Adorable Lilly Kate

Lilly is just so darn cute! She is finally starting to grow some hair and it is just long enough to put up in a little ponytail sticking straight up on her head. The other day I tried putting it in two pigtails with bows and quite frankly I think she looked adorable! I love her cheesy smile as well.

She was purposely closing her eyes while I was trying to take her picture!

I thought this outfit was so cute, she would not smile for me though.

Guitar Hero FHE

We had our friends the Thatcher's over a couple of weeks ago for a little Guitar Hero party. Both Don and the kids are obsessed with guitar hero! Aliza came up to me one Sunday and asked if she could play guitar hero, I told her no we don't play that on Sunday and her response was "come on mom, I really want to rock the house down!" That is how much they love this game. For Christmas Don got the world tour edition which included drums and a microphone as well as another guitar.

The Thatcher's are guitar hero beginners but they did great and everyone had a great time. It was the same night that Texas was playing their bowl game which is why everyone in these pictures is in UT apparel!

Lilly was the dancer for the night!

Ben's tooth

Ben has finally lost his first tooth! It was so exciting. It had been loose for a couple of weeks, then one day he was playing with some friends and came running in because his tooth was so loose. I told him it was time for it to come out and asked him if he wanted to pull it out, of course he didn't so I told him I would. Of course he was soooo nervous, Aliza and his two buddies gathered around to watch and we popped it right out, he didn't even now it came out! (Yes I am that good!). Anyway I tried to get a picture of the little tooth but they all came out so blurry. He put his tooth under his pillow that night. We had no idea what the going rate from the tooth fairy was these days, but he was very excited the next morning to have $2.00 under his pillow. We told him he probably got a little bit more from this tooth since it was his first one.

It was a fun experience, I can't believe how quickly they grow up. His next tooth is already loose as well and he can't wait for it to come out. Ahh 1 down 19 more to go!

ICE COLD

The weather here in Texas is so weird. Just last Friday we hit a high of 80 degrees. It was sunny and warm people were in shorts and the kids were having fun running around outside. The next day the temperature plummets to a high of 40. Tuesday rolls around and bam the high that day is like 30 with freezing rain and sleet. Ben's school was canceled Tuesday and Wednesday. (Really I think they could have gone to school Tues, most of the other school districts in the area held classes and were fine.) So Wednesday morning this is what we woke up to ice everywhere, coating the trees, driveway, and roads. Don went into work late and the rest of us hung out at home. I know this is nothing to those of you who live in colder parts of the country, but for us here it is DANG cold outside! Don't worry by Saturday we will be back into the high 60's :)

This is one of our little willow trees with a nice layer of ice on top of it

It is hard to see the ice on this tree but it's there

Walkway to the house

Ben's List

So sometimes Ben gets in these moods where he wants to make a list of things he wants or needs to get done in the day. I think it is cute. So I thought for posterity's sake I would put his list here, this is with his grammar & spelling.

Sunday

7:00 git drest
7:00 git brefist
8:00 go to chrch
10:00 snak
12:oo lunch
2:oo aftrnoon snak
5:00 diner

Clearly today's activites revolved around him eating! Funny funny boy.

Funny videos of Lilly

This is hilarious! (Ignore my loud voice in the background, I was right by the speaker!)

This one is cute, she doesn't say much so we will take what we can get!

Christmas Pictures

We had a great Christmas this year. Santa brought us some great gifts. We missed being with our family, but we still had fun! Here are some random pictures of both Christmas eve and Christmas morning. The kids were so excited about Christmas this year. They started tracking Santa as soon as they woke up so they would know when he got closer to Texas!

Santa Party

A few weeks ago we had a Christmas party at our house, and guess who showed up. That's right Santa and Mrs. Claus! Aliza was the one who opened the door when Santa arrived and the look on her face was priceless, I only wish I had been ready with the camera! The kids were all so excited. Santa read them a story and then had a small gift for each one of them. Lilly did not want anything to do with santa, and cried when we put her on his lap - it was pretty funny. It was a fun night with good food, good friends, and good times.

Get me out of here!

\

Never have I seen 12 kids sit so still!

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

Ben turned 7 on December 27. We had a party a few weeks before so that he could invite some friends over before Christmas break. He wanted a Mario party of course, and let me tell you there is nothing available in the stores for a Mario party! So we made our own stuff, it turned out just fine. We played freeze tag with silly string and pin the mustache on Mario before having cake and presents. It was fun time for all!

how cute is the cake!

pin the mustache on mario

On Ben's actual birthday he went with his dad and Aliza to The Great Wolf Lodge for the day to play their magic quest game. Ben had alot of fun, but Aliza ended up slowing them down and I had to come pick her up early. Once they were done we all met up for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (Ben's choice). After dinner they brought out a "volcano" cake and sang happy birthday to him while he was standing on the chair for everyone to see. He loved it!

volcano!!

Happy Birthday Ben!! We love you so much and are so proud of all that you do! You are a good boy. Aliza and Lilly love you so much and look up to you. Remember to always be nice to them. We are so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to be a part of our family.

Love,

Mom & Dad