WHY R WE SOOOO HAPPPY?

JANUARY IS OVER!!!!!!

So I am PRETTY sure I have seasonal depression. January seemed as if it was NEVER going to end. I mean, how many toddler projects can one do before they are not so fun. We loved baking, but somebody has to eat the stuff you bake. I gained LOTS of weight & thought I was going to go crazy, more so than I already am. However, the last few days have been beautiful-- in the upper thirties. February is 1/2 over & that means SPRING!!!!! is on the way. (YES a LIGHT at the end of the tunnel:) That means going to the park, on walks, picnics in the playhouse, jumping on the trampoline & not having your breath taken away as a thousand needles sting your lungs every time you leave the house & enter out into the cold. I would like to VETO January & February just go into March & let the fair-weather days begin:)

Britton may object. He learned to snow board pretty well this winter. He started out on this very little hill in our back yard & can now keep up with the big boys at the park.


I think the highlight of the season is Jers took the boys hunting & Riley shot his first deer. We have already had stew & a roast. I haven't eaten it, but I won't tell him that:) I pretend. I just can't bring myself to put a piece in my mouth after looking at it all hanging & skinned in the garage. The rest the family however LOVES it!

Our friend Spence went with them & took these pictures. I was sad to know we didn't have any & then found them sent to our e-mail.

The blind on the right is the one that J.D. received for Christmas. Riley shot his deer from the left window of the blind on the left. He dropped it with one shot. The boys are already getting excited to use in when they hunt Turkeys next.

I decided to be a good wife & mom & fix them a good breakfast before they left. The cookies were not for breakfast, they are from the day before & didn't get cleaned up.

Alyssa was in a play--Alice in Wonderland. She really was amazing. I was so happy for her. She did a great job. She had no fear on that stage. She has a real talent for being brave in all situations.

We like this picture because you can really see Alyssa's attitude in the expression on her face.

HAPPY #3 ASHLYNN

So Ashlynn and I looked forward to her birthday ALL month. We had it all planned out--all the fun things we were going to go do and then, low & behold, she woke up sick. Eyes swollen & just sick. She was still happy most the day& we just made it work . We stayed home most of the day & played with her new toys.

We did go to Build a Bear in the evening & she was soo cute. She is not one of these kids who can't decide what they want. She makes one choice & you CANNOT change her mind. I guess that is a good thing.

She carried her bear around the rest the evening it was adorable.

Britton had a choir concert & it was adorable. I love the concerts at this age. They are so fun & the kids are so happy. Second grade is such a fun age.

The Clive library has date with dad night every Thursday. Valentine week, J.D. took the 2 youngest & they had a ball. They came home so happy. Ashlynn wore her little hat for 2 days.

Friday night Ashlynn needed to go to bed, but I wanted to watch a show with Alyssa. I knew that if I laid down with Ashlynn I would fall asleep. So I decided to let her stay up & play while we watched the show. How I did not notice what she was doing I do not know. I was on the couch that is directly in front of where all of this is taking place. She came running in & jumped on my lap. I am thinking, "what the heck is all over you." I turn around to see Hersheys cocoa all over the kitchen. Next time, I will put her to bed.

Ashlynn has a hard time being nice in nursery and anytime other kids are around. I think part of the problem is she doesn't know how to play make-believe because nobody ever plays it with her. So I decided throughout the day I will take time to do dress-up with her. SHE LOVES it!

Our first day of learning how to play make-believe, she was a princess--As she always is:) We loved the dressing up & drinking juice the most.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

My favorite thing about Valentines day this year is J.D. was home!

ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON

Daxon had his pine wood derby. He didn't do as well as he had hoped but still had a great time. Jers & him worked on it together this year & really had fun doing it. The guy who ran the derby was hilarious & really had a good time with the boys.
Daxon is such a great kid. He can play outside for hours. He loves school & does very well in all the subjects. He can't stop talking about this coming Monday when he gets to go hunting.

