Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Champ

First of all, Champ was recognized for his outstanding academic achievement. He is such a little wiz kid. Feel free to quiz him on his times tables.

No first grader is complete without a toothless grin. We are keeping the tooth fairy busy!

It's that time of year again- hoop dreams.
Oh the passion! Champ is so fun to watch!

This ones every bit as busy as his older brother was and has a smile that melts his Mama's heart.
Oh, how I love my boys!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Scarly is 3!






We love you!!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday!

It really has been the most wonderful time of the year. Here are the kids with their cousins performing the Nativity on Christmas Eve. Chan was a wise man, Scarly a lamb, and Lu an angel.

Then it was home to prepare the house for Old St. Nick...and 8:30 am church the next morning. We also made some Russian borscht for Christmas dinner. I think we'll make that a tradition. Santa spoiled us all and we had a wonderful Christmas.

Here's Lu getting ready to show the boys how tough she is!

  New Years Eve Polar Bear Plunge! Yes, we joined up with some good friends and Logan's family to make the plunge into freezing cold water!! Channing and Lulu were awesome. Samara was the only girl that took the plunge!! The kids had a blast and loved the excitement.
That face is too much!
Samara also turned 5 on January 2nd!!! She and her friends celebrated in their PJs at her birthday breakfast bash!



Here's Nash and Chan Man making the plunge....

Monday, December 26, 2011

Happy 1st Tal-mater

 Good morning Birthday boy! Christmas Eve Eve is this man's big day.
 And I've never seen a 1 year old so in love with his birthday present.Pure Joy!
 Good news for big sis is this: She and best pal Addie across the street can take their lil bro and sis on walks around the cul de sac. Cute sight!
 T has many willing pushers.
 Stop it right there. Something he loves more than his new buggy- Amanda: baby sitter of the year!
 Christmas Train cake for our man.
 Loved every second of being sung to!
 Special cookie from Amanda.
Yummy! 

We love you, Talmage!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Alive and Kickin'

Champ singing with his fellow classmates at the school holiday program.

Lulu and friends were angels for their Christmas dance recital. This girl loves to perform!

PRINCESS IN THE MAKING! Jer bought her this dress after she decided to potty train herself . It's been a few weeks and we are still accident free!!! You go girl!

Mom says that bibs are pointless for me! Am I always this happy?

ABSOLUTELY!

Well, there you have it. There is so much more going on, but I haven't been the best at photographing. We have lots of Christmas activities still to come and someone VERY CUTE is turning 1 next week!!!! Stay tuned!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone and such fun it was. Unfortunately, I was so busy with all the activity that I hardly pulled out the camera. It's a downright shame. Love Halloween, but I do breathe a big sigh of relief when it is over and the sugar detox begins.
An alien, 2 witches, and a skeleton baby(not pictured).

We love Halloween Carnivals! Who wouldn't want to hold Scarly's cheeks?




Skywalk!


Yes, I did a few toe touches!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Champ's Finger

I think I'm finally ready to post about Channing's traumatic finger accident, six weeks after it happened. Channing got his left index finger caught in the cord of our blinds while jumping from the couch to the love sac and it tore off his fingertip. It was awful. Luckily, Heavenly Father blessed us with a little boy who has incredible strength and mental toughness.He cried for a few minutes after it happened but hasn't cried or complained about it since. Even though we were able to find the missing piece of his finger,  the doctor chose not to reattach it. We worried a lot and prayed a lot, as we wanted the best possible outcome for Channing's little finger. Well, six weeks and some surgery later, Channing's finger is miraculously healing. He lost the entire fingernail and even some below it, but somehow it seems to be regenerating itself and the nail bed is beginning to reform- pretty incredible. Channing hasn't let it slow him down one bit. The Chan man is pretty amazing. Here are a few pictures. Sorry if it grosses you out.
Here's Channing, a couple days after, doing his favorite thing- playing catch with Dad. The doctor told him to take it easy....... that doesn't work for the Chan man. Sadly, the accident happened only a few hours before Channing was to have his first night of Clovis Flag Football League. He'll have to wait for next year.
This is how wrapped up it was for those first few weeks. My friend Angie helped me clean the wound and re wrap it everyday for those first few weeks because it was just too much for me to look at.  She was an angel!

Luckily this picture isn't too gory. This was taken one week after.
I will post some more recent pictures so you can see the remarkable healing. It is truly a miracle! I'm grateful for experiences that strengthen our faith and remind us that we can do hard things. Earlier that day, I had been reading Elder Lynn G. Robbin's talk from April General Conference. I had prayed for opportunities to help my children recognize who they are instead of focusing on the things they do. Anyways, it was interesting how this experience turned out to be a defining experience for Channing and highlighted what a strong and noble spirit he is. Careful what you pray for, I guess. :)



"In helping children discover who they are and helping strengthen their self-worth, we can appropriately compliment their achievement or behavior—the do. But it would be even wiser to focus our primary praise on their character and beliefs—who they are."