Ride, Ride, Ride

We are enjoying our new Glass Door!

Well, let's be honest.... Barkley is enjoying our new glass door!  He's all about watching things go on outside.  He really enjoys it when he can see the neighbor's horse, mule, and goats!

Our Little "Sickie"

Riley had to leave school on Tuesday with a fever, which meant that I had to leave as well.  Jon was in a trial all day so I was the only option.  Same for today.  After a visit to the Dr. she has been diagnosed with a sinus infection and he said that she has been fighting it for a few weeks.  Which would explain a fever off and on for the last 3 weeks!  After a lot of good R&R, chicken noodle soup, broccoli and cheese soup, and a few Webkinz games on the laptop we are hoping that she will be back to school tomorrow!

Popcorn, Anyone?

This is such a strange picture... but also a fun one!  Payton LOVES popcorn and he wanted me to be sure to post this crazy popcorn picture!  Here ya go, Payton... this picture is for you!

What is this face for?

Basketball is officially over, bummer!

Just when it seemed like we were getting into the "groove" of the game, it's over!  I have a few favorite pictures from the season that I will be sharing soon, but for now here are the pictures that I used to make Thank You card for the coaches:

Adventures in Sledding 101

We had such a blast this winter!  The 4 of us went sledding one evening in January and it was GREAT!  The snow was so deep that it was difficult to maneuver the sleds, but we all did the best we could.  The kids had fun trying to copy Daddy's way of sledding down face first on his stomach, even though it didn't go as well for them!  With approx. 14 inches of snow and horribly drifting and blowing, we also learned that we need to upgrade our 4 wheeler to one that is a 4x4!  Jon tried to get ours out so that he could pull the kids, but the snow was so deep that it wouldn't hardly go!  

Valentine's Day Cards

Jon's Card:

Birthday Cards:

I've been trying to make more cards this year... time doesn't always allow it, but I'm trying!  I always see beautiful scrapbook paper and think, "This would make a fabulous card!"  So, I'm putting those thoughts into action!  Just last night I made a 6 card set donate to one of the 3rd grade baskets for the Husky Festival tomorrow night.  I didn't have time to get pictures of them, but they turned out great!  Making cards is so fun, and it means more to me to be able to send a handmade card, rather than buying one.  

Spiderman and Hannah Montana?

We did not have school on President's Day, so we let the kids each pick a friend to come over on Sunday and spend the night.  Riley's friend could stay until Monday, Payton's could not, he had other PD plans.  

They all seemed to have a great time.  The boys played with everything in Payton's room at least once!  The girls were 'rockin' out' to the Hannah Montana Wii game.  I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all, we even had a visit from a couple of super heroes!

Be On The Lookout For...

A left FRONT TOOTH!

And a RIGHT one!

Payton has been wiggling and wiggling his left front tooth for awhile now, and finally tonight he was able to pull it out!  Here are a few pictures immediately after it came out, and I do mean immediately because they are a little 'red'.  Now that Mr. Left Tooth is no longer there to hold everything in place, Mr. Right Tooth is on it's way out as well!  It should be joining it's friend here in just a few minutes.  Isn't it crazy that when 1 comes out, others can become so loose? The best part is that big sis, Riley lost both of her front ones on the same day:  One at school in the morning and then the other one before she went to bed that night.  Payton says that he is the winner because his will literally be within minutes of each other!  Man, doesn't the competitive bone become strong kind of early these days?

***Edited to add that the right front tooth came out exactly 28 minutes after the left one... maybe they were a team... kind of like 'salt and pepper'?

Another dose of laughter

Well, even though I wasn't laughing at the commercials during the halftime show of the Super Bowl this year (overall, I really wasn't impressed by them, I did enjoy the eTrade ones with the cute little babies!), I was enjoying the company of our good friends Mark and Lara!  They invited the 4 of us over for good food, fun, and football.  We had another night of healthy laughter!  

Simply Adorable!

Who couldn't just love these deep, dark eyes and this black nose?

I'm playing around with creating a 'watermark' to put on all of my posted blog pictures, just so they can't be saved onto someone's computer and printed or used for the wrong reasons.  Once I add it to the photos, it takes a lot of effort for someone to try to get it off of there.  You'll probably see a few different versions and varieties throughout the upcoming picture posts.

Laughter Really Is The BEST Medicine!

Last night was the last night of January 2009.  Now, I know that there will be many January 31st's  but they won't compare to or be January 31st of 2009!  We laughed SO much last night that if laughter is the best medicine, then we should be healthy for a long time!  Our friends, Brad and Amy, invited us over for dinner along with friends Tom and Andrea and we had a spectacular evening!  All of our kids get along great and the 'match up' of ages is perfect!  Riley enjoyed playing with the 4 girls and Payton and Connor could just play play and play all day long!

We are so thankful for friends to have such a fun night with and can't wait to get together with them all again soon!  What a blessing God has given to us: Friends, Fun, and Laughter!

*Note to Self and Readers: You may see a common trend of "thankfulness" throughout our posts here.  I've heard it said many times that we (as in everyone) tend to show thankfulness for the BIG things that God provides for us, but not as much thankfulness is shown for the little, everyday things in our lives that have also been provided by God.  I wanted to start making notes of all the things that we have to be thankful for: Big or Small.  Big Events or Small things that happen while we are at home folding laundry.  You get the idea.  You understand where I'm coming from and hopefully you will see some of God's Blessings that we are forever Thankful for (BIG or small) throughout the posts here on our blog site!