may the odds be ever in your favor

Katie picked the "Hunger Games" as the theme for her party this year.



So we made some invitations and invited her friends.



We had a Hunger Games inspired feast.



Complete with grilled squirrel, roasted rabbit, District 11 bread, cookies and apple tarts from Mellark's Bakery, Caesar Flickerman salad, Prim's goat cheese, District 12 coal, nightlock, and sleep syrup.



The girls loved it!



After dinner, we gave the tributes a "survival kit" and sent them into the "arena".



They played Tracker Jacker tag. The point was to try to sting, or tag, others without getting stung yourself. The girls really got into it. So did Maw Maw.



After Tracker Jacker Tag.



After Tracker Jacker Tag, we went inside for a Hunger Games trivia quiz.





Then the birthday girl opened presents.



Then it was cake time!



I seriously can't believe my baby is twelve!







Make a wish sweet pea!



After cake, we watched "Hunger Games", and not too long after that, everyone was out like a light.



Apparently, life as a tribute is pretty exhausting!

Preschool Park Day

Today we met our preschool friends at Prien Lake Park.



It was a beautiful day, but a little chilly.



John David was making me a little nervous, but he had so much fun climbing.



He really loved sliding down this pole. He is really into firemen right now, and loves to watch "Fireman Sam".



After the kids played a bit, we ate some lunch, and then we had an egg hunt.



John David was fast and I had to tell him to stop because he was getting so many eggs.



Here's the crew after the egg hunt.



John was fascinated by the water fountain.



If it hadn't been so chilly, he probably would have jumped in.



We love good friends and beautiful park days!

Teacher Appreciation

Tonight was our annual teacher appreciation dinner at church.



Our theme this year was "Choose the Right".



I think this year was the best so far. The program was great and the food was delicious. And Katie had three teachers there. Turns out....there are advantages to having so many teachers in middle school.

 

This is Katie with her band teacher, Mr. Smith, who is a wonderful teacher and extremely talented.




Her science teacher, Mrs. Nichols, and her math teacher, Mrs. Reed, also came. She was so excited to have so many teachers there. We love our teachers and are so grateful for all they do for our kids!

Jessica's Farewell Party

Today we went to the Cameron's for a crawfish boil. Aaron loves to boil crawfish.



And John David loves to help his Daddy...whatever it is.



But he really loves to boil crawfish too.



And we all love to eat them!



This crawfish boil was for this cute soon-to-be sister missionary. She has been called to serve in the California San Fernando Mission. She is going to be a great missionary. We are so excited for her!



At the party we got to hang out with sweet baby Lexie.



John David loved playing with Clayton.



And jumping on Jaimee's bed. Silly boys!



It was a beautiful day and the girls made the most of it. They got out a kite and flew it in the front yard. They had so much fun trying to figure out how to get it flying, and we had fun watching them.

Preschool Celebrates Dr. Suess

Today preschool celebrated Dr. Suess.



First we decorated hats.







Then we put them on and read some of our favorite books.



Afterwards, we did a "Thing 1 & Thing 2" craft.



The kids then watched "The Lorax" while I made them some Dr. Suess inspired snacks.



We had "Yink's Pink Drink".......



goldfish, green eggs and ham, and cat in the hat fruit stacks. Super fun day with our super cute preschool friends!

Guess who needs glasses?

Our little man failed his eye test at his four year old check up. So we went to the eye doctor this past week and they said he needed glasses. Can you tell that he's not too happy about it? He likes to put them on to show people, but then he immediately wants to take them off. And I thought it was hard getting the girls to wear their glasses! This should be interesting.



But as much as he doesn't like them....I love them! I think he looks so handsome in them! I mean, seriously....how can you resist this cuteness?????

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day my sweetheart upgraded my phone, and bought me this sweet little thing.



 I really liked it, and then I discovered that I could pin things on pinterest from my phone......and my whole world has changed! Yes...I am in love...with it.....and him too, of course!

I passed out my Valentines to my favorite people after I picked the girls up from school. I should have taken a better picture of Aaron's valentine. It says, "You're my trophy" and it's a chocolate deer head. He's really not a huge chocolate fan, but when I saw it I had to get it because it just made me laugh and think of him.



The girls loved their chocolate kisses.





And John David really liked his chocolate tools....so much that he didn't want to eat them. He just wanted to play with them. Silly boy!



We decided to go visit Maw Maw tonight and bring her a Valentine too. We had a great visit with her.



It was sweet, simple, and perfect Valentine's day.

Preschool--Valentine's Edition

We had preschool at our house today. And since it's Valentine's Day, we talked about what Valentine's Day is about and read some of our favorite books about love.



We did some finger painting and made some valentines.



Silly boys!



We watched "A Charlie Brown Valentine."



Then we decorated sugar cookies.





Love this sweet little preschooler!



Happy Heart Day!