BIG bubbles

 

We attempted this in GA at christmas.... it worked fairly well so I thought we would play with it some more here at home. Jackson was getting quite good at it. I tried a dishsoap mix in GA but I just used a big bottle of regular bubble stuff here. I think the bubble stuff worked better. One trick was to let it soak for a little while then your bubbles would last a little better. It's a lot of fun to make huge bubbles :)
I saw the idea for this here http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2010/07/bubble-burst.html
Their bubbles were WAY bigger!! I will have to keep trying..... I think that they may have made their bubble wand bigger....

Valentine's Day

 

 

Here are the Valentine's that Maggie and Jackson chose this year. Maggie's also had some flower petals on the sucker for the girls and a rocket cut out for the boys. We procrastinated and finished these the night before they would be handing them out.... someday I will do better. We started them a week earlier...... :)
I saw the idea for Maggie's card here... http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/01/you-gotta-see-this_28.html
Jackson would not look at the camera. I tried a couple of times but he was so distracted by his robot he would just turn towards me kind out and look at the robot out of the corner of his eye..... this boy REALLY LOVES robots. Jackson's idea was from the Valentine issue of Family Fun.
They love making things and something that they get to hand out to friends they love even more. Matt thinks I'm crazy for doing handmade Valentine's rather than just getting cards and suckers. Oh well. I like doing projects (most of the time).....

Smile.

 

This little man has the best smiles!! He has one strong dimple and sometimes I see another peeking through. It's fun to see something of yourself in your kids. Not so great to see some of your lesser personality traits creep through now and again :) Keeps me humble!!
Caleb is all smiles when he gets up from naps. He is so happy to see everyone. At other times he is quite serious and focused so it's fun to get those great smiles. He is one determined kiddo. Even when he is a little worried about trying something - like how to get down once he stood up at something - he works at it until he figures it out.

Funny faces

 

 

This is how Maggie and Hailey spent some time at the Pinewood Derby. They also had a table set up with games and crayons and things for the kids to do. That was excellent. The kids loved being part of it. Neither Maggie or Jackson won any races but they got second a few times so they were excited about that. It will be fun to see Jackson's cars develop over time. I will add pics of the cars if I haven't already......

Derby day

 

Can anyone guess what this little guy is doing? :)
I will post pictures of the cars soon. Maggie made one for the sibling race. We should have let Hailey make one but since we only finished them the night before..... maybe next time.

Snow cookies

 

The kids love to make snow cookies. We just fill up a cookie sheet with packed down snow and have at it. They cut them out and decorate them with sprinkles. We haven't done snow ice cream for awhile - if we get another storm I will have to remember that one. Almost all of our snow is melted. We have had some fairly warm days recently.
It's really windy here. Almost everyday. I remember that from last year too. I guess that's part of Spring around here.

Movin' and a groovin'

 

On the 7th - just as he hit 8 months - Caleb started to crawl. He has hated to be on his tummy but he was starting to get on his hands and knees a little but not much. Then on the 7th - Monday morning - he woke up crawling!! Literally, I got him out of bed and put him and he took off. He went over 5 ft that first time and he hasn't stopped or looked back since!! He is all over the place and into everything already. Apparently, we don't get to work up to it with him. He is off and crawling! Crawling babies are very cute. The kids were so excited to see him crawl - especially Jackson when he got home from school that day. I should post the video Jackson made of Caleb crawling. His commentary is almost as good as the crawling :)
Caleb also eats everything he finds...... he's already thrown up twice because of little things he's gagged on. Guess we need to be a little more diligent on what the other kiddos leave behind. Whew.

Pizza.Pizza.

 

How is it that I get so behind so fast??!! Maybe I just take too many pictures....... then I don't have time to post them......then I find myself playing catch-up again...... oh, well - at least I get them on here right? :)

I saw a post for snowman pizza somewhere.... definitely need to start making note of where I see things so I can give credit where credit is due :) Anyway, our Walmart has whole wheat refrigerated pizza dough in the bakery section for .97 cents. I buy a couple of them to freeze so I have dough easily on hand when I want it. One of these days I will make my own to do that with..... Anyway, I made three circles and added the toppings to make a snowman. The kids were very impressed. I love that simple things can do that :) He did come out rather cute and very tasty!!

So many pictures.....

