thirty-one

The first month of the year is already gone...

Time wisps by so fast!

photo cred: Abby

(She loves taking pictures of the sky & is great at it too!)

thirty

We have another piano student in the house!

 She is still excited after three whole days!

twenty-nine

For weeks Cally has been beyond excited to go to his combo 2, 3, & 4-year-old well check Dr. appointment.  

(His last one was when he was 18 months old...) 

He was an ideal, charming, & cooperative patient.

 Although he knew several shots were coming, 

he declared he was going to be the bravest kid ever.

 And he was...but they still hurt!

Cute guy.  His body really didn't like them as he had a fever & was in lots of pain by 7 pm.  He kept saying his bones hurt so bad and he literally couldn't walk.  Advil to the rescue!  After a good night's sleep he is back to himself this morning-as long as you don't touch his shots legs!

twenty-eight

Cheer Pictures Today!

I had to snap a few at home before she headed to school.

This girl is looking so grown up these days!

(Don't you love the POOF?  It's the hairstyle requirement for cheer.  

Abby loathes it, but I think she does POOF well!)

And no, this is not a special hair do for pictures.  "We" get up at 5:30 on every cheer & game day to style, backcomb, curl, & bobby pin her hair to death!)  It is great, actually, just her and I in a quiet, still house...

twenty-seven

After a busy, long, eat-dinner-at-8:30-pm-kind-of-day, here are my sweet little sleepers.

 Abs didn't head to bed until after 11 pm thanks to her best friend-HOMEWORK :)

twenty-six

Patches are finally on for these two best pals.

twenty-five

These sweet kids spent a big chunk of their Saturday singing 
at the baptism of a new convert, Sister Money.  
 It was awesome! (unlike this picture ;)

twenty-four

Cal, the builder of tall, tall towers.

Check out those jengas stacked vertically on the bottom.  Bold move, and it worked!

I love the proud expression on his face.

twenty-three

January Jam

We ran out of jam after only 6 months, and

that was not going to fly.  So...we paid the big bucks

for some berries & made a couple batches of yummy 

strawberry freezer jam today.

I'm really grateful for these little helpers. 
 (Cade wanted nothing to do with making jam, but washed all the windows in the van (for free) instead...haha)

twenty-two

These two entertained themselves the old fashioned way today during Abby's games.  

Love these two BFFs. 

twenty-one

This girl does more homework than I ever did in high school and college combined!  
(and she's only in 7th grade!)  

twenty

Dinner

Mick sure knows how to make a mean smoothie. 

nineteen

Dinner, The Dice Game, & Dishes Galore

We had a blast eating and playing with the awesome E fam tonight.  

Nope, we didn't get those dishes done before we went to bed.

  Sometimes when you're having fun, the dishes can wait.

They will definitely still be there in the morning!

eighteen

A super fun day playing at the park in the beautiful Vegas winter sun. 

seventeen

Our much too frequent Costco trips are not usually complete without a stop at the awesome Food Court.  Today, Cal got his very own churro & he downed the whole thing.

sixteen

Had my first mammogram today.  Am I really old enough for this?  Ha Ha

fifteen

It's time for the weekly games of lightning after scouts.  This group of boys is top notch!

The scouts' siblings had fun weaving bands on their finger looms tonight. 

fourteen

Poor buddy.  High fever, no energy, sore throat, nausea comes and goes.  Boy do I struggle seeing my kids when they're sick.  Get well soon, little Caders.

thirteen

I checked the cutest first-grader out of school for lunch today because she filled up her punch card at home for listening the first time 20 times! (that was a mouthful!)

Cal worked hard listening & filled up his punch card too.  He was pretty pumped about our McDonald's date.  

twelve

Abby played her song, a beautiful arrangement of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, in Sacrament meeting today.  I could not hold back the tears.  It was flawless.  You could feel her incredible spirit & testimony as she confidently played in front of hundreds of people.  She has been  preparing & practicing for months.  I'm so blessed she is my daughter.   

eleven

Cade had 2 basketball games today for his team, The Huskers.  He was such a hustler!  I love watching him do things he loves & sports is definitely right there at the top of his list of loves. 

Saturday night we had Cade's football banquet.  He played for the Island Warriors this fall and had an awesome experience.  The banquet was full of delicious polynesian food, fun games/relays for the boys, and Cade earning another trophy for his collection.  I brought Texas Sheet Cake & most of the people had never had it before.  They LOVED it & some even wanted the recipe.  I love our Sports Saturdays!

ten

I'm pretty lucky to have such an eager assistant helping me do laundry twice a week.  His favorite thing is when I bury him in the warm, clean load straight out of the dryer & then we get to work folding it. 

nine

You know you live in Vegas when your 7-year-old, her cute first grade friend, and little brother set up a long buffet table today during their play date. 

eight

After months of early morning cheer practice, today was the real thing!  Abby was beaming & I might have been too!

seven

The Divergent series of books has him captivated...and up wayyyyyy past bed time. 

six

It only took us two years to read the Book of Mormon as a family the last time.  We're shooting for one year in 2014.  A page and a half a day.  Thank you to Instagram's @bofm365.

five

I finally caved & bought these two the mini gumball machines they've been wanting from the Dollar Store.  To say they are excited is the understatement of the year and the plan of eating only 5 gumballs a day lasted for about 5 minutes.

four

Boy am I glad he came to our family.  I love my little sidekick Cally Cal...and all his awesome faces. 

three

The Franckowiaks came our way for a night, before Anny & the boys headed to a lacrosse tournament in San Diego.  I think the kids watched Despicable Me 2 over 100 times! 

two

This crew could not get enough of the pool and hot tub at Ruby's Inn.  They worked long and hard to stack two and three kids high.  Anny and I loved watching from the sidelines.  The Pollock family had already left for their long drive back to Montana.  
(New Year's Day, Ruby's Inn, Bryce Canyon, UT) 

one

Starting 2014 with my best friend.  I wonder what adventures will be in store for us this year?  There's definitely never a dull moment in this crazy, busy, wonderful life of ours.