Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Jack helped me make cookies for the first time ever the other day. We had so much fun! I handed him the boxes with ingredients and he carried them to the counter all by himself, then I gave him the measuring cups filled with ingredients and he poured them into the bowl by himself! He even helped stir! It's so fun to have a little helper by my side!

Big Boy Bed

Jack got a big boy bed yesterday! This was such an exciting event for us; it meant that I was able to redecorate Jack's room, and Jack got a new trampoline:) (Rather than using mom and dad's bigger trampoline) He jumped so much and ran around, that he was pretty exhausted for nap time. But night time was a different story. He loves tucking himself and Junior in, but when he really got tired it was time to crawl into mom and dad's bed again.

Crazy Dog

This is one crazy dog. Not only is he able to rip a house apart in 40 minutes or less. Plug a sink, turn on the faucet and jump 5 feet up in the air to rip down a shower curtain. He has grown thumbs once again, and figured out how to, not chew through his crate, but actually open the door without damaging it. How is this possible? I have no idea, but I do know that Chase is Houdini reincarnated in a dogs body:)

Winter

As winter continues, Jack is getting more and more used to the snow. He likes to watch the birds at the bird feeder, and shovel snow. Although sledding, we have learned, is not a favorite. I think he feels to confined, and doesn't get to move around so he gets frustrated quickly.

Somedays, like today, are just to cold to go outside. It was -3 this morning, and then rose to 7, and then I don't know, but so cold we preferred to stay inside. So Jack decided he wanted to blindfold himself and explore the house that way. He did this by himself, so Stephen decided to join in the fun for awhile.

Christmas Morning

I've been MIA for a little while, so there will be pictures flowing in that don't make to much sense in the order, but so much has happened in these two weeks that I just have to share! This is what our Christmas tree looked like. It had the shortest life of any tree so far, mainly because Jack kept spinning it, plugging in and out the lights and undressing the bottom layers, but still, I love Christmas and all the decorations, so I toughed it out until almost a week after Christmas. Now the tree stands outside on the deck as a shelter for the birds until winter is over, this little tradition started for us last year.

Gavin's 4th Birthday!!!

December 30th was Gavin's 4th Birthday! What a big boy he's getting to be! We had a sledding party yesterday, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. (Well, Jack actually doesn't like sledding, so I made him go down a few times, and then he pleaded to go back inside) but the rest of the kids seemed to have a blast:) What Jack really enjoyed was the pony ride at Kenny and Claudine's afterwards. He hogged the pony all night long! The first picture is of him letting Ellie share a ride with him. The rest are Gavin and Jack on the tube.