Little Sneak

Hunter was helping me make some breadsticks and I turned my back for one second to find that he found the cookies that were on the counter as well.  Little sneak!!!  Good thing for him, he is so darn cute!!!

Toothless Wonders

Spencer with his cousin Daniel, showing off their lack of teeth. . .

These are two goofy boys. . .

 And because you can't take a picture of one child without the others wanting one too. . .

I can always sleep. . .

ALWAYS! I can count on one hand the number of times I have not been able to fall to sleep right away and even then it wasn't more than an hour or two and I was able to fall to sleep. I normally have the opposite problem. My head hits the pillow and I am out, which is awesome, except when Brett wants to talk. But tonight I can't fall to sleep. It is currently 2:41 and I am still wide awake. My problem: Excedrin Migraine. You see around 8:30 I felt a migraine coming on (a very normal occurance for me) and although in the past nothing has worked for my migraines as of late Excedrin Migraine has been doing the job, but I have been taking it in the morning/midday. Yeah, not so fun to take at 8:30 at night. Although my head doesn't hurt right now, I am probably going to have a nasty migraine tomorrow because of my lack of sleep tonight. Lame! What's a girl to do? I think next time I will suffer through a restless nights sleep with a migraine because at least it is some sleep where now I am wide awake and will have a migraine tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get a nap in somewhere. . .

My Lumberjack Husband

We have been collecting trees around here. We realized after living in our new home for a couple of months that our fireplace is wood burning (call us crazy for not knowing). Also, for Christmas we got one of those portable fire pits for the backyard. So, instead of paying upwards of $7 a bundle, we decided it would be better to find some wood elsewhere. With the crazy rain storms that we have been having many trees have fallen down and we have been the benefactors of the wood. The city would go in and cut the trunks down into manageable sizes and leave them on the sidewalk for anyone who wanted them. That is where we came in. Brett wanted to go rent a splitter (some big piece of machinery), but I talked him into splitting the wood by hand. I thought that a wedge and a sledge hammer were the way to go, but Brett found that an ax does a much better job. It is crazy the satisfaction he gets out of splitting the wood.

Look at the concentration on his face in this picture.

And the smile when he has split something.

It makes him feel pretty tough (and I might find it pretty hot)!

If anyone has the need to take some aggression out, come on over. We still have lot of wood to split, and Brett wouldn't mind the help (he was pretty sore the next day).

Happy Birthday Natalie and Hunter

  The birthday cakes.  Natalie drew a picture of what she wanted.  I did the best I could. . .

 Natalie's big present this year was a trip to the mall with Dad to get her ears pierced.  We need to get a close up picture of the cute "Hello Kitty" earrings that she picked out.

The Haddock's came over to have cake and ice cream with us.

And Hunter couldn't care less about presents.  The cake was the hit of the night, even if it did take a little bit of time for him to realize the treat he had in front of him.

Christmas Morning

 This year was the first year that we have done Christmas Morning all on our own and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.  It was nice to be able to just focus on the kids and be on our own time frame.  We let the kids wake up on their own and these four couldn't wait to get down stairs. . .

 But this one wasn't so sure he really wanted to get up yet. . .

 I was even up and ready to go. . .

 We finally coerced Tanner out of bed and although he wasn't so happy about it. . .

 . . .it didn't take long for him to warm up to the idea that Santa had come.

 A picture before the kids got a hold of everything. . .

 We normally let the youngest go down the stairs first, but they wouldn't go down on their own, so I helped them a little.

 And the others were right behind. . .

Hunter's favorite gift was his very own toothbrush.  You will have to trust me that it was a very big deal.

 Dad with the glasses that Bailey got him.

 And the following pictures are the kids with their "favorite" gifts, all coming from Grandma and Grandpa Bruschke. . .Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve in Southern California this year with the Higham's.  Even though there were 8 of us siblings together, it felt like a small group.  Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of people and lots of noise, but we definitely missed all that family that wasn't there.  We had the traditional Higham Family dinner of tacos and root beer floats.  And then Santa brought some presents early (pajamas of course).  We then read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  And ended the night thinking about the true meaning of Christmas with songs and acting out the Nativity.  It was a fun filled night.  We are so glad that we live close so that we can enjoy the holidays with family.

Grandpa handing out presents that Santa brought early.

Dad and Hunter waiting patiently for their gifts.

Getting ready to open.

All the family still "at home".  Grandpa, Grandma, Debbie, Becky, Liz and Michael.

Doug, Liz and Aly.

Justin, Sarah, Morgan, Taylor, Dallin and Daniel.

Dad and Mom, Hunter, Natalie, Spencer, Bailey and Tanner.

Jim and Christi, Tori and Riley.

Becky, Debbie and Liz 

Bailey and Mom

Dad and Mom (and Hunter)

Dad and Hunter

Natalie and Bailey

Daniel and Spencer (10 days apart)

Taylor and Bailey (born on the same day)

Tanner and Dallin (born 6 weeks apart)

Grandpa Higham reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

And you can't finish off the night without a good wrestling match. . .Spencer and Daniel.

And Dallin and Tanner.