Christopher's 6th Birthday

I realize I start all the birthday posts this way, but I cannot believe Christopher is SIX!  We had a great time celebrating this year.  On his birthday, he wanted to go to dinner at the Catfish Hole, because he's seen people being sung to on their birthday there.  They play "Happy Birthday" over the loudspeaker for the entire restaurant to hear--so much fun!  After dinner, he opened his gifts from us.  His favorite was his new watch.  Daddy had promised him that if he learned to tell time, he'd get a new watch.  He worked hard for it, and he looks so grown up wearing it!

Christopher decided a year ago that he wanted a Transformers party at JumpZone, and he never wavered.  We invited his kindergarten class and a couple other friends, and it was so much fun.  It was a special treat having Aunt Amanda and Asher here, too.

Meeting Asher

We were SO happy to have Aunt Amanda and our new cousin Asher here this past week!  Sarah Kate and I had been out to Utah to see him, but the boys hadn't met him yet.  And since we think we are baby experts, they had a great time playing with him, trying to get him to smile, and informing Grandpa that he only drinks milk.  Sarah Kate, on the other hand, was only interested in grabbing his face.  Someday they'll play happily together, but for now, Asher needs a bodyguard!

First Valentine's Day

And just because the hair is awesome:

Mr. Snowman

Back on February 8, one of our many snowy days this winter, the boys had a blast sledding and building a snowman with Granddad.  I didn't have the appropriate snowman-making accessories, but I did have an old bag of baby carrots.

Maybe Hallmark Should Pick This Up

When we made valentines a week ago, Noel was returning home from a pheasant hunting trip in Kansas. Here's the valentine that Christopher made for his daddy.

Yes, that's a dead pheasant on the back.  And the shotgun has a cute little heart sticker on it.  I still laugh out loud every time I think about this!

Snow Day!

Last Friday, we got an unusually large amount of snow.  It was so exciting!  Unfortunately, the boys were both sick, so we had to limit their time playing out in the cold.  But they did go sledding for the first time with Daddy and enjoyed playing in the snow fort he made for them in the backyard.  Here's some photos and videos:

Please say this isn't happening . . .

But yes, it's true.  She's pulling up.  We are now at that happy stage where she can pull up to standing, but doesn't know how to sit back down.  It adds a fun new wrinkle to naptime, and also means I might need to do some re-decorating around the house.  :)

Sarah Kate--9 months

It's tough being the little sister of two big brothers . . . often the closest available toy is a weapon of some sort.  She also loves their light sabers!

Once again, Sarah Kate has had a big month!  She has really taken off with the crawling and is into everything.  She has gotten a tooth on top (not her middle ones, but they are coming in now), and has figured out how to drink from a sippy cup (if someone else holds it for her).  Her greatest accomplishment was figuring out how to pick up cheerios and put them in her mouth.  Hooray for independent eating!!

She is also using lots of different sounds in her babbling now.  Her big brothers get ecstatic over all the new "words" she is saying!

Will's 4th Birthday

Happy birthday, Will!  We celebrated his January 24 birthday with a DINO-MITE party at our house.  I'm glad Will warmed up to the idea, because when we were first planning his party, he informed me that it could not be at our house because he wanted to invite ALL his friends, and he has 100 friends, and they will not all fit in our house.  But eventually we talked him into a party at our house with just some of his friends.  :)

At his party, we did a couple of dinosaur crafts, played pin the horn on the triceratops, had a relay race with big cardboard dino feet, dug for dinos in a bucket of sand (yes, in the house), ate cake and ice cream, and opened gifts.  It was a whirlwind of energy and fun, and I think all the kids had a blast!

We celebrated Will's birthday as a family the next day, his actual birthday.  Will opened his gifts from us, and then we took him to dinner at Red Lobster.  It's his favorite restaurant because he likes to look at the lobsters in the tank by the front door.  Will got a dessert with a candle in it, and some of the waiters sang happy birthday to him.  He loved having dessert--a rare treat at a restaurant!  He was also very intrigued by a man at the next table with some, um, interesting facial piercings.  We had to have a little manners lesson about not continuously pointing at someone who might make different piercing choices than we do.  :)

Here's the photos from the big birthday bash . . .

The dinosaur cake

Will's dinosaur zoo that he drew for the party

Christopher also drew dinosaur decorations

Will's birthday poster on his bedroom door

Front door decoration

The birthday boy and his cake

Crafts:  stickers and making bookmarks

Dino feet relay

Playing pin the horn on the triceratops--Will came the closest!

Christopher in his dino nose

Make a wish!

Sugar infusion time (their parents will thank me later)

Opening gifts, with lots of help

Digging for dinos in the sand--this was a big hit!

Will's birthday dessert at Red Lobster

Will's birthday celebration with his class at preschool

Birthday hat and birthday chair