Happy New Year!

We had our official new year's eve celebration with the kids at 9:08. Dad had found some sparklers, so they each let one go on the front porch. They also got to stay up an hour late watching a movie and have popcorn with real butter. I know, we're party animals!

I am a robot

As I was packing up the christmas decorations today, I found a present we forgot to give Sammy. His sister loves to play dress up, so after halloween, I got him some costumes to play with. This was the coolest one, so I saved it for Christmas. We can see how well that plan worked! It is the coolest costume, though. If you push the button on the bottom, it says "take me to your leader." He really enjoyed it, then moved on to his loader - robot construction!

Day at the park with Dad

I always tease Maryann for having so many pictures of her kids...now that I have my cool camera, it looks as if I am going to have to eat those words... We all went to the dentist today, then to the park. It is a special treat to have Dad at the park. It just doesn't seem worth it to go on the weekends when you live on 150 acres. It's good to have him there. He really pushes Pearl, which is why she looks so pained in so many of the pictures. Fun times!

Thank you, auntie Maryann!!!

So, the only Auntie and Uncle that Pearl and Sam are not seeing this year are Maryann and Brian, who live too far away and have too many babies to brave the airport system in iffy winter weather. There are a lot of things I love about Maryann, I think mostly because we have such different talents. Can you believe the tutu she made for Pearl? She is a very resourceful student! And, the one thing I complain about the hulberts is their UTTER lack of time sense, but I think the kids appreciated the presents much more than they would have amidst the craziness of Christmas day. She also knitted Sam a super hero cape, which he excitedly ran around with shouting "I a superhero, I can save the day" for about a minute, until he decided that the box was an even better toy. When he couldn't fit inside it, he tried to put it on his head...we're definetly not ready to leave home yet. Pearl really enjoyed her photo shoot, especially the part where I asked her to dance on the table. What a ballerina! I have to mention why she's laughing so hard...she likes to make up her own jokes, that only she and her friend Makayla think are funny. The joke of today was...what do monkeys eat when they don't like bananas anymore? Ostriches! I'm still not sure where her sense of humor comes from...

ok, really last one for today...

This is Sam looking over his shoulder at his dad riding a power scooter behind him...I think Daddy's looked a lot cooler!

ok, one more fav...

We got Sam a huge wooden crane from Pottery Barn Kids for christmas...this was the look on his face when he saw what it was..."It's a crane!" Too cute!

Pearl and Lizzie Scoot

This is Pearl pontificating on the Safety rules - like, always wear a helmet, come in before it gets dark...she is definetly one cautious kid!

Lizzie loved Sam's new scooter...it's a good thing Sam took a nap so she would get a turn. I did bring the little tricycle so Lizzie would have something to ride too, but all the kids wanted the scooter. Lizzie was actually pretty good at it...I should have made Mara buy one for her this christmas too. I have a feeling there will be a lot more playdates at my house...she can at least ride Pearl's while Pearl is in school! I was very proud of my cautious daughter -she actually started to glide by the end of the day (never mind that Lizzie and even Jack were gliding within 15 minutes...different skills...)