Gilley!!!!

Forgive this overexposed picture. I don't know what happened on that one. ANYWAYS, have you seen the SNL character, Gilley? She is this school girl who is always doing something mischeivious and then her teacher always calls her out on in and all she does is smile.
Well, we have a little "Gilley" here at our house. We just got home from KS yesterday and all of the sudden, Brooke wants to climb up and stand on the outside of the stairs. She is so proud of herself. The thing is, she will stand up there and hold on for like 20 minutes, but then is scared to get down. We all were standing around her and she just kept smiling and making funny faces.

On another note, check out Drew's eye! Before we left for Christmas, Drew was at a birthday party and got hit in the eye with a golf club. I ended up taking him to the ER because I was worried that the orbital bone might be fractured. It ended up being just fine and he got a lot of attention from all the nurses and doctors.
It is almost totally healed now and he has definitely learned his lesson.....step away from the golf clubs!!
I have lots of Christmas pictures to post, but am overwhlemed with laundry, unpacking, sorting, etc....stay tuned!

The big ONE!!!

I just cannot believe Brooke has turned one year old!! I'm just so proud that Jason and I made it thru the year as a family of 5! Look at this girl. She was so happy to see all the family that came to celebrate.....Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Jenifer, and cousin Kyle. And of course, her big brothers. Her cake was as big as her!
My mom made this same cake for me when I was one, so she did the same for Brooke. She worked a long time on it and it was so pretty. I'll have to keep the directions and make it for my grand-daughter :)
The proud parents!
She poked around at the cake for a while and then I pulled off a leg and gave it to her.

Now she has the idea! She ate the whole piece!

Nana and Papa gave her this little house that you crawl thru, ring the doorbell, play music....she is just delighted with it. She loves to open and close the door over and over again.

The boys were all over her and her new toys. Why is it that the older kids want to play with the baby toys?

The pink rocking horse was from G-ma and G-pa. It is so cute and the perfect size for her. She likes to get on it, but hasn't gotten the confidence yet to really make him go. I think she'll get the hang of it in no time!

Brooke has brought our family so much joy that I didn't even know we were missing! It's amazing how quickly time passes. She seems to be a smart and fiesty little girl...from what you can tell from a 1 year old. She is so happy and is a social butterfly. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl. We love you Brookie!

'Tis the BIRTHDAY Season!!!

From Dec. 5 to Jan. 10th, our family has 3 kids birthdays, Christmas, and New Year's.....do you know how CARZY that is? Well, we kicked off our party season with our sweet Drew turning 6! His birthday morning started off with his first basketball game at 8 a.m.!!!
Then, off to the Lego education center in Southlake to start the party! Garrett and Peyton were the first party guests...Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa were there too!
In the party roon, in front of a lego giraffe.
Drew was the King and he had to "knight" all his friends before they entered the party room.
Here he is "knighting" Jackson. I was just happy that he didn't knight his head with his sword. It would have been a great excuse :)
All the boys had to build lego weapons to slay the dragons. Here they are after they had captured them and build a trap for them.
Look at this cute king.
I had to get a picture of the cake. If you can't tell, they are 2 big legos. I made rectangular cakes and then cut cupcakes in half and put them on the top. I was pleased with how it turned out.
At the end of the party, the boys got to pick bricks from the lego wall. This took careful deliberation to pick just the right ones.
Finally, Drew gets to do his favorite thing.....build legos! He's building a big city right now. He will spend hours out there working and working. It's really the only time he is quiet!
Drew always keeps us laughing and has great thoughts and questions. He is always thinking of others and loves deeply. He wears his feelings on his sleeve and is the best cuddler. What a blessing he is to our family!