Some observations...

*Brennan will no longer even listen to my costume suggestions (such as Peter Pan and all the girls can be fairies...He gave me the "look").

He wanted to be a "bloody, hockey mask scary something", so the compromise was "death" and he isn't allowed to have that black fabric hiding his face.

*Bella and makeup are a scary combination...(she is a fairy and this is the first time I put any makeup on her, her eyelashes are so long and pretty and makeup makes her look far too old)

*Claire loves to dress up but is not liking the picture taking, she has a grumpy face in every photo I took of her

*Lily, your flower costume is divine and I have to exercise some serious restraint to keep from gobbling up your darling little babyness. You are starting to tire of my kisses, so not OK, Lil.

sick season is here...

So, Claire and I got sick in North Dakota. Claire is better, I am not. We have both been on antibiotics and I can barely crawl out of bed and get through the day. I feel like these pictures. Hopefully in a few more days I will be better. I have been sick forever...or so it seems.

On a happy note, Lily says "mama" all the time. It is officially her first word and she says it when she wants me. It is "oh, so sweet".

Lily... 11 months

Lily is 11 months old today. Hard to believe that she is so big. Her new thing is wanting to be "big" exactly like her older brother and sisters. We went to the mall last week and got some pretzel bites. I tried to hand her small, broken pieces. She yelled and threw them on the ground but kept putting her hand out for more. I handed her one pretzel bite stick and she was happy. She chewed off little bites (with her toothless gums) and finished the whole thing. She was mad that I was trying to feed her baby pieces while the "big" kids got their own whole pieces. Yes, it is starting already.

Lily is standing more and more on her own. She loves to unload all of the cups and plates from the kids drawer. Also, she continues to put anything and everything into her little mouth. I continue to bag up or throw away small toys.

Lily, you continue to grow big and strong and happy. That is the best kind of growing. You always have a smile on your face (0r almost always). LOVE IT!

North Dakota

As you can see, it is snowing and cold...very, very cold.

The kids collected pumpkins and gords yesterday before the freezing snow came.

Quite a change from Hawaii or Arizona!

Hawaii

Since it took me forever to upload my pictures and I really need to be packing for the trip to the "farm", this post will be short and sweet. The top two pics were of the kids with the things we brought home. Brennan requested a hat and shirt and the girls got dresses for themselves and their dolls.

We had a wonderful time in Hawaii. The highlights included lots of time reading on the beach, ziplining, surfing, shopping for the kids, delicious dinners, time in the pools, dental classes for Trevor, and lots of chocolate covered macadamia nuts with diet dr. pepper (my favorite).

Getting home turned into a nightmare and our flight turned around multiple times until they finally got us a new plane and we arrived in Phoenix almost 6 hours late. We got home just 30 minutes before Claire got up for the day. Hard first day back.

The kids loved their time with Nana and Papa and we are so very grateful that they watched them all.

And we got to celebrate Papa's birthday last night, so we didn't even have to cook our first day back.

Now I have to go pack up winter clothes for the farm. Packing for the beach is sooooo much easier.

Girls Weekend

Alisa and I went to Vegas to see the Killers Concert. It was beyond fun. Alisa and I shopped, ate, saw a movie, stayed up way too late and ate lots of candy on our road trip. Seriously, I am up for girls trips whenever you are.