Britton lost 2 teeth in 2 days.

We went to the science center with the younger 3 kids. Riley was at a camp out in the freezing cold. Man scouts are tough. Alyssa was babysitting. Ashlynn LOVED the bubbles. By the time we left she was so wet from head to toe but hey she was happy.

I know this picture is blurry but I love how she is so into what she is doing.

Daxon makes a pretty great Mona Lisa

An evening at our house. AJ taking crazy pictures with Ashlynn

Or Britton running around the house hiding in crazy places with her. Usually everything anyone is doing involves Ash in some way. Its wonderful how much work she can be & how adorable she can be to everyone at the same time.

HIGHLIGHTS OF DECEMBER

We attended a Super fun New years eve party with some friends. We all had such a fun time. The kids played WII, games, and we all ate tons of delicious food! The kids LOVED blowing REALLY LOUD toot horns & drinking sparkling cider at midnight. It was definitely a great ending to the year 2010!

Playing in the snow. It was so great to have snow over Christmas break. The boys pulled Ashlynn around the back yard for hours. She loved it!

The older boys received the shotgun (yes it is real) they have been wanting & were sure they would NOT get. Santa wrapped it in Dora paper & wrote Ashlynn's name on it by mistake or maybe just to be funny :).

It's crazy how something I watched almost every Sunday as a kid, my children think is some grand amazing thing. Everytime I pop popcorn, they all gather 'round & just stare in amazement.

Daxon is anti-girl anything, so I loved his reaction in this picture.

I just love this picture because it shows Ashlynns personality PERFECTLY--fiesty and cute, all at the same time.


MORMON TRAIL CENTER

For a few days during the holiday we went to Omaha. We had a great time & the kids really enjoyed all the gingerbread houses & dressing up at the Mormon trail center.

I love how Ash is trying to look up the chimney in this one. I think the other kids just want her out of the way.

This was the size of the bed a family OUR size would get on the ship Wyoming that a lot of immigrants came over from Europe on. Heaven help the family that would be in the bunk ABOVE us.
A little too close for comfort!

I think I will load my wagon with nothing but beef jerky and potato chips. Little brother can stay in Omaha.


GOING TO LET THE ANIMALS SEE THE MONKEYS AT THE ZOO
HA HA

We LOVE the Omaha zoo. It is so much fun any time of the year. It has so many indoor exhibits that by the time you go outside, you are actually thankful for the cold air.

The rainforest is always a favorite. We had just spent a FORTUNE on food & they were energized for the day! In the background, notice Alyssa in some sort of ritualistic prayer pose, praying for the animals' safe keeping.

Here she is again, part 2 of the prayer pose (hang from random vine and try not to fall on head).

Daxon in one of his rare be still moments. He always has so much energy that catching him for a picture can be a difficult task sometimes.

Look at me! I'm a beautiful butterfly! (name the movie and win a year supply of all the food you buy for yourself)
For those of you wondering...YES much of the sense of humor in this post J.D. came up with.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

Finding a Christmas tree this year was QUITE an adventure. Due to the fact that J.D. was not home for Christmas last year, he did not have the opportunity to enjoy all the holiday traditions. He was like a LITTLE kid on Christmas Eve when it came time to find the PERFECT tree. He told the kids as soon as they got home from school we were going to go get a tree. However, we did not even wait until they returned home. We put snacks in the car & went to pick them up from school IN THE RAIN!!!! Every year we have gone to this tree farm about 30 minutes away & this year we wanted to do the same. So we all loaded up in the car & were on our way to get our tree. The catch to all of this is it was RAINING hard. Jers, in all his little boy excitement, has this worried face about 1/2 way. We both new the rain would not let up, but just as little kids do, we (HE) stayed optimistic. He looked at me & says with the Christmas spirit in his voice, "I'M GOING TO KEEP GOING." We arrived at the tree farm where the only 2 SANE ones of the bunch (Alyssa & I) mentioned how crazy this is to everyone else in the car who was SOOOO excited in spite of the rain.

