Jake!



When Lane was in Pre-K he became obsessed with a  Pirate Ship his teacher had in her class.  For his 5th birthday I tracked down the same Pirate ship for Lane.  Then he discovered Jake and ever since, he LOVES Jake and the Neverland Pirates, on Disney.  He loves pirates so much that he was a pirate for Halloween and he still pulls out his costume to dress up in from time to time. 

When I saw that Jake was coming to Tulsa I immediately called Clint to see about getting tickets.  Marlee loves anything that Lane loves and thankfully Sophia was also on the trip so I knew Marlee would love the show too.  We kept our plan a surprise and didn't tell the kids until we got them up to go to Tulsa.

We were super excited for the show to start.  Can't you tell - Marlee looks sooo happy!  Just kidding, she was in a great mood, you just can't tell by looking at the picture.

 During intermission some pirates came out to meet the kids.  So exciting!

The kids also got snow cones as a treat.  I think that was the highlight.

Happy Pirates!

 We got home just in time for bed.  Lane couldn't get into his Jake jammies fast enough.

 And was sweet enough to share his extra pirate jammies with his Sis. 

They both slept with visions of pirates in their heads all night!

Ice Skating

We went ice skating for the first time with the kids last night.  We bundled little E up like an Eskimo! 

Lane and Marlee were super excited.  We told them we were going the night before we went.  All day Friday Marlee kept asking me if it was time to go ice skating yet.

Lane got his skates on!

Grampy got his on!

And Marlee got hers on!

Grammy took a group picture of us before we headed out.

We all had so much fun!  Lane wanted to skate on his own!  He fell a lot, but he never complained.  He would fall and get right back up to keep going.   He was so determined, and he really improved while we were out there!  I was so proud to skate next to him.

Marlee wanted help from her Dad.  I started out with her, but I wasn't strong enough to skate and hold her up. 

We can't wait to go back next year!

Grammy's B-day!

We spent the day in Tulsa for Grammy's birthday.  We did some shopping and went to Sarah & Tyler's for appetizers and then went out for dinner. 

 I love this picture!

 I'm not sure what Lane was getting his sisters to do at dinner, but they were following along!

Grace and her Son's in law. 

She did not seem to enjoy their kisses!

The other side of the table.  Sarah had the camera so she didn't make it into our pictures.  As we get older, more and more people tell us how much we look alike.  People have been going on more and more about it lately, so when our waiter mixed us up, we both said we were twins at the exact same time.  It was a little freaky!

 Isn't she beautiful!

My little performer.

Christmas Day

Lane and Marlee were gated off at the end of the hallway to wait for everyone to get to our house Christmas morning.  It was a long wait for them!

Checking out Santa gifts.

We take a long time to open gifts!  We all go one at a time in a circle.  The kids get to play with their new things or help open gifts as they wait their turn to go again.   Elizabeth just had fun crawling around the packages.

 G & G with big smiles!

Clint got a big gift!  A fancy ladder that I already have big plans for! 

Aunt Sarah and Unc Tyler got E a little chair.  I think she loved it!

I sat the kids down for a picture at the end of the day.  I love the see them loving on each other!

And this is what you get when you add a screaming baby to the mix.

Good night all!

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve!  We began our day with a letter from Santa!  He sent us some special sparkle food for his reindeer for when they come to our house tonight.

We just had to mix the special sparkle food, that helps the reindeer fly, with oatmeal to give them energy. 

Elizabeth kept a close eye on us to make sure we did it right.

We went to Tulsa to Sarah and Tyler's for Christmas Eve dinner.   Grampy and Elizabeth snacked while we helped Sarah get dinner out.

Sarah's nephew Will came for the evening.  He is 12 and he loves the kids!  We only get to see him once a year, on Christmas Eve, but he is always good to play with the kids!

We all went to Church in Tulsa and headed home to get our final preparations for Santa done.  We had to spread the reindeer food.

And we had to decorate cookies for Santa.

This year Lane was able to write a note for Santa.   His note said "Drink your milk and enjoy your cookies".

 All ready for bed!