day 334

marlee is very intrigued with the paint brush lately. she first started "painting" the walls and doors and tables and ended happy with everyones fingers. everyone plays along very well and says how nice of a job marlee is doing. she will blow on them when she is done. if anyone else blows on their nails or says "oops" she will say "now stop it" and repaint those fingernails. funny little girl.

day 333

pebble jars. we use pebbles to "pay" the kids for jobs done around the house and when their resposibilities are fulfilled. the kids can earn money or an experience as a reward when they get a certain number of pebbles. it took us a while to come up with a concept that would work with our family and so far this has paid off for several months so i think it will stick. it is fun to watch the kids count their pebbles and ask to do extra things when they get close to their reward.

day 332

thanksgiving dinner at grandma and grandpa collin's house. it was a beautiful sunny cold day. the kids love helping grandpa outside and he enjoys driving them around in the trailer.

day 331

we started taking out the snowmen today and found a box from grandma zeb with a snowman for each of the kids. four out of the five made noise. levi wasn't sure what to think of them. he would just stare at them which gave us more laughs at levi than the snowmen:)

day 330

it was finally cold enough that there was ice in the wheelbarrow. the boys found their "nerd" glasses and had a ball outside chipping away at the ice. somedays they really are awesome together.

day 329

happy thanksgiving. we celebrated at g&g callie's house along with great g&g, j&marty&cora.

day 328

max and naomi's class put on a little show for thanksgiving. the class built a mayflower and everyone had a part or two to recite. this is naomi's typical posture while performing. hands on her face pinching her lips.

day 327

we have crazy amounts of paper coming in from school. we love to see their work and go over it with them but the recycle bag gets full very often.

day 326

i went to g&g d's today to do their hair. marlee and levi were with me. marlee played really well with grandpa. levi screamed his head off in the playpen while i did grandpa's hair. i had to bring the stroller in and have him sit in their while i did grandma's hair. he was really happy when he got down and found grandma's cane. crazy day.

day 325

levi's "i give up" position lately. he will just plop himself on the floor and lay there. another little quirk that makes us all laugh.

day 324

noah playing daddy's old handheld soccer game. gotta love the simplicity of old games.

day 323

i woke up to max reading to marlee on the couch. they are my early risers and two of a kind.

day 322

it hailed today. i think it is a beautiful, powerful expression of God's creativity with nature.

day 321

marlee's first nite in her big girl bed. the crib is still up so we had to squish her next to the dresser for a couple days. she is so proud of herself.

day 320

last nite of marlee sleeping in her crib. lots of transitions this week.

day 319

levi decided he was going to start walking (more like running) today. he does best when he is hanging onto something big. what a joy to watch the little rascal!

day 318

daddy is awesome teaching noah all about yard work and how to take care of things outside. is is great watching noah soak up the time with his dad.

day 317

the baracades are getting harder to restrain you from things. you are one determined little boy my dear levi. and you love the dvd player and the way you can push the buttons to make it go in and out.

day 316

sleepy eater. very ready for a long nappy.

day 315

oh, so this is where your pretty little fingers go:)

day 314

i cleaned out my garden this afternoon. marlee found some of the dead flowers and planted her own little garden. she was full of smiles about it and determined they were going to turn into beautiful flowers right away. so glad she loves the dirt and the beauty in a dead flower.

day 313

levi started standing sunday nite. he took 2 steps yesterday. today i was finally able to capture him standing. awesome to watch!

day 312

naomi keeping levi occupied by playing drums on the shoe box. i love watching their relationships as siblings grow.

day 311

daddy lead the organization of 3 boxes of winter items for our family. noah had a lot of fun decking out himself in all the goods.

day 310 sat

our church sponsored a fun bowling day today for the kids. it was fun taking noah, naomi, and max. the thing that suprised me the most was seeing max bowl left handed.

day 309 fri

naomi and max had camping day at school today. they were so excited about the bear hunt, wearing pj's all day, having smores, and setting up their room like a big tent with sleeping bags all over. this is the best face naomi gave me. gotta love her.

day 308

levi crawls around with his head on the floor like a bulldozer until he hits something. it is a riot.

day 307

sick day for max! he read me the missing piece and some poems out of where the sidewalk ends. i really enjoy sick days.

day 306

oh my dear levi. the high chair worked for a while until you decided today that you would stand in it. so now i have place you in marlee's booster seat (which she is not happy about) but that is the only place i can keep you strapped in. so welcome to our very squished table for 7.

day 305

the kids pulled out candy land. max is usually upset by someone doing something wrong, naomi tries to ignore all the drama, marlee tries to get her hands in the game which makes noah upset that it isn't being played right and getting messed up. always glad to see them having fun together.