Lap loom

Riley loves to work on projects, and was very proud of her lap loom that Papa made her for Christmas.  She took it to show and tell at school which was the only one they had all year if that lets you know how special it is to her!  Love this sweet, sweet girlie!

J.J.'s first tooth

I told J.J. today as he wore his super J outfit that we made for Halloween last year that his super power was making people smile.  I mean seriously how can you not smile when you look at this kid???  He is the happiest, easiest going, and most fun loving kid...this may give us trouble in the future, but now it is wonderful!  This is a picture of all of his baby teeth before Jeff pulled a loose one. 

I love this look of "OK Dad I am trusting you on this one!"

Here is the loose tooth, and if you look closely you will see the permanent one growing in right behind it!

One little pull...

...Ohhh...it's out!

Love this look of...not quite sure.

It's gone and the new one is ready to take it's place.

New smile...same sweet face!!!

Warrior Dash take 3

 This was our 3rd year competing in the Warrior Dash, and we finally convinced some friends to join us who invited some other friends which turned into a group of us!  We had a great time, and decided that this was the hardest course yet.  They have gotten more challenging each year, and this year they put the mud pit as the very last obstacle.  Needless to say everyone was covered at the end of the race!!!

The mud pit at the very end of the race!

Us before the race

Us after the race!

I love finding out my race statistics so here goes:  I was 507th overall (men and women) out of the 5782 that competed.  I finished 12th in my age group out of 914!!!  I was disappointed that they clumped age groups together this year.  That put me in the 30-39 yrs group which meant that I was the oldest!  I guess one good thing about getting older is that next year I will be the youngest!!   Jeff did great as well.  He finished 217th/5782 and 19th/536.  We have lots of fun doing this and hope to have an even bigger group next year!!!

Bullfrogs and Butterflies Art party

 Pipi and J.J. turned 6 in May and I am just now posting!  I didn't want to skip over it!  These two love to do crafts and art more than anyone I know!  They ask ALL THE TIME if we can do a craft or paint something, so we decided that an art party would fill their hearts desire!

 A before shot of the butterfly/frog decorating table.

 This was the art canvas table.

 J.J. marble painting.  These pictures turned out amazing!

 On one end was the marble painting and the other was bubble painting.  They loved making a mess blowing bubbles through the straws.

 Our art display and my Pipi girl!

 The aftermath!

 Everyone got to "create" their own ice cream sunday.  Some of them were quite disgusting looking with all the colored sprinkles mixed up!

 This is by far NOT my best cake.  Of course it was so very last minute, but it turned out okay.

 These "paint brushes"  were a huge hit!

Here are the Birthday boy and girl.  We had to pretend to blow out the caldles because they wouldn't stay lit.  For some reason I didn't get many pictures of them at the party!

"Eye" see you

Who says you can't have eyes on the back of your head!!!

"The Cousins"

I wanted to do a quick update and come across this picture of "The Cousins" as they all so affectionately refer to themselves.

The Algie girls

We are so lucky to have each other!  Love all my sisters and my mom!

The bubble

I was looking through old pictures and came across this video.  I love when I remember to capture those every day moments.  This video was from about 2 years ago!  I just love to watch the interaction between these two!  It makes me smile, and I hope it will do the same for you.  Listen carefully to Riley's last statement!

Crossfit kids in action

The kids have been doing crossfit workouts a few times a week, and they love it!  Don't mess with the Wilson kids!!!

2nd annual Christmas hike

Jon, Jeff, Luke, Ron (Papa, Dad)

Last year the Wilson men started a tradition of going on a long hike during our Christmas break!  This year I think the hike was ONLY 10 miles long.  They have a great time, and Luke is right there in the mix.  It is also tradition that I make homemade pizza's for the weary hikers.  I think that is what the bulk of the conversation is about the last 3 miles!

Schweetheart

If anyone knows anything about Pipi and J.J, they know how important their Schweethearts are to them!  Thanks to Papa and Nana they now have quite a collection of all sizes (the newest and largest is not included in this picture).  Every time we go to the cabin they get all their monkeys and have a "photo shoot" with them.  This is one of the sweet pictures that was done all on their own!  Can't you just feel the love!!!

Boy vs. Wild

For NoBo's 8th Birthday we had a Boy vs. Wild survival party.  It was kind of a last minute theme, but it turned out great and was a perfect theme for little boys!  Notice the Eagles nest and "eggs".

Here are some of the decorations. 

Of Course you can't go without survival juice or water!

The kids are getting their survival kits, and taught how to use them.

"Hunting" for food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning how to start a fire without matches.

NoBo and his good friend sitting around the fire.

We had to have a dirt cake being out in the wild and all!  Complete with rocks and deer droppings!

Thanksgiving

Team Us

Team Them

We were so lucky to have (almost) all of my family come and visit us for Thanksgiving.  It was such a wonderful day with lots of good food, football, and a walk on the Shoreline trail at Talullah Falls.  We played our traditional Thanksgiving day football game...yes that is a football field you see painted on our side yard!

Please, please, please vote!!!

Pumpkin A

Pumpkin B

Okay, so I know that nobody has Halloween on their minds, and it is long gone.  Well, and so is Thanksgiving for that matter, and we are moving into Christmas, but..... I will be in big trouble if I don't post this blog and get votes.  We had our annual pumpkin carving contest again, and we need you to vote for which one you like the best.   Of course both teams want bragging rights for the next (almost) year, and only you can decide which team is the winner of the 2011 pumpkin carving contest!!!


Save me here and vote so I won't be accused of cheating or not wanting to enter into the competition!
I promise I will post more often if you do!!!  Just put either A or B in the comment section!  Thank you, thank you!!!

A little creepy!

 

This was the scene

when I went upstairs

to tuck everyone in!!!

Crazy sock day!

I love me some crazy sock wearing boys!  

(Pipi was in a foul mood and decided not to wear hers)