Sunday Games and Nutella

After I wake up from my weekly Sunday afternoon nap the kids are always ready to play games. This past Sunday we played Loaded Questions. I love seeing what answers the kids come up with. We usually always laugh our heads off, which sometimes ends the game quickly because the kids get so silly. I love munching on goodies on Sunday. We snacked on Nutella and Grahams, guacamole and tortilla chips and cheese and crackers.

Lilly Fried on the Grill

Today I looked at the menu on the fridge and noticed Lilly was penciled in on it. The joys of having bigger brothers!

Random Photos....

The battlefield...

I love that Granny and Goose still play with their little army men.

Gross Ollie! Chief loves bananas, but first he has to squish them.

For Family Home Evening tonight Bean was in charge of dessert.


Look at this happy boy running off with his brother's toothbrush.


The other night I went to check on Goose before I went to bed. I found him playing Mancala by himself. I like how he attached his book light to the game board.

Movie Night

On Friday night we rented Disney's Secretariat. I generally love movies based on true stories. We LOVED it! If you haven't seen it already you may just want to.

Mommy Daughter Date

On Saturday Bean and I went out on a date. The plan was to go and see the movie Tangled and then come home. Well we went and saw the movie and then it turned into an all day date. We had such a great time! We went to Michaels and got some googley eyes, pipe cleaners and paper so that we could make some Valentines. The pet store happened to be right next store so we wondered into there. Bean always tells me she wants to be a Vet when she grows up. She loves animals. We watched through the window as a couple of puppies got groomed. We then wandered over to the cats, didn't spend much time there. Lilly then ran over to the parakeets and sat and watched them.Of course we also had to look at the guinea pigs, Lilly kept saying, "Look they are soooo cute!" I don't agree. Lilly is in need of some school shoes so we went to Payless and tried on 29 pairs. :) After trying on dozens of shoes, she decided she wanted to look at Target. I don't know where she gets this from? So we headed to Target. Since we weren't in a rush we wandered the store. Lilly wanted to look at the swimming suits and try some on. So we tried on clothes and then left empty handed. After Target we went and saw the movie Tangled. (We both LOVED it) I may or may not have snuck some candy and treats in my purse from home to bring to the theatre. During the movie we both ate our ring pops. After the movie Lilly's mouth and lips were bright blue and mine were bright red. Because we didn't have enough goodies in the theatre we stopped off and got a Reeces Peanut Butter cup blizzard at Dairy Queen. We ordered a small and the deal was at every stop light or stop sign Lilly would give me a bite. Lucky for me I took Transit home, lots and lots of stop lights. We then rushed over to Monte's basketball game and were 5 minutes late. After the game was over, Lilly still didn't have any much needed shoes so all the boys went home and Bean and I went to the mall. We walked around for a while and ended up back and Payless and found some cute black boots for school. By this time we were both starving and lucky for us I had 2 Book It Pizza coupons so we headed over to Pizza Hut and got 2 free mini pizza's. We had such a wonderful day and ended up getting home at 9:30. It was so great to spend time just with Lilly and eat, talk and shop. I look forward to doing this again. I love my girl!

Bedtime Stories

A few weeks ago Bean brought home the classroom penguin in an ice cooler. She got a kick out of that. At night she read him lots and lots of stories.

Baby Bird

One time there was a baby bird that fell out of its nest. Then squirrels adopted the bird. But some squirrel's made fun of him because he could not climb and because he did not have fur.But 3 years later they did not make fun of him because he could fly.
Grant January 2011

4th Grade Winter Concert

Last night was the 4th grade Band, Orchestra and Choral Concert. The kids did such an amazing job! I am impressed how far they have came since last September. I loved hearing the orchestra play. Grant continues to love playing the cello. He has been asking if he can start taking private lessons on top of the once a week lesson at school. The choir also sang 4 songs. Consider Yourself from the motion picture Oliver. One Small Voice, A Great Big Sea and You're Where I Belong from Stuart Little. Grant's favorite song that he sang was A Great Big Sea.

This picture is really blurry, but G is sitting on the front row. Do you spot him?

The Violinist...

Grant's Favorite Meal

While shuffling through heaps of paper I found this written in November 2010 by Grant.

Grant's Favorite Meal:
My favorite meal is Chicken Adobo. It is very easy to make. It also tastes very good. We make it at home. It is also very easy to make. Second you get 3 cups of rice if you have a big family. One chicken breast with bones. Add a little bit of soy sauce. You cook the rice for 30 minutes. Cook chicken for 15 minutes in 1/2 cup of soy sauce. Third you plop the chicken on the rice. Add the hot sauce, add a little bit of soy sauce. Then you scuff. I love chicken adobo because it is great to cook, fun to eat and tastes great!

Lilly and Polly

Yesterday Lilly decided to dress up like her Polly Pocket. I love this little girl of mine.

