February

I've finally made it to February!!! Some doubted that it would happen before May, but here I am--nearly caught up!

For Groundhog's Day, Faith made this little guy in school (the baby bottle she made at home later that afternoon with Pixos)

She proudly showed me that her groundhog had a "bum hole" in the back. I was shocked that a school project would have such an orifice, so I questioned her about it. She told me that the original project didn't even have a tail, so when she added one, she got the idea to cut it out so that it would lift up. After they glued in the lined paper with the poem, she thought that she would color him a bumhole, but that they didn't have a pink crayon so she had to make it red. I was almost afraid to ask if she showed this creative addition to her teacher, but she responded that she only showed it to a few kids in her class that "thought it was really funny"!!!

On February 5th, Christian surprised me when he said that he wanted to "poop potty." I haven't been actively potty training him, but he had done a little bit in the past on the baby potty that we have. I was so proud when he actually did his business on there!!! We made a huge deal out of it, I took pictures and then had him call all of his grandmas & grandpas. He was one proud little boy! He has done this about five times since then--he's definately starting to get the idea! Since he's only 2 & 1/2, I'm not going to push him, but I will ask him from time to time if he wants to try.

We've still been playing tons of Wii games. This is Faith listening to her controller to know when her turn for bowling is up. She's pretty obsessed!

She also has been playing quite a bit on Webkinz. I have to admit that I was a bit crazy about the Pizza Palace game for awhile, and got up to level 14!

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On the 8th after church, Christian played out in the snow while Faith rode her bike. She got the training wheels off, but can't get the hang of riding a two-wheeler. I think the main problem is that her bike is way too small for her, so we will be getting her a new one very soon. Buddy loved digging and slapping the snow with a fly swatter,

and brought in his prize in this pail. We've had some moderate weather, with snow storms in between. I love it when most of the snow stays in the upper elevations!

Later on at mom & dad's, we celebrated Sierra's third birthday with a fairy party. I can't believe she's already 3, these kids are just growing up too fast!

There was "pin the wings on Tinkerbell" and a game like musical chairs where you flit from leaf to leaf. I wish I would have been quicker getting my camera out--a video of Eric acting like a crazy fairy would have been awesome!!

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On mom's mantel were the Valentine's cards that Sarah made for them last year. She is AMAZING at everything artistic and crafty, and these are some good examples of her impeccable work.

Brendon's (on the far left above) had this "Wii" looking remote on the inside, and when you push the button on it, it lights up the seemingly blank screen above so you can read the message, "valentine you score big with me!" Is that crazy cool, or what?

Somehow I missed getting inside pics of Noah's or Celeste's, but the grand piano top of Celeste's opens up with a real hinge and has red fuzzy paper in there.

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Alaura's, here, has a real miror and another adorable picture of her inside. Too fun!!

On the 9th, I made crepes for dinner. Christian is my little helper and LOVES to cook! Lana gave each of the kids a fun apron from Swiss Days for Christmas, and I found the chef's hat in the dollar spot at Target.

Faith has been reading like crazy and even went above and beyond for the read-a-thon this month.

Dusty has been growing like a weed! He's the sweetest little guy and loves having his tummy rubbed (which is so soft it feels like rabbit fur!)

He loves having his picture taken so much that he runs toward the camera every time it's out. That makes it very difficult to get a good shot! This was an easy one, though, he already has the kitty trait of sleeping in crazy positions down pat!

On February 13th, we had over Ann, Natalie and their kids for what's becoming a traditional holiday-time party! This time we made foam Valentine cards and heart clippies. We enjoyed some Chinese Chicken Salad and heart-shaped cupcakes and had lots of fun!

The kids got Valentine cards in the mail from grandma & grandpa Braegger and great-grandma & grandpa Quinn. We also got a bereavement card (about Misty) from our vet as well as a "congrats on your new additon" card.

