We are in love...

...with the zoo!

I don't think a week goes by when Brooklyn doesn't ask to go to the zoo at least once. I think she thinks I am lying to her when I tell her it is closed Mon-Wed. She cries...no, it's not closed...it's open. Tim and I don't even talk about the zoo anymore because she gets so excited if she thinks it is a possibility. We used to spell it. That only lasted about 2 days until our little smarty pants says "I want to go to the Z-O-O".

She might live there if I let her. I can't blame her- it is a lot of fun. We try to go as often as there is weather warm enough that mom can stand it. Fortunately, that has been a few times this year even in January. Here are some of our pics from our last visit with some friends.

In awe of the coral reefs...

The trip is absolutely not complete without a visit to the tigers. They are her favorite for sure.

This time even the bear came down to say hello.

Here she is kissing the penguin. (This is one of those mom moments you try not to think about what has touched the glass and just think how cute right?) We took her to see Happy Feet 2. She has been really into penguins lately and loved it. She talks about penguins all the time. In fact she asked Santa for one this year. Sorry Baby, I don't think Indiana is quite that cold!

We miss you zoo and can't wait until it warms up again. Until then we will dream about all the wonderful things we will see....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADEN

I can't believe my little Kaden is already 7 years old. Where has the time gone?

It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was crawling around and learning his first words. He has grown into such a wonderful little man. Kaden is one of the sweetest and kindest boys I know. He is always willing to do anything for anyone..he amazes me everyday with his thoughtfulness for others. We are constantly finding little notes or pictures on our pillow, waking up to breakfast on the table or any other little thing he can think of to show his love. He is the first one to be willing to help out and serve. We feel so blessed to have you in our family Kaden. You are an example to all of us. We love you...Happy Birthday.

This year he decided he wanted a Sonic the Hedgehog cake. I thought about that one for about 10 seconds and then went to the store to get a screen printing. Sorry Kaden...I don't have those kind of skills.

I know the last picture turned out a little blurry, but I love it because it shows his personality so well.

Have a wonderful year being 7!!

Christmas

We have had a wonderful holiday and hope all of you, our friends and family, have as well. We were very busy during our vacation. Here are some of the highlights of our Christmas!

The boys had a music program at the school. They did such a great job.

Here we are visiting Santa and letting him know our Christmas wishes. :)

One of our Christmas gifts was a membership to the zoo. We have used it a ton already and love it! We went to see the lights and all the holiday festivities they had. Some of the animals were very active, especially the tigers and bats...but I think the favorite is always petting the sharks.

What is Christmas without a tree and decorations!

Christmas eve we decorated sugar cookies to leave out for Santa. I think half of Brooklyn's frosting was in her mouth and the other half was on her dress.

Here are the kids with some of their favorite gifts.

(grandma she was talking to you)

What a great Christmas. The only thing that would have made it better was if we got to spend it with our family. We miss and love you all!

Little girls...oh how sweet??

I think there is a magical thing about the number two. You have a sweet little baby who is a perfect angel. When they turn two that child somehow disappears and is replaced by a toddler who ,I swear, learns the word NO on their two year birthday...becomes very belligerent in their wants and needs...and somehow can and will find anything and everything that makes a mess......

....but then they look at you with their little faces and you remember that the sweet angel is still there. Just a little more hidden some days than others.

I think we need a little more practice on the nail painting baby girl!

So I hear Brooklyn calling for me and I can tell she is upset about something. I wonder to myself what has she done now... stubbed her toe, bumped her head, spilled her drink? She comes down the stairs... around the corner...and I just start to laugh. I know, I know...such a good mom! I can't help it. She has gotten into the tape it is now entangled in her hair. I would love to know how this happened and what was going through her mind. Necklace? Headband? Who knows. You should know though that this is all one continuous piece of tape. I can guarantee she had a lot more fun putting it in than it was taking it out.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope you all had a great Holiday weekend. We did here at our house. Thanksgiving was a nice low key and relaxing day. We had a nice dinner with just our family. We sure missed being close to our family who is far away... especially when they were all together or in Hawaii. We love you and I am looking for my pineapple in the mail mom :) Here are a few pictures of the highlights of our day. The boys each made their own mini pie 100% this year (using store bought dough of course because that is all we do in our house!). They peeled, chopped and seasoned their apples, rolled their dough and learned how to weave a pie. They, and I, were so proud. It is definitely a new tradition. We have a rule in our house that when you turn eight you are in charge of dinner one night a week. This means planning and making all on your own. (don't worry- I stand over his shoulder the whole time). It has given Tanner this new confidence in cooking and he loves it, so the pie was an exciting venture.

The other pictures are what Tim and I woke up to on Thanksgiving morning. Kaden had woken up with Brooklyn and planned out this whole little show before Tim and I got up. It mostly consisted of him giving her instructions like dance...jump....and shake all as she was bouncing on her bed. It was really cute. Tanner not wanting to be outdone promptly added his name to Kaden's advertising and then made a little of his own. He was a little pre-emptive however, and we haven't gotten to see the monster truck show yet. Maybe not necessarily a bad thing as it promises a journey down "the death path" (don't you love little boys).

Thursday night and Friday I braved the crowds at Walmart and Target for a little black friday shopping with a friend. It was a huge success and I was able to get everything on my list... and I only had to tackle two people :) just kidding. I was around really nice and courteous people, but you could hear all kinds of commotion, yelling and breaking glass throughout the store. Needless to say I don't have any pictures of this outing. I wasn't willing to sacrifice a deal grabbing hand for a camera. Thanks to Erika for another fun night of shopping. Next year??

A day in the life of Brooklyn...

Wake up and have silly time with mommy...

Change my baby's diaper...

Get stuck somewhere at least once...

Silly time with myself...

zzzzz... Hey, all that playing is hard work...

Help mommy cook...

Read books with the boys...

Put my baby to bed...

Silly time with Daddy...

Whew, can't wait until tomorrow!