New Swings & First Campout

Todd installed two swings and a trapeze under our deck yesterday.

We had a beautiful sunny afternoon to enjoy them!

Note the reflection of Todd taking the picture (above).

Daddy, thanks for the fun new "playground"!


We also took advantage of the warm day to set up our new tent & portable fire pit for the first time.

We roasted marshmallows, had a picnic dinner on the lawn, and the kids even talked us into sleeping in the tent last night.

But guess what we woke up to this morning...

Brrrrrr!  I guess we're learning our lesson about Spring in Montana.

Lincoln is 5

Our little man turned FIVE years old over the weekend! 

His birthday party on Saturday morning was a lot of fun.  He asked for a Ninjago theme and we did our best to oblige.  (Some pics were taken when we finished decorating Friday night).

Spreading out the confetti - such good helpers!

We invited 3 boys and 3 girls, but 2 of the 3 boys couldn't make it... so with Anndra and Lincoln we had 2 boys and 4 girls.  We were also very glad that Grandma came to help!

"Don't Eat Pete!" with Ninjago pictures.

The treasure hunt ended with the discovery of goody-bags in the oven.

Opening presents with best friend, Wynn.

Spinning the blindfolded birthday boy. The beautiful spring sunshine spoiled some of the pics.

Later that night... after his last ski lesson (it was an exhausting day!)... we had our family party.

Love you, Big Guy!

Jammies & Anndra's pics

The kids spend a lot of time in their pajamas these days - since it's too cold to play outside most of the time, there is often no reason for them to get dressed!

Parker and Lincoln are the ones who picked out these matching jammies

Anndra is really hooked on photography right now.  She's always got the camera in her hands.  Most of her pictures are of objects (her stuffed animals, the furniture, etc.).  When she does capture a person, it's usually Lincoln.  For example, the next four pictures:

A little note about Lincoln: he discovered the other day that he can count to one hundred.  Now he spends several minutes of each day running through the house counting.  It's awesome to see him get so excited about being able to do something new.  He's also getting better and better at reading simple words - he looks so proud of himself when he can say a word without sounding it out!

Another favorite for Anndra is taking pictures of her feet:

However, she does sometimes catch the rest of us in a pic or two (usually from an unflattering angle):

Todd (above) and Parker (below) relaxing after a long day of skiing

Another fun new thing that Anndra is doing right now is pretending that she's the mom and I'm her kid.  It's actually a wonderful relief to switch roles for a little while.  I think we learn a lot about each other when we do this and we even involve the boys sometimes - pretending that they are my uncles!

Lincoln took this pic of his sister

Little cook & Play day

We found a kid-size apron in a big bag of hand-me-downs and now Anndra wants to help me in the kitchen all the time!

Mom: That's enough cheese, Anndra.

Anndra: Fine - I'll put it on the pizza!

Friday has become a have-friends-over-after-school day for the boys. I love when they all play together.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone feels loved today!

L & A with the "love tree" he made at preschool.

Anndra had her good friend over for a Valentine's play-date.

Parker was on the committee that was responsible for his class Valentine's party.  He made a treasure hunt, planned other games, helped with decorations, and assigned his classmates to bring items for an ice cream bar.  He was so nervous/stressed last night... worried that the party wouldn't go well.  But it sounds like everyone had a great time - nice job, Parker!  Here is a picture he took of the refreshments.

Pinewood Derby & More

Can't wait to see whose car is fastest!

P's car is the 2nd one (with a white tic-tac-toe board)

Watching with best friend Darby

Video above shows one of Parker's wins.

Lincoln has a new favorite spot for Hide and Seek:

If you were looking around this kitchen, would you think there was a child in here?

Peek-a-boo!

Parker was a finalist in his class spelling bee and moved on to the school spelling bee, which was held Tuesday. Here is a video of him spelling the word "eruption" (it's really quiet because we were so far away).

He ended up getting 4th place in the school.  Way to go, Parker!

Todd and the boys continue to ski as often as possible.  Todd had a bad fall a couple weeks ago - he got a concussion and ruined his helmet. 

So glad he was wearing a helmet so it cracked open instead of his head!

Parker's instructor said he could start using poles tomorrow.  He's so excited!

Funny story about Anndra.  This morning I was watching some of the videos that go with the lesson I'm teaching the young women Sunday and teared up a bit during the especially touching parts.  I dried my eyes and went on with my day.  A while later Anndra came to find me because she wanted a hug.  As I held her she looked into my face and said, "Why is the blood coming out of your eyes?"  I was alarmed and confused for a second until I realized she was just noticing that my eyes were red from crying!  She is always phrasing her innocent little questions in funny ways like that... and I'm really bad at writing them down.  So I figured I'd better include this one in today's post so we have at least one to remember.