On the evening of the 13th, Tony finally bowled a perfect game on the Wii. He was obviously ecstatic about it, he's not usually very good about smiling in photos :)

On Valentine's Day, Tony went to the store for bacon & sausage and I made up a bunch of heart shaped pancakes as well as homemade pancake syrup & homemade strawberry syrup. I love big breakfasts!

Monday, the 16th was Lili's first birthday party!!

Christian didn't know about playing with some kids he didn't know, but eventually he got in there and had fun.

I love how cute Buddy is in this hooded towel. He keeps asking when Ho-Ho is coming again (now hopeful instead of fearful about it) and I have to keep telling him that it's a looooooong time until Christmas Eve!

On the 18th, Faith beat her high score in bowling and got a 268. If you can see, she had a perfect game going until the ninth frame! Keep trying, Baby, you'll get 300 one day!!

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On the 22nd I found this stinker-pot in my bathroom cupboard. Check out that wild hair fluffing up on the side!

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Faith created this custom backdrop to photograph her Webkinz. They are (from left): Flikka, Snowball & Spot.

Christian has been loving on his kitty a bunch. Other than trying to pick him up by holding both hands around his neck (!!!!! We're definately working on not having that happen again!), he's very gentle.

Dusty is his buddy and Christian even took this great pic of him the other night. Tony and I look bored because we're staring at the TV (as, apparently, is Dusty!).

til Super Bowl

Whoa, I'm on a roll now, check out all the posts!! Maybe I'll even get in the habit of posting on a regular basis!


Here is my sweet girl on January 7th doing some great ballet moves.

She made this sign for our New Year's Eve party so the "guests" would be able to easily locate the restroom and it was so cute, I couldn't bear to take it down!

Here's my silly boy on the 12th, face covered with food as always, and dry erase marker lids making his fingers into monster claws.

On January 17th, we headed out in the car to Tony's family's belated "New Years" party.

Tammy always gets Chili's baby back ribs for this event, and finally the kids were old enough to appreciate them!

We played Pictionary and dominos and had lots of fun.

The kids colored and joined in for a few games.

Tony doesn't usually get off work for Martin Luther King Day, but this year he took a vacation day to hang out with us and have fun. First we went to Kangaroo Zoo.

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Next we went out to eat at the Olive Garden. Here, the kids are keeping busy while we wait for a table.

The food was delicious!

This was taken on the way up to Davis County Animal Shelter on January 26th. It had snowed the night before and made the drive a little scary (the shelter is up the side of the mountain a bit in Fruit Heights). As you know if you read about Dusty, Christian and I didn't find our new family member there, so we went on over to the Ogden City Shelter where we had better luck :)

On the 28th, I helped the kids make edible snowflakes by folding, cutting and frying flour tortillas and then sprinkling them with powdered sugar. They're half eaten in this photo (you've got to be quick around here when it comes to food), but you get the picture. Thanks Jenn, for the idea from your blog!!

Here are my adorable bugs on the last day of January, or as it was known in my house, Superbowl Eve.

We all dressed up for the big event the next day.

I made WAY too much food, including hot wings, cole slaw, fruit with fruit dip, chocolate covered pretzels, jalapino poppers, and Indoor S'mores. We had over Tammy,

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Brian, Tina, Tyler, Michaela (Tyler's

girlfriend), and Zach (who somehow escaped the picture taking).

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The game got a little hairy at the end of the fourth quarter, but the Steelers pulled it off in the end with an amazing catch!

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Just before that, when the Steelers were down by three, Tammy was cheering for them to get a touchdown. I was surprised, since I know how much she hates football, but she explained that she didn't want them to kick it for three points because then she would have to sit through overtime!! :)

til New Year's

I have to show what Faith gave Tony and I for Christmas. She loves to draw and made these gifts as well as the gift boxes! On the left is mine: a doggie & kitty tree ornament; in the middle was for both Tony & I: a Christmas tree picture in a frame with a stand on the back; and Tony's on the right: a Pittsburgh Steeler Christmas stocking tree ornament. We loved them!

This is what she made at school: a matted picture with her handprint on it. On the left is the gift wrapping which she got at school, but colored, cut and assembled at home (I guess they didn't have enough time for it) by herself so it would be a surprise. It sure was fancy!!




