Licked Clean

If Mike thought the kids would grow tired of Charlie, he was wrong.  These kids are still obsessed.  

Charlie begs for food.  He has had some success in his efforts from Jake and Mike, so he just keeps begging.  When I was a kid, and Lacy was our dog, my dad would give her scrambled eggs and say "it'll make her coat shiny."  So, when we had scrambled eggs, I left some in the pan and let Charlie eat them out of the pan.  The dog licked the pan clean.  And I guess it was quite a show...

Multitasking

Jake's been working on the physical fitness merit badge and he's walking/running a mile a 5 or 6 days a week.  One of the days, I could hear that he was walking and not running and I went down to see that he was playing the PlayStation while he was walking...what a dork...

Young Women in Excellence

Allie had her first YW in Excellence.  I've been out of yw for a long time now, so it was so fun to go and be a part of that world again.  I really do love the girls in our ward and it was fun to be there and feel of their spirit and hear the great things they have accomplished this year.  So many of them earned their medallion or for ribbons for getting finished with a 10 hour project.

I bawled as they sang "Come Thou Fount".  They have beautiful voices.

The yw president is the lady who helped me with my HP party.  She is amazing.  The decorations were awesome.

 Allie earned a ribbon for completing the Individual Worth project.  She displayed the picture she took for the Reflections contest.

Allie loves being in young women and I'm so glad she is.  She has amazing leaders and fun friends in there.  It's such a great program too.  I hope she can earn her medallion before they change the program next year.  Way to go Allie!

A Check Up

Jason is always asking for Allie to play with him.  They had a well child check up together and came home with this mask.  So, when Jason's RC car needed batteries, Allie helped him perform surgery.  She's a good sis.

As for their check ups, they're both growing right on track.  Jason is 57 pounds 92% (1 pound behind Nate) and 48 inches tall (95%).  He's a big kid!
Allie is 62 inches tall (80%) and growing right on track too.  We're glad they're so happy and healthy.  Jason, Allie, and Nathan were with me at the appointment, so they all got flu shots.  Nate was pretty nervous and was glad that it barely hurt.  Allie got some vaccines and hers ended up making her arm ache pretty bad for a few days.  Better that than getting sick if you can prevent it.  :)

Life is good!

Some More Puppets...

Jason loves making these puppets.  When he comes home from school, it's "Mom!  We made a puppet today!" or, "Mom, we didn't make a puppet today" (in a happy/sad voice...whichever fits the bill).  My goal was to get a picture of him on the day of the puppet, but we've fallen behind and I have a back log of puppets.  So, we took a bunch over a few days...

Oh Christmas Tree

The olders are really starting to come in handy...as far as kids go.  We set up our tree right after Thanksgiving.  Mike took Jake, Allie, and Nate and they cut one down and brought it home.  Jake was able to help put it in the stand and I didn't even touch it.  I really don't like getting tree sap on my hands, so that's a big deal.

 Nate plugged in all the lights and made sure they worked.

Then, Jake and Allie strung all the lights.  That's usually the part that makes me and Mike crazy, so yay!

 I didn't even hang one ornament.  The kids did it all.

Jason went around putting 5 or 6 on one branch, and I didn't even care.

It turned out to be a lovely tree.  Thanks kiddos!

Randoms

I have a few random pictures on my camera so we'll just throw them all together...

 Jake has decided that it's time to sell the hogs.  Lola is pregnant again though, so after this batch is gone, he'll be done.  I really feel bad for Lola when she has her babies.  She gets so big!  I'm always telling Jake to be gentle with her.

I gave Charlie a hair cut.  I'm determined to learn to do it myself.  I'm sure he's going to have to suffer through some really bad haircuts, but it is what it is.  I have gotten better with the boys and I'm sure I'll get better with him too.

Mike got a lot of deliveries to the house this month and each one of them came on a pallet.  He told the girls they could have a fire.  They went in search of tin cans and melted all sorts of stuff and had fun for hours.

Some of the pallets came with solid tops.  They now reside on the hill and will be the future ski/sled jump.  We're just waiting on some more of the white stuff.

Happy Birthday to My Biggest Fan!

My mom was going to be out of town for her birthday, so when she came up for Thanksgiving, we gave her some birthday cards.  She is the best Mom out there and I am so glad she's mine.  

Happy Birthday to you Mom!