Alyssa & I being the WONDERFUL sports that we are, got out of the car & smiled as big as we could:). As we walked, Ashlynn was ADORABLE. She kept skipping, smiling, running & shouting "common guys." She has J.D.'s hat on her head due to the fact that the rain continued to get WORSE.

In these pictures it looks like snow I promise not an OUNCE of snow existed by this time--it is POURING buckets of rain. We all run soaking wet to our car without a tree. Well, we were out to get a tree & we were not going to return home without a tree. SOOO, in all our excitement to fulfill our mission of getting a tree, we decide we will NOT let a TON of rain stop us from getting a tree, we do what any die-hard family would do....

WE GO TO THE STORE!!!

The adventure continues with Daxon not caring what tree we get or what it may look like unwrapped, as long as it's the TALLEST tree we can find in the store.

As we look through the billions of trees determined to find the tallest some fighting takes place , Ashlynn bruises her cheek & 2 parents are loosing the Christmas spirit FAST.

It was an eventful time for all & as the show Christmas Vacation mentions as they are out searching for the perfect tree, "it's all about the EXPERIENCE!"

Ashlynn has ALWAYS been our LIVELY girl. Lately she makes this face whenever she is being naughty & it makes everyone laugh. Daxon gets the biggest kick out of her.

MARY POPPINSJers & I went to Mary Poppins the other night & it was so much fun. It was for sure a new favorite of mine. Usually, after watching a Broadway, even when I LOVE them, I am ready to get up & move around. I could have sat threw the ENTIRE show again. We loved it from beginning to end.

Alyssa is such a great daughter. She truly saves me time & time again. She is so aware of "MOM is at a breaking point" & she steps right in & takes over. She cleans up the house, puts Ashlynn to bed, and just does anything she can to help. The other day at school her & a boy were the only 2 in her school invited to this thing where they were given these awards. I thought it was pretty awesome.

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

This year was the 1st year we ever spent the ENTIRE holiday ALONE-- meaning just our family. I was a little worried we would be bored & go completely stir crazy. Though we missed family, it turned out surprisingly okay. Jers played puzzles with Ashlynn. Her Granny bought them for her & they are a FAVORITE.

We put olives on Ashlynns fingers the one day & she left them for quite some time and thought they were amazing. A lady at the store ask J.D. if he put them on her fingers to keep her from biting them. He assured we did not. It was pretty funny.

Britton went to a pirate birthday party where he was given a really "COOL?" tattoo. He wore it around for a couple of days.

Alyssa taught Ashlynn how fun it is to slide down the stairs in a sleeping bag.

Riley taking over puzzle duty.

Thanksgiving day we were all just carefree & lazy--except for the cooking going on in the kitchen of course.

Ashlynn made a huge mess with playdough.

The boys loved the COWBOYS comeback until they LOST.

One of the funnest parts of Thanksgiving was having J.D. home. He helped cook all day. When I am cooking with seriousness, I kinda like the kiddos out of the way. He had them helping every step of the way, they LOVED it.

GRANNY & GRAMPS COME TO BABYSIT

Earlier in the month ,J.D.s parents came to babysit so he & I could go away for a few days. He & I had a blast as did the kids. Many of the little things I have not had that I have wished I had, but always forget to buy or run out of money & decide I'll get it next time, I returned home to-- such as little plates, enough glasses for everyone, measuring spoons, a nice rug to go under my computer chair & then some.

Before we took them back to the airport we went to this really COOL diner. It was right up my kids alley since sitting still is NOT a talent they care to show.

This guy really was amazing at not spilling milkshakes on peoples heads.

Riley actually got a drip on his face, still very impressive.

We had a great time & were sad to see Granny & Gramps leave. The kids all had a great time with them and we can,t wait to see them again.

Last but certainaly NOT least I love this video of Ashlynn making cookies.