Party Time!

 Brinnley Beth turned 8 on January 26.  She's 8!  I know I say this every year, but I really cannot believe she is this old.  This little lady is so sweet and tender-hearted.  She cares about everyone and is such a great friend, and has great friends as well.  She is aware of others and works hard to make them feel special and included.  She loves science and math, creating things, and learning about animals.  She adores her teacher and loves school!  She loves to read, mostly books about animals and other informative books.  She loves making art and is very creative with her supplies.  (She loves raiding the recycling bin.)  She has her own sense of style, but she's still my t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes girl.  Her favorite colors are lime green and turquoise.  She loves Legos!  In a word, she's awesome!  I love this girl and am so thankful she's mine! 

This year she wanted to do the zebra and cheetah thing.  It took some creativity and planning on my part, but I think it turned out great.  Her cake was zebra on top and colorful cheetah spots on the bottom.

 We found these awesome zebra balloons and hung black and white streamers in the living room and kitchen.

 I had to snap this picture of the kids before the girls headed off to school Friday the 25th, the day of Brinnley's friend party. 

 While they were at school I made these nail polish treats.  (Marshmallows with frosting on them and Tootsie Rolls stuck on the top.)  These were a big hit with the girls.

 My sweet birthday girl!

 This year Brinnley decided to keep her guest list small.  She invited 4 girls, but only 2 were able to make it.  But we had an awesome time! 
(Ainsley, Kelsey, Ashlyn, Porter, and Brinn)

After eating their nail polish marshmallows, we made pop can tab bracelets.  It took a minute to get them going, but once the girls got a few on the ribbon they had a great time.  While they were making bracelets, we put Chant to work stirring.  We made Kool-Aid lipgloss and Chant got the lucky job of stirring until the Kool-Aid melted into the Vaseline.

After bracelets we had the perfect birthday dinner, pizza.

 

 Then it was present time.  Ainsley made Brinnley a sweet card.  SO thoughtful!  And Ashlyn and Kelsey both got Brinn Legos, the same set actually.  But Brinnley was super excited about it.  I thought it showed how well her friends know her because Brinnley loves horses and that's what the Legos sets had.

 Next was cake time.  She was pretty surprised and excited about it.  We kept the cake hidden until it was time for it.

 And of course we had to save time for dancing and crazy contortionist moves.  So fun! 

 I think everyone had a great time.  I know my kids went to bed with smiles on their faces.  Party number one was a huge success!

January Happenings

 January was a busy month for us.  We've had some good times!  The 4th our business partner had her baby, Greyson.  The kids love him.  He is totally hugable and kissable and we did all of it when we went to visit him for the first time. 

 Brinnley made her own robot outfit our of boxes.  I was impressed!  She did a great job.

 Porter continues to enjoy dressing-up.  The outfit is ever-evolving.  Who knew PJ pants could make for such great hair?

 One Sunday afternoon the  girls hijacked the I-Pad and went to Mom and Dad's room to watch Disney Channel.  I went into my room to grab something and I had to get the camera.  I loved seeing them all curled up together.  SO sweet!

 Porter and Chant brushed up on their skills with their swords. 

 Porter's version of the Eiffel Tower.  Very creative! 

I used some scraps of fabric to make a wreath for the girls' bedroom door.  The left side is a little floppy, but around here we just say it has character.

And that was just the first half of the month!

Family Christmas Cont.

Christi and Dalton.

Grandpa and the brothers.  Hunter, Gavin, and Brock, and Brock's sons, Braxton and Chandler.

 It wouldn't be a weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's without a Sunday nap.  I think Tyler and Chant were snoring in unison. 

 Lacey brought her Christmas present, Oscar, with her.  The kids loved him.

 Brock and his boys, Chandler and Braxton.

 Brinn and Lily ready for Church.

 Porter was telling Dalton all about the game his was playing on someone's phone.

