Our Great 8 Birthday!

Matthew's present pile

 His favorite gift this year was the Wii U!  After opening presents, we headed out to eat dinner at Denny's - Matthew loves their spaghetti and usually asks for 2nd helpings!

 One of his many trademark facial expressions here.  He wanted a lot of chocolate for his birthday cake!

Happy birthday Matthew!  Your baptism is coming up in a few weeks and we look forward to celebrating all over again!

More Feeding

Jacob's face says it all:  Ew, what is this orange stuff? 

 Lunchtime after church

 I think Jacob is pleading with daddy to make the orange stuff go away!  Gonna be such a healthy boy!

Mom and dad love feeding Jacob and watching all his funny faces!  We tried sweet potatoes this time and he was not crazy about them, but he did eat a few bites without spitting all of it up!  Love watching our little man grow!

Sticky Licorice

I am a huge fan of licorice and had to share some with my little guy!

When I was a kid, we used to chomp off each end of licorice to make a straw and drink our beverages through it.  Jake is sucking away on his licorice!  So adorable to watch!

 Now he's chillin' with his Red Vine!  Yummy treat!

Jacob's First Feeding

 Everyone is so excited to be able to feed Jacob real food now!  

He is not exactly sure what to do with that spoonful!

I have to be honest, his first taste of rice cereal definitely does not win him over!

Most of it comes right back out!  Ew!

 He would much rather be chomping on his bib 

 Our next attempt has him in the monkey chair for his yummy spoonfuls

 A little more successful lounging back in his chair.

 After a couple spoonfuls, he is finished for the day and ready to play with daddy!  We might have to get a little more creative with his food selections to be a little more appealing for our growing boy!

4th Grade Recorder Concert

 The 4th graders have been participating in "Recorder Karate" this year at Ellisor Elementary School.  As their recorder playing skills get better, they move up a different color belt on the recorder karate scale.  Emily is working toward the highest degree belt - black belt!  Right now she is a green belt.  

The whole group

 Each individual class participating chose a song to perform and Emily's group chose a fun upbeat song.  When it was their group's turn to play, the members came front and center to perform and Emily is on the right side front row.

They did a great job playing their solo group song and all of the classes together sounded good.  It was a short and sweet concert, then we headed on to TCBY to celebrate a job well done! 

On to Young Women's!

Katie turned 12 today!  She is now out of primary and into the Young Women's program!  Woot! Woot!  Activities every Wednesday night at the church!

The present pileup

 For Katie's birthday this year, she and I went shopping together for a new wardrobe. We had a lot of fun shopping in the junior's department but she knew all of her presents beforehand!

 I had to sneak one surprise gift in there - she is a Hunger Games fanatic and has been bugging me for the movie Catching Fire for months!

 Super yummy cake

 Jacob likes the ice cream best!

 I cannot believe my baby is 12 years old already!  I look at her so much more as a grown-up these days than a kid anymore.  She is playing the piano well and singing in every choir she possibly can!  She is still my top book reader and has become very dependable with babysitting her younger siblings!  We might actually have to start paying her when Sam and I go out on dates!  Love this girl to pieces!

Happy Birthday Katie Bug!