She's Five.

Happy 5th Birthday to my sweet Sophia Elizabeth.

When she woke up this morning she said "Momma don't I look taller now that I'm five?"
Daddy called her from overseas to wish her happy birthday and she was all smiles.  We are heading to the pool this afternoon and having some cake after dinner. 

Phia Bia, you are silly, smart, loving, creative and such a goofball.  Daddy calls you his princess and you sure take that title seriously.  You never cease to make us laugh and we are so glad that God blessed us with you!  We love you to the moon and back!
Love Momma, Daddy, Noah & Jonah (and Zoey too!)

True Christmas Spirit.

Today I took Sophia to the Dollar Store to get some Christmas gifts for her brothers. She always accumulates quarters and dimes and nickels and puts them in her piggy bank, and she informed me last night that she wanted to use her own money to buy presents. She only had $3.50 so I figured the Dollar Store was our best bet. She found gifts that she is sure her brothers will love, and she took out her own wallet and I helped her count out her change. I'm sure we annoyed the stuffing out of everyone in line (and there was a LONG line) but I didn't rush her becuase it was a huge teaching moment.

After the Dollar Store we hit up Hobby Lobby so I could grab a few things and out front there was a bell ringer for The Salvation Army. Sophia asked me on the way in what they were ringing the bell for and I told her that they collect money in the red bucket for kids and families that don't have alot. On the way out of the store she asked for her wallet and had me help her count out fifty cents that she had left over from present buying. She walked herself right up to the man ringing the bell and said she wanted to put her money in the bucket. I let her do it all by herself and stood off to the side. He smiled at her and wished her a Merry Christmas and she said "You too! And I hope the families who don't have money have a good Christmas too!"

I told her how proud I was of her for buying presents for her brothers with her own money, and especially for giving some of her money to people in need. She looked at me and said "Well, momma, you can help whether you're small or big. Everyone needs to make sure that kids with no money have a good Christmas too. We can't just do nothing."

She has no idea how much she touched my heart, and even that measly 50 cents will mean so much to someone. THIS is the true spirit of Christmas. And I'm so proud of my 4 yr old that she realizes this already.

This makes me smile.

Wish Lists.

The other day I asked the kids to make out their Christmas lists. Normally I'm just about done shopping by this point in the year but not this time around. Life has been, well, life.
Anyway, the boys spent alot of time on their lists and when Sophia was done in the bath she got to work dictating her list to daddy.
Jonah kept asking me how to spell things and I would tell him and I wasn't really paying all that much attention. He asked me how to spell "screen" and I told him, and then thought to myself What is he wanting that has "screen" in it's name? I let it go thinking maybe it was a game I'd never heard of.
And when they were done they handed me their lists and I figured out why my crazy 7 year old asked how to spell "screen".
First thing on his list? Big Screen T.V.
Nice try, bucko!

Thankfully the kids know that they won't be getting EVERYTHING on their lists and that it's a guide we go by, so he shouldn't be all that disappointed when Christmas morning rolls around and there's no TV under the tree for him.

Back to school (a few weeks late)

Alright y'all...here are the long awaited first day of school pics! My Noah is now a 5th grader, Jonah-man is in 2nd and my baby girl started pre-k!

Miss Thang was super excited for school to start!Just a girl and her daddy (and her brothers way up ahead) walking to school.

Circus Party

Little Miss had her birthday party back over Memorial Day weekend, but I was so busy with getting ready for and going on our cruise that I never got to post the pics. I have a little down-time right now on the second leg of our trip while we wait out the afternoon thunderstorm here in South Carolina, so I thought I'd get these bad boys posted for you. The circus party was probably one of the most fun parties we've had in our house. The kids and our friends are still talking about it. That's a winner in my book!

She's 4.

Proof

Just in case you though I was exaggerating about how busy life is here:

She's not a baby anymore.

I've been busy planning my little monkey's 4th birthday party, which is just around the corner. I know that she's growing up- she's been potty trained for nearly 2 years, can spell, write and type her name, and talks with vocabulary well beyond her almost-4-years. But today was different.

Why?

Because I spent my morning enrolling her in Pre-K.

When you're standing in line with a birth certificate, proof of residence and shot records, waiting to sign your youngest sweet munchkin up for her first year of school, it hits you. Hard.

She's not a baby anymore.

I don't know if I'm ready for that.

I can't wait for June so the hubby & I can take our cruise, but I hope that August takes awhile to get here. Please let me savor the last few months of having a toddler.

I'm surrounded by monkeys.

Yesterday we took the kids to the Oklahoma City Zoo. The kids were out of school for President's Day and the hubby had the day off as well, so we decided it'd be a fun outing. Our apartment gets small when the 5 of us are sitting around with nothing to do. We found out from a friend that the zoo was offering free admission on Mondays in February, so that sealed the deal for me. Even with it being cold and windy. Passing up a free zoo day was NOT something that I could swallow...I do have Dutch blood running through my veins you know. We are a thrifty people.

Anyway, we didn't spend a ton of time there because of the cold...the animals weren't very active either. But I did get some great pics of the kids.

And this one is by far my favorite.

Monster Jam Time!

For the second year in a row, the little man chose a trip to see monster trucks over having a birthday party. Last year it was a boys' night out- the hubby took the two dudes along with a friend of ours and his son. But this year Sophia & I went along. You know...because we need some 'culture' in our lives.


I have to say, I had alot of fun. My kids and hubby were SO excited to see Grave Digger. But when the "halftime show" was on and I witnessed motocross bikes in action...this momma was blown away. These crazy nuts were doing backflips off a ramp that I'd be scared to walk up, let alone speed a dirtbike onto. And the quad riders were doing tricks too. But the chaos that was their finale...I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Serious. They had the bmx bikers going off their ramp while the dirtbikes and quads went off their ramp and did tricks OVER TOP OF THE BMXers!! WHAT?! As a mom I was scared to death for these boys who clearly were dropped on their heads as children. I mean, what other reason would someone willingly fling themselves upside down while riding an offroad vehicle? And if one of them fell down and landed on those poor bmx bikers? Forget it. I'd have been scarred for life, and I probably would never let my kids ride their bikes ever again. Because you know that the little man would try to do some tricks the next time he hopped on his two-wheeler. No. Thanks.


But thankfully no one got hurt and I was sold. I want to go to more motocross freestyle events! I watch X Games with my boys and can't believe the stunts those guys do, but when you see it live in person, right in front of your own face...it's amazing.


Oh yeah, and the monster trucks were pretty cool too.

Enjoy it while it lasts!

Last week I was sitting in my house shivering as I looked out the window in disgust. For the second week in a row the kids had more than one day of school cancelled due to snow (6 snow days in 2 weeks people!!) and I was at the end of my quickly fraying rope.

But this week?

This week has been lovely. Well, except for the "breezy" 30+ mph wind we have everyday. But gale force winds aside, the weather has been almost perfect. Two days this week we got up to 80. I was in heaven! Today was a little cooler, and the ever-present wind made it feel more chilly than it should have, but we decided to celebrate the sun and above-freezing temps by meeting the hubby for a picnic at the park since the boys were out of school.

Again. This time it's for teacher in-service day or something. (I'm seriously beginning to wonder if Oklahoma schools EVER have a full 5 day school week!)

The kids had a blast getting outside, and this park- despite being sandwiched between the interstate and one of the main roads outside the base-was alot of fun.

The kids said it was the best picnic they'd ever been on. Looks like we'll be frequent guests there....as long as the weather allows.

Disney Pictures. Better late than never.

Here are the super late (I'm talking over a month folks) pictures from our Disney trip the day after Christmas.