Moki

Oh dear.  I never thought I'd be that mom that had an album full of dog photos, but it looks like I am.  As I was going through the last couple of weeks to update this blog, I was shocked by how many pictures of Moki I have on there!  So now I get to do the dog mom thing and share all of the photos of our pup.  We have been getting used to having Moki around; his schedule, our schedule, his personality, our personalities, and trying to train him so that everything fits together well.  The kids absolutely adore him.  And, to Moki's credit, he doesn't seem to necessarily have one favorite "sibling" over the other.  

Cambrie is his favorite to spend hours cuddling with.  

McKenzie is his favorite when it comes to simple snuggles and piano concerts.

  Kelton is his favorite brother to take him on walks.  

Daxton is his favorite sibling to wrestle with.  

He typically walks with me when I walk the boys to school.  When it comes time to part ways he sits there whimpering like crazy to see his brothers go.  (It's adorable.)

He loves it when we come home from school, work, or errands and play with him.  I mean, look at that tail going wild!

  His favorite toys are by far balls.  He doesn't care what size they are, he loves to chase them around. Sometimes he gets his tennis ball stuck under the couch and goes crazy trying to retrieve it.  When he's feeling slim he'll shimmy underneath the couch to get his ball out.  I don't think he'll be able to fit for long, but right now it sure is funny to watch.  

He has his basket of toys and his favorite corner to squeeze into next to the couch.  He loves sitting on his bed and watching the family do their thing at night, just happy to be there.  (This was him watching McKenzie and I sew...thrilling stuff!)

He rarely barks unless he's chasing the boys, and I love that he's fairly quiet.  He doesn't even bark at his best friend Finn when they're both out in the yard.  Finn is Megan's dog and lives next door.  These dogs seriously are best buds.  Noelle will just hand Finn up and over the fence and these two boys go wild!  They love to chase each other and wrestle. 

 

Of course their favorite spot to wrestle is the flower bed which is layered with dark, rich soil.  They get filthy.  Why don't they wrestle on the grass where we don't have to bath them afterwards?  

When we first got Moki, he was not a fan of the snow.  Now that we've seen plenty of it he's learned that he loves playing in it.  My absolute favorite is when he digs his face down in the snow, and then pops his head back up, his muzzle covered in snow.  It gets stuck in his eyebrows and beard making him look like an old man!  

When the rest of the family is at work or school, he just follows me around like my little shadow.  As far as puppies go, he's been pretty perfect.  We hope he stays that way! 

Daxton's birthday

The week between McKenzie's birthday and Daxton's birthday seems to take so long sometimes.  This year Daxton was especially anxious for his birthday because he was going to have his first ever birthday party!  His actual birthday was on a Thursday and he woke up to find some awesome balloons waiting for him, along with the coolest goblet of birthday gummy bears he's ever seen!  

He wanted crepes for his birthday breakfast (have I ever told you how much I love making these kids' birthday breakfasts?  They're always so tasty!)  

As he walked out the door to school, I couldn't believe that this was my first year sending in birthday treats to school!  With two summer birthdays, and one sometimes-winter-break birthday, I had almost forgotten this was a thing.  He said school was awesome.  Every kid in his class wrote a nice note to him, and the loved it.  Because he was going to be having his birthday cake at his friends birthday party, he was able to choose a second birthday desert that night at dinner.  He chose ice-cream sandwiches.  I'm not going to lie, his choice of tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner, and then ice-cream sandwiches as a treat was fabulous as a mom.  

Opening presents was a lot of fun.  He got some new games, new Legos, a new swing for outside, and Jeremy's favorite-airsoft guns.  

I can't tell who that gift is ultimately for, Jeremy or Daxton?  

The three boys took the new weapons out the backyard and had an epic battle.  I have to admit, I love that Jeremy loves playing with the boys like this.

Saturday finally arrived and it was time for his friends to come over.  We decided to have a game themed party.  We pulled out all of  Daxton's favorite games and placed them in various rooms in the house.  We spend the next two hours playing Jenga, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Twister, and Mouse Trap.  The kids we had come over were perfect little gaming buddies.  I didn't get a posed shot of the all kids, but we had London, Ollie, Coleson, and Elle come to play.

Daxton has been wanting a pinata ever since McKenzie's dementor pinata last year.  His was more cheerful, an ice-cream cone.  We took it outside and let the kids go wild.  It was the most cooperative pinata I've ever seen.  It gave each kid exactly three hits before breaking open.

  

After all of the candy had been dumped and claimed, McKenzie and Cambrie wanted their turn smacking the pinata.  Cambrie decided to attack with her sword and skewered that poor pinata with style.  

Back inside we finished with cake and presents.  

I'm so glad that Daxton wanted a party.  He's grown so much more confident with other kids and I'm so proud of him.  Happy 6th birthday to the little guy who gives the best good morning hugs ever!

Little boys and family prayer

Oh my heart.  Please never let me forget how adorable these little boys are.  I cheated during family prayer to capture this moment, and I'm so glad I did.

 

Sleds and car tethers

Snow!  We finally have snow!  On this spectacular two-hour delayed start for school, we tethered up the sleds and pulled the kids down the road.  

There was almost too much snow and it kept spraying up like crazy in their faces.  It went much better after they put on their ski goggles, but by then they had to ditch their goggles for backpacks.  At least we squeezed in a little fun before school started. 

Wipe out success!

The first snowman of the season.

McKenzie's birthday

We have another young woman in the house!  McKenzie turned 12, and it seems perfect for her.  

It was her year for a family party.  She chose for us to go watch Sing 2 at the theater then we went out for Olive Garden for dinner.  Well, we actually ordered Olive Garden in for dinner, but it didn't change how delicious it was! 

 

She was thrilled when she woke up on her birthday and found a huge cozy chair waiting for her.  We found this chair back in December as we were browsing for something completely unrelated, but she's been dreaming of it ever since.  It is the perfect chair to snuggle up in and watch a show, or read a book, or text your friends, or just curl and relax.  

She chose to have Belgian waffles for breakfast, then headed off to school like any normal sixth grader.  

She was able to open her remaining presents after school.  Her sweats from the G.O.A.T. show finally arrived, and they couldn't have come at a better time.  It's been chilly here lately!  

Just before bed we were able so chow down on some cake.  Her request was fondant flowers, well those apparently are trickier than they look.  But Jeremy pulled out another great cake like always.  

Look at this girl!  Isn't she beautiful!? McKenzie has the most genuine smile and kind eyes.  She's just as beautiful on the inside, her goodness just radiates through her.  We are incredibly lucky she is part of our family!