Valentine's Day and a Visit From the Tooth Fairy

Valentine's Day was great this year.  Tyler took a half day off clinic so we could do our annual breakfast at IHOP (long story how that tradition began).  Then the kids and I went to a party which was fantastic and helped us get to know some of the new people in our ward a little better.  We rushed home to put up the hearts we made for Tyler before he got home (early!), went for a walk and had a nice candlelit dinner of spaghetti with meatballs.

"Wen you get to stay home"

We wrote reasons why we love Tyler on hearts and covered our bathroom mirror with them.  These were some of my favorites from the kids.

Spaghetti dinner...

The kids loved it.

Except Eliza.  While I was making dinner she crept into the pantry, snuck out an apple and started eating it with all 4 and a half of her teeth.  She actually ended up eating most of it.

We had homemade fudge for dessert.  Unsweetened baking cocoa, coconut oil and honey.  Easiest thing I've ever made.  And yummy, too.

Now, I don't know if I mentioned that Cade lost his first tooth recently, but he did.  And he lost his second one today.  And I lost four last week.  

I actually didn't lose them.  I had my wisdom teeth pulled out.  3 of them had grown all the way in and the 4th was trying, but it was getting to be a pretty tight fit in there.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Lorrie and the wonderful dentist she works for, I was able to get those removed.  It wasn't too bad (other than throwing up all day any time I stood up) and I didn't even swell up like everyone said I would.  The biggest bummer is not getting to chew big hearty meals.  Oh, well.  

When I woke up the next morning the kids heard some rattling under my pillow so we investigated and found a container of gum from the tooth fairy!  I can't chew it, but the kids are really enjoying it.  And I thought it was pretty cute and nice of the tooth fairy to come visit me.

And, for those wondering the size difference in a baby tooth and a giant, adult molar, check this out:

Of course, these still have the roots on them (and some blood, I know), but that is INCREDIBLE!

Sweet Pizza

For anyone who hasn't asked yet, homeschooling so far is GREAT.  I feel like our lives are so much richer.  My kids have always gotten along pretty well, but they are amazing together now.  They climb into bed with me in the morning and we spend 20 minutes or so reading, then in the afternoon we'll read for another hour or two.  They like to surprise me by going and making breakfast (or at least getting all the food out).  They beg me to teach them more and more about so many things.  They don't ask to watch movies ( or TV shows) AT ALL.  We checked out a Go, Diego, Go! DVD from the library last week, brought it home and have not watched any of it.  And they don't care.  Instead they play pretend.  They like to be Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books, or Kurt and Gretl Von Trapp (from The Sound of Music).  They like to sing songs from "Annie," like "Tomorrow" or "Hard Knock Life."  I am so happy.

This week Cade wanted to open a restaurant.  He wanted to call it the Sweet Pizza Restaurant because the pizza we make every Friday is so sweet, he says.

So Monday was the menu and sign preparation.  He wanted to label everything.  He made a sign to go on the door of what the restaurant was called.  He made a sign for the bathroom (Ali helped with that one).  He made signs for the other rooms in our house where we didn't want people going.  He made an exit sign and even a handicapped parking spot.  He thought of these on his own.  I had no idea children were so observant.  

Tuesday we made the desserts.  Chocolate cupcakes with star sprinkles and little mini cheesecakes.  Cade thought up the whole menu on his own and we made sure we had the food we were offering.  The pizza was made hot and fresh today.

Today was the grand opening.  It was great.  We had a friend come over and it was so fun to see Cade get in character to wait on everyone.

Can you tell which one Ali did?  That girl is Rapunzel.

Our "do not enter" signs for the bedrooms.

If you notice, sweetest pizza, cheesecake with chocolate and chocolate cupcakes are all $1.  This is so everyone can buy it because it is so yummy.  The pickled pepper sandwich (which is actually a wrap and actually very tasty) was $20.  He's never had it before.

Handicapped parking:

    

Global Warming

Another snow storm in Georgia?  Dang global warming...

Collin pulling Cade on a garbage can lid.  I mean, sled.

Kirk giving the kids a sleigh ride - Georgia style.  

"What do you mean I can't go out there?"

Cade and I had a blast making our snow/ice lady.  Tyler was going to help him, but figured I probably had a little more experience with that kind of thing than he did.  You can probably tell how amazing I am at making snow people by the fine craftsmanship that when in to this little beauty:

On another completely different subject, Cade lost his first tooth.  A while ago we discovered he had a loose tooth (which is absurd to me - isn't he too young?).  Then a few days ago he was eating an apple and brought it to me to take the stem off and I noticed blood on it.  I checked his mouth and the tooth was gone.  Sadly, he was pretty sure he swallowed it because he remembered something hard in his mouth that he took for a seed.  We were going to write a note for the "tooth fairy" to explain the whole thing, but then we found the tooth on the floor and it all worked out OK.

Guess Who's Expecting...?

I know what you're thinking -

It's not me.  It's our goats.  Yeah, that's what I said.  Our goats.

The white one is Gibraltar - the only male.  We have 4 females that we think are due around March.  How did we end up with these, you ask?  A little Christmas money and a GREAT deal.  That's how.  Pretty soon we'll be able to have fresh milk, which also means fresh cheese and yogurt.  Mmmmm....

