Big Girl, No Teeth

Katie has now lost all four of her front teeth! The first one on the top fell out (well, David pulled it out) on December 26th, and Katie pulled out the second top one herself on the 31st. Now she looks so grown up with so many teeth missing!

All Dressed Up

Since we were in Branson the week before Christmas, the kids wore their "dressy" Christmas outfits to church on December 27th. They were quite the cute little kids, if I do say so myself!

Fun on Christmas Morning

Christmas this year was certainly like no other Christmas we have ever had! Of course, the boys were celebrating their first Christmas, which was so much fun. Secondly, a blizzard swept through Oklahoma on Christmas Eve, and we were snowed/iced in on Christmas day. We weren't able to travel to Missouri and see my extended family, which we do every year. I really, really missed all of the delicious food that we have for Christmas dinner. However, I improvised and we had a nice meal (smoked pork chops--similar to ham, corn on the cob--similar to corn casserole, hashbrown casserole--what I had planned to take to my cousin's house, cherry dump cake--it was "Christmas red", and peanut butter fudge). The kids did enjoy playing with their toys the rest of the day, and we just had a nice, relaxing time around the house. It was a Christmas we won't forget!

Happy 6th Birthday, Katie!

Katie turned 6 on Christmas Eve, but we had a family birthday party for her while we were in Branson the week before Christmas. Both sets of grandparents and Uncle Brian, Aunt Annett, and cousins Hannah and Connor joined us at Big Cedar Lodge to celebrate. It was such a fun party! Katie and Lauren recently watched "The Wizard of Oz" for the first time, and when Katie saw "The Wizard of Oz" party supplies, that was the party she wanted to have! It was really neat, because the movie played several times on cable during her party weekend, including during the party! What a great weekend we had!

Two Little Ballerinas

Let me start by saying "Merry Christmas!!" I have some great Christmas pictures of the kids to post, but first I wanted to show how cute the girls were at their first dance recital two weeks ago! Lauren's class dressed up as presents and performed a ballet number to the song "Happy Birthday, Jesus." They were as cute as they could be! Katie's class wore matching tutus and did a ballet routine to the song "My Favorite Day." I was so proud of both of them!

Not Quite a Bible Verse...

Several weeks ago, Lauren was working on her Bible verses for Cubbies (a program at church in which the kids learn Bible verses and earn patches for their uniform/vest). David had practiced with her the night before, and the verse was "I am wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14). When I asked her what the verse was, she thought for a minute and then said, "I am...so beautiful!" I wonder just what David was teaching her?! :) By the way, in the above picture, she had stamped her face with ink pads and put on the red lipstick we used for Halloween. Yes, she is ornery AND beautiful!

Happy Halloween!

Well, as you can see, I have gotten far behind on posting new stories and pictures. I guess that's life with four children! :) I did want to show the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes: Katie was Snow White, Lauren was Sleeping Beauty, Preston was a penguin, and Parker was a skunk. We had a great time on Halloween--the weather was beautiful and it was fun to walk around our neighborhood!