Whitney Brynne and Taylor started Judo this week. They've both loved it. This last class they learned how to do throws. Whitney is in the green sweat pants here and those are Taylor's feet flying through the air (you can't help but wonder about Whitney's motivation for taking judo...revenge!)
Now it's Taylor's turn!

This is Taylor trying make a very important decision--should I wear a shirt under my gi, or should I risk not wearing one? Seriously--this was a big decision. Oh to be young again.

Game Night

Tonight Monopoly was on the docket for game night. This is Taylor as he stares at his growing mound of money and watches all his little blue pieces slowly dominate the board. Whitney Brynne and Broc were good sports. Whitney adopted Broc as her heir when he got out of the game so he could still enjoy a healthly living allowance and maintain his properties. Taylor wasn't quite that generous. After an hour or more of playing, Taylor and Brynne called a truce and agreed to live peacefully together on the same board...at least until all the pieces were swept into a cardboard box a few minutes later.

Darth Vader and Family Home Evening--a lovely combo.

Taylor had the activity for FHE this week. Which means of course that superheroes were involved. He made a darth vader mask for Brynne to wear and then paper light sabers for everyone to fight her off with. I just had to snap a picture since this is such a typical FHE activity in our family...at least when it's the kids' turn.

A good use for spare socks

Cade snapped this little keeper of a photo today. One of those nice little candid shots that Courtney will love him for for years to come. It merits a little explanation. Honestly, I love to be barefoot. Most of the time I spend inside it's footloose and fancy free. What I do not like, however, is stepping on crunchy Cheerios or spilled water...or getting a nice little hair sliver in my foot after haircut day (yes, I get slivers of "hair" after every haircut--weird?). So today while getting lunch the nearest and fastest remedy was grabbing some lucky little winners out of the spare sock bag. Problem solved!

Now that's a pancake!

Dawson always wants to eat exactly what we are eating. So yesterday, we let him have exactly what we were eating. The look on his face is priceless. That pancake's as big as his head!

Pass the Brussel Sprouts!

Brussel Sprouts have been the bane of finicky eaters for years. Reading about how healthy they are though, I decided to try them a month or so ago for dinner. Wow, was I surprised. They went so fast at our table that we ran out and everyone was still asking for more. Broc, who's known in our family for food-sneaking was caught in the kitchen corner last week eating all the leftover brussel sprouts from the night before. To be honest, I had trouble being upset "You put those brussel sprouts back and share with your brothers" just didn't sound right.

I think there must be a binky haven somewhere where all binkys long to go. Surely it's a nice place where there are no babies, or lint, or older brothers chewing on them to get a little extra attention from mom. Surely there are soft pillows and white clouds and no memories of their messy, slobbery past. If not---Then WHERE DO THEY ALL GO???!!!

Torture Chair

With 4 boys in our family, we have regular haircut evenings. It's almost an olympian event. As you can see, Gavin did not want to be in the torture chair this evening and Dawson didn't know why his parents would subject him to such maltreatment. Call 911!

Pebble Creek Carnival

The annual Pebble Creek Carnival is always something to look forward to. This year Courtney took all the kids while Cade stayed home with Dawson and worked on his dissertation (got to grab that peace and quiet when you can!). Taylor and Whitney had a race on the obstacle course and Broc got his face painted. It was a lot of fun!

Happenings at the House

Family Home Evening this week was on Justice vs. Mercy. Cade did a great job.

For game night on Sunday we did puzzles. I think we went through every puzzle in the box!

This is our very cool little reptile fanatic. This kid has no fear (which sometimes worries his mom a bit). For example, Broc found snakes in our long grass this week. At first mom and dad freaked out and told him to put them back thinking that they may be baby Copperheads or something, but when we were told by the locals that they were harmless grass snakes, we let him keep them awhile and like any crazy parent--we pulled out the camera (well mom did--Cade steered clear of the snakes). Windsor Point kids spent hours outside trying to catch one. Broc would go outside and catch one, two, or three in less than five minutes. That’s my boy!

As you can see, Taylor wasn't quite so enthusiastic.

Courtney turned on the Ghostbusters music from “Bowling for Soup” and it got Taylor really revved up. He and Gavin took off their little shirts and began exercising in the front room. It was so cute! I don't know where Taylor got the "shirtless" idea from, but it's the way he operates.

New Job New Phase of Life

For those of you who have not heard, Cade was offered the job in Wisconsin! It sounds like a wonderful job and we are excited to be moving on! Looks like we’ll be moving there this summer.