Best Christmas Picture Ever

Esme's Birthday

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!


What's inside?Oooh, it lights up and makes noise, what more could I want?

A horse says "mooo."

And my favorite toy is: the noisiest!

Who doesn't love apple cake? Hey Mom, where's the frosting?

Aren't I pretty in my new dress? Thanks Goblyn!

Kid's Santa Letters

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas I want a pet fish, and a guitar, and a computer, and a flute, and a violin, and a book about where my mom and dad got my name. I want a Wii for my family. I want a dragon costume. I want my own soda package, my favorite soda is grape. I want my own book about Jesus. I want some chocolate covered almonds. I also want a remote control jumping spider and a remote control airplane and a remote control t-rex. I want a science book. I want Pokemon cards. I want my own strawberry punch. I would like alien math books. I would like my own mirror. I want also my very own tools. I want a Magic Tree House book. I want a digital camera. I want a soccer net because I like playing soccer. I want a CD player for my room so my mom doesn’t have her head getting hurt, and a Jonas Brothers CD, and a Hannah Montana CD. I want a trumpet. I want a chess computer program, and a soccer game on the computer. I like the movies The Golden Compass, WALL-E, Kung-fu Panda, and The Clone Wars. I want a Star Wars calendar. I want a WALL-E alarm clock.
Love Tuckerby

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas I want new batteries for my toys, a new stocking, an army flashlight, a piano, and a computer that does work. I want a bicycle and a skateboard and a scooter. I want a toy train with its own desk so Esme can’t reach it. That’s all that I want that’s boy stuff. I like dinosaur books and cooking books and scarry books. I want a shell poster for my room. I like Raffi CDs. I would like a new Thomas movie and a puzzle. I also like wickie sticks.

Love,
Danner

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas I want a dollhouse, a Cinderella computer, a nutcracker, an island princess singing Barbie, a Cinderella Barbie, and a princess Annalisse Barbie with Sarafina. A Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle dress ups with shoes, that I can only wear in the house. The prettiest mermaid that the tail sticks on all by itself, that kind of dress up too, it’s a pink tail. The prettiest, sparkliest, pinkest dress ever. I also want princess hair that’s long so I can be Princess Annalisse. And a Dora, Fancy Nancy Dress. I want a white wedding dress and a crown to get married with at home with my brothers when I’m a kid. I want the yellow Fancy Nancy book, or a book about princesses or mermaids or butterflies or butterfly fairies. I like dancing music, ballet dancing. I really want the prettiest, prettiest, prettiest, prettiest movie ever: Barbie and the Diamond Castle. That is all the stuff I want.

Love,
Eowyn (but today I’m Dorothy)

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas I want blue worm that doesn’t have a button. Probably a Cinderella costume. I want a baby doll. I would like some toy animals. I like music a lot. I like to make music and I like to listen to music. I like to listen to bluegrass especially, but will listen to almost anything and like to listen to new things. I am very busy and like to move and explore inside and outside. I really like shoes and wear a size four right now. I like to put headbands on and off and say “pretty.” I like to sing and count and learn and push buttons. My favorite food is apples, but I will eat anything you put in front of me. I don’t like to sleep, but I love to cuddle, as long as there’s a bottle in it for me, otherwise it’s just too boring.

Love,
Esme (with help from Mommy, Danner, and Wynnie)

Yum-O

Just braggin about my awesome, delicious, purdy, uber-yum, cinnamon bread.

Danner's Birthday, Rather Late

Danner all excited about turning six. If you can believe he's six. He wanted an orange cake with orange frosting that we managed to make look like half an orange. The cake was delicious. He didn't really like it.

Shark Attack

The Boys all went crabbing today, and while they came home with a ton of crabs, they also came home with a couple of sharks! They were pretty proud of themselves. We're having a pretty good dinner tonight.

First Day of School, Part Two

Here's Danner's first day of school picture. Because of the awesome way they start Kindergarten here, his first official day was Friday. When I asked him if he liked Kindergarten he answered in a very typical Danner way: "yes." He's just like his father.

