variety show.

Our ward had a variety show the other week.  Lincoln was so excited to participate with a few of his friends.  We had no idea what they were doing until the curtains opened.  I thought they were just going to goof off but they did a really fun skit and were a big hit!  

Two friends went camping and did rock, paper, scissors to see who slept in the tent and who slept outside.

 The boy that slept outside got beat up repeatedly throughout the night (that's Lincoln with the stick).

 The boy outside decides to switch places with the boy in the tent.

 The boys decide to beat up the boy in the tent.  Lincoln had a blast pretending to beat up his friends.  Let's just hope it doesn't carry over into his real life.  Sometimes he can be a little rough.

 A group of dental wives surprised their husbands with a skit about taking care of your teeth.  The husbands had no idea they would be participating!  The wives were their hands.  It was SO funny!

 My favorite act of the night was when the Bishopric performed.  They sang an old barbershop song.  Reminded me of when Jeremy and I were engaged and he sang a similar song at his wards Valentine's dance.  That's Jeremy in the middle singing a solo.

My only regret is not getting our girl group back together for another awesome dance number.  There's always next year...

stickers.

A very sweet lady in our ward loves to send our kids stickers in the mail.  She sends them for birthdays, holidays and just because.  She is really such an amazing friend.  The kids love to get the mail in hopes that there is a letter from her.  She sent Graham some stickers for his birthday a few weeks ago.  Inside were some awesome cross stickers.  Very religious.  Jayne thought they were the coolest thing in the world and insisted that each of us wear one. She even wanted pictures taken with Jeremy and I.  

 And one more with her favorite pose.  She is such a character these days.

prince charming.

Jayne brought this crown home from church on Sunday.  It says, "I can be a good example".  When we asked her what it said she replied, "Um..... I am Jesus!"  Nice.

future rockstar?

Jayne was down in the basement singing "Man or a Muppet" the other day and Jeremy caught some awesome diva expressions.  The girl loves to sing!

 Every rockstar needs a backup singer....

our little monkey.

Peter has been such a joy lately.  We've really had such a fun time with him.  The other night he was really hamming it up in his highchair after dinner.  We all gathered around him and were entertained for a good ten minutes by his silly faces.

 He loves to feed us.  Loves, loves it.

 If you spit out the food, he thinks it is completely hilarious.  Yes, we are awesome and spit out food for our children.

 He is often found sitting up the table enjoying the leftovers.  He's such a sweet, sweet little crazy man!

oh toodles!

Peter has a major crush on Mickey Mouse.  He LOVES to watch him.  It's kind of sad since he's only 22 months old.  The other day he said, "Oh toodles!" with Mickey and my heart melted.  I wish our camera took videos... these pictures don't do it justice.  You can see his little hand on the side of his face getting ready to say it...

 This is how he usually looks when he's watching... totally immersed.  He'll scurry up to the tv to show me which tool he would pick whenever toodles comes.  And he LOVES to do the Mousekercise with Mickey.

 In other news.... he is officially off of his bottle!  This was his final side swig.  I'll miss that so much.

the trombone.

Our house just got a little noisier...  this guy decided that he wanted to learn how to play the trombone!  

 He's having so much fun with it so far...

 I think it's pretty adorable that it's almost the same size that he is!

habit broken.

I have been biting my nails for as long as I can remember.  They have always been little nubs.  I decided about a month ago that it was time to quit.  I thought it would be really hard, but it wasn't too bad!  It's been a month now and I am very pleased with myself.  

I found that I was most tempted to bite them when I was driving in the car.  And I've learned that I do better when they are painted.  Makes me feel prettier and more feminine.  I may just treat myself to a manicure more often now because I won't be embarrassed by my little nubby nails!

3:42, thursday afternoon.

classroom treats.

Graham wanted to take something buggy for his birthday treat to his school class.  After hearing that there was a severe nut and chocolate allergy in the class we decided to stay safe and made these....

Rice crispy treats with fruit by the foot wrapped around them, decorated to look like dragonflies!

They were a huge hit!

missionary friends.

Dash made some new friends this week...

The first few years we lived in Cleveland the Elders were assigned to our area.  The next few years the Sisters were assigned to our area.  Now we get the Elders again!  It's so fun to have them in our home once a week for dinner!  We always have two or three sets of missionaries assigned to our ward, so there is plenty of opportunities to feed them.  We are so blessed when we do!

birthday boy + presents.

The birthday boy woke us up bright and early at 6:30 am ready to open presents!  He insisted on taking the traditional picture at the top of the stairs...

Then he opened presents from family.  He loved the gifts from both grandparents!

He was very specific in what he wanted this year.  He requested overalls, a plaid shirt and a jean jacket to wear.  And he wanted a karaoke machine.

He was thrilled when he opened his "Perry-oke" machine!  The kids have had loads of fun with it the past few days.

He got lots of bug collecting things at his birthday party.  As soon as his friends left he was outside with his sisters, diggin for bugs.

The found something cool.  Probably a worm.

He got a set with three different science experiments.  One of them was a dino dig.

His big present was a parakeet, just like Lincoln!  We had so much fun visiting the pet store and picking out the perfect companion for Dash.

Meet Larry.  Or "Lawie" as Graham pronounces it.

We got some new toys and treats for the cage.  The birds are in heaven!  Our favorite is watching them on the little swing.  Sometimes they go for rides together.

Grace was invited to a birthday party in the afternoon at Chuck-E-Cheese.  We made it a family affair and just kept on celebrating!

Graham declared it the best birthday ever!  Phew...