Our baby is all grown up . . .

Here is our baby robin. This was the last day she hung out around the nest. Now she mostly hangs by the stream and in our front lawn. What an experience it was to watch her grow.

Other happenings. . .

Jason was out of town the other night so I let all the kids sleep in my bed. When I went in to go to bed, this is what I found. Jake-man is quite the cuddler and loves to be right next to someone when he sleeps. I thought this picture was pretty priceless.
We took a new picture today and one of the baby robins has hatched. Yea!

The Toy Box

While Jake and I were at the park, Jason and some friends from work were setting the trusses on the Toy Box. What started out as a little idea for a shed, has turned into quite the building.

Getting ready for the chicks!

Jason's been working hard building a coop for the chicks we are soon getting, so we thought we would pitch in by decorating the inside.

S'mores!

For Family Night we decided it would be fun to roast marshmallows in our fire place. It was great being able to enjoy s'mores without having to deal with the freezing temperatures! Cambrie was the designated roaster.
I guess you could say Tatum and Jake were the designated eaters!

Enjoying the Little Things . . .

I've had a hard time keeping the blog updated, but the last several weeks have been great. We're making a huge effort to find joy and happiness in the little things this year. There are so many amazing things right around us each day, but all too often we get caught up in the craziness of life. At any rate, we've really been enjoying the winter and each other. We've given ourselves a challenge to come up with activities for the family that can cost very little, or better yet, nothing at all. Most of our adventures weren't caught on film, but here are a few:

Homemade Valentine's ~ A huge mess, but sooo much fun! This was made by Cambrie {all on her own} for a boy in her class. Needless to say, Jason is now having him investigated. Tatum & her friend Sophia ~Tatum would eat snow all day long if I let her. She got a snow cone machine for her birthday in June, but the new thing is to run out back and fill a cup with super fine snow and drench it with snow cone syrup. Jason pulling Cambrie and Tater ~The girls love the tube rides and Hershey loves to chase after them.

Snowshoeing & X Country Skiing ~ Jason retrofitted my bike trailer with skis so that we could take the kids with. An ingenius idea, but so much more of a workout than we bargained for.

Jake ~ Enough said. He's at that oh so fun age and everything that comes out of his mouth is just hilarious. For some reason, this is the only hat he will wear. I fear he'll be 12 and still insisting on wearing this same hat. He just makes my days so unpredictable. You gotta love it. I spared you the picture of him dancing buck in Cambrie's shoes. Amazingly beautiful days & views! ~ By the way, that's our teeter totter barely sticking out of the snow.

Cross Country Skiing

Soakin' up the sun on the back deck!

Movie & Popcorn night! ~ We used the air popper for the first time and the kids were so enthralled! Tatum tells everyone that comes over about our "magic popcorn maker."

Jake Working Out ~ As I've worked hard to get back in shape before our upcoming trip, it's nice to know that I have support from my family.

My favorite ~ Jake is obsessed with glasses and is always putting on whatever spectacles he can find. He wore these for dinner the other night. Like I said, unpredictable.

So many fun moments.

Joy is not in things; it is in us.

~Richard Wagner

She's a Growing Girl!

Hershey is getting so big, so quickly. I had to laugh at this picture of her with her new water dish. I found them and several "Big Dog" toys on Ebay. I guess I didn't quite realize just how "Big" they were.

She has taken quite a liking to this basket in our family room. I think it'll be interesting to see her try this in a few more months.
You can see all the training is paying off. She doesn't have any of the typical puppy habits, like biting or chewing. Yea right! In our dreams.

It's almost that time. . .

I know, I know, we're probably jumping the gun a bit but we decided to pull out the Christmas decorations Sunday afternoon. I must say, after our decorating marathon, I'm quite excited for the Holiday Season. The kids were so cute. Cambrie and Tatum were loving every minute of it. They couldn't pull ornaments out of the boxes fast enough. Jake woke up from his nap and came downstairs saying, "BIG MESS, BIG MESS!" He was right, but 2 1/2 hours later, we were finished. Jason convinced me that I had to let the kids help decorate the tree, so my usual 'theme' tree was out the window, but who has their own tree with all Manly, Outdoor ornaments? Yep, you guessed it, Jason does. Well, we're definitely excited we'll be home this year for the first time with all 3 kiddos, so we made sure everyone had a tree! I love sitting in the family room at night just looking at the lights. It's definitely peaceful! Christmas here we come!

This is so cute. The girls even slept in their Santa Hats.



Here's Jake's Tree!

Pizza Night!

Tonight we made homemade pizza and spooky skeleton cookies. The kids had a lot of fun and the pizza was delicious. I should have taken a picture of the finished product. They did a great job.

The Birthday Boy!

Jake had a great 2nd Birthday. At his request, I made a "Nake" cake. He opened his presents (Yay, boy toys), but you wouldn't know it because he had to fight his sisters off of them. He enjoyed his special day and loves to tell you that he is 2!

Sneaking a taste of the frosting!

Pushing around his new truck!

Tatum and Jake licking the door. Who knows why, but they sure were enjoying it.
Jake blowing out his candles. . .sort of.