Bye-Bye, January!

Wow, the first month of 2015 is already behind us!  We ended January on a high note with no sick kiddlings this past week. It has been pretty cold outside so no playtime outdoors. Luckily the kids have been playing well together and play well on their own, too.

Daddy and Addie coloring a 'Hello Kitty" picture that Ayson brought home from school for Addie on Tuesday (thanks, Ayson!).
Ayson found an extra computer hard drive component that Daddy had and all week Ayson wanted to plug the hard drive into something and make a robot. We gave him Daddy's old (non-working) cell phone (visible in the picture) and Ayson talked non-stop about robots.


TaDa!



The kids playing on the piano Thursday evening.



Addie belting out a little 'Balto' solo.



On Saturday, Daddy received a package of duck bacon (to make up for the duck bacon package that was not wrapped properly 2 weeks ago) and the package came with dry ice! Daddy explained sublimation (tried to at least) to the kiddos and then showed them how to make "fog" from dry ice.



Ayson and Daddy went shopping on Saturday for a present for one of Ayson's friends that was having a Lego Party on Sunday and Daddy also picked up a few science toys for our kiddos (at Hobbly Lobby). Ayson received a robot that runs on salt water and Addie was given a "Sick Science Bottle" that has 3 experiments dealing with water and pressure.



Getting ready to watch the robot zoom across the floor.



Addie chowing down on mac n cheese (with sweet potato) and peas. Just like Mommy, Addie likes to mix her peas and mac n cheese :)

Mommy and Daddy are concerned about Addie's right front tooth...click on the pic and zoom in a bit. A couple of weeks ago, Addie had a bloody mouth (from hitting something) and the blood was from behind her right front tooth. That tooth is now a little bit darker than the left front tooth...
Addie does still suck her right thumb and there is quite a bit of pressure applied to that right front tooth...guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully the adult front tooth is not affected.



Daddy rented the movie "Lucy" on Saturday night (he had been wanting to watch the movie for awhile now) and then he fell asleep. Mommy enjoyed the movie and luckily the movie is available until Monday :)



Ayson making a Birthday Card for Quinton (thanks again for all of the stickers, Auntie Holly!)



Ayson making a goofy face and Addie making a "pout face" with the extra lip (Mommy showed Addie how to perfect the bottom lip.  :) Granted, we are not sure why Addie is making a pout face...



Mommy wrote out "Quintin, Happy Birthday" and then Ayson copied the words onto the birthday card. Ayson asked what a "comma" was and Mommy tried to explain punctuation (go ahead and laugh) and then told Ayson it was intended as a "pause or a wait" in reading/talking...sigh...



Fun at the Birthday Party!



An awesome snowman that Ayson made at school.  When Mommy asked Ayson about it, he said that his teacher told him what to paint (so kind of like a step by step painting) starting at the bottom and working up to the hat, nose, scarf, and buttons. Glad to see that Ayson pays attention when it counts!



Ayson had another Pre-K review/update at school and Mrs Nicholson stated that Ayson is a hard worker and is doing great! He can count to 19 (then skips to 22), he knows his colors and most body parts (the ankle and heel seem to give Ayson problems). Mrs. Nicholson stated that Ayson is now ready for sight word cards. Great job, Big Guy!

A Quick Week

The week flew by with Mommy and the kids having Monday off and unfortunately, the pictures are very scarce this week.  A^4 was supposed to go to Grandma Collene's and cut/stack wood (from the property) but Ayson came down with a low grade fever on Friday morning so Daddy was the only one to go to Grandma's for the weekend. Grandma now has 18 face cord of wood cut and now it just needs to be stacked! Mommy and the kids had a low key weekend with lots of quite play time and naps for all on Saturday...as Addie also developed a low grade fever.  However, both kids were back to normal (temperature and temperment wise) on Sunday.


We had a bit of Candyland fun during the week.  Addie was more interested in making the figures hold hands in a circle (with Mommy's help:)



Ayson's school folder was full of projects that Ayson has been working on:
A bear with tall ears



A moose



An Ayson snowman



A very cool polar bear.  Mommy wants to ask Ayson's teachers how the kids made them.



On Thursday night, Mommy and a friend/colleague from work, Noelle, made a very last minute decision to go to a concert in Syracuse: Chris Young and Lee Brice.  Of course the kids were a bit shy with Noelle to begin with but then they warmed up and wanted to show Noelle EVERYTHING in the playroom.



Mommy and Noelle at the venue.  The concert was great and Chris Young blew both Mommy and Noelle away.  Lee Brice was good but surprisingly, not as good as Chris Young :)

Our Ducks in a Row

A^4 had a great low key week and then we had a festive weekend with family and friends for a "Duck Off."  Daddy loves to cook and he sure got his fill on Saturday!  The boys cooked 8 ducks and Daddy also made a huge batch of gumbo.

