January

 

The weather stayed in the 70s so long this year! We took a hike a few days after Christmas around a nearby lake. The kids each brought their stuffed animals (and Mike brought a balloon they gave us free at the grocery store).

 

Jacob loves Kindergarten. He would prefer to "do his own thing" and staying on task is not fun for him, but he works hard every day to keep his behavior at a "Green" level. He loves basketball and watching BYU games too. During Nicole and Mike's games he pays attention to what is going on most of the time. He gets to play next year and will be on Mike's team so that should be fun!

 

Katy is a little girl now. She communicates with little phrases sometimes and is super cute and sweet. She cleans up voluntarily after herself a lot! It's amazing to see her hang up her coat when we get home. Katy loves to push chairs around the kitchen to see what she can get into.

 

Michael started basketball. Before the first game I wanted to make sure he wouldn't be so physical (he tends to knock people over without really trying). I asked him what a foul was. He said "It's when you tackle someone" and thought everything else was fair game. Definitely his father's son haha. After a little explanation he understood. He got to do the jump ball and worked so hard in the game. In fact, he worked so hard he defended his man on defense AND offense! And one time he did an amazing job boxing his man out, except the guy he was guarding hadn't shot the ball yet. Jim and I had the funnest time watching Michael work so hard to apply all he's learned :)

 

Nicole is on the younger side of the league this year and there are plenty of girls her height. One time she shot the ball and was stuffed two times but kept shooting, and on the third try the ref finally called a foul. I was so proud of her for not backing down! For her free throw, she missed the first and then on the second shot the ref under the basket didn't get the ball (he has to pass it to her) before she shot it. She made it and it didn't count! So then, the ref passes it to her and when she shoots (and makes it AGAIN) a player on the other team stepped over the line too early. The ref didn't realize that shouldn't have meant a reshoot but he corrected the girl and told Nicole to shoot again. Meanwhile, even the coach on the other team was trying to tell the ref about his mistake. So Nicole shoots a 3rd time (and makes it for the 3rd time!) and the ref finally counts the point. I couldn't believe she made so many in a row with all the confusion!

 

Diana is 100 miles an hour. I dropped her off at preschool one morning after Christmas break and I felt a distinct change in the atmosphere from spending every second encouraging, directing, helping this powerful emotional and physical force. She is incredible, all she needs is me to keep up with her :)

The weather was so good and we got so much rain that weeds came out in force like we've never seen! So around New Years I had the kids pull hundreds of weeds. They all participated and had fun finding slugs and worms too. Michael is a bit of a ham sometimes :)

 

Jacob with a handful of weeds.

 

 

Boo, who we got from friends in late October, has really become used to our home. She loves to come out at night and explore. Nicole will hold her and Boo climbs right up her arm and into her hair every time! Boo has soft, grippy feet so it doesn't hurt. Boo can climb right up the glass of her cage it is awesome. We love our friendly lizards!

 

Jacob is insane at Twister. His flexible body makes prettymuch any move possible and he had fun beating Jim several times in a row.

 

Diana "helping" Jim give Flare a bath.

 

Katy is always at Diana's side, ready to hop in on the action. She might not be as obvious but she is getting into just as much fun as her sister. I LOVE having these two girls at home.

 

Diana is so full of energy and excitement!

 

Jim. Just because.

 

Michael doing the dishes. He uses his imagination and tells stories to himself out loud that sometimes involves plates and spoons while he is working. He sticks with the job until it's done so I figure whatever works is fine with me!

 

Flare is the most beautiful orange and red color! We are planning on starting to breed the beardies soon and have launched a website http://buybeardeddragons.weebly.com/ and facebook page in preparation. We will ship anywhere in the US and look forward to sharing these beautiful, friendly pets! I figure a pet that even Diana can handle is a pretty good pet indeed!

 

Sunny is growing and she is still the most friendly gecko ever! She loves to crawl all over whoever is holding her and is always trying to get somewhere, anywhere. Like a daughter of mine...

 

Spike is a funny guy. He doesn't like to eat greens. At his age he is supposed to eat mostly greens but he won't touch them. Even when Jim hides his bugs in the lettuce, Spike waits until the bug gets just out of range of the greens and then chomps up the bug. He reminds me of a few of my children :) He still weighs more than Flare (who loves her greens) though, I guess he just loves his protein! I can't wait to see what their baby lizards will look like! Katy figured out how to open his cage and has spent a lot of time "petting" him. Such a patient, chill lizard. We locked the cage now so Katy doesn't try to eat his bugs or something :)