Happy Un-Birthday Brooklyn! We LOVE you!

So after ALL of the birthday excitement for Jacob in April, Brooklyn decided she needed to come home and have her "own" birthday party.  In October, she had a puppy party to celebrate turning "2"!  She wanted to follow the same theme, (6 mths later)! So... Dave and Brooklyn went on a little outing to Dick's Grocery and found this cake.   The "Party" was on with such a cute cake like this!

She invited the two neighbors over for her "party"

We opened presents ('lil pip-squeek marker's from the house and a birthday bag from preschool),

...and the ate the cake! 

I love this picture of Suzie eating her cake!  Such a sport!

We have such wonderful neighbors who were so kind to come and share a dream with our sweet Brooklyn.  Her imagination is SO full and we are thankful for the little moments she creates for our family to enjoy and share!  We can't WAIT to see what you will come up with in October when you turn "3"!  You are such a joy to have around!

May The Force Be With You!

Jacob turned 5 (back in April) and insisted on having his party in Idaho at my parents house.  Thanks to Uncle Brett and Uncle Jared, he is fascinated with STAR WARS and chose this as his party theme.  Although there are more boys he could have invited, if he had it in Centervile, he insisted we went to Idaho.  Apparently that is the "cool" thing to do this year :)

So after some research...this is what we came up with and it was SO much fun! 

(the blue/green is Yoda Punch & Trail Mix~the red is Vador)

We found these fun figurines at Winco and the Light Sabers really light up!

We started by having each guest color a Star Wars picture of their choice

We gave everyone a light saber

We did a small obstacle course:

1st station:  10 Padawan jumps

2nd station: 

3 Yoda Rolls

3rd Station:

Asteroid Toss

4th Station:

Jedi toss with light sabers and balloons

We ended with opening presents and eating the cake!

Thanks Everyone for Making it such a great day for my little man!

Up At Uncle Daniel's Farm...

I am in disbelief that it has been 5 mths since I last blogged.  That is ALMOST 1/2 of the year, come and gone. As I was going through the pictures on the camera, I realized how much fun we have been up to!  Here is a sample of May when we were up in Idaho.  We spent one day out with my brother Daniel  at the farm.  The kids LOVED the cows, merry-go-round, bucking horse barrell, the swingset, AND the yellow  TRACTOR!

Here they are with the cows.  It was the FIRST thing they ran too!

Here, Uncle Daniel is helping Miss B feed them.  The WHOLE crew, and Jacob taking charge of the pitchfork.

Here, Brooklyn is getting a VERY close look! 

 Enjoying lunch; toddler style.

Enjoying the swing set!

Doing what BOYS do best! 

 

Buckin' Bronco's!

And last, but not least...we ARE a hunting/shooting kinda family...We start 'um young, start them SAFE! 

THANKS DANIEL FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL DAY!

Our first snowfall...

There wasn't much, but they couldn't wait to get outside...Brooklyn wouldn't even put her coat on!

Huge Milestone

I CRIED, the day I took the crib down...!

Some might say that it is a good milestone reached, however, I'm not convinced!  This is basically the first time in 6 yrs it has gone down, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that!  I still remember the day we brought Madison home, and gently laid her in it to watch her "educational" mobile.  And then  the many nights we wondered if we were horrible parents for allowing her to learn to cry, okay--she screamed, herself to sleep and how I wanted to run in and rescue her from it!  Then there was the day we transitioned her, 18 mths later, to bring Jacob home to this now, baby boy crib.  And how it was my security when he was just days old, locked in the house, screaming...and the comfort it brought to know he was safely laying inside the crib.  As hard as he cried, I knew he would be okay as I watched him from the window.  Then there was Baby #3, who we didn't know which sex to prepare for. We were so excited when she was born, and shocked at all of the red hair.  We moved shortly after she was born and were very excited to deck the girls room all out in pinks , greens, yellows and purples.  However, our little Brooklyn didn't like the crib that her older siblings so loved.  So it took a lot of probing and bribing to bring her to the point, that this crib could really be her friend.  And we moved her into the little room across the hall from us, and made it her little nursery.  This is where her and the crib, finally bonded, until about 3 months ago, when she decided she needed to sleep w/mommy and daddy--AGAIN.  So there sat our crib...lonely from the lack of child in it.  And Today, we sadly took it down, bubble-wrapped it, and moved it to its new home, out in the garage!  I'm hoping this sentimental piece of our lives will move back into our home once again, but we sat staring at it today, unsure of what might come our way in the future.  Until then...farewell...sweet crib!

Belated Halloween

  

 

Brooklyn fell in LOVE w/Casper

Dave and I attended a Halloween party with a bunch of friends where we had to dress up and play certain characters! Mine was a lady who loved her night life and Dave was an anorexic guy...He-He!

Madison's Halloween program

 

Front and Center...just what she likes!

We are SO glad Grandma Adams could come and celebrate with her!

playing "CATCH-UP"

My "Mini-Me"

CHOCOLATE!

 My mom sent some extra clothes for Madison and Jacob.  Brooklyn got really excited and created her own outfit, complete w/ a high-five ribbon, chocolate and Jacob's old binkie!  My 2 yr. old GANGSTA!

You know it's gonna be a good day when...

It's a well-known fact that our youngest 2 children occasionally wake up before Dave and I.  Today was one of those days.  It is Dave's day off and we were laying in bed, trying to get in a few more "minutes" of sleep after a RESTLESS night of our 2 yr old kicking us and laying on us all night!  We heard Jacob get up and sent Brooklyn off to watch cartoons with him.  After a couple of minutes, they both came in asking for Eggnog, the drink of choice among those two.  I must have been really tired, because I consented to letting Jacob get it out of the fridge and pour a glass for the 2 of them!  It never occurred to me that he would not grab the eggnog, because he KNOWS everything a 4 yr old can know about eggnog:  where you get it at the store, how the bigger one is cheaper than the small one, how you can mix eggnog and milk to make eggnog-milk to make it last longer, etc!  Until, after a few more minutes of total silence in the kitchen, we hear this little voice at the side of our bed, quietly whisper, "mom, I think the eggnog is rotten."  I was laughing sooooo hard, because, unbeknownst to him, I had bought a container of buttermilk for a recipe and it got placed in front of the eggnog in the fridge last night!  What rotten disappointment for our little guy, as we can only imagine the mouth-watering anxiety of that first taste of eggnog in his mouth!  Sorry Jacob!

So, another cute story for the day.  We just got home from Dave's parents house and I was getting lunch ready for the kids so I could then put them down for their naps.  (Much needed as NONE of them have napped in the last 3 days!)  I look over and see Brooklyn standing on top of the CD case, Madison kneeling beside her and hear this:  (Madison whispering to Brooklyn)                                              I...promise...to...obey...the...commandments...in...the...name...of...Jesus...Christ...Amen!
Then Madison gives Brooklyn an award medal to hang around her neck and tells her what a great job she just did on her first Primary talk! 

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE these kids!  They are AMAZING!