December Wrap Up

Sometimes when Austin and Klayton get together and you take their electronics away they can get pretty creative. Using computer paper they made owls with a little house that they could go into on the left. There is a moon with yellow stars and next to the moon is the owls food (pencil shavings) in a paper bowl. 

This little cutie turned 4 months and rolled over for the first time on Austin's birthday. Of course I didn't see it because I had walked out of the room to help Mikayla and when I came back she was like this. 

Look! No hands!

During winter break, we took the opportunity to go to the Phillips pool.



And while the girls were swimming the boys played some basketball.

Then we all went bowling. 

Brooklyn did some bowling too but decided to take a nap instead.

This one too!

Mikayla enjoyed using her Chocolate Bar Maker she got for Christmas to make candy bars and take them to friends and family.

Austin enjoyed his dig and find Christmas gift. He carefully chiseled away the sand to find the gems.

On December 28th we got our first snow of the season. The kids were so excited.

Even Brooklyn ventured out into the snow.

Austin and Mikayla built a snowman together using soda bottle caps Austin had saved for the face and buttons. Then they had a snowball fight with some neighborhood kids. 

 Kristi invited the girls to make watermelon sugar cookies with her.

 Even Brooklyn got to help put in some ingredients....I think she was pretty happy about that.

 Between making the cookie dough, getting it cold in the fridge, slicing the dough, baking the cookies, and frosting them, it turned out to be a 4 hour long process. Whew!!

The girls had fun frosting on the watermelon seeds.

Maybe not the most professional looking cookies but they were still delicious and the memories made priceless!

 For New Years we got together with a couple friends and had a great time.

We started the night off with steak fondue which was delicious. Then later in the evening we did chocolate fondue. It was heaven!

 My friend went above and beyond and threw one awesome party! Not only did we have delicious food but then the kids got to pop these balloons at different times of the night and inside was written a fun activity to do such as scavenger hunt, games, new years resolutions, disco dance party, etc...I didn't take any pictures but luckily was able to snag some from her.

 One of the games was getting an oreo from your forehead to your mouth without touching it.

 That's right...I did it! Talk about some skills!

 Wasn't sure how Brooklyn would do but she held out till midnight without too much drama!

And Katelyn was great although she did not make it till midnight and found a place to sleep.

 

Austin's Year In Review answers made me laugh.

Things that I worked hard on this year are: trying to not let Mikayla bother me

My goals next year are: to try to get off the computer for 3 days in a row

Haha!

Happy New Year!!

9 years old

Of course no child is perfect, but Austin is a pretty good kid. He is overall mellow and easy going. He gets along well with others and is a good friend. He is a good helper around the house and likes to play with his little sisters (most days). His favorite things are playing computer and kindle, playing soccer, playing basketball in his room, and throwing a football with his dad. He likes to watch sports with his dad and his favorite teams are OSU, OU, and OKC thunder. His favorite is OSU and he will wear an OSU t-shirt to school anytime he has a clean one in his closet. One funny thing about Austin is we have caught him sleep talking and even sleep walking. He has done this for years. Usually, we will be watching TV and he will just walk out into the living room in a daze, maybe mumble something and then we will tell him to go back to bed which he does. Other times we will hear him talking from his room and go in there and carry on the conversation with him which most of the time doesn't make any sense. But it always gives us a good laugh. 

 We gave Austin a couple options for his birthday and he liked the idea of roller-skating/roller-blading. Austin and Mikayla had been doing roller-skating in school at gym for the last couple months so they were both excited about it.

Let the skating begin!!

 

 

Mikayla even surprised me. She just got out there on the floor without any help and did her best. She definitely wasn't the fasted skater but she did a great job!

Kambria did great for her first time skating too.....but this little skating device made it even easier!

 Austin doing the roller-skating "Limbo"

  

This place even had a few arcade games. Mikayla was thrilled when she hit the jackpot on this game and got over 100 tickets.

 

 

 Back to skating!

Austin really had a great time! He was skating almost non-stop from beginning to end.  

 

 

 I also enjoyed doing some skating with the kids myself. Don't think I have done any skating since I was in high-school. It was fun!

 And I think Craig had just as much fun as the kids did. I didn't get any good pictures of him skating but he was out there just as much as the kids were. 

 It really was the perfect activity for these kids. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

 Oreo ice-cream dessert OSU style

Happy Birthday Austin!!!

Merry Christmas

 Looks like Santa found our house

 Brooklyn got a little car of her very own. It might take her a little practice but she is going to love it!

 Katelyn enjoying her new toy.

 Mikayla and Austin spent most of the morning enjoying their new toys.

 After enjoying our Christmas morning at home we went to Dave and Debbie's house for Christmas dinner and presents. The dinner was so so good. Never took any pictures. But Mikayla got a Pie in the Face game from Papa Dave that she played with Katie and Kambria when they spent the night.

 The game is played exactly as it sounds....pie in the face.

 And it is messy.

(thank-you Papa Dave)

But oh so much fun.

 

 

We finished up our Christmas Day with Vicki and Dennis.

That's a lot of family in one room! The more the merrier!!

Merry Christmas!