Another tradition, games.  Dan and Madison were brave souls.  They took on Brinnley, Ainsley and Lily in a game of Sequence.  There was lots of squealing and loud exclamations.  The girls had a blast.  I think Dan and Madison survived. 

Game table 2.  Tracy, Kasey, Lance, and Easton.

We had a wonderful weekend and love being with everyone!  Until February!

Family Christmas

 We made our annual trek to Ashton for Family Christmas from the 28th to the 31st. 

The 28th Easton got his mission call.  He is going to the Oklahoma Tulsa mission.  He leaves February 13th, my birthday.  He is so incredibly excited.  We are thrilled for him.  His mission covers 4 states, one of them being Missouri.  He leaves so soon, but I don't think he would have it any other way. 

Family Christmas always means a house full of people.  This year we had Hunter with us.  We haven't seen him for a while, and the kids loved having him there. 

 Tyler and the girls

Easton and Grandpa

 Brinn and Gavin

Madison and her boyfriend Dan

 We had the kids act out the Christmas Story for us this year.  Maddie was a shepherd. 

My girls were the angels.

 Mary (Lily) on the Donkey's back (Logan).  Chant didn't get his picture, but Easton was kind enough to be out Joseph. 

 Then came presents.  Nail polish brought a big smile to Ainsley.  Maddie made this hat and another one for Brinnley.  She did an incredible job!  And of course Legos were a big hit.

 Porter was super excited about his red shoes and the Lightening McQueen hat.

And Chant got some awesome Operation PJs. 

I think everyone was pretty happy!

Christmas Afternoon

 Christmas afternoon about 1:30 we headed to Gran's house.  We were about 10 minutes from Gran's when Ainsley said, "Mom, I'm gonna puke."  And she did, right then.  It was all over!  Poor Chant, when he opened the door after we pulled over, he was dry heaving because it smelled so bad.  We were all glad we didn't have to go very far before we got to Gran's.  As soon as we got there, we got her cleaned up and she was fine. 

The kids had so much fun playing with their cousin William.  He is so big now! 

 (Ainsley had to hang out in an over-sized t-shirt of Gran's while her clothes were in the washer and dryer.)  All the kids got slippers, which they love!

 William kind of stole the show though.  They played stuffed animals and were so good with him.

We got home about 8:00 and everyone was exhausted and ready for bed!  It was a wonderful day, aside from the two puking incidents.  But the kids were troopers!

Christmas Morning

(T-shirts bracelets that Chant and I made.)

 Christmas was wonderful!  The kids were awake and talking about 5:00 but they didn't come in to get us until 5:30.  I was already awake anyway, so we grabbed the camera and headed downstairs.  First thing was stockings.  The kids had so much fun going through them.  This year Santa brought little tubes of lotions and chapsticks.  The girls loved that.  Porter got a mini Bucky pirate ship.  Poor little man!  He had looked at it before but I had the camera on the video setting so I asked him to show it to me again.  He held it up for me but he face was white and he wasn't saying anything.  I had just turned the camera to Brinnley when in the background we can hear him puking.  It was all over the floor and some got on Brinn's stocking.  I hurried to get it off.  Poor guy!  But after that he was fine and had as much energy as the girls.  

 All the kids got a Lego set.  Porter was excited to finally have his own and not have to share.

 Ainsley got a Little Mermaid doll set and house.  Her Lego set was a dog show kit.

 Porter got a few car carries along with more cars to put on them.  And his longed for present was a Jake and the Never Land Pirates Bucky ship.  He was so excited! 

 Brinnley got the helicopter/jet Legos that she wanted.  And here is the hoped for/squealed about Tin Can Robot.  (This thing was the one present that she has asked for repeatedly for months, but I had no idea where I was going to find a robot.  At Porter's Craft and Frame, that's where.  I squealed when I saw it in their Black Friday ad and Brinnley squealed when she opened it.  SUCCESS!)