Dress Up!

Why, yes!  I do have an older sister!  And she told me that you need a princess dress if you are going to the ball.

Feeling Blue, Silas?

This is what happens when a certain older sister leaves the ink out where Silas can reach it...

Silas was so proud of himself.  And so excited to show Ryan when he walked through the door.

 Did you know that 'washable' blue ink is not as washable as you may think?  On a positive note-I was able to make supper without a toddler screaming.  Of course, that should have been my first clue that he was up to no good...

And then, she was 6.

Wow.  I can't believe Sophie is 6.  Caleb is almost 9, Silas is nearly 2, and Sophie is 6.  It really does go by so fast.  Before I had kids, I heard that all the time but I still didn't realize how fast time seems to pass.  Sophie had a great day.  On her actual birthday, we spent the day with some terrific friends.  Both Sophie and Caleb had so much fun.  And then today, we went out for lunch to celebrate again.  Pictures, courtesy of my mom :)

Sophie modelling her birthday crown-

Silas.  And he only had pizza.  Just think how messy he would have been if he had been eating spaghetti.

Caleb.  Movies on tv.  Chocolate milk to drink.  What more do you need?

And finally-a candle to blow out on her birthday brownie.  She seemed quite overwhelmed by the singing but did finally blow out her candle....and eat her cake.

Happy 6th birthday!  I hope you enjoyed your special Sophie day and have fun being 6.

Snow Day!

It's crazy how much a baby changes in just a year.  Last winter, Silas liked the idea of being outside.  I think he wanted to play with Caleb and Sophie.  He could tell that they were having fun.  But he was scared of the sled.  And really didn't like that he couldn't crawl in his snowsuit.  Now here we are, almost exactly a year later, and my baby is not really a baby anymore.  He is almost 2 and while he is wearing the same snowsuit, he  is walking and talking.  And he knows how much fun the snow can be.

Though he is still unbelievably frustrated that he can't pick things up with his mitts on.

A-hiking we will go!

We got together with some friends the other day.  The original plan was to go sledding but since we don't seem to have much snow, we deciding to go walking through the ravine instead.  It was a beautiful afternoon!  The kids all had a great time though Sophie did complain that her feet were tired.  She's not much of a walker.  She's a dancer.  A runner.  A tumbler.  A swinger.  A hopper.  But not a walker.  She also complained that her feet were hurting.  After about an hour and a half, I realized that her boots were on the wrong feet.  Whoops!

Caleb loves walking through the ravine.  He usually goes quite regularly with Ryan but hasn't been able to since Ryan hurt his ankle.  Caleb was super excited when he recognized where we were!

Even with the lack of snow, the kids had lots of fun sledding.  The bonus of not bringing sleds is that you don't need to carry them back up the hill!

And let's not forget Silas.  He had such a great time that I didn't even hear him complain once!

The best part of Christmas...

...according to a toddler.  

I'm pretty sure he was more excited about watching Mickey play the bells than he was about the presents and his stocking.  Though all of the chocolate he ate would definitely be a very close second.

Holiday Fun

I haven't had much time to write lately.  Work and school seem to be getting in the way.  Add to that a sick toddler and I just haven't had much time to myself.  It's been a bit of a rough month.  Silas has been getting sick repeatedly and every time he ends up having trouble breathing.  It now seems to under control and he is finally sleeping again.  Well, sleeping as much as Silas sleeps.  Hopefully, these two weeks off give us the break we need to get back on track.

Anyhow....Christmas!  Every year, we decorate a gingerbread house before Christmas.  Caleb and Sophie love it and Silas was very excited to help this year.

Sophie was happy to help Silas put candy on the gingerbread sleigh and house.  And I was impressed that Silas wasn't just eating all the candy.  Because he really likes candy.  A lot.

Of course, it didn't take long for Silas to discover a game that he liked better-dumping the candy from one container to another.  He is at the age.  The age of filling and dumping.

Unfortunately for Caleb and Sophie, Silas dumped most of his candy on the floor.  So instead of putting candy on the house, he started taking it off.  I guess he is not quite ready for gingerbread decorating.  Oh well, there is always next year.