 

and so many kids, and not so much time to blog..... I'm trying to catch up somewhat. I know how much the kids love to look at pictures of themselves and hear stories about when they were younger so I try to keep up on it. They especially love to hear what they were doing at the same age as Hailey and Caleb. It's fun to look up those pictures and talk about it.
We love this rocking horse. It will be going strong for a number of years yet. :)

Snowman

 

We finally got enough snow to make a snowman..... Jackson and the girl next door :) spent hours outside working on one. They were in the front yard and there is a fairly steep hill down to road. Jackson accidentally got one of the balls he was rolling for the snowman too close to that hill and it rolled right down into the middle of the road. He starts yelling for me and tells me I need to call a snowplow to get it out of the road right away!! Not 5 minutes a plow came by and swerved over to clear off the snowball. Jackson was so excited. They did finally get a snowman built but I never took a picture......

Sleepy girl

 

Hailey usually takes a nap right after we get home from dropping Maggie off at school. The kids have MP3 players that they use at night sometimes so Hailey will ask for it when she takes her nap. She wears a hat so the headphones will fit. They are too big and fall off without it. It makes for a cute picture. I have to enjoy these naps while I can - I'm not sure how much longer they will last......
Our church time changed from morning to afternoon - and every since Hailey has refused to go to nursery. She's just too tired. She says "Yike it class" while frowning and shaking her head. So she usually comes with me to my primary class. I wonder how long that will go on......

Look out world.....

 

Caleb loves to stand up at anything and everything. He is starting to pull himself up. The front windows and just the right height for him. He loves to stand there and watch outside. On this day, Jackson was playing in the front yard so Caleb had lots of action to watch. The dog obviously likes being able to see out so easily too. Caleb still hates to be on his tummy. He is really close to crawling but fusses almost immediately whenever he's on his tummy - even if he ended up that way on his own. He can get into a crawling position and back to a sitting position when he isn't too frustrated. Time to babyproof!!

Two front teeth.....

 

I should have posted this awhile ago...... Caleb started to get teeth in just after Christmas. His bottom two came in fairly close together. I tried to get a picture of them but he just thought we were playing. He is not a happy teether. Lack of sleep makes me grumpy. At least he isn't sleeping in his car seat anymore..... he's been doing that for the last couple of months. Ever since he got a cold while we still lived in the apartment. Now he is sleeping in the playpen in our room. We need to get some window coverings on the windows in Jackson's room so Caleb can nap in there easier. Such a cute boy though. I don't mind putting up with all his cranky babyness.

Funny things....

Before I forget I wanted to note some of the funny things I've heard out here...... you know before I start to talk this way too...... :)

grocery store = market
vacuum cleaner = sweeper
back pack = book bag

I know there are more. I will have to keep adding them as we go.
I'm sure people here think I have a few oddities too. A few Utah accents.....

fer = for

I wonder where we will go next and what kind of accents the kids will have picked up.

Caleb and Matt

 

We have a picture of each one of the kids near this age on Matt shoulders.... someday, I will have to try to put them all together. It's fun to see each one doing the same thing at the same age. They are so unique and yet so similiar at the same time. Matt is an excellent Dad. I'm so glad that he is my other half in this parenting adventure. We are learning from each other all the time.

2 1/2

 

Today Hailey is 2 1/2. This little one cracks me up. She has the best sense of humor and always loves to make people laugh. She is a true handful of personality. She is also one of the best at pushing my buttons :) She loves to give hugs, procrastinate bedtime, eat veggies, and play with Jackson and Maggie. She is excellent at sharing her snacks and other food and completely terrible at sharing any toys whatsoever!! She keeps us on our toes constantly. It's definitely not a good sign to have peace and quiet when Hailey is in the house...... she is a menace. Squirt bottles and anything that writes on anything always have to be out of reach. She is one smart little girl though and problem solves like none of our others. She is starting to talk a lot more and is putting sentences together. It's so funny to hear what she has to say. The other day at Lowe's it was {giggle, giggle} "Big belly!!" - as we walked by a guy with, well, a REALLY big belly. She giggled about it all the way down the next aisle. Attempts to keep her quiet are not received well...... She listens really well, most of the time, and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to help. She is coming into an independent streak - when we ask her if she wants help with something she says "no. self." I absolutely love this little cutie and I look forward to the many challenging years ahead!! :)