Freezing Cold Thorax

I was surprised when I saw Granny get off the bus and whip off his shirt and run home. It was freezing cold yesterday. I asked what on earth he was doing and he said, "just showing off my thorax."?? I made him go back outside so I could get a quick picture. Is that mean? Don't answer.

On Monday morning when Jeremy left to work it was -10.

Searching.....

Jeremy and I have both felt very stongly that we need to try and adopt again. We are so grateful for our children, but know without a doubt that we have another spirit that needs to join our family. I know that Oliver is only one years old, but the feeling we have to start the adoption process now is overwhelming. It took 3 years to find Oliver and there is a chance it could take that long again. I often times ask the kids if they think they have another brother or sister and they all say, "YES." I contacted LDS Family Services and because we have more than two children we have to find our birthmother on our own. (This is a new policy as of August 2010) We are more than willing to search for our birthmother and pray that our Father in Heaven will guide us to her. I am in awe at our adoption of Oliver and completely saw the Lord's hand in it all. It was a miracle. We love Oliver's birthmother and her selfless decision to place Oliver for adoption. I admire birthmother's for their courage, selflessness and strength. I can't imagine how difficult of a decision it would be to place your baby for adoption, however I do know that it is entirely out of pure love. We will continue to pray and search for our baby and birthmother.

Adorable!

I love his big one year old grin!

Chief teething on some cardboard. Yum.

Artist

Chief loves coloring in his high chair while I get dinner ready. I love his little scribbles.

Telephone

Chief loves calling his daddy at work. He is so happy when he hears his voice on the other end. Chief also says HI all of the time, it is adorable! If I say Hi to him he automatically puts his hand up to his ear (like a telephone) and says hi.

Books

I love my two little reading blondies...

Chief loves it when his sister reads to him.

So that's where it went....

Playing in the snow...

The other day I went to get the mail and found my nice kitchen knife frozen and sitting on a heap of snow covered in mud and snow. Apparantly the boys were carving in the snow with it. Nice.

Not such a good idea....

On Chief's first birthday I decided he needed a handprint for his baby book. I covered the bottom of his hand with washable paint and tried to get him to keep it flat on the paper. It turned out to be a big disaster!

Wolf

We love Goose!

This is random, but Granny got these two fish for Christmas, he loves them!

On Tuesday 1-11-11 Goose earned his Wolf in Scouts. Way to go Goose! We are so proud of you! They even gave him a pair of teeth, which he loves!

Oliver George Turns One!

It is really hard to believe that my little baby boy turned one today! The events of what was happening one year ago have played throughout my head all day. I can't help but think of Oliver's birthmother. We love her so much and are eternally grateful for her. We love our little baby Oliver so much and feel so incredibly blessed to be his parents. Happy 1st birthday Chief!!
Here are a few things about our little man:
He loves long baths and walks on the beach. Just kidding about the last part.
He LOVES cheese, but prefers Sharp. He usually will toss the mild stuff to the side.
He loves bananas, peaches, pears,green beans and sweet potatoes.
He loves black beans, macaroni and tomato juice and macaroni and cheese.
For a long time he was really afraid of the vaccuum, but is starting to warm up to it.
When I take something away from him, he will have a tantrum.
He can take 7 steps and then gets nervous and sits down.
He loves his echo. When we go down the stairs he always goes AHHHH.
During church to keep him entertained I have to put bread inbetween his toes. He then concentrates for quite some time on getting the bread out.
He loves books and balls.
He loves all the attention he gets from his dad, siblings and me. He is a bit spoiled.
He likes car rides.
He loves it when I sing to him, and FYI I have a HORRID singing voice.
He has very dry skin and has to have lotion put on twice a day.
Loves it when his siblings build him forts with blankets and play with him in it.
Loves the water! In fact if I am holding him and I turn on the sink he immediately starts arching and wants to get in!
He waves bye-bye
He says Da-da, Ma-ma and no joke if you point to a picture of Jesus he will say Jeeesss and point.
He loves blankets
He immediately will play in the toilet if he gets a chance. We have to make sure and keep doors shut! :)
He loves to unroll toilet paper.
He has amazingly long lashes.
Happy Birthday Oliver we love you so so much!!!


Oliver's sealing day. 9 months old.

Such a beautiful boy!

Oliver with his angel birthmother Aubrey.

Welcome to Earth! Oliver's first picture.

Our little miracle in utero.

Hungry Caterpillar Party

Happy 1st Birthday to Oliver! He especially loved his cake and ice-cream!

Can I get some milk please to wash this down?

Chief was in heaven!

Yummy ice-cream!

He decided not to blow his candle out, but put it out with his fingers instead. Thankfully he didn't cry or get burned. He must have licked his fingers first. :)

Chief preparing to blow out his candle....

Minus the head I had fun making The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake.