Kids cooking night

I know there pictures are in the wrong order--Sorry

The kids have been so into cooking lately, so I decided that once a week they could plan and prepare the whole meal (with some help of course). They have a few cook books that they look through and find what they want to make and then I pick up the things we need and they prepare it. They have been so excited about it. They have even picked a drink and dessert. This time it was strawberry smoothies and chocolate bunt cakes( didn't get a pic of the dessert) with spaghetti and meatballs and corn. It was really yummy!

Kyler's Birthday

Things have been a little crazy around here and I am just now getting around to posting about Kyler's Birthday. He is 5 years old now! I can't believe it.

Kyler loves ALL sports but his favorite is Basketball and Tennis. His favorite colors are red, blue and white. He loves the movie high school musical and any that involve fighting. He loves Spiderman and Batman, beyblades, and reading books. He can ride his bike without training wheels. Kyler loves to play with Bryn and Koby. One of my favorite things about Kyler is his smile, it lights up his whole face. I love how excited he gets over things. He is a very determined little boy and when he sets his mind to something, he won't forget about it. He loves to work out and has a regular routine that he does. He does jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and curls with dumbbells. He is always asking is something is healthy before he eats it, and at the same time he LOVES chocolate. His favorite things to eat are rice and pasta, fruit and broccoli. We are so happy to have Kyler a part of our family and love him very much.

A visit with Grandma and Grandpa

My parents came out for a visit after Christmas and spent New Years with us. We had such a good time. As always the time went way too fast and before we knew it they were getting ready to leave. While they were here we went ice skating, we saw the movie Tangled, and played miniature golf. The weather was perfect while they were here so we were able to be outside a little bit, so Kyler learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and we had some good games of basketball and football. We played some games and had treats in the evening and just really enjoyed having them come visit.

a morning conversation over cereal

This morning after Bryn left for school I was getting Kyler ready for school. We sat down to eat a bowl of cereal and he said the prayer. The rest of the conversation went like this:
Kyler: Mom, does not everyone say a prayer for their food?
Me: No
Kyler: So some people don't say prayers?
Me: Right
Kyler: Huh! So....... are they not very strong?
Me: (very confused, and at first thinking strong in a faith.. I know, what was I thinking talking with Kyler and thinking that way) what?
Kyler: So, are those people who don"t say a prayer not very strong?
Me: (laughing, finally getting it... In his prayer he said 'bless the food to make our bodies STRONG'), probably not as strong as those who do bless their food and say a prayer.

It just started my day off with a good laugh! I love kids minds and how they think and process information!!

sitting on Santa's Lap

I took the kids to sit on Santa's lap this week. I figured we needed to get this done if they were going to get their order to him. Bryn asked for a guitar and an American girl doll, Kyler asked for a Troy Bolton Jersey. Bryn told me after that Santa said, "Okay" so she said that means yes! She was so excited, I think she might have been expecting a "no!" I don't know, but anyway, we are excited for Christmas this year!
Koby was so brave and didn't even flinch when I handed him to Santa.

Our Gingerbread tradition lives on.....

Last year we decided that we were going to do a gingerbread project every year. When I made the dough this year, I didn't really know how much to make because I didn't make any templates for the pieces. So what I ended up with was two houses, one was smaller than the other. Erick and I took the bigger house and Byrn and Kyler had the smaller one. I didn't get any "in progress" pictures because my hands were covered in icing. However, the end product turned out great. We had such a good time doing these. The kiss with the tooth pick sticking out of it on top of Bryn and Kyler's is some sort of a gun, so while Kyler was creating a battle field Bryn was designing a castle!!! Next year I think we are going to each need our own so the designing is less conflicting. However, there were no arguments, Kyler did his thing and Bryn did her thing.

Ice Skating

We took the kids to the Olympic Park here in Atlanta and went ice skating. It was so much fun. It was a pretty warm day but by the evening it had really cooled off. Erick and the kids were the only ones to skate, while Koby and I watched and took the pictures. Erick held on to both of them for one time around and after that they were off on their own. Bryn could make about two laps to Erick and Kyler's one. They both stayed pretty close to the edge for safe measure but they had a great time. we walked about the park a little to see some of the lights and the statues they have to represent the Olympics which was really neat. This is such a fun place, we don't get out and see much of it since Erick has such a busy schedule, but there are some really neat places here and ice skating was one of our favorite so far.