Who's been here

Just another example of what Parker does while his brother sleeps! Seriously, we never know what we are going to find when we check on them!

Here She is!

Here are some of the pics from the ultrasound. She was very sleepy and really wasn't cooperating very much. I told the tech that if it had been 10:30 at night, she would have been all over the place...she is consistantly awake at that time. I also have an anterior placenta and she had her head buried in it (like a pillow), so that made it difficult to get some good face shots.

Her little chicken legs! Look at those feet!
Sleepy girl.

The blur to the left is part of the placenta. She was in the process of putting her hand to her face in this pic.

Nice profile shot (again, a little blurry on the left b/c of the placenta).

The tech tried really hard to wake her up and get her to move, but she wouldn't budge. I guess she is going to be just as stubborn as the boys!

Snow!

We have been having some pretty chilly weather lately, so the boys and I were in the mood for making snowflakes! I ended up doing most of the cutting, although they each helped a little. It was their idea to hang them down the hallway. I think it looks a little magical that way!

Last night, their bedtime story was Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow (very sweet book!). It must have stirred up King Winter b/c we awoke this morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground! It doesn't snow here often, so we are able to at least enjoy it when it does!

A home for Tandy

Last week in our homeschool co-op, the boys heard a story about a little elf named Tandy who did not have a home during the winter. In the story, his forest friends ended up building him a home when none of their homes suited him.

Yesterday, after Main Lesson, Blake decided he wanted to make a home for Tandy. All the boys participated together...everyone contributed something to the home. They spent about 45 minutes working on it and were so proud of the outcome!

Here is Tandy's home with a roof.

Tandy's home without a roof. There is a little garden off to the side with a flower and a tree (minus leaves of course!)

Top view of the home. To the left is Tandy and to the right is Tandy's friend. They are snuggled warm in their beds with soft, comfy pillows, warm blankets and a dolly friend to keep them company! The boys decided to add a stone path leading from the house to the garden.
They also added some boulders to the garden for Tandy and his friends to climb on.

I thought it turned out beautifully!

Playtime

One of the favorite toys in the house...the island cabinets in the kitchen! The boys love to clear out the pots and pans and climb inside. Sometimes they pretend it is a bus other times a ship and I think it was a house this time. They will play in there for at least an hour.

Pumpkin Muffins

The other morning, the boys and I decided to make pumpkin muffins. They always love helping and have become quite the little chefs! Peter and I try to encourage their participation in the kitchen and what kid doesn't love cracking eggs!

They each took turns with the mixer...except for Parker. It is still a little too loud for him!

*disclaimer: not every baking moment goes so smoothly. Jacob and Parker were arguing over who would dump the flour in the bowl and as I was pouring it into the measuring cup, Jacob grabbed it and flour ended up all over the counter. Also, Jacob was determined to put eggshells in the batter until I finally had to grab it from him. He can be such a booger sometimes!

Sleepy Boys

Just some of the crazy places we find Parker sleeping. For whatever reason, he loves going into Jacob's room. Last night he was in there reading books while Jacob was passed out cold!

Even at 3, he still sleeps like a baby!
This cracked me up! Peter and I were downstairs and we heard someone fall out of the bed (our guess was either Jacob or Parker). When we came up for the night, we got our answer. He must have been pretty tired!

Another pic of Parker in Jacob's room. This was the second time he fell asleep under his bed. We are not sure what he was doing under there!

Random Shots

Daddies boys (minus one, of course). Jacob is such a nut.

Both Jacob and Parker like to walk around with their blankies on their heads. Not really sure why, but it is pretty amusing.

Crazy (typical) Jakey

Parker is eating mini M&M's...look at how Dakota is making sure none drop!

The glowing eyes are a little freaky.

Happy Birthday, Parker!

On December 24th 2005, my third born son entered this world. I had no idea at the time how he would change me as a person and as a mother. And here we are three years later and I am still so amazed by this little person! He is such a sweet, caring, energetic, funny little boy and I couldn't imagine life without him. Happy Third Birthday, Parker! We love you so much!

Look at what a chubber he was!
When he sleeps, I still can see this face.

After he blew out his candles, I relit them so all the boys could blow them out. Parker is so sweet...he even said they could help!

He received some very nice presents...lots of rescue vehicles and this very fun ladybug game (which we have played a bazillion times since!). This time of year is always stressful...trying to squeeze in the holidays and birthday celebrations, but I think we managed to keep it pretty fun despite that. My parents were able to come up and celebrate with us and all of the boys enjoyed that time with grandma and poppa!

Arrrr

Blake put this together himself. I was very impressed!

This is Parker's version of a pirate.

Family Celebration in GA

Since my side of the family were unable to celebrate Christmas together this year, we had our family celebration the beginning of December at my parents house. It was a fun filled weekend packed with gift opening, cookie decorating, christmas light seeing, and hot chocolate drinking! And that is just in one day! We had a lot of fun and were pretty worn out the next day. I will spare all the present pictures, but here are a few to give you an idea!

Parker and Uncle Jim were pretty close this weekend. He spent lots of time reading to him!
One of three light sabers the boys received!

Icing the cookies. I think there was more tasting then decorating going on!

Picking out their cutters.