Do you have any of their products? I love them! The books and the manipulatives.

We were given this set of My First Animal cards. Leah loves them. Here are some pictures of her loving the box. She’ll play with it for a long time. LOL

Here is the rabbit card. The cards are very strong cardboard. And on each animal there is a “feel” spot. I’ve been working on one animal at a time while she sits on my lap. This morning was cow and then I’d say moooo. She started saying moo too. She loves feeling the cards also. I love having easy items like this that encourage me to encourage learning in my little ones.

When I was sitting outside the Sea Lion and Otter show, one of the sea lions was getting ready to make his appearance. First his trainer was telling him to stay put, and the trainer went back in the building, and the sea lion was looking for him. Then the sea lion noticed me and kept peering at me inquisitively. LOL And then they were off to go make their appearance at the front of the audience.

Samantha and Roy on the Atlantis ride.

A poisonous frog. If you see colorful frogs….I bet they’re poisonous!

If you’re in the military, you can get into Sea World for free! Sea World has been doing this promotion for a long time. Every year I think it will be the last, and every year they just keep on going.

http://www.herosalute.com/

We all had a great time. The shows the animals put on are amazing and fun. The kids loved going through the aquariums and seeing all the different sea life. The little ones were really good, even taking naps in the stroller.

It was hot/cold, hot/cold, all day long.

At the Tidepools

I was outside the stadium of this one – it was the Sea Lion and Otter show. Hilarious show. The baby’s were sleeping so I stayed out with the stroller and them. But I was able to find the rest in the stadium and kept laughing when they were laughing.

It’s so hard to believe that our baby has turned one! She was born March 5, 2008. Since then she has moved across the country and even flown several times. She is walking everywhere and talking non-stop. We all adore her and I’m so glad she is in our family.

Eating her cake:

A couple pictures taken at Sears 2 weeks before her birthday:

For Matthew’s 8th Birthday party he chose a Pirate theme. We ordered our things from BirthdayExpress.com. They have lots of wonderful things there! We decided to do sort of a scavenger hunt thing where they find the treasure at the end….the treasure being the pinata in the shape of a treasure trunk.

Upon arriving they got their goodie boxes which contained their bandana, eye patch, tattoo, and telescope. Then we used eyeliner to add beards to their faces. We also chose names and tried to use that name for the whole party. Matthew was Captain Blackbeard, Alex was Shark’s Rage, Sam was Anne Bonney. The other children chose their names from a selection on the table.

*I probably have these clues out of order but this is pretty much what they did. LOL

Their first clue led them outside to the “Big Rock.” From there they had to escape the bomb. This little plastic bomb makes nice. They played the game like Hot Potato…when the bomb “exploded” in their hands, they were out.

Then they had get inducted into the Pirate Hall of Fame by drinking Shark’s Blood (punch mix with hardly any water…very thick blood looking) but I took pity on them and added some Sprite to make it taste better. After this they received their swords.

Then back outside to sword fight. We had 2 bubble makers going and they fought off the bubbles with their swords. I have no picture of this! It was so fun. When the party ended they went back outside and did this for so long!

Their next clue led them to a pooper scooper box across the street, where they then had to “swab the decks.”

Then they traveled by ship around the houses to find their next clue. They had to walk the plank (boards on the ground) and then cross alligator swamp (pool w/ a little water and rocks to cross on). They then found their next clue which eventually led them to the treasure chest.

We hung up the pinata and let them take turns. It didn’t take long for it to open!

After that we came inside and Matthew opened his presents. He even got a Pirate puzzle!!

And lastly we had cake and ice cream. Matthew chose a white cake with chocolate frosting with raspberry filling. It was really yummy. We put “Treasures” on the top.

It was a fun party…most importantly Matthew loved it and he loved having a few friends and his siblings celebrate with him!

Leah loves cookies! She also loves anything in a box. She is really good at just reaching into boxes and pulling out her own treat.

Last week we were in Idaho visiting Roy’s family – these pictures were taken at his mom’s house (aren’t those gorgeous wood floors??).

Here Leah is..so happy..just walking around and around. Notice the yellow box in the lower right hand corner.

And she discovered the box. The second picture cracks me up…I love the look on her face.

Someone noticed what she was doing and picked the box up and set it on the bench. Course that didn’t stop her!

We’ve starting putting a “whale spout” in her hair. So cute!!

Last week we found hair on the floor. Fine, blonde hair. A quick check of Hannah’s head and sure enough, a nice chunk of hair was missing from the front. It mostly looked like she had wispies so I left it alone.

A few days later Hannah gets her hand on some gum. After failing to get the last chunk out, I just cut it out. It left an even bigger hole on the left side of her head. I decided to just cut it all shorter..and put in bangs. She’s pretty cute.

I don’t consider myself a fun mom. I dread holidays. and birthdays. And then it’s almost like…I try to make up for having these feelings by going overboard. LOL I just hope I’m making some good memories for my children in between the lunatic times.

Carla says it well, “One of the things I like about holidays, even “Hallmark” ones is that they provide an easy way for me to bless my children.” I agree.

And sometimes I don’t do much for Valentine’s or other “smaller” holidays. But this year there were some cute little stuffed animals at the exchange and so much yummy candy and pencils and stickers and oh I just couldn’t resist.

We were having Matthew’s birthday party later in the day and I knew I’d be exhausted by dinner time so I planned a Valentine’s breakfast instead of dinner. I put all their goodies on the table the night before and bought yummy breakfast items that they don’t normally get – bagels and cinnamon rolls.

Maybe the boys.

Merry Christmas! I pray your day is full and blessed. Here’s the picture we sent out this year with our card and annual letter.