We also added this little beauty to our family farm.  

Her name is Lina - as in South Carolina.  Because that's where she came from.

And because she's a girl, she is naturally Ali's best friend.

She's a Pyrenees/Anatolian mix.  That means she will get really big and guard our animals.  And stay outside.

We also went on a family boot shopping trip because, let's face it, we need them.  When you've got animals to take care of, you've got messes to walk through.

Eliza will get hers when she stops eating dirt.  And starts walking, I guess.

2010 Year In Review

Would someone please take their foot of the accelerator?  I'd like to enjoy the scenery of life but everything keeps cruising by way too quickly!  Alas, 2010 was a great year for our family.  Here's a quick run down.

Eliza - our newest little addition.  She came to us in March and has been the happiest baby we have ever seen.  While she's not busy making people saw "awe!" she is keeping mommy busy crawling around the house and putting anything in her mouth that her siblings have so kindly left for her on the ground (Eliza, not April).

Alethia (Ali) - Daddy is considering locking her in a closet till she's 21 - she's too cute for her own good!  Very aware that she is a princess (note from dad: many a princess have been locked away in towers, right?) and tries to use her good looks to get what she wants (usually successfully).  She loves playing at whatever her big brother is doing and loves being a big sister.

Cadence (Cade) - Started school.  Has thence decided to withdraw from school (going to do homeschool).  Very busy boy.  He's curious about everything and loves helping dad work with the chickens and can't wait for the day that we get a farm (or, at least a lot of animals and a bigger garden).  He's an advanced yellow belt in karate in which his cousin Samantha gives him lessons two days a week.

April (love of my life, queen, her majesty, etc) - Has been very crafty this year making bags, dresses, a baby, Christmas presents, etc.  She's also gotten full swing in to her photography business (www.aprilmitchellphotography.com or aprilmitchell.blogspot.com).  VERY busy with three little ones running around the house.  VERY excellent at keeping said little ones in order (and their dad).  April spent most of the year as Secretary in the Primary and then when our Ward boundaries got changed around was called to be Primary Secretary, again!

Tyler (no official title needed) - Surviving 40 hours a week at school and 20 hours a week working.  Changed jobs from pushing people around at one hospital to taking X-rays in the final year of school at the hospital he attends. (Tyler also just realized he's talking in 3rd person... strange...)  The moments that he's not at the hospital or sleeping he is busy tending the garden, chickens, ducks, planning on bees and goats this next spring, working with the scouts, Young Men Secretary and playing with his children.

This has been a fantastic year.  We hope that it has been for you as well.

Ali you are 3.

Yesterday Cade told me he wanted to make something special for Ali for her birthday, so he drew this for her, rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon to give her today.  She loved it - but I think I probably love it more.

This was right after she opened her other gift from Cade - one of his toys he went and stuck in a bag for her.  Really, I couldn't ask for more loving kids.  I am so blessed they love each other so much.

This year Ali decided she wanted a Belle cake... even though she's never seen Beauty and the Beast.  We were looking for cakes and she saw a princess that was Belle, and that's what she wanted.  So, here's my first attempt at doing a princess cake.  I was pretty happy with it.  I could have used more icing, but all in all not bad for my first time.  

Seeing her smiling at it and admiring it and loving it made staying up until 2:00 in the morning to finish it well worth it.

On Saturday we had a party at Grandma and Grandpa's since everyone was together for the Christmas party.  That was a lot of fun!

Since today was her birthday, we did lots of fun things today, too.  Ali got to open presents this morning, then later we had some birthday cookies.  Due to all the treats we get this time of year, I wasn't going to make another sugary snack to have hanging around the house so we stuck a candle in a plate of cookies we got last night (thanks, Pilkingtons!) and the kids loved it.

The rest of the day was spent playing together and having all kinds of fun.  Oh - almost forgot.  Ali wanted to be Belle today.  What do you think?

Also, I was really excited about Ali's gift I made her.  What little kid doesn't need their own pair of oven mitts for their play kitchen?!  Maybe one day she'll like them more than she seemed to today.  :)

For her special birthday dinner she picked cereal.  

Life.  And freshly juiced oranges.

Christmas Cookies

Here's some fun pictures from our annual Cookie Decorating Party at Aunt Jana and Uncle Kirk's house.

Eliza is a little too little to actually enjoy the decorating... or the cookies, really.  So she just hung out chewing on whatever she could find on the floor.

I'm not really sure what kind of a smile this is, but there you go.  He's excited to get started.

"All right, everyone.  On your mark, get set, decorate!" 

Or, just go ahead and eat 'em.  Plain.  

Ali's finished cookies.  Notice that the sprinkles are the only things actually on the cookies.  

"I'll have two sprinkled cookies with an order of icing and raisins on the side, please."

Has anybody else ever seen this?  It's a spray icing.  The house smelled like spray paint.  Does anything about that seem right?

Here's Bryant's cookie.  Nasty.

And Cade's finished cookie men.  Only one was happy, I guess.

If you make a cookie that big and nasty, you HAVE to try it.

Yeah, that's what I thought.  

Jeremiah eating one of his well decorated cookies.

VERY well decorated.