Thanks!

Thanks to all of our family who gets us great gifts and then spends even more to ship them to us. Christmas for the boys would not be the same without your generosity.

Thank you!

Christmas Evening

The Cables came over tonight and the kids were excited to show off their gifts to each other. Emma had a Native American themed Christmas this year since she's really into Pocahontas, so it worked out well that she brought her new costume and the boys had their new teepee and Indian shirts from Maca!

Here the older two are battling against Luke. No scalping was involved.

The three oldest with the teepee. I will take closeup pictures of the shirts from Anne soon, they are so neat!!

Tessa playing on the couch while the wii was entertaining most everyone else.

Like this. We've only played a few games so far, but MarioKart was the favorite tonight. On their way to our house tonight, Emma told Luke and Kelli that she wasn't into video games and wasn't going to play, but she did and she was good too. She kept wanting to play "one more game" before they left.

Christmas Morning

The older boys pointing out Asher's gifts to him while they (not so) patiently wait for Samuel to wake up.

Isaac lamenting that Samuel still wasn't waking up. In fact, Samuel got up and went to the bathroom and went and crawled back in bed for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure he did that just to torture his brothers.

Finally! Samuel emerges and the chaos ensues.

He catches a glimpse of what's inside....

and he is well pleased.

The older boys are thrilled with the Wii while the younger two wonder what the big deal is.

Comparing stocking loot.

The older boys spent most of their morning here, putting together their new legos. Mommy spent most of the morning with the Wii. :-D

The babies emerging from some secret mission(trouble) inside the teepee from Maca.

Christmas Eve Fun

After church, the boys opened their Cmas pj's.

They were literally climbing the walls they were so wound up.

Isaac lost another tooth this morning.

Taylor Decorates Our Fridge

Taylor sent us a Christmas picture she drew.

And Taylor recently sent Flat Stanley to hang out with us for the next month. He's living on the fridge for now so he doesn't get injured.

Silly Little Boys

Another B-day Gift for Asher

Asher got a bonus birthday gift from Maca yesterday. The boys are having tons of fun with these blocks. They're made of foam, perfect for the kitchen floor!

Cable Girls Come to Play

We watched the Cable girls tonight while Luke and Kelli did some Christmas shopping. The girls, especially Tessa, proved that their shyness is just an act for Mom and Dad. :-) We had a ton of fun with them. I see now I didn't get any pics of Emma, but a few of Meg and Tess.

Christmas Program Dress Rehearsal

The older boys have their program on Sunday afternoon and since cameras aren't allowed then, I went to dress rehearsal today to get some pics. We didn't get to stay long since the babies were telling me loud and clear that they needed rest time instead. I missed Isaac doing his speaking part, but I was able to get some photos of Spencer as Joseph.

Spencer with his teachers.

Quotes from the Boys

Samuel while playing with Asher: "Victory is in the bag!" (Undoubtedly from a movie, he likes to quote movies)

A very cuddly Asher to Mommy: "You're my best friend."(Said while stroking my face.)

One day last week, Spencer was really tired after school and was being quite challenging. In a not-so-great mommy moment I told Spencer he was on my last nerve to which Isaac responded, "What nerve am I on?"

I just thought of another one to add:

A couple weeks ago, while we were driving Samuel said, "Wow! Look at those beautiful mountains!" And I had to break it to him that they were just hills and the mountains were presenting on the opposite side of the car on this day. He responded, "Oh, I didn't recognize those were hills and not mountains. I'm so silly!"

My Pre-New Year's Resolution

I've found myself taking fewer pictures of the boys lately, some weeks I hardly touch my camera at all. So I decided that I am going to take(and post) more pictures more consistently. They won't always be technically accurate, but I'm going to be ok with that and hopefully you are too. :D

Little snippets of our morning. Asher and I heading to the grocery store.

Picking out sprinkles for sugar cookies.

Picking up Samuel from school.

Birthday Boy

This morning while brothers were in school, I took Asher to get a donut when he declared he was ready for his second breakfast(you didn't think that was just for hobbits, did you?).

This evening, Asher being silly waiting for his cake.

Overwhelmed by it's majesty? I'm not sure, but he did this the whole time we sang to him.

He was very intense opening his gifts.

And enjoyed talking to the electronic voice in the phone we gave him.

Asher's 3rd Birthday Pictures

It was so cold here today that we really couldn't spend much time outside to get some photos, so I snapped one on our way to the car and we did the rest inside.

Yep, that's a bruise on his cheek. It's from a run-in with the bathtub on Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church.