The tiny stripper

At lunch the other day, Hannah discovered how to take her shirt off.

And each time she pulled her shirt over her head, her brothers laughed and laughed,

which only encouraged the behavior.

She got a little stuck, and then

victory! Shirt behind her head. I was hoping she would forget her new found skill, but when I went to get her after her nap, she was shirtless. Fortunately, this is really the only shirt that she has been able to take off. But she has started to take off her jammie bottoms and then the diaper. This girl is trouble!

Hannah and her babies

It's hard to keep your purse up on your shoulder, especially when it has a baby in it!

Hannah is such a girlie-girl who loves to play with her baby dolls and purses. She comes by the purse part honestly. It's a genetic thing that started with her great-grandma Elizabeth!

She was trying to get her baby in her bag and needed a little help. I think she was inspired by her Auntie Jill the week before when she was put in my new purse!

Petersons Visit!

Brenna (5), Andrew (6-1/2) and Jonathan (4)
I think only Andrew was excited about this photo!

Andrew, Sydney (6 1/2), and Brenna

silly faces!

There was some hide-and-go-seek playing - Brenna and Andrew are it while Sydney and Jonathan hid.

Jill and I managed to squeeze in a few hours of kid-free shopping and I found this new purse, red of course. And Hannah (16 months) immediately claimed it for herself. She's such a girlie-girl.

Auntie Jill joked that the purse was as big as Hannah and she could fit in it, so we gave it a try. Thus the evil glint in Jill's eye.

The girls got some new accessories from their Aunt Tara and Sydney put them on display using the old-school telephone cord.

I love this diva pose!

Working on crafts early in the morning. Andrew had already left for school so he wasn't in this photo.

Jonathan and Brenna

Last weekend, Jill, Sydney and Brenna, made the long flight to visit us! We were so happy to see them! It had been much too long since we had seen each other. The kids picked up, mostly where they left off - screaming, chasing, figuring out which buttons to push, just like siblings. Sadly the visit was much too short and Andrew declared as soon as he got home from school how much he missed them. The sentiment was shared by us all. Thanks so much for making the quick trip, and we can't wait to see you all again!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, love, love this picture of my little Valentine's!

The love between this big brother and little sister is so sweet...

until the hugging just won't stop and Hannah has to make that face or scream for freedom.

a hugging train

Valentine's evening, I came home from getting my haircut, and the kids acted like I'd been gone for days instead of a couple of hours. Everyone need mommy and then the hugging began and we grabbed the camera while everyone was so cute and happy and in love. If only every night ended like this!

First Snow

Throwing snowballs

Trying to catch some snowflakes

On February 13, we finally got about a 1/2 inch of snow. Just enough for the boys to play in. They were thrilled! I stayed on the porch and tried to use the zoom, which is why the pictures aren't the best. And by the next morning, the snow was all gone, much to the boys' dismay.

More Happy Birthday for Jonathan

I love this expression as he opens the box of 120 crayons!

Jonathan got some great gifts from Auntie, Uncle Dave, Ben and Cate. They know just what this boy loves - crayons, Thomas coloring book and a Thomas Look-and-Find activity book. And best of all, there are two gray crayons in his new box of colors! Thank you so much for everything!

Valentine School Party

Once again I'm behind in posting...A couple weeks ago, I helped with Andrew's Valentine School party. Some of the moms were super creative and came up with all these fun crafts and food ideas. I donated supplies.

Andrew coloring his bookmark and his friend Jared modeling his tattoo.

Working hard to decorate their cookies

The finished masterpiece

At my station, the kids built apple, peanut butter, marshmallow mouths to eat.

Sydney, Andrew and Jared eating their mouth creations. Andrew vetoed the peanut butter idea, so he used frosting, which didn't work as well, but was super tasty.

This was Andrew' Valentine box that he made in class. I wish I had thought to take a picture of all of the Valentine mice lined up in the back of the classroom. Soooo cute! And made from a pizza box. His teacher, Mrs. H., has so many cute ideas!

Lordy, Lordy, Look who's 40!

That's right, folks. As of Feb. 8, I'm officially married to an old man, but I still love him!

And in honor of his birthday, we had Two Brothers BBQ for dinner with a Freddy's Frozen Custard Turtle cake for dessert. Yummm!

Peeps!

Star Wars Legos. Who is more excited, Andrew or Keith? It's hard to guess!

Keith got his big gift the night of Jonathan's birthday and I failed to take a picture of it - a tool box for the back of his truck. Mom and Dad pitched in and Dad picked out the perfect one and then delivered it to our door. Keith calls it his mid-life crisis truck with accessories. At least the whole family fits in the truck. Now if the truck would just fit better in the garage...

The Imperial V-Wing Starfighter was assembled the next night with lots of help and then put in a safe location to keep little hands from breaking it into many little pieces.

Then on Saturday night, we attempted to go out on a dinner date. We failed to realize that it was the weekend before Valentine's and that reservations would've been the smart plan. After trying 3 different steak houses, each with over an hour wait, we opted for a gourmet brick-oven pizza place with no wait and delicious salad and pizza. I promised him that we would go out again soon and get him a steak for a very belated birthday treat.

Happy Birthday Keith! We love you very much!