Oakley eating Silas' food

I was feeding Silas some crackers and Oakley decided that he needed to climb up and help himself to some as well.  Silas didn't seem to mind as long as there were some for him when he wanted them!  Oakley is so good at sharing, as long as it's not his!

Oakley dressing up

This kid cracks me up so much.  He loves hats and he loves shoes, and he loves them even more if they aren't his!  I caught him trying to go in the backyard still in his jammies, wearing Owen's snow boots and fishing hat.  

Alek's 7th birthday party

Every year, on Alek's birthday, we go to Chuck-E-Cheeses.  The kids always have a lot of fun but it is always so hot there!  As soon as we got there the kids ran off to do games while I ordered food.  Dad wasn't able to go because his back was hurting too bad (he was having surgery in just a few days).  I was thankful that Bailey took Oakley and played the games with him.  And Morgan helped out a lot with Reagan.

 After we ate our pizza, we had cupcakes.  They were so good but the frosting colored everyone's mouth!  It was pretty funny.

Happy Birthday Alek!

Oakley's socks

Oakley is one of the silliest kids I have had, he has so many quirks and such, he always brings a smile to my face.  One day he was sleeping and I went to go and check on him and I found that he had put his socks onto his hands and then fallen asleep.  I just had to take a picture!

Boys cooking dinner

I had a great idea of having the kids be in charge of one dinner a week.  They were so excited and jumped right on board.  The first one to cook was Owen, he choose pancakes, one of his favorites.  He did a really great job, even making Mickey Mouse ones. 

After dinner, but before Owen cleaned up the griddle, Oakley tried his hand at cooking.  He wants to do everything that his big brother does, and I love that. 

Owen sleeping

Owen is always so sure that he will never be able to fall asleep.  I just tell him to read until he feels tired.  Lately, when I go and check on him, I have found him like this, asleep with his glasses still on.  I love this boy!

First snow of 2012

Mid-January we finally got a mild snow fall.  It was plenty to make you kids happy!  Everyone was excited to pull out our winter clothes and play in the snow.  The first thing Morgan, Owen and Reagan did was make snow angels.  Oakley was happy to just observe.  He wasn't sure what to think about all this white stuff!

Morgan had a goal of making a snowman.  I wasn't sure if there was enough snow but she was insistent.  Owen and Reagan were happy to help...Morgan wasn't always happy with the help. 

Oakley finally ventured out into the snow to help on the snowman, but he quickly returned to the safety of the porch.

 Many of the boys in the neighborhood came and got Owen to throw snowballs.  There was Gordan, Callen, Grayson, Tim and Erik.  They had fun doing the things that boys do.

Morgan and Reagan finally finished.  They used Bailey's scarf and Oakley's mittens.  Morgan was very proud of herself.  And our lawn was pretty much void of snow!

Oakley's feminine side

Reagan got these dress up high heels from Grandma Holdaway for Christmas.  Well Oakley has been loving to try on other peoples shoes so it was inevitable that he would try on these.  He liked them for a while but it was hard to walk in them.

New Years Eve

Grandma Holdaway had given us a fire pit this year for Christmas, so we decided to put it to use on New Years.  While Dad built the fire all the kids were playing with left over sparklers from the 4th of July.  It was fun taking pictures of them making designs with them.  The moon was so big and bright and the air was nice and not too cool.

Oakley invented his own sparkler since we didn't let him hold one.  Maybe next year, buddy!

After all the sparklers were gone we sat around the fire.  Oakley kept holding his hand out saying "Ha" (hot)

When we got too chilly we headed inside to warm up and to watch the ball drop

Reagan found Owen's math book from Kindergarten and sat for about an hour working on it.  She is so smart!

Owen crashed early, about 11:00.  He was a tired boy!

Happy 2012!!  Here's to a great year!