One year older and wiser too!

This girl. THIS girl! Ellery is an amazing child. I think her teacher, who AdOrEs Ellery, pretty much summed it up at Parent Teacher Conference when she asked Matt and I to write down exactly what we have done with Elle, step by step so she could hand out manuals to other parents. We quickly assured her of course that Ellie came this way straight from Heaven! She is this way despite us, not because of us. She is an angel in every sense of the word, and a delight as a daughter, every parent deserves an Ellery. She is unbelievably obedient and thoughtful, so loving and generous, she is a smarty pants, she is a natural athlete :) she is over the top wanting to please, she is always spiritually inclined, she is one in a zillion. I can't gush about her enough, LOVE you Ellery!

This was Ellery's year to have a friend party and all she wanted to do was go sledding. So we packed up as many little people as Matt and I could drive in our two vehicles, plus a neighbor helped shuttle some people over to the one and only hill within 30 miles :)

It was a blast! I only wish I had some pictures, but I was too busy making sure no one crashed and died. It seems that sledding etiquette, and or common sense is a lost art. Sure kids...just walk right up the hill where the sleds and crazy children are barreling down the hill directly at you! Walking safely up the side would be silly. Luckily we only had one small injury, poor Taite.

Then it was onward home for hot chocolate with candy canes and a cupcake bouquet that everyone got to decorate. Ellery had so much fun.

Taylor Swift mania

just typing those words,

5 songs that are sung hours upon hours at our house,

just popped into my head

I heart Ellery, and I think she heart me too :)

A new phenomenon at our house...Zoobles

Word.

We had a little family party on her birthday. She opened some presents from Oma and Papa, Oma Great, and her siblings. Then we dragged her into the toy room with a blindfold on and made her play hot & cold to find her present. We told her it was a small little box so she better search really well. The other kids were laughing hysterically. It was all I could do to keep Gus and Cy from shouting out what it really was.

She finally found it and boy, was she excited!!

I can't believe my baby is tall enough for a real ladies bike :(

What?

Awww, my boy. This is a first for any of my kids Cy got so tired he just fell asleep...in the bathroom? With a big hole in his sock? What? He is so cute it makes up for it.

One day I was putting Cyrus down for a nap and we were snuggling it up. I read him a Christmas book and we were cuddling. I asked him what his favorite part about Christmas was.

He paused, long and thoughtful with his little hand up to his chin and then said, "I think Hanukkah."

I am sorry, did you say Hanukkah? Hanukkah is the best part of Christmas?

Where did he even hear that word? Turns out the girls learned a Hanukkah song in school "Dreidle, Dreidle" and were singing it to him as one of their "Christmas" songs. I think my kids are missing something here :) Pretty funny!

The Whistler

Cy gets "the hiccups" a lot. He always announces when he has "the hiccups."

The other day he comes running up to me and excitedly exclaims,

"Momma, I got the whistles!"

The Whistles.

I am kind of impressed that he has already taught himself to whistle.

He whistles constantly!

If we are singing at church, he whistles.

If we are singing at Family Home Evening, he whistles.

Christmas songs in the car (boy we like to belt it out!) he whistles.

The Whistler.

We are tight, Cyrus and I :)

He was looking at a bridal picture of me hanging on the wall.

"Momma, are you going to wear that dress when we get married?"

Ahhhh.

AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN!

I can't count how many times since our return from Mexico

Cy has asked for reassurance that I am not going back.

If I am going to the store, "Mommy, you are NOT going to Mexico, right?"

At bed time, "Don't go to Mexico, okay?"

Even randomly, "I'm glad you are not going to Mexico :)"

Always pronounced Mexeeco.

This weekend he said, totally out of the blue.

"I have a great idea!" as he pats my face.

"Daddy can go to Mexeeco!!! All by himself and you stay with me!!"

Ouch for Daddy, Loves for me!

The Pretty Line

Some snot-nosed, bratty, punk-ars, booger of a jerk of a devlish urchin of a boy told my sweet Taite that she looked ugly yesterday. Can you imagine?

Good thing I wasn't there to watch his head spin around when I smacked it.

I asked Taite how it made her feel and what she did.

Taite has been a very sensitive child and gets her feelings hurt easily.

We've been working on that.

She looked at me and scoffed.

"Ha!" She said.

"Mommy, I told him,

oh, oh....no. I already know I am pretty, very pretty, because my Mommy

told me that in Heaven I went through the pretty line 20 times!

20 times!"

Good Girl

Bob Bot

Meet Bob Bot...the Robot. Bailey was so excited about this little project, I think she did a super job!! It sure was fun to work on together :) Good Job Boo!