A Tale of Two Years

 Birthdays are fun! And you only turn 2 once!  Everyone smiles at you and talks in high voices.

It can be hard to figure out what's really going on.  

When you're two, you get to clap for yourself.

And everyone loves it when you smile big...because it doesn't happen often.

It's not always "cool" to take a picture with all your sisters.

But sometimes you just have to do it because your mom says so.

Lighting the candle is always fun!

And also a little scary.

So you move away.

Far away.

Thankfully dad is there to help.

Adios, you scary little flame!

Ripping paper and opening boxes is pretty awesome when nobody yells at you.

And sweet gifts from your big sister are the best.

More ripping...

The anticipation is pretty intense.  

And of course there's always playing with your new toys!!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Monday Night Shenanigans

For an impromptu FHE this week, we decided we should put our Lego building skills to use.  Each of the girls was given a picture of a scripture story, and they had to recreate it using only their Legos and their imaginations.

Maryn got Samuel the Lamanite.  

It turns out the mob was a bunch of emotional girls (one of which had a gun), and Samuel used a microphone.  Sounds more like a Justin Bieber concert.  

Cora got Daniel and the Lion's Den.

Once her "cave" was built, she decided to add a glass door.  Because, why not?  She did a great job decorating the outside of the den with pretty flowers.  And if you look closely inside, you can see that those ferocious lions were actually cute little kitty cats.  

God works in mysterious ways!

Ailee got Noah's Ark.

In Ailee's version of the story, Noah was only able to find cats, dogs, horses and a single alligator.  Evolution had a lot of work to do!

I love these girls and their creativity!

Giving Thanks 2015

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided we needed to visit the Daytons in Georgia.  We hopped on a plane this year instead of driving.  It was a good idea.

While we were there, we went to a little (kind of ghetto) Christmas Light display.

The kids thought it was pretty great.  I felt it was a little confusing, since I'm not entirely sure what Tweety Bird has to do with Christmas.  Oh well.

They did have a great place to take pictures with Santa.

That was Kannon's favorite part.

Savannah and Hudson joined in on the festive fun, too.

A few blurry, but cute, pictures of the kiddos on the hay ride to see the Christmas lights.

On Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to get some pictures of all the cousins together. 

Cam, Cora, Savannah, Maryn, Ailee and Hudson:

Kannon was feeling...

...a little like this, so he wasn't in the first set of pictures.

We tried forcing him to be in the pictures, but he just wouldn't have it.

Yes, he is screaming in Cam's arms.

A beautiful feast was prepared, and we gathered around a pretty table to eat.

It was deeeeelicious.

After the craziness of the meal was over with, I wanted to get a picture of me and my sister.  I love visiting my sister.  

Maryn and Savannah were having a bit of fun with my camera.

It was a fun week.  Jill's kids are so good to my kids, and I love going there.  I even got a day of much needed shopping with my sister.

Cora the Five Year Old

Someone had a birthday this last week.

She has been MORE than excited...for MONTHS!  Life in general is a pretty big deal to Cora.  I love her enthusiasm.  It can be contagious and entertaining.

She has grown up so fast.

And what would a party be without presents?

Since she hit the magical year of 5, Cora got a friends party, too.  There were about 5,890,831 little kids running around.  My intent was to have an outdoor party, but the weather wouldn't cooperate.  So, we had to improvise.  We moved the couches and rolled up the rug in the family room...and blew up the bouncy house.  I wish I'd gotten a picture.  It was epic.  

The only pictures I did take were of Cora and her cake...

...and one of her and all the party guests.  Ok, there were only 11 extra kids.  And they were all pretty good.  And I think we all had a great time celebrating this sweet little girl. 

Halloween 2015

Between dance recitals and Disney World, we had a lot of Halloween costumes to choose from this year.  The only one I had to make a costume for was Kannon, and he didn't really have much of an opinion, so I made him a Luke Skywalker Costume.

To start off the festivities, Cora had a little parade and party with her preschool class.  I got a cute picture of all of them (and their teacher, Mrs. Woodard) in their costumes.  

Ailee used one of her dance costumes and dressed up as a Rock Star.  We even used our imaginations to make her a little microphone headset

Maryn dressed up as a Vampire:

And Cora was the prettiest Princess Belle out there:

 Our little Luke Skywalker.

He was mostly interested in the candy in his hands, but I hope that someday, he'll appreciate just how cool his costume was.

Our friends, the Browns, had come into town for a few days, so their girls, Amanda and Anna, went trick or treating with us.  

Sadly, it was kind of a rainy Halloween, so the kids weren't out for very long. But the funnest part is getting dressed up, and counting your candy afterward, so I think everyone had a good time despite the wet weather.