Family night at the library....

Our local library is awesome!  They have the greatest librarians/volunteers ever!  We attend story time every Wednesday afternoon, as well as take advantage of other fun stuff like this....

A Lego Tower building contest!!! The boys had SO much fun!  They didn't win as there were no age groups...BOO.  Therefore they were competing against many a grown men who obviously had WAY too much time on their hands, as they had practiced & perfected their tower building skills and had a finished product as high as the bleachers!  *SHEESH*  Add in cotton candy and free books, and it was a fun night had by all!

Ryder just can't catch a break.

Ryder has awful teeth.  Poor kiddo has a pretty severe under-bite, as well as a cross-bite...we have known this day would come, we just didn't think it would come so soon.  He has handled it well, and is well on his way to a correct, attractive smile!

On a lighter note, Ryder used to be the first one done at dinner...EVERY time.  Now, he is always last, as he   tries to figure out how to eat with his expander and braces...:(  Any tips for him would be appreciated, as I have no idea how to help him!

One of our more successful crafts

I came across this fun craft idea on Pinterest the other day.  I love that we have a "forever" keepsake of their artwork!

Ridge's 6th Birthday

When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, Ridge asked if we could all go skiing together as a family. So that is what we did! Nothing fancy, no big party....which was so nice!  We went the day before his actual birthday, as his birthday fell on the same day as the Denver Broncos playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens...BOOOO! I'm still bitter about the Broncos losing. A few close friends and family came over for the game on his actual birthdate (January 12th), we ate dinner together and of course cake and ice cream....A LEGO cake per Ridge's request.  I tried...

Happy Birthday to the sweetest, most thoughtful & handsome 6 year old I know!  I love you SO very much kiddo.

P.S. skiing pictures to come!

Noah's Birthday 2012...The BIG 3!

Noah has a thing for the movie DESPICABLE ME...if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!  It is a movie that is entertaining for all generations.  Noah can quote almost any part of the movie when prompted, it is so cute!  So a DESPICABLE ME themed party was the obvious choice for his birthday this year (technically last year I guess since his birthday was December 17th and I am not posting until now).  I had the idea for the cupcakes in mind for quite some time, and had a mini-stroke when the whole Hostess Bankruptcy Fiasco went down!  As soon as I heard I tried to get my hands on at least a couple boxes of Twinkies, with no luck.  Thankfully Walmart came to the rescue with Great Value Brand "Golden Sponge Cakes"....who knew?!
We had his party at the Blackfoot Community Center where the boys do Gym every week....very affordable, and SO MUCH FUN!
A great BIG thank you to all who celebrated our little miracle man with us!  We would not be where we are today without each and every one of you!

Decorating the tree

As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is over, the boys are itchin' to get a Christmas tree and decorate it.  Noah is so fun this year! He loves everything about Christmas.  My favorite is when he comes upstairs first thing in the morning and wants to snuggle on my lap and watch the Christmas lights "dancing" on the tree.
 As soon as we got home from Boise, we got our tree.  Chases' job is to set it up, I am in charge of stringing the lights and then the boys are turned loose on hanging the ornaments!  That last step has been challenging for me in years past, as I have always wanted a "Perfect" Martha Stewart worthy tree.  But to see the joy and excitement on their little faces as they are hanging their ornaments just-so is so much more precious to me than any "perfect" tree would be.

Thanksgiving 2012....late.

Arghh! Why am I always playing catch-up?!  To my credit, this time it wasn't completely my fault. I have been without a computer for almost 4 weeks! Do you know how frustrating that is?  Try homeschooling without a computer.....HAHAHAHAHA!  Anyways, we spent Thanksgiving in Boise at Chase's sister/brother-in-laws home.  It was a really great week.   Here are a few pictures I managed to snap of the boys making pudding pies with their Auntie Hailey...