A Great Surprise

Thursday night while I was making dinner my mom called and asked me about our weather and how our roads were. We talked for a few minutes and then she said goodbye. I continued my dinner prep when a few minutes later my mom called back. She asked if we would mind having company for a few weeks. I was delighted and asked her when, and she said Sat. They decided that seems there was a clear patch of weather for a few days that they would drive out and see us. Sat. night they arrived here just in time for dinner. 1300 miles,a few hours of bad weather, a night in a hotel, and they were here.

We are all so excited that they surprised us. The kids were about jumping out of their skin waiting for them to get here. Right now my mom is making necklaces with the girls and Cord and my dad are wiring light in the basement. I am just enjoying every minute with my parents and love watching the kids play with their grandma and grandpa. I have the greatest parents in the world!!!!

Cole's new hangout

When ever the gate gets left open Cole heads straight for the stairs. His favorite spot is to go to the top of the stairs and look through the railing down below to the entry way. He thinks he is king of the world. He will just stand there and talk or yell as loud as he can. For some funny reason I do not like his new hang out and he doesn't get there often.

Cole in his favorite spot

The reason mom doesn't like him playing there. Kinley is keeping watch while I take the picture.

Cole's first hair cut

Saturday was a day of many first. First and foremost Cole had his first haircut. The other big first was that Cord gave his first haircut. Cole's hair had been getting shaggy over the past few months and I have been reminding Cord of the deal we made when Cole was born. I take care of the girls hair and he would cut Cole's hair. At the time it seemed like a great deal. (We'll see what Cord thinks when he has to cut Cole's hair every month for the next 18 years).

Cord came walking in the kitchen holding Cole and a regular pair of scissors. He asked me to hold Cole while he trimmed his hair. Luckily for all of us I had a different plan. I suggested he put Cole in his highchair give him a sucker and use the clipper to cut his hair. This worked really well and then in the end I held Cole so Cord could do the final touch ups. We were all rookies, but in the end Cole had a great little haircut.

I know at this point all of you who have cut your little ones hair are laugh at us amateurs. We are asking, no pleading for advice or pointers.

Here are the pictures.
Cord the barber


the hair that we cut off

One handsome little guy

Baby it's cold outside!!!!

I can not believe I live in the land of ice and snow. Currently it is -21 degrees. That is without windchill. Add in the wind chill and it is -37. The crazy thing is that everything here goes on like usual. I was positive that they would cancel school or something, but nope. We can see the bus coming from our house, so as soon as we see the bus the girls run out to the bus stop. So luckily they do not have to wait in the cold, just run in it:)

BRRRRRRRRRR. When is spring?

Cole's 1st Birthday

Well the week of never ending birthday cake goes on. On Wednesday Cole turned one. I can't believe how fast the past year has gone. He has been such a great addition to our family. I will never forget when he was born. The nurse was still in shock from having delivered a baby with the cord wrapped around his neck twice WITHOUT the Doctor. She didn't say what sex they baby was. We all assumed it was a girl. I remember looking up at the baby and with shock muttering "It's a BOY." Then all at once everyone was noticing the same thing and we were all in shock It was A BOY... A moment none of us will ever forget. Cord was so excited to finally have his little man. He walked around looking at Cole just amazed. Cole was born at 12:30 in the morning.

Cole is very loved by his sisters. They all love having him in our family. It has been fun to watch him grow up through their eyes. He is constantly entertained. He loves it when Kinley comes home from school. He gets so excited to see her, it is like she has been gone for ages. He is a mama's boy, but his favorite word is "DADA". He loves it whenever Cord walks in the room. Cord calls him his "Man cub".

Here are some pictures from his special day.


Cole's personal cake

Babies and fire not a good combination


Cole being a little unsure as to what to do

He figures it out


Who needs a fork



The final product


Cole wearing his sunglasses Kinley gave him

Cord and Cole



Happy Birthday Buddy!!! We Love you!!!

Ella's 3rd Birthday

Monday Ella turned THREE!!! She is now according to her a BIG girl. She had a great birthday. When we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday her reply was elephant stuff. She didn't care what it was as long as it had an elephant on it. The only catch is the elephant has to have a tail or else it is not a real elephant, unless of course Grandma can sew a tail on it.

So our charge was to find what ever we could that had an elephant on it. Considering she already has about 15 stuffed elephants we had quite the feat to find her a present. The upside was as long as it had an elephant on it she was happy. Luckily there were quite a few little elephant things at Target.

She also wanted a blue elephant cake and elephant ice cream. The latter of which doesn't exist and it took me quite awhile to explain that to her. She settled on rainbow sherbet. (Thanks Dad!!! Ever since my parents were her my kids have decided that they love sherbet just like Grandpa.)

Here are some pictures of the day!!!

Ella and her elephant cake



Ella eating her cake


Ella opening her Elephant socks.

Ella and her presents




Ella and all of her Elephants

It is a miracle!!!!

After 21 months of being on the market our house in Idaho sold. The buyers paperwork went through today and it is officially THEIRS. Luckily Cord's company has been helping out. The other people got a steal on it, but we are glad to be the owners of only one house.

It was a great house. We really enjoyed our time in it. It is just nice to be able to completely close that chapter and focus on being here in MN.

Boys and their Electronics

Cole is very mobile and active. It seems that lately I don't have any clue where I am going to find him. We have put up all of the baby gates and child locks that one could possibly need. The problem is the older 5 sister who forget to shut the gates, door, drawers. etc. He is quick to notice when something has been left open and he is gone. His favorite two places to go are under the TV where all of the electronics are i.e. DVD player, Wii, xbox, all of the DVDs, and other stuff. His other favorite place is the computer printer. He loves to press all of the buttons.

A few days ago I left the room and Cole was playing quite contently on the floor. When I came back I couldn't see him anywhere until I noticed a little pair of feet poking out of the cabinet.


Today While I was finishing up the breakfast dishes I sat Cole down on the family room floor to play with his toys. Literally, three minutes later when I was finished I went to get him for his nap. I searched the entire main floor and he was no where to be seen. I could hear giggling from upstairs. So I ran upstairs to find Cole and Ella playing in their bedroom. He saw the gate open and took off.

Tate's Birthday

Monday we celebrated Tate's 6th birthday. She had a great day. She thought that because she was queen for the day, that she was in charge of everything. She let the power go to her head a few times. She decided that for lunch she wanted to go to the local Chinese buffet. The kids thought it was great. All of the food they could eat. They had an enjoyable time, and they all left very full.

Tate enjoyed opening her presents. Latter that night we had her cake. This past summer when I was looking online to find an idea for how to make a monkey cake for Reese's birthday. We came accross a picture of a green snake cake with purple stripes. So for the past six months that is all Tate has talked about. How she was going to have a green with purple stripes snake cake for her birthday. So that is what we had.

Cole helping make Tate's cake.




Tate opening her presents.

Tate opening her necklace from Grandma and Grandpa

Tate

The Snake Cake

Tate and her snake cake

Tate blowing out the candle.