Oh January!

 Happy New Year! We brought in the New Year with Panda Express, homemade Chinese lanterns, and some Wii dance games. It was a rockin' party!

 Rhett is such a joy to our family. He is my snuggle bug. I finally have a kid that "wants his momma!" We are so happy to have our little big Fred! He already loves DP.

 So excited for his train set!

 And the token train cake.

 An impromptu fire. The kids were begging for some warmth while they were playing outside in the freezing January weather. They started putting together a fire and finally got Kyle to light it!

Tis the Season!

 Here is what we were up to this Holiday Season...

 Dinner and a movie with Santa at Trautwein.

 Sledding at Trautwein

 I know you can still see the grass, but we play out in the snow no matter what. You never know how much you are going to get around here.

 Our best snowman. Pretty sad. He is covered in leaves because our snow is so meager, bu we decorated him up!

 Christmas Dance recital

 She loves to strike a pose and she shines on stage!

 Christmas Sunday Best!

 Luke played Christmas song duets with Grammy. It was really specail.

 Reenacting the nativity story with our hand puppets from Grandma Hobbs

 Getting ready to ready Twas the Night Before Christmas with Poppa

 Christmas morning, waiting to go see what Santa brought!

Miss Rose. Chloe's American Girl Doll.

 Scooter mania!

 It was the year of the gun. Luke got his first rifle. Rhett is
starting with a pop gun. He is a maniac! Luke was a pretty good shot his first time to the range

 Twins compliments of Grandma Hobbs. She carried that thing around all day, all week, all month!

 

Rainbow looming with Poppa! They are so crafty!

Happy Birthday Grammy! We love spending this special day with you!

My Fav Time

 We had a great Thanksgiving spending time with friends in STL!

 Go Team Assumption! Another great season.

 

 Love raking leaves. I hope we always live somewhere that we can play in leaves.

 Stick guns. Classic!

 Drumstick anyone?! That's all Conrad and Luke wanted to eat.

 Making turkey cupcakes. Love her smile.

 What is Thanksgiving without pecan pie?

 Our turkey craft!

 Annual chopping down of the Christmas Tree.

 Our grand selection. It always looks like the perfect fit and then you get home and it's huge!

 Luckily its not usually too cold in November here so we get to enjoy the balmy weather and cut our tree.

The kids and I usually decorate the small tree together one night while dad is working. We only broke on ornament this year. I only freaked out a little! Maybe next year and I be able to relax and let go all the way...

Super Heros and Visitors

We had a fabulous Halloween.

 Grandma came to visit

 Kyle and I followed our MO and were matching.

We have been doing this by accident since our first date.

 Wonder Woman

 Spiderman! He wore this costume every day for about 2 weeks before Halloween.

 Thor. The hammer is super sweet!

 Off to Trick-or-Treat!

 Jake came to visit. I have not seen him for 2 1/2 years since he left for his mission to Brazil.

This is us at the court house that held some of the Dred Scott cases. My mom was in heaven. These are her lawyer roots!

 Eating at Crown Candy. It is a super famous place in St. Louis. It is sooooooo small and in a really bad part of town. Kyle was not thrilled that we were dragging our whole family close to East St. Louis, but I figured we had to do it once. Luke was so cute. He read the menu and picked and ordered his whole meal and dessert BY HIMSELF!!!!! He is so confident. I love him!

Rhett fell in love with Jake. He was just a baby the last time they were together. They do share the same birthday so I guess they have a special bond. 

Firsts and Family

This fall was filled with firsts and some fun family time.

 Rhett got potty trained at 2 1/2. He did great other than being deathly afraid to poop! But by the end of the week he was a champion. He even can hold it all night!

 Fun picnic at the. hospital. Every year they have this balloon lady. She is amazing!

 Chloe is a coloring genius. It is literally all she does!

 Luke started piano and he is doing so well. My favorite part is that he sings the song as he plays.

 Family zoo day. The hippos were so cool.

 Riding the train!

 Soccer season. Go team Assumption! We love the catholic sports association and are glad they let us non-catholics play with them, but team name "Assumption"? Kind of a downer!

At least we aren't team Immaculate Conception! :)

 We LOVE the pumpkin patch

 

 The kids loved the corn maze. They ran through it a million times.

Corn mazes always give me anxiety!