All I Want for Christmas St. Patrick's Day...

Seems that the boy who got his first tooth at age 5 months, walked at 8 months, and has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since, has now lost his first (and second) tooth -- before he turned 5!

The before:

And after:

Fortunately, Grandma got his tooth pillow done in time.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's the pictures I received as a gift from the kids on Valentine's Day. Isn't my hubby creative?

Allowance

Last night after dinner Noah and Doug were counting Noah's money to see if he had enough to buy a new Star Wars figure. This started the discussion of Noah being old enough to earn an allowance. He understood that Mommy and Daddy have to work to earn money and so he would have to work to earn money, too. He decided all on his own that he should keep his room clean and do as he is told to earn a quarter each day. He seemed really excited about it and cleaned his room (with some help) before bed last night to earn his first quarter. Here's a couple of pictures to document the moment.

Getting first allowance from Dad.

Putting it in his "money bank"

A Moment of Peace

This doesn't happen very often in our house. All 3 in close proximity to each other and smiling (or drooling).

We've found a movie that they will all watch together... Baby Einstein!

Not For The Faint Of Heart

IF YOU ARE AT ALL SQUEAMISH, SCROLL NO FURTHER!!

Below is a picture of what happens when a toddler stands on a rocking chair, with a puzzle in hand, next to a fireplace with ceramic tile surround.

This is your final warning...

I'm not going to be responsible for any adverse reactions you might experience...

Are you sure you want to keep going?

Okay, here it is...

I had no sooner walked into my office at work on Tuesday morning than I got a call from daycare asking me to come get Mara; she had fallen and cut her forehead and Shell (daycare provider) was concerned about scarring. By the time I arrived she had stopped crying and was even laughing and goofing around in the waiting room at the clinic. That story changed as soon as we walked into the procedure room. Fortunately I was able to calm her down enough to get the numbing cream on her forehead. She was not happy at all when the doctor was putting the stitches in but was a trooper. Once the nurses brought her Dora stickers and a candy bar she was back to her normal self. She hasn't complained at all -- yet. Doug will take her in on Monday to have the stitches taken out. We've been told that she will have quite the scar for a while, but nothing that bangs won't cover. Sigh.

On a lighter note, the following is a picture I took of Noah's wall.

Apparently this is how you keep the animals out of your room; though I'm not really sure what animals he's expecting -- Mara? Luke?

Mara recently received new winter hat and mittens from Auntie Suzie. I had removed the tags but hadn't put them in the coat closet yet. Doug tells me we keep our house too cold, but I didn't think it was THAT cold.

Just in time...

So I resolved to be better at posting this year, and as my dear friend Andrea pointed out this afternoon, I've not posted all month. However, I do believe I that I qualified my resolution by indicating that while daily or even weekly updates may not occur, but I would most definitely update monthly. So, here is the monthly update... on the last day of January. Just in time.

EDITED: DOES IT COUNT IF I STARTED THIS POST ON JANUARY 31ST?

The first weekend of the month all three kids and I spent the weekend with Bapa and Nga-nga. I brought the camera an effort to capture pictures to update this blog, but failed to take any pictures. That's alright, though since the real gist of the weekend could be summed up by the drive down: Noah and Luke slept and Mara talked the ENTIRE WAY DOWN!! Ugh! Sorry Mom & Dad :)

Two weeks later we made the same trek to Red Wing, only this time both Noah & Mara talked the whole way. All I could think of was how nice a minivan would be and how much money I could make by inventing a soundproof screen. We finally climbed up out of the bone-chilling cold and were able to spend some time outside.

There was quite bit more snow at Grandma & Grandpa's -- so much so

that once deposited into a snow bank, Mara was pretty much stuck.

The kids had a great time making "snow ice cream" and even more fun eating it.

This month also included Luke's Dedication. Kind of last minute since we didn't realize it was scheduled until two weeks before hand (okay, only last minute for family who live more than 30 minutes from our house). Here are a few pictures from the evening. (Yes, the quality is poor, more support for my bid to get a new camera).

At the church with Dan & Jenni, who's little Caleb is 1 week younger than Luke.

With Grammy and Bumpa

With Grandma & Grandpa

Happy pictures at the end of a long day are not my family's forte.

Finally, it wouldn't be a monthly update if I didn't include a few pictures from today. My friend Andrea (who keeps me accountable for updating this blog) called this morning and invited us to join her family at BK for lunch and playtime. Who could pass that up. I didn't get pictures of the whole gang, but here are a couple of Noah and Mara playing.

Now, if you made it all the way through this post, kudos to you. I will attempt to make them shorter, hence updating more than once a month, BUT, no promises :)