cheeeese

i was taking pictures of lincoln this afternoon. it started out just fine. got a couple of good pictures:

take one:

take two:

and then lincoln started doing this cheesey grin thing.

take three:

it looks like he's crying but he's just cheesing out.

when my camera comes into focus a little light turns on. every time the light came on he was ready for his close-up . . .

take four:

with that cheesey grin and his eyes tight.

take five:

take six:

and he'd do it every time.

take seven:

what a funny kid. he was cracking us up, or as maria would say, "all the way open". i would've thought nine months was a little young to start the cheesey pictures and yet it was unmistakable. he was purposefully making these faces.

man, i love this kid.

linkies - 9 months old

i can't believe my little linkies is 9 months old. it's fun to see all the changes he's been going through. although, it does makes me a little sad to see him growing up. i wish they didn't have to grow so fast.

he's been making me laugh a lot lately doing all these funny baby things. all i have to do is say "hi" and he starts waving in this cute little baby way - sometimes hitting his own face with his own waving hand.

he's been crawling around like a pro for quite a while now, and ethan and i even saw him get up on one step of the stairs the other night (how do they figure these things out so quickly?). he's already working on his sixth tooth which is very unusual for my kids. my other kids had one, maybe two teeth by this time.

he's pretty much always in good humor. even when he is upset he tries to be happy and he ends up doing this cry/laugh thing. he is very patient and forgiving.

he's very vocal and i had to keep him out of the chapel through the entire sacrament meeting on sunday. he was never upset, just too loud making happy noises, most of them a growling kind of noise.

lincoln is a lot of fun and is such a joy to all of us. we are so glad to have him in our family.

he is proof to me that Heavenly Father knows exactly what he's doing. before he was born i thought things were going to be completely crazy and out of control with four little kids. truth is, it isn't as bad as i was expecting it to be and, as it turns out, lincoln is exactly what i need right now.

felt food

for those that have been wondering, here is a link to see the felt food tutorials i have been using from craftiness is not optional. i think her food is the cutest of all the different ones i've seen.

here is a picture of something she has done:

isn't that too cute?

sorry it took me so long to post this. all of my bookmarks mysteriously disappeared from my web browser one day. and i mean ALL. if you are someone who has a lot of bookmarks, like i am, and uses them often, like i do, then you have learned a good lesson: keep a hard copy of your bookmarks so that when they magically disappear some day you will still be able to find your favorite websites.

homeschool funnies

while practicing the date i asked the kids to say, "today is monday."

maria and hudson replied, "today is monday" and libby replied, "munnyday."


we always sing a song before school. today we sang "i am a child of God." hudson apparently was harnessing his inner melville as he sang:

"lead me, guide me, walk beside me. help me find the whale."

funny things kids say

thought i'd post a few funny things the kids have said before i forget about them.

i've been trying to teach libby to say, "it's so fluffy i'm gonna die!" or "it's so FLUFFY!" . . . you recognize these things if you've seen "despicable me". i just thought it'd be really cute to hear her say it in her cute little libby voice. but instead of saying "fluffy" she always says "puppy" so when she says it it sound like this: "the puppy's gonna die!"

yesterday hudson said, "this soda make me sizzle."

hudson also said yesterday, "i like to watch word world. it's on plee.b.s kids." of course he means p.b.s kids.

the kids like to pretend to throw snowballs at each other and each time they throw a snowball they say, "snowball! snowball!" this morning libby was throwing her felt food at ethan but she was a little confused. instead of yelling, "snowball!" she yelled "snowman! snowman!"

christmas

we had a great christmas this year. this was the first christmas we've had at our home with just our little family. now that the kids are getting older christmas is getting to be a lot more fun. i tried to keep gifts simple this year. ethan and i gave each kid two presents and each kid also got one gift from all their siblings. i'd always done more than that in the past but i've realized that my kids play with their toys more often and appreciate them more if they have fewer toys. plus there's the added bonus of having fewer things to pick up.

maria's two gifts: mulan dolls and cinderella dolls. i knew she was going to be excited about these. she actually screamed when she opened the cinderella box.

with lincoln growing so many teeth (four already with more trying to burst out) we figured he needed a hefty chew toy. i love it because it's all natural - made from hard wood and finished with organic olive oil and beeswax. i also love that it is a silent toy. so hard to find these days, every thing crinkles or rattles or squeaks. i need more quiet in my life.

here is some of the felt food i made for libby. i am not a sewer and the night before christmas i was wondering why in the world i decided to do this. most of it turned out okay, tho, and i think she likes playing with it . . . well, she likes making a mess with it at least. ethan and i also gave her the pots and pan.

libby wearing the pretty dress her aunt elise gave her. she loves to be pretty. i need to get a picture of the pretty dress her grandma and grandpa nuttall gave her. she wore it to church and she loves it.

yea, playing with her new toys! she opened the pots and pan box first. all the felt food was in one box and when she opened it she let out a little squeal then grabbed as much as she could and shoved it into a pot.

lincoln's at that age where he enjoys the wrapping more than the actual toys.

the kids are showing what they got from their siblings. hudson got a sword. maria got a stamp set. libby got a microphone that creates a kind of echo so it sounds like a real microphone.

libby goin' at it.

trying to figure out what to do.

christmas morning - a typical family portrait. libby is crying because hudson was so excited he almost pushed her down the stairs and i don't remember why maria is mad.

my mom made scrubs for hudson and gave him a doctor's kit. he examined me then said quite professionally, "mom, your heart is gone."

my parents also gave him a tool set. he's been "fixing" all sorts of things around the house.

THE sword. he loves this thing. he's had his eye on this ever since we went to the american west heritage center this last spring. his favorite thing to say is, "my mom said i can't have a sword and i got one!"

ethan and i gave hudson a catapult and castle blocks. you can sort of see the blocks behind him on the right.

hudson md. he's got great bed-side manner.

birthday prep

hudson was asking how old libby is going to be on her birthday the end of this month. i told him she was turning two. then i thought it would be fun to teach libby to say "i'm two."

mom: libby, can you say "two"?

libby: daddy tooted!

should have seen that coming.

mom: no, no. say "two".

libby: ma'ia tooted!

mom: (sigh) no, libby. "tooooo". "tooooo". not "toot".

libby: toooooo?

mom: yes, libby! can you say, "i'm two"?

libby: (breaks into random song)

i never did get anymore than that.