I also had to post the cute card she gave us.
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She wrote the message herself. It reads (with just a tiny bit of spelling correction), "Roses are red, violets are blue, you did lots of things good. Merry Christmas Mom and Dad!" Don't you love it :D

The day after Christmas, my mom & dad came over to see what the kids had gotten from Santa, us & Tony's family. Grandma loved the choo-choo table.



My dad took this pic of Faith hiding out in the "dinosaur habitat" they'd given Christian.




He also took this cute one of Buddy. I love when he does this little grin that you can see his adorable dimples!

Earlier that morning, Faith found that Santa had brought another gift! A note that said he'd found it in the bottom of his bag and had missed brining it to us the night before. It was a Wii!! (I think maybe Santa just knew it would be too hard to leave it to visit family, so getting it the next day would be better.)

We all played a bunch, but Faith and Tony litteraly played all day!



Christian, having jealously confiscated a pink, fuzzy gift of Faith's, conks out after playing with all of his new stuff and repeated attempts to master the Wii remote.

On Monday the 29th, we headed over to Lucky Buffet for some Chinese. The kids ate some actual food, but really had a blast with jello and straws.
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Anyone else remember doing this at school lunch in elementary?

We had a New Year's Eve party at our house when Tony's dad got sick and they postponed theirs. My mom & dad came for a few hours, Tammy was there, and Tina & Zach came over a bit later on. I made clam chowder and we had our chocolate fountain going.
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We had a fun time, but Christian didn't make it to midnight!




Faith and Zach spent most of the evening on the Wii, while the adults played Catchphrase. Welcome to 2009!!





New Year's day we just hung out and relaxed. I thought it was about time for another bubble beard pic!
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Woo hoo--I'm less than two months behind now!

Christmas Day

After opening stuff at home, we headed over to Ogden to swap gifts with my parents. This, I must tell you, is a VERY unbalanced swap. My mom & dad spoil us rotten and go way overboard with stuff for the kids. Christian, throwing a fit because he was unwilling to leave his train table, refused to get dressed for the day and was still in his pajamas. But, I guess it was an extremely comfortable gift unwrapping ensemble and didn't hurt anyone.

Here's Grandma Tesch on the couch with us.

It was hilarious to watch Christian navigate this huge box through the crowd and across the family room. It was his and he wanted to open it in his spot!

Inside was this awesome Black & Decker play work bench with tools.

Faith is opening some fabulous costume jewelry from my mom. Love those big girl dress up items!

Here is Celeste with what Santa brought their family--a Shih Tzu puppy named Tiff! I couldn't get enough of that puppy's puppy breath.

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After several hours of fun with my family, we headed over to Tony's parents.

They also completely spoil us! The mountain of gifts is a sight to behold over there. Lana also puts on an awesome Christmas day snack spread that's out of this world!

Christian is showing his Pa one of his favorite gifts of the day, a Mickey shirt (which he has worn 2-3 times per week since!).

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Faith, Zach and Christian each got one of these giant gifts. They turned out to be . . . new luggage!

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Faith's old little princess wheeled case is now too tiny to hold her overnight gear and too short for

her to comfortably manouver, so Lana set these kids up. I can't believe I didn't get pics of them, but Faith's are hot pink with black piping (a four piece set) and Christian got a wheeled duffel which is actually in the shape of Thomas the train. They're all set for trips, Park City, and sleepovers now!

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They each got cute outfits from the grandparents and from Tammy.

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Here's a chunk of Tina's family (clockwise starting at 11 o'clock): Chelsea, Tyler, Tina & Brian.

Christian didn't know how to pedal or steer when he first got this rad new trike, but he's awesome at it now!

By the end of the day, the kids were nearly comotose and in a snuggly high from all the present opening. Here Faith nestles against Tam while playing with her WowWee Alive Lion Cub that she got from my mom. We had an amazing Christmas and loved getting to spend time with so much of our family!