eesh.

so this is a post about ephram's first time playing wii. eesh. feel bad even writing it since i'm not a huge fan of screen time but considering it only happens once a month i guess they'll be ok:). this was family wii night and ephram was THRILLED to get to play a game. he picked sword fighting and frisbee and loved them both. the important thing is that no matter what we do we like to be together and cherish family time. lots of laughter!

ephram's buds

Ephram is way different than my other kiddos in that he actually knows HOW to play with his friends. They interact and do imaginary play together at such a young age which I just think is amazing! Ephram and Carter have a great time playing together every week..especially when they are in Ephram's room. They play LEGOS, farm, musical instruments and are just silly together. These silly boys laugh and laugh together!


Ephram loves Jay and talks about him a lot but they will be moving soon:(. boo. Ephram says that he doesn't want his friend Jay to move (neither does mommy) but they are having fun while he's still here!

Ephram and Alex get to play together every Friday and love playing choo choos the best! Ephram has an 'older brother' complex with Alex and tends to want to boss him around a bit but we are working on it:). They love being read to...and Kinsey loves to do it! They also love being outside together. What a blessing it is for them to have another Korean buddy to grow up with!

giving girl

She loves to give...just like her mama. We are the same in that way. She gives her own things away, she gives candy/gum, and she makes things for her friends/family. Somehow they didn't know I had a camera so I could get this great shot..i love that they didn't see me. Cailey was making bell necklaces for her friends a couple weeks ago and let her younger siblings help (which is rare:). She doesn't always love arts or crafts but when it's her idea and she's in the mood she'll create for hours. Notice her 'treasure' drawer is pulled out of her dresser so she could dig into the bottom and attach her favorite things on the necklaces to give away. Love her giving heart:).

brothers...best friends.

the girls were at a sleepover and ephram wanted to have one too! we pulled down their sleeping bags and they went right to sleep...after giggling and talking for a bit:). ephram is SO blessed to have such a great big brother who loves him dearly and wants to make him happy. in return braden is blessed by having an adoring brother who looks up to him and truly cares when he's sad...plus gives him the BIGGEST hugs! i wasn't sure how the 5 year age difference would work and if they'd be close but so far it's gone great (much thanks to Braden, I'm sure!) LOVE that these boys love each other so much! ephram ended up staying there all night and was so happy to wake up next to braden in the morning:). best friends.

GNO

Sonja was in town so it was a great reason to get together with the girls from my old Sunday school class. We went to Bone Fish Grill and had a great time chatting, laughing, and eating seafood:). Afterwards we went to Starbucks for more talking and TONS of laughing!

great ones.

These pictures are all great...and special to me for a few reasons. First of all we love this family and each of the children dearly. Can you see the love on the girls faces?? Love. Second, this was the day they were at the doctor finding out that the new baby (Charlotte) was a girl. So while the 'babies' were napping this was going on. Outside play, LEGOS, games, pretty/pretty/princess, etc.

Cailey listened to Caden read for school...and helped him when needed. I LOVE to see children helping out younger children. they were both totally unaware that I was taking a picture.

Then when the baby boys woke up they celebrated with brownies..but were first bribed for smiles:) Such a fun, COLD afternoon in January.

Fat Cat!

Kinsey opened a fat cat account with all the money from her piggy bank, Christmas, and money from chores that she's earned. She was SO excited and is joining the others in learning how much more fun it is to save money than to spend it:). Now she's always asking to do extra chores, pick up gumballs, and constantly on the lookout for fallen pennies outside.


We were happy that one of our two favorite 'bank ladies' was working to help us out. We've been going there since Cailey was 14 months and they have seen our family grow. It's always one of the first places we take cookies at Christmas.

sky painting

We have had crazy weather this year...unseasonable hot weather. With it we've also had some GORGEOUS sunrises and sunsets (on the few COLD days, that is). One evening Ephram gasped with delight as he looked out the window and saw this sunset. It was amazing. We both ran outside to take it all it...with our bare feet...in the cold:). What a great talk we had about God's beautiful sky painting. When we got back inside he wanted everyone to come see. Love how God has the ability to make us all STOP and take it all in...together....at dinner time:)

Sunrise

I usually see the gorgeous sunsets but rarely capture the beauty of a sunrise and boy it was beautiful! This picture doesn't even do it justice because off to the right it was blocked by a group of trees but I was in awe standing in our room staring at it until it was gone. I ran out barefoot (and it was a 20 degree morning) to capture it. SO amazing.

it's a.....Strawberry milkshake!

Kelly gave me the AWESOME privilege of revealing the gender of their baby with a CFA milkshake:). The plan was to have the dr. write it down, then I would read it and order a cookies and cream milkshake if it was a boy and a strawberry one if it was a girl. Then Caden and Caroline drank it to tell everyone. Brandon is like me and just couldn't wait and peeked at the screen BUT he still let me know first and go order the milkshake...YAY!! I was so happy to do it and THRILLED to reveal that they were having a baby girl. Cailey is beyond excited to have a little friend to help with and Caroline just can't wait to have a big sister! Can't wait to meet Charlotte Faith Klick:)!

kiddos looking to make sure:) and supportive friends!

apparently ephram thought he should have some too...
good thing carter is a GREAT sharer!

box boy:)!

Ephram was in HEAVEN when the pampered chef things came in because he LOVES boxes! He's got such a great imagination and pretends that it is either a boat, rocket ship, house for his doggies, place to play peek a boo, roller coaster (thanks to his siblings)...you name it! This all led to me making him his boat for Christmas which right now he's been saying is his doggie crib. According to him frank keeps barking at night and waking up Brody (aka Doggie aka the first dog he loved). LOVE this boy and his imagination! None of my others did as much imaginary play and play WITH other friends at this age but boy he loves it!

runner boy

in the FREEZING cold or in the SUPER heat this boy keeps going. and going. and going. he just loves to run! the first picture was a REALLY cold day and none of the three brought the right clothes for running but somehow they made it through. poor braden (with no meat on his bones) was shivering and couldn't move his hands...it was in the 40's if I remember correctly and they had hardly anything on! the other picture was taken when it was in the 80's! he likes running in the heat better but boy i love the cold:). he's already asking for his next race and can run MUCH farther than his mama right now. proud of you, braden boy!

car track!

Ephram loves playing with cars so one evening when I was playing with him I decided to make a road on his floor, wall, and bunkbed using masking tape. He was very excited as soon as he figured out what I was doing (as were the other kiddos) and couldn't wait to play.

There is even a parking lot:). The kids have all had a blast playing cars with ephram! He loves playing with them by himself while we're doing school and is sure to show his friends when they come over. It's so neat to see their different personalities come out just by playing cars. One likes to create traffic jams, one likes to build bridges for the cars to go under, another one just goes around the roads over and over, and the last one loves playing in the parking lot. I love masking tape:)! Such an easy (and temporary) way to make the boys room even more fun for them!

playdate with landon:)

Landon came over for a playdate and was loved on by ALL! Ephram wanted him to play Legos but he wasn't quite ready for that:). The girls were smitten..as they always are with babies and were begging to hold him whenever their arms were empty.

ah..sweet kinsey just adores this baby boy! (as do them all:) i love the picture of kinsey sneaking a kiss.

Braden and ephram would try to entertain him if he ever got sad. ephram was very interested in how little and cute his feet were:).

Dolphin Tale Date

On New Year's Eve I went on a double double date with the girls to see Dolphin Tale. We went with the Morgans and all agree we need to do it again! It was at the $2.00 theater and such a GREAT GREAT movie!