Impromptu Photo shoot

The kids were playing in the backyard with dad- who was enjoying some afternoon daylight for the first time in weeks- and I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures in almost a month! What a loser. So I whip out the camera and the girls decided that they were up for some pictures seeing that they were wearing their lovely skirts. Very flowy.
So here we are on a February evening. Chloe even took the picture of AC, Ellie and I. My budding photographer.

He Finally Lost a Tooth!

Hayden finally lost his first tooth on Wednesday. It fell out at school, and he got to wear a plastic tooth that holds the real tooth around his neck. Mrs. Tenney also gave him a cool certificate. The tooth fairy left a couple of bucks for the first tooth. He was very excited, and I love his new Jack-O-Lantern grin. The messy face is an everyday thing.

Go Cards! Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We had a birthday get together/Super Bowl watching extravaganza at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Sunday. We had a delicious dinner (ribs and smashed potatoes, yummy) and Mud Pie for dessert (double yummy). It was a great game, although a bit heartbreaking at the end, but I'm proud of our Cards. Grandpa had a nice birthday, too. Happy Birthday Grandpa, and better Luck next year, Cards!

Addendum to previous post

In my tiredness last night, I forgot to mention one exciting tidbit about Chloe's party: HER HAIR CAUGHT FIRE! As you can see from this picture pre-fire, her hair was a bit in her face and flying about the flames. Next thing we know, a piece on her right side lights up, then flames head up towards her scalp. Fast acting Grandma reaches across the table and puts out the flames with her fingertips, like the tough broad that she is. (mental note: call Grandma to see how her burnt fingers are today.) I dropped my camera and rushed to Chloe (darn it that I wasn't videotaping at the moment) and everyone was of course relieved and laughing. Chloe has a small section of hair that is now very short and a bit rough, and it took a good 20 minutes for the smell of burnt hair to leave the living room. Alls well that ends well, and we now have a fun 5th birthday story!
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Boys and Girls, when you are blowing out birthday candles, either blow hard and stand back, or make sure all hair is securely tied behind you.

Happy Birthday Chloe!!

I cannot believe that my sweet, sweet Chloe is 5!! Time really does fly. This year we are all about Princesses, so naturally we had a princess Tea party for her birthday. I let Chloe invite 10 (!!) little girls, which I normally wouldn't allow, but a). Chloe was so excited and I want to encourage her to be more outgoing, and b). it was a 4 day weekend around here, so I figured half wouldn't be able to make it. umm, wrong. All but 2 agreed to come, and 3 of those girls brought siblings. All in all, we had 11 princesses and 4 rowdy boys. I have never seen such gorgeousness as those girls in their gowns. We danced, played games (led, believe it or not, by Miss Chloe) had tea and cupcakes, hit a pinata and opened presents. I have never seen Chloe so outgoing or talking to so many different people. It was great to see. That was Saturday. Tonight we had traditional family birthday, but with 3 fun cousins, it was like a second party.
I didn't know that there were so many different types of Princess toys- I think her friends caught on to the fact that Chloe likes princesses!
My sweet Chloe truly is a princess, and is a smile with feet. I love her dearly, and she brightens my days, every day. Happy Birthday, sweetums! We love you!!!

A few more of those cute kids

Here are a couple of the cute ones . . . Billy looking divine- and just a little dirty!

Emily looking so sweet and smiley!

What a trio of lovelies- Ellie's smile is her best effort after grandma offered her $1.00 to smile.

and I have to say it . . . Here's Crabby Abi! :)

The Photo Shoot of all photo shoots

Okay, for Christmas, we decided that we would get Grandma and Grandpa a nice picture of all 7 grandkids. What a great idea, right? Well, seeing that we were all super busy before Christmas we didn't get it done in time. Instead, we got them a nice, big frame and the promise of a future picture. Well, it truly is the thought that counts, right? Last night, I gathered the family at my house for THE PHOTO SHOOT. We tried, we truly did. Chauncey was so sweet and handsome, and tried to get the little ones interested. Abi was tired and screaming. Ellie was unsure and NOT smiling. at all. ever. Hayden was being a little bit goofy, and Billy, well, let's just say Billy was diggin' for gold. I have to say that Emily and Chloe smiled a million smiles and looked adorable in almost every picture. What sweet girls they are. Out of the 200 or so pictures I snapped, we did not get a single, decent picture that included all 7 grandkids. I was showing AC the BEST one and he said, "Yeah, that's pretty bad. Now show me the good one you took." I glared. We did manage a few cute pictures, just no big "winner winner, chicken dinner" pictures.

Notice billy's finger- I'm not sure if he managed to get anything good or not . . .

Chauncey really was trying, and doesn't Hayden look THRILLED here?

And my favorite of all night- what a cute trio of boys.

Even if we didn't get a great picture, or even a mediocre one, we had fun. Grandma sprang for pizza, and made a delicious salad, and we watched the Cardinals win in a playoff game. I guess there is a limit of one miracle per evening, and the Cardinals winning a playoff game was it- not a picture of all 7 kids. smiling. not picking. not grimacing. I would have been happy with 5 out of 7 decent looking kids, but alas, it was just not meant to be. We tried- we truly did.