It's Derby Time!

This is the first time we've done a traditional pinewood derby race since Caleb and Josh have been in cub scouting. Caleb's first year he did a space derby and the next year he did his car at the den meetings. It was great to see Jon helping the boys build their awesome cars! (He even got them a "professional paint job" from a friend!) Grandpa got to help too!


Josh and Caleb had to race each other after a couple of brackets.

The races got pretty intense at times (look at Josh crossing his fingers!)

And they're off...!Who's in the lead?!

The boys didn't win but they had so much fun!

I just had to throw this funny picture in...any guesses as to what my couch potatoes are doing? Just look at their hands and it will tell the whole story! The New Super Mario Bros (where upto 4 people can play at the same time) has been a huge hit at our house!

The Big 5-0!

It really is amazing that my little baby Andrew is now 5 years old! Andrew you could say is somewhat of a Momma's Boy...okay maybe a lot! He brings me many smiles everyday! He should've been smiling in this picture but we had a head to head collision (I still thought it was cute!) We had a party at Randy's Xtreme Tumbling. They have trampolines and a huge foam pit, it's super fun for everyone (including the adults!)We've never called Andrew "Sharkboy" but the cake just sort of developed on its own when Andrew requested a blue cake. :)

There's a reason Jon was called "Gumby" growing up!
Here's Joshie!
Even the Grandparents joined in on the fun! Go Grandma Helen! (That jump into the foam pit is about 9' up there, but it feels much higher when you're looking down!)
Good luck getting out of that pit Maddie!
The smile to melt anyone!
We had so much fun with family and friends that came!! Thanks for helping us celebrate Andrew's special day!

Sleeping beauty...I mean...sleeping handsome?

Why can kids fall asleep anywhere? Why can't I fall asleep while at the computer or at the dinner table and that be okay? The beauty of being a child! Andrew here fell asleep right at his door. My little angel.

Blue eyes melt my heart...

This is my step sister, Laura's, son Matthew Jr. and he just has me wrapped around his little pinkie. They came over Christmas day and I couldn't stop taking pictures of him.Here is Mattie with his Grandma Helen.
Why do the boys always get the beautiful long lashes!?
Mattie with his cute Mommy!

Christmas morning and New Years Eve

Christmas Morning
Who needs an alarm clock when you have kids, right?! :) Caleb could hardly sleep all night. He woke up at 1am (yes you read that right!) and went and watched TV (little did I know of course in my blissful sleep). He went back to bed and was kind enough to wait until 6:30am to wake us up. After everyone was at least half awake and dressed we started with gifts at almost 8am. What a looooong wait for excited little boys! We were lucky this year to have my dad and Helen and David with us this year. We enjoyed the morning very much!New Year's Eve
We had a fun filled night with games, food, balloons, confetti and hats!

Some of us at the strike of midnight were in a blissful slumber....
Others were trying with all their might to wake for that exciting last 10 seconds...
Others awoke with motivation from poppers sounding through the house and wanted to join in...
And then there was the group that managed to make it all the way to the very end and still had energy to spare!
Happy New Year!!

The Nativity

We had a fun time doing the nativity with our family and friends. We had my dad and his family, the Peterson family, and our neighbors the Websters over. Everyone who participated did a great job!Aren't the 3 wise men just cuter than cute?
Our neighbor Mark Webster narrated the story for us!

The Peterson Family

I had the chance to take pictures of Jon's sister's family, the Petersons. We kind of did it on a whim but we got some great shots. It's been so fun to have them as our neighbors just 2 houses down!