Camden & Ryan

1. Ryan and Camden's birthday's are four days apart, so on Sunday we got together with the family and celebrated both their birthdays. Even though they are five years apart, they love each other. They get along really well and I am pretty sure besides Mike, Ryan is Camden's favorite person. I love that Ryan treats him so good and not like an annoying cousin (that I am sure he is sometimes!) I know Ryan is getting older and the days are numbered where they will be hanging out with each other like they do now. I think they feel like brothers since they each have only sisters!

Both Ryan and Camden wanted tacos for their birthday dinner and they both wanted brownies for dessert. They are alike in so many ways! It certainly made it easy for us too!

What a goof-ball!!

They seem to really like what Ryan got! I am sure they will be playing it together soon!

My Girls

Camden goes to school two times a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. Mondays, Mike works, so I have the two girls home alone with me. They play really well together and I just love that they have each other. I never knew what it was like going up with a sister, so it makes me so happy that they will get to experience the joys (and pains!) of having a sister.

Tortillas!

My friend Hailee and I both homeschool our boys, so we try and come up with some fun Life Skills to teach them. (That is one of the categories that we are required to teach) We thought it would be fun to make tortillas! I called my grandmother, who has been making tortillas for about 70 years or so, and asked her for a receipe and hints for making them. She gladly shared her knowledge of tortilla making and so it was pretty easy. The kids had fun. It was like rolling out playdough and then getting to eat it! They each had their own rolling pins which made it easy for everyone to participate at the same time.

Here is Addison trying to get a quick bite of raw tortilla....don't worry, I stopped her in time!
Hailee and I ended up rolling out most of them. The kids each did two and then went outside to play. I think they turned out pretty good, just a little too stiff from too much flour. Next time I will try them with whole wheat flour so that they are healthier!

Garret and Carissa are showing their hard work of rolling out the dough while they waited for their turn to cook their tortilla. These pictures are pretty bad quality because I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures without looking at the results so I didn't realize that it was on a completely different setting then it should be!

Planting Flowers

I have had empty pots outside my front door on my porch for a while now and decided that it would be fun for the kids to pick out plants of their own to plant and take care of.

The kids had lots of fun planting and playing with the dirt. It made the porch look cute and ready for spring.

Mike's Little Helper

Camden is Mike's shadow...his little side kick. He never leaves Mike's side, if he can help it. Mike was cleaning the garage after we finished a project in the kid's bathroom and there was Camden, right there helping him.

Camden has become quite the cleaner. He loves to help and he is really good at it too!

He is getting so big! I must admit, it sure is nice to have children who are a little older and are able to help with chores!! Plus, they are at the age where it is fun to help.

Yep...She's a Princess!

Addison was swinging on her tummy the other day and I couldn't help but laugh at the message on her bottom.....

Her Aunt Kelly gave her this outfit and it fits her personality perfectly! She really does believe that she is a princess. Since my brother Jeremy seldom reads my blog, I can point out that I think she is this way due to the fact that she is the baby in the family. Now I am not at all saying that the youngest is spoiled because I know that I was never that way!!!!! I am simply pointing out that SHE is that way because she is the baby.

Play Time

Carissa LOVES her cousin, Kira. They play really well together. Every time they are together, they have to play dress up. I think they make cute little princesses!

And of course....they had to watch a Barbie princess movie while they were playing dress up! I love these two little girls!!

WHAT?

I just can't believe that Camden has reached the age of losing baby teeth!

I don't think his tooth was actually ready to fall out just yet. One night he was playing with his legos (the little ones) and I guess he couldn't get two of them apart and decided to use his teeth. He came running upstairs, in tears, telling me he broke his tooth. I couldn't help but laugh. I know that it probably would have been a couple more months before it became lose but I reassured him that this is what happens to baby teeth. He got a huge smile when he realized that when it feel out, he would be getting a dollar from the toothfairy. All was well after that!

Oh, and this was about a week ago and since then, the other bottom tooth has fallen out....my toothless boy!

Carissa's Easy Bake Oven

All Carissa wanted for Christmas was an Easy Bake Oven (which Santa so willingly brought). She was very excited to use it and since it did not come with a bulb, we went and bought one yesterday. The first thing she made was a chocolate cake with pink frosting and sprinkles. She looked so cute in her little apron!

This was the only time I helped her. I just showed her how to mix it up really well. The rest of the time she did it all by herself.
One of my most favorite things about Carissa is her willingness to share with her brother and sister. She let them help with decorating the mini cake.

The end result....she was so proud of herself and her ability to cook now, all by herself!

And of course...the best part of all is eating all her hard work! She shared it with Camden. Addison didn't want any. They said it was really good.

Later That Day....

In the afternoon, we went over to Mike's mom's house. We ate dinner there and exchanged gifts. It was nice being together with family.

Camden was so excited about his skate shoes. They are really cool. They have wheels in the front and back like old fashioned roller skates. They pop in and out easily. He loves them!

Aunt Janet helped Addison open her gift. She loves her Aunt Janet!

This is Penny (the dog we gave to Mike's sister). Our kids still love her and now that Addison is older, she loves her too. As you can see, she is no longer afraid of her which is one of the reasons we gave her away.

Carissa and her cousin Kendall. They love each other!

Then after we left, we went over to my parents house to visit and exchange gifts. My parents had Jeremy's kids wait until we got there and then had them all sit down together. Then they passed out their gift and they all opened them up at the same time. We had fun there too. My kids were soooo tired by the end of the day. They fell asleep in the car almost immediately!