First Day of School

Here's Tuck's first day pictures (he really started yesterday). He was pretty excited to start 2nd grade. His teacher is pretty awesome, and he thinks it's going to be so much more fun than 1st grade. His goal this year is to run 100 miles in the lunchtime mile club at school. He ran 25 miles last year without really trying, so maybe this year he can do it! He certainly loves to run (escpecially when Mom says; "It's chore time!).

So Big!

Esme took her first steps yesterday! I don't think she realized it the first few times, but when she did her smile went ear to ear. She's just getting all grown up.

Hush Little Baby

Esme spends a great deal of time in her backpack. I have to admit, I don't know why it only took me four kids to find the perfect solution, but I heart the backpack. Most of the time she naps in it. She isn't the best of sleepers, in fact she prefers life with her eyes open. This is the best solution. She can be involved in everything I do, and just conk out when she gets bored. This picture is actually the first time I was able to successfully get her off my back without waking her up. She has got to be the cutest baby in the world; and she's even cuter awake!

A New Mode of Travel

Danner riding Salir.














Tuck riding Mirage.














Abby and Wynnie on Mirage.












Anna on Salir.













Faith and Abby on Mirage.

A Horse is a Horse...

The horses were delivered today. Ain't they purdy?

The lighter one on the left is a 23 year-old Arabian named Salir. The dark one on the right is a 13 year-old Spanish named Mirage. They are absolutely beautiful and about to be spoiled rotten. The kids are really excited, except Wynnie, who is terrified.

They are in need of a bit of excercise, which I'm sure the cows will be happy to provide. They managed to break through the fence in about three minutes in order to find out what they were. Of course, the kids down the street won't have any problem chasing them around the feild trying to pet them either. They're Rachel and Graces' horses anyway.

Say Cheese!

Danner lost his first tooth last night. He was so excited and brought me the tooth fairy box before I was even aware he had a tooth loose. I think though that the excitment level went up a bit the next morning when he found the four shiny quarters in place of his tooth. Baby teeth can be very profitable. Especially the ones without silver on them already.

Aftermath

This is what happens if you spend too much time listening to your kids, and not enough time watching. You can't really see but there is apple butter smeared all over the table.

Good Conversation

One of my favorite things about being a mom is listening to my children talk to each other when they think I can't hear. The topics vary widely, depending on who it is. If the boys are there, invariable the language turns to "bathroom humor." The stories are all about adventures and pirates, good guys and bad guys, and every other word is "poop." They can manage to work that word into any story. Wynnie is all about princesses and Barbies, and retells the stories she knows, and still the boys manage to sneak a "poop" or two into those stories. I especially enjoy when Esme is with them. Tuck doesn't really involve her, after all, she takes the focus away from him. Danner is very cute with her. He is always trying to involve her in everything. He gets too close, tries to manipulate her body, blows rasberries all over her and basically doesn't pay attention to what she wants and needs, all the time asking her "Do you like this Es?" Wynnie is the only person in her life that talks to her like a person. When Esme gets in her way she says "Go away Es" and when she has something she wants to share she says "Do you want some Es?" If all you could do was hear her you would think she was speaking with someone her own age. I especially like it when they are seemingly alone together and Wynnie thinks it's her job to make Esme laugh. Wynnie tells joke after joke, and relates funny story after funny story and Esme just ignores the heck out of her. While Esme's grasp of language is pretty early, badly constructed knock-knock jokes are a bit out of her reach. After a little while Wyn gives in and just starts making funny faces and playing peek-a-boo. Now this Esme understands and will laugh and clap appreciatively.

Goals

So, I was writing down some of my goals for the next few months and the kids got really into it. Since they seemed sooo interested in giving me ideas for my goals (and no, I don't think having ice cream for dinner every night is a good goal to have) I decided to let them write their own. Tuckerby, not being stupid, realized this was a ploy to do more work and left the room at the first opportunity. So here they are:

Danner

1. Learn to read.

2. Go bear hunting in winter.

3. Go camping.

4. Practice riding a bike.

5. Make my bed every day (and yes I made him put this one).

Eowyn

1. Make my bed every day (she just copied Danner).

2. Read with Mommy every day.

3. Find Easter Eggs.

I've decided that it is a very good thing to have goal-oriented children. Now, if only I were willing to help them accomplish all things, but hunting a bear (especially in winter) is a little out of my realm of abilities.

