On Christmas morning, we woke up to see snow on the ground which was purely magical, and then we noticed our fence...which was not so magical. It was already on it's last legs anyway.

The children were very excited for their gifts- 

new bikes and a car, binoculars, watches, train set, painting pony and head band set. 

Kathryn and Maxwell worked really hard one afternoon making and wrapping gifts for everyone in the family. It was so sweet to see their excitement as they passed out the gifts on Christmas morning.

We also did a sibling gift exchange and let them pick out a dollar store gift for each other.

November Wrap-up

1. I loved watching the kids huddle around Michael one evening while he read the scriptures. It makes me happier than anything to witness moments like this.

2. Since the boys had their surgeries a few days before Kathryn's birthday in October, I decided to wait until they were fully recovered to have a friend birthday party for her. We went to a local ceramic shop and painted ceramics, and then went back to our house for ice cream sundaes. It was absolutely perfect and the kids had so much fun. Kathryn is so blessed to have wonderful friends.

3. Max did his hair with lotion one morning. He likes a spike, and frequently asks for one. As you can see from his hands, it was more of a hair explosion though.

4. Kathryn took her "All about Me" poster to school.

5. We had our first snow in November. The kids played and played. Since living her, I've learned that you really must take advantage of the snow because you never know how long it will be around.

  

6. We took our preschool co-op to the ceramic shop for a field trip this month too. Max had so much fun painting and did such a terrific job with his truck. 

7. I love all the little notes Kathryn writes me. It is so much fun to watch her learn and grow.

8. Just a little light reading for Samuel. He's also a Clive Cussler fan like his Dad and Grandpa.

9. Building a fort in the living room

10. Kathryn came home from school on her first day of Thanksgiving break and put together a craft. I loved watching her take the lead. She is such a creative little thing.

11. This was a day near the end of November, but it really felt more like spring. And this was even after our snowstorm. The weather is never very predictable where we live.

12. Happy Thanksgiving!