Sloane is incredibly interested in using the potty. She climbs up there all by herself and sits! She has tinkled a few times, and she tells us about every time BEFORE she poops, but she hasn't done that in the potty yet. I am excited that she is so aware though- maybe she will potty train early! We had a winter storm warning 2 days ago. People were all in a panic- this is what we ended up with.

Pretty funny that people here freak out about this tiny amount of snow, huh!

Christmas day

WE got so caught up in the moment that I forgot to take pictures of the kids opening presents. Oops! We did get it on video though!
Cameron is showing off his toe socks that he got from santa- boy he was excited about those!

Sloane loves her new sit & spin but she doesn't quite know how to use it yet.

She does know how to use her little people house though!

Hmmm, no pictures of Ethan- he must have been hiding in his room or playing the wii.
The kids got snuggies from santa this year. They are all loving them and try to wear them all day long.

Christmas day in the snow:

The night before Christmas

Surprise! We had a snow storm the night before christmas! The boys were thrilled, of course!

I made something new this year- marshmallows! They turned out pretty good too.

This year Ethan learned about Hannukah at school and wanted to do it here, so I found a menorah and we celebrated Hannukah (just the candles- I didn't do gifts for it) here is a picture on the last night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!

Yesterday was Jim's 39th birthday. Usually he doesn't get a cake becase that is right when we start our holiday baking and, well, the thought of another cake on top of all the other sugary treats is just too much. This year I gave in though and got him a huge chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (YUCK- but Jim likes it this way!) We didn't have much in the way of a party because we ended up babysitting for the neighbors, so Jim's 39th party consisted of 3 4yr olds(to their credit, they are an enthusiastic bunch of party goers), Ethan, Sloane, and me. I hope he enjoyed it! LOL! The boys got him one of those Perfect Brownie pans that are on the infomercials (Cam is the hugest infomercial sucker!) It will probably be used lots considering Jim's love of anything chocolate!
One more year till he is officially OLD!

sick baby

sigh....Sloane is sick AGAIN. I had a bit of a cold and I guess Sloane caught it and then some. Today she told us that her ears hurt (pretty cool that she actually could tell us!) so off to the dr for over 2 HOURS! UGH! The problem with her being sick is this- she refuses to take any sort of oral medication. We tried yummy stuff, fun tricks, being nice, and shoving it down her throat forcefully....nothing works- she always finds a way to spit every last drop of it out. You would think after 3 kids this would be easy for me, but I have never had this problem before- usually the medicine is so yummy the kids ask for more. Not Sloane. So I told the doctor that I refused to leave his office with an rx of oral antibiotics for her double ear infection-ouch! If that's what he was gonna give me, I would just throw it away- no point in even trying anymore, I know it won't work. I pleaded with him to give her a shot of antibiotics. He looked at me like I was a lunatic- especially since I would have to come in for 10 days to get a shot....I told him I would rather that than have her completely miserable and sick and refusing to take anything for it. He finally relented and found an rx that is only 3 days of antibiotics but it is 2 shots, one in each leg.
Today is day 3 and she is feeling SO much better now. shots were worth it- yeah!

Ethan's Christmas party

Ethan had his Christmas party at school today and it was tons of fun! His teacher this year is Mrs. Bodiford, she is great- in fact, I think she is my favorite teacher so far since we have been in Texas!

The teacher had a craft for the kids- it consisted of dry spaghetti and gumdrops. The kids got to create all sorts of things by sticking the spaghetti into the gumdrops- It kept them very occupied, and was not too hard to clean up- I may have to do this with my own kids! And the best part is- Yeah- school is over, Christmas break is here!!!! Well, it's nice until the boys start fighting anyway- but not having to wake up to an alarm is always great!

Santa

We took the kids to see Santa the other night. Surprisingly the line wasn't very long! Sloane cried at first when I sat her on Santa's lap but then she scooted over to Ethan and was just fine. She is now fascinated with all things 'Santa' and I think it is her favorite word. Cameron asked for a Jeep and a wooden airplane. Ethan asked for a ripstick (kind of like a skateboard) and an inground swimming pool with a slide. Funny kid.

Soccer party

The soccer team got together and had a party and received their trophies. We had a bbq in december. Coldest BBQ I have ever attended- it was 34 outside! Burrr!

Yeah Ethan!!!

Apparently Ethan got first place of his science project. WOOOOHOOOOO! Sadly, he was told this some time last week and just told us today. I guess we are chopped liver :( And I think he got first place for his category (earth science) not necesarrily for the whole grade- but who knows, Ethan sucks at telling us stuff so I will have to find out from his teacher. Regardless- how cool is that, that he got 1st place?!

Cameron's Christmas concert

Last night was Cameron's Christmas concert. He did so well up there and even sang the songs. He sure isn't nearly as shy as he used to be, that's for sure!

Attack of the popcorn ball

Ethan's science fair project

Yeah, it's finally over! I think Ethan is as relieved as I am. These things are alot of work. This year he had to perform an experiment, so he grew crystals. It was alot of fun but writing the paper wasn't. The dang thing was 7 pages long- and he is only in 4th grade!!!!