We Have Ghosts!

Last night we had the most amazing moon. It was big, round, and very bright. The whispy clouds floating in front made the most beautiful tapastry on the ground. My dogs were out voicing their appreciation, probably scaring the bejeezers out of any animal withing five square miles. I'm pretty certain of this because at about 11pm I had two very scared little boys running into the living room. "There's ghosts outside Mom!" "I keep hearing oooooooo." I'm still not sure if they believed me when I told them it was just the dogs and sent them back to bed. I'm also fairly certain they think I'm rather callous since I think they were just trying to stay up and watch the Olympics. Yeah Michael Phelps!

Funny Title Here

Bill took us up the mountain to practice shooting a few days ago. Here's a few pics from the trip:Isn't she lovely?
Isn't she won-der-ful?
Tuck aims very carefully.
Danner has his own unique style.
Even I hit my target! (No, it wasn't Billy)

Bikes

Tuckerby has finally learned how to ride a bike. Of course, it's his brother's bike. Maybe the lower center of gravity helps him balance better.

Of Butterflies and Boats

Wynnie finally got her Barbie Mariposa dress. She's worked very hard to earn it by being dry in the morning for fourteen days. Now we just have to work on her being dry in her underwear. Maybe next time she can get the actual Barbie. Mariposa is her favorite, she would watch the movie six times a day if she could. Unfortunately her Mom can't.

Here's Wynnie flying.

Trying out the new boat. Everyone can fit into this one. We can't wait to take it out. It will be really cool to go out on the Sound, or fishing up at the lake. And Heaven knows it will be a lot easier for Bill, not having to row and all. Yeah motors!

My Genius Daughter

Esme has had an explosion of vocabulary lately. At only 8 months she can say four whole words. She can say hi, Da, Mama, and mah (more). Of course she actually says hiDa at the same time. I'm beginning to think she thinks Billy's name is hiDa! and she's only said Mama once, but it was when she was really scared at Church yesterday because she had crawled all the way to the front of the RS room and couldn't see me. When I went to "rescue" her from Sister Russell she reached for me and cried "Maaaamaaaa." So cute. And today at Costco I had given her a piece of roll and when she saw me handing out rolls to the other kids a while later she put her hands out, palms up, and growled "mah!" She's so awesome. Of course the only word she uses alot is hiDa, or just DaDaDADDDAAAA! until he turns around and picks her up. Then she's all giggles and smiles.

Yea for Tuck!

Tuck was rather mad at me today (he wasn't getting what he wanted) and he stormed out of the kitchen and into his room, closing the door behind him. Now, I was expecting him to start banging on the walls, throwing things at Danner, and just generally go to Tantrum City. Instead I was surprised when he came out not long after and handed me this:
I was really proud of him for channelling his anger into words instead of actions. I think he was a little shocked when I praised him for the letter instead of getting mad. He is starting to show some maturity and learning to control his emotions. I hope he continues to use pen and paper to express himself. He has so much inside of him to give the world and this is an incredible way to do it.

Memory Lane!

Let's take a trip down Memory Lane....Do you remember when?Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember(it can involve the family or even my husband too)!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺

4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!

Good Food; Good Life

Last night I made crab-stuffed mushrooms fo the first time with crabs we caught in the sound on our camping trip. They were surprisingly easy and went very quickly. Even the kids pretended to like them.

Esme just loved the plain mushroom she got! Just wait until she discovers crab and asiago cheese, yum-o.

After dinner we harvested cherries. If only all the trees produced as much as this one. I'm not sure what I would do with them all though!

The bowl was so full that Wyn needed a bit of help. Note the lack of actual pants.

Hope Island Pictures

Here's all my non-kid pictures of all the cool stuff we saw on the island. The size of the sea-stars were incredible! Not to mention the variety and vividness of color. And the views! We really can't wait to go back. The kids mention it at least once a day. I hope it works out for us to go.