During the week, we worked on "digging out" another dinosaur.  Addie REALLY wanted to help but there was not much for her to do during the digging stage...



So Mommy distracted Addie with kinetic sand (Addie calls it squishy sand :)



The boys wearing their safety goggles



Building castles with dominoes



TaDa!!!  The finished T-Rex!!!  After Ayson dug him out, Addie helped clean him up, and then Mommy snapped him together.



On Saturday we had the gang over for a "Duck Off."  Daddy,Grandpa Chuck, Uncle Dan, and Uncle Jay cooked EIGHT ducks: 3 in the oven, 3 on the grill, and 2 in the deep frier.
6 of the 8 ducks all in a row:



The kids and Grandpa Chuck supervising Grandma Collene's cooking while Ruby stood on guard :)



Tapas included: beef tongue (Mommy refused to try it), deep fried duck skin, venison jerky, 2 kinds of foie gras, 2 kinds of caviar, 3 kinds of brie, blue cheese, clementines, avocado, olive oil with seasoned salts, candied pecans, fruit, and baguette...and lots of wine.



Daddy also made a big batch of gumbo and Grandma Collene made mac and cheese and candied carrots (a big hit with the kiddos)!



Uncle Jay with a perfectly fried duck!



The kids:  Addie, Jacob, Curran, Ryliegh, Kaela, and Ayson.



Aunt Sally (Ric's sister) and Baby Doll.



Auntie Jen (you can see her arm on the left side of the quilt) made this amazing quilt for one of her daughters.  Jen was able to finish hand stiching the edge of the entire quilt while chatting with everyone that evening!



The big girls hanging out in the fort



While the boys hung out on the couches



This time around, the girls did an oatmeal mask...the boys did not want to join in.  Addie did NOT want her picture taken but she also had a bit of the oatmeal mask on too.  Not too much though as Mommy did not want to mess with her perfectly soft baby skin.



On Sunday, Ayson was all about his army uniform (from cousin Dane) and he wore rain boots and the camo hat around the house most of the day Sunday and Monday.



The temps got up into the low 40s on Sunday so A^4 took a stroll through the orchard.  Daddy tied the sled to his belt so he would not have to hold on to the  string the entire walk.  Mush, Daddy!



Mommy had Monday off and it was nice to have an extra day after having our family and friends over for the weekend.  We played with squishy sand, games, watched movies, played outside, and when Daddy got home, the kids broke out the Legos!

Princesses and Big Boys

It was a low key week for us as Addie was recovering from her cold and then Mommy and Daddy came down with slight colds...oh well.
It has been fun to watch the kiddos develop their likes/dislikes.  Addie is such a little girl wanting to wear "princess dresses" every day while Ayson loves following Daddy around, doing whatever Daddy does.

A picture from New Years Eve when Daddy took the kiddos to the grocery store.  (Mommy was checking Daddy's camera for pics from this week and stumbled on this gem :)



Addie had stuffed so many items in her back pack that she could not pick it up!  So Mommy helped Addie thin out her "loot" so that she could stay up right.



On Friday, Mommy got a call from Ayson's school stating that he threw up at lunch...ugh.  Ayson had a bit of an upset stomach but otherwise was fine the rest of the weekend.  So much so, that on Friay afternoon, he wanted to paint the bird house he got for Christmas!  (he ran out of paint for the roof but we will fix that this spring)  Nice job, Big Guy!  (Mommy followed Auntie Holly's lead and stripped Ayson down to underwear and a t-shirt for the painting fun :)



Princess Addie in her princess jammies and princess crown playing with her princess stamp set!



Ayson received at least 3 dinosaur bone dig sets for Christmas and we have slowly been working on them.  Nice smile (and safety glasses), Big Guy!



Ayson with a finished dinosaur...while wearing his dinosaur jammies.  Notice Princess Addie in her Cinderella dress in the back ground :)



The Exhibit, Discover the Dinosaurs, was in Syracuse over the weekend and we took the kiddos on Saturday afternoon.
Daddy and the kids next to T-Rex.  Ayson is even wearing a dinosaur shirt.  He wanted to make sure that everyone knew that he likes dinosaurs.  We assured him that everyone at the Exhibit shared his love for dinosaurs.



A blurry but smiling Ayson (he was bouncing ALL over the place with excitement)



Addie looked so adorable in the outfit that Grandpa Chuck gave her.  Mommy had on her boots, so Addie did too!



Addie enjoyed the big dinosaurs, especially when they moved, but her favorite part was the dinosaur bone "dig."



A purple dinosaur just the right size for Addie!



Ayson had fun in the bounce house section!



Addie playing her guitar!  She was rocking out on Saturday night :)



Excavating another dinosaur on Sunday!



A bit of Ayson's school work:
Mommy likes the stripes!



About the only snow we have these days...



Mommy asked Ayson about the below picture:  He was told he could draw whatever he wanted in art class, so he drew a rainbow and a treasure box (Mommy was unclear on the treasure box).