My Christmas Senses Book

Today Lucas sat down and made a book on the 5 senses of Christmas.  I thought it was too cute not to post.  We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas

 My Christmas Senses Book, By Lucas Illustrated

 Christmas tastes like gum drop and oranges.

 Christmas feels like snow and presents.

Christmas smells like cookies and hot chocolate.

Christmas sounds like love and joy.

Christmas looks like presents and lights.

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween, the kids got to dress up a few times.  After spending time on costumes, I'm grateful when they get to use them more than once!  Some of the pictures below are from the trunk or treat also.

Lucas was our Glow in the Dark Ghost.  He had a bunch of light sticks pinned to his clothes underneath.  It looked pretty cool.  By the end of trick or treating Halloween night, the sheet had seen better days!

 Glow in the Dark Ghost

Kody wanted to be a Rodeo Clown.  He absolutely loved his costume and we did paint his face for Halloween.

Rodeo Clown 

Ryker has wanted to be a Bull Rider for about 6 months.  He looked so darn cute, and the flack jacket looked awesome.  He wasn't to excited about it, but I told him the only way he's get candy is if he wore it.  (I spent too much time for him not too!)  We had his sponsor on the back be B&M Boot Repair.  The reason we have all this stuff! :)

Bull Rider

My little Halloween Girl.  I made her skirt and onesie and my mom made her hat and bow with the spider.  She was adorable!

Class Clown

This picture totally cracks me up.  Anyone who knows Ryker, knows how he loves to look out the corner of his eyes at you.  He's such a goof!

If I or Jed gets mad and says "Ryker, I'm going to spank your bum."  He responds with "very hard???"  Every  time I have a hard time keeping a straight face or staying mad!  Love this boy!

Princess Hadley

I took her to church today in her dress and snapped a few pictures afterwards.  She's so much fun and even started laughing a little.  So darn cute!

Hadley's Special Day

We blessed our Hadley Kate today.  It started off a bit rocky when Jed woke up in the middle of the night throwing up.  Not what we had planned!  We arranged with the bishopric to do it at our home after Sacrament Meeting rather than risk something happening at church.  Jed did a great job, even though he was not feeling so hot during it.  I feel so blessed to her mom.  She's an angel baby... literally the best baby ever!!  She melts our hearts and gives us the best smiles ever.  We were so grateful to have most of our family here (we missed the Call's!).  We celebrated afterwards with a yummy ham, baked potatoes and salads with some sugar cookies for dessert.

I didn't get any individuals of Hadley in her pretty dress, but I will soon.  I think I'll even take her to church in it next week.  She looks like a princess and we need to show her off! (I can say that... I'm her mom AND the writer of this blog!)

He thinks he's waited FOREVER...

but today finally came and off to preschool he went!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know who's more excited, me or Kody!  We decided to do a neighborhood preschool this year.  All the moms will take turns teaching (I think it's 4 weeks) and it's free!  Another YAY!!!!!!!!!!!  I think he'll have a great time, and that's all that matters!

He had to take an All About Me paper with a few items that represent him.  Below are his answers (done all by himself).

My name is: Kody Jedediah Valentine
I like to be called: Kody
My favorite food is: Pizza
My favorite color is: Blue
My favorite sport is: Basketball
My favorite game is: Playing Horses
My favorite book is: Cowboy Camp
My favorite movie is: Flicka and Spirit
My favorite TV show is: Mickey Mouse
My favorite animal is: Horse
My favorite subject in school is: Playing with toys
What I do best: Ride Horses

Do you sense a reoccurring theme???!!  Guess what he took as his objects... a cowboy and a horse (and a fruit snack)!

1st Grader

This boy has been so ready for school to start.  We met his teacher, Mrs. Olson last Friday and that made him even more excited.  She's so cute and nice and she even has a pet frog.

Today finally arrived!  He woke up, got dressed and immediately put his back pack on.  We drove him over to the school, and he told me I didn't need to walk him in.  We did anyways... but maybe he had a point since I had to have 3 other kids in tow!  

When he got home this afternoon I asked him how his day was and he said "my teacher is so NICE, she let us have 3 recesses!"  I think he has a fantastic day!

Here's a few of Lucas' favorite things right now...

My favorite food is... Pizza
My favorite sport to play is... Baseball
The best show on television is... Garfield
The coolest person on Earth is... My friends
My favorite thing to learn about in school is... Math
The thing I do most awesomely is... Play with my friends
If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go to... Grandma's
My favorite color is... All of them
When I grow up, I'm going to be a... Doctor
My current favorite song is... Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam
The book I am loving right now is... My Dinosaur Book
Three words that describe me are... Smart, Fast, Cool
When I was little, I use to... Go for walks
My favorite season of the year is... Summer
The snack I like the best is... Fruit Roll-ups
One food that I really dislike is... Gravy
My best friend is... Mason and Kyle
If I had one wish it would be... The Nicest Mom (hmmmm... am I suppose to be offended here??!!)
My best memory is... When I got to hold Hadley

Birth Announcement

Here's the birth announcement we sent out.  I can't believe I caught the picture of her smiling.  She was only a week or so old.

3 Boys and a Little Lady

I'm afraid this little girl doesn't just have her daddy wrapped around her finger, but her 3 old brothers also.  They are very concerned about Hadley and practically maul her if she makes any sort of noise.  They always want to hold and kiss her.  She's lucky to have these 3 who love her so much!  They are constantly telling me how much they do love her.  Lucas loves to show her off to his friends.  Kody loves to burp her and try to get her to sleep.  Ryker just loves to hold her... so much so that he things he's big enough to pick her up.  Yesterday he dropped her before I could get there quick enough.  Thankfully he was already low to the ground.

I am so blessed to have these 4 kids in my life.  Each second is an adventure, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!