366 Laughs- January 31st 2016

1/31/16

Cousins!  This was before they left to go home.  Christopher and Gregory are only a few months apart.  They will both be baptized this year.


Silly boys.


Girl cousins!  Ilyena is right between Liberty and Juliana.



And my baby girl will be 2 in one more day!  She's been saying "yay!" and maybe "cake!" to prepare.  She can show you 2 fingers, too.

366 Laughs- January 29th 2016

1/29/16

Benjamin was being silly.  And creepy.



In multiple pictures.


Funnnnn.   :)


Closeup of Michael.


Oh, and we figured out  how to keep Ginny in her seat for meals.


We separated the high chair into chair and table.  (yes, it was built to do this...)


She's a cutie.

366 Laughs- January 25 2016

1/25/16

We printed Michael's official mission map, with all the wards and stakes on it.  We'll track him through his mission.



We also thought, after seeing this little one loving the map, that we might mark siblings' height on it now and through out his mission.



We'll head into this experience with all our heart, might, mind and strength!



And miss him, too.

366 Laughs- January 22nd 2016

1/22/16

Yay for birthday cards!




And two small someones feeling better!



Sometimes that's enough for the day.

366 Laughs- January 21st 2016

1/21/16

Lots of snow today.  Tom stayed home from work, but not due to snow, more because I didn't sleep at all after taking care of three different sickies over night.  One of them being the littlest.












However, despite the snow, we got something in the mail today.

366 Laughs- January 19th 2016

1/19/16

We got snowed in tonight.  (Roads were just slick enough to call off church activities for the evening.)

We stayed in and watched Harry Potter.


Emilie with her owls.



Ginny and Jules with water bottles.

366 Laughs- January 18th 2016

1/18/16

Juliana actually fell asleep during the day...


And Nathanael playing with Ginny.

366 Laughs- January 17th 2016

1/17/16

Well, the weather peoples told us that we would get a "dusting" of snow last night and we woke up to nearly 3 inches of the stuff which was all over the roads, the cars, etc.  8 am church makes that even more fun!  (we need to be there by 7:30.)  It was absolutely beautiful.  Breathtaking, even, as we turned a bend to look towards the temple and see the sunrise breaking through the clouds behind it and reflecting off the snow.  It was a beautiful morning.



These pictures are after church, so closer to noon.  Some of the snow had melted despite the 3 degree temperatures (feels like negatives, wind chill here in lovely Missouri!) so it's not quite the same effect.


However, you don't stop to take pictures when making sure 12 people are getting up and going to church.


And here's my adorable, almost 2 year old baby girl after church in a cute little dress we got at a Relief Society swap at our activity Thursday night.




Samuel had to hold her still, and no, the hat didn't even make it to Nursery.

366 Laughs- January 11th 2016

1/11/16

Closeup of my beautiful happy half-Sith.  (Star Wars)


Closeup of my beautiful, bemused baby girl.



Picture of a story my beautiful 3 year old daughter was telling me about how we were all together but she was dreaming about rocks.  I love our hair.


Just missing Liberty, of my 4 daughters.  We'll catch her another day.

366 Laughs- January 10th 2016

1/10/16

Ginny tiptoeing and trying to tell us something...


Probably that she wants a snack.



Rocking the footy pajamas.

I can't believe my baby girl is nearly 2!

366 Laughs- January 6th 2016

1/6/16

I love my family.
Here's Juliana, snuggled up with a crocodile from the zoo she bought with birthday money last spring, and a big crocodile from Amazon she bought this week with Christmas money, reading the Enormous Crocodile (by Roald Dahl) with Benjamin (Tom's favorite book.)

Love it.  Oh, their names are Chomper and Snappy.



Ginny figured out these little Klip Klop princesses on horses (Liberty has one from last Christmas) just days before Christmas.  They are fun, they ride down little ramps with a little clip clop noise and motion.  Santa found it at a VERY good price and when Ginny got the hang of it, I was thrilled. (Moms have insider info, you know.)  Here she is playing away.  Her big brothers and sisters ALSO have a blast with these.



And then just a lovely photogenic Christopher for you.  As you can see, those front teeth are FINALLY coming in.

366 Laughs: January 4th 2016

1/4/16

Benjamin needs the Pizza Hut anthem and flag in the background here.  He strikes a great dramatic pose, doesn't he?

Another angle.

Complete with my clean laundry.

Ginny is singing about the joys of chocolate kisses and hugs.  The flash is bright.



We caught you drinking the Koolaid.

366 Laughs- January 2nd, 2016

1/2/16

Tonight our laughs came from decorating cookies that we've needed to make since Christmas when Tom got his ABC (already been chewed) cookie cutters.  Here's a recap:



So since our Kitchenaid is still out of commission, I picked up some clearance Christmas cookie icing (say that 3 times fast) at Target and one color was red... lots of bloody dismemberment, apparently.



But there was a lot of creativity, too.  It was fun.  Benjamin even did some after he got home from work and before heading to bed.  Which we are all doing early as we start 8 am church tomorrow!


BYU!  He made a "Y" out of white sprinkles.

I love the happy fish.  Those feet have problems.

Yay!  Cookies!  Yeah, she didn't understand decorating quite yet.

She was very careful with her decorating.

Samuel is having fun.

Timothy did a lot with gore...


Emilie's zombie... Tom was more meticulous.


Liberty decorating a butterfly.  The rest got scary.

That's where those feet came from.

Nathanael autographed his first few.  I guess they're collector's editions.