Cousin Luke

 One of the family favorites came to town last weekend!  Yes, "Cousin Luke" flew up with Uncle Brian and the boys could not WAIT to play with him.  So special to get a couple days to hang out with my fantastic brother and I just adore my sweet nephew.  He's my little buddy.



First night- kicking it off with a good Popi tackle.



All three on top of Popi- Tyler's green leg hanging out...



Luke in action bowling



Little athlete... always wanted to do well.



Oh Man!  Still a good shot but Luke always so disappointed it wasn't a strike until we all clapped and then we would get a golden smile.  Again, little athlete.  Love it.



Travis and Tyler

Carter just always made a run for it.  Pretty funny.

Pillow Fight!



Gigi asked for a picture.... this is what you get!



Snowdays and Skating

 



The kids loved their three snow days and when we could finally get down the hill- I took them rollerskating for the first time.  4 days in a row of great nappers and unique fun.



Poor Travis had to park at the bottom of the hill two days and walk down early in the morning.  We all screamed our goodbyes, then got bundled up to have some fun.



Soaking in the new experience



Carter just HAPPY



Catching Flakes (Carter, Tyler)



Carter acting mischievous and secretive about who would be on the end of this snowball.  Fortunately, his friend Enzo and not me!

Carter was also quite the worker.  This shovel kept him busy for at least 20 minutes.   That's big.

 

Carter and Enzo

Tyler graciously giving me a snowball to throw at someone.

Cute Enzo



The kids couldn't figure out that Enzo's Jeep just wasn't going to work.  Poor Enzo, having to push while my kids got a ride.

 For some reason, Maizy has just kind of become Tyler's dog.  He ADORES her.  Constantly lays on top of her, pets her, walks her around the house like it's a dog show, always wants to feed her, as well as give her timeouts daily when she is not really wanting to be walked around the house by collar being presented.  It's very sweet though.  So one snow day he asked me if I would take pictures of them together.   A little photo session of the two.  Poor Maizy gets woken from her oh so nice nap, as Tyler gives her kisses, pets, hugs, just a good SMOTHER.



My favorite photo from the session



But Tyler says this is his favorite picture ever.  I asked why and he says "It's my favorite cause I am hugging Maizy and just love her so much."

First time on skates.  Although Carter says:

Carter:  "Mama, I have an idea?" (oh boy I think- he does this a dozen times daily in the same fashion)

Me: "Yes Carter"

Carter:  (and always in a complete sentence and much louder) "My idea IS (emphasis on "is" with a pause)... If I do this, we go to the mountain with cousin Luke and wear two skis." 

Always trying to make some deal.

Tyler in front

Always have the same expression... Anna tried to skate for like two seconds.

Carter- yeah, I think he's done.

Sun & Snow

We have been so lucky with our weather.... kicking January off with a little sun (parks days yay!) and now with some snow.  We went to a favorite duck pond and caught ducks on ice.

Carter

  

My Monkey Carter

Tyler

Gigi & Annamarie

 Annamarie's first time EVER in snow.  She giggled and giggled over it and the boys instantly announced "Snowball Fight!" .... oh my.

 

Tyler decided to make tracks with his bike

The boys rolled and rolled as big of snowballs they could to "keep for a long long time"

and perfectly placed them on the doormat when I told them they couldn't take them to their rooms.

Maizy loves the snow.



Getting ready to peg Tyler

Last Days of Christmas

The Last Present of Christmas

It seems as though we have a new tradition... "The Last Present of Christmas"

It shows up daily starting on Christmas and walks right up to you.  amazing!  Yes, the boys love announcing it and being unwrapped.



My childhood bestie, Melissa, was in town from London with her family.  We had a great morning catching up with the Donnellys... and the kids loved the English tea biscuit type treats Liam and Emma shared with them- it made this picture possible!  (Carter light blue, Tyler navy)

We had our first sleepover this New Years Eve at our friends the Van Pelts.  Got in a good dose of dominoes (for adults) and hungry hippos (kids below)... so fun the kids could all just go up to the playroom and play together on their own.  And AMAZINGLY enough, they all went to bed perfectly.  However, it was our wild boys who woke up the house that New Year Morning carrying around a lightsaber as a flashlight and investigating the house.  Andy commented on their energy level in the morning.  Yes, that's every morning... it's exhausting!

Breakfast with Henry and Grace and Anna saying "cheese!"

An up-close CHEESE!

Andy planned fireworks and all!

 HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY to my wonderful Grandma. 

You would never guess she's 90!  Her thoughtful conversations, kindness, memory- it's truly incredible.

I come out from taking Anna potty to have this outside the door... a lineup of dragons, dinosaurs, you name it, perfectly stacked in a bunch in front of us, and two blue "dragons" hiding behind them. silly boys. and quick too!

Our sweet dog turns 7 this year!



My two dragons revealed:  (Tyler left)



How I wish these smiles were more clear- truly hysterical.  Carter driving Enzo around in his jeep.  The kid has no fear taking him off curbs, over plants (sorry Paula) you name it.



Annamarie's 18 month checkup

A month late (yes she's 19 months) but here's how she measured up:

39 1/2 inches tall
29 pounds

and she went potty in the toilet TWICE while at the appointment.  YAY!  I really do need the motivation to just "go for it" before she turns two and stubborn!

Her words -besides the fav's mama, dadda, eye-er (tyler), cah (carter), day-yay (maizy), jeej (gigi), papa (popi), nay-nee (lani):

hi-eeee!!!  (hi)
bu-bye
mil-kuh (she loves to emphasize that K on the end of milk)
uh-oh
bee-bee (blankie)
snow (go figure cause we haven't had a single flake)
baby (and now that she sees Lani carrying around one, she loves her same one and takes it everywhere)
ho-ho-ho (loves to join in during "rudolph")
EEASSSEE! (please)
duck
tay-too (thank you)
ball
daw-daw (dog)
yippee (in perfect accordance to Rudolph, again)
shoe
book
tree
pah-boo (peek-a-boo)
and arg!  (like a pirate, yes really.)

Favorite things:
Hugging.... big and tight.  the best.
Her bee-bee (blankie)
DANCING and oh boy she's good!
Music (and so particular with her music, especially in the car)
Dogs
Throwing Balls (foreseeing a better arm than her brothers... shhhhh)
Pushing her stroller
Going potty and getting chocolate
Mac & Cheese
Her Bottle- aughhh!
Climbing
and building forts and pretending to be dragons with her brothers, oh my.

I now know why God gave her us when He did.  She is just so perfect for our crazy family.  And is "my given" to make me smile.    Just my delight- my angel.