January in Pictures

Picture 1...I spent many hours putting this together for Literacy Night at the girls' school. (I actually took this picture before it was completely finished. There were two pics of her books added to the bottom of the left white square.) It was all made out of butcher paper and I hung each of them with clothespins on a string that I tied up. It was a lot of fun and a GREAT event to be involved with. One of my friends was in charge of the night and she did such a great job. The author of the Llama Llama book series was flown in for the night and it was so much fun hearing her speak about her books. I would LOVE to write children's books someday.

Picture 2...Have I told you how much I LOVE having four girls?! Well, I do. Sometimes (a lot of times) things are loud and crazy, but honestly, I even love that (except when I don't) :).

Picture 3...There is no question about who the favorite is in our house. It's definitely Daddy. And...he's my favorite as well.

Picture 4...We have had a very spring-like winter this year. I keep waiting for the cold weather to blast us, but it just hasn't. One day last week was absolutely beautiful so I spent about four hours there before I went home to pick the older girls up and then I drove right back and spent another two.

Picture 5...This is Hailey's "I'm in trouble" look.

Picture 6...This is the cupboard that Hailey is in charge of putting dishes away in. She LOVES to help with dishes, especially since I let her stand on the counter.

Picture 7...One of the food staples around our house is olives. I will open up a can and it will be gone in about 5 seconds. We all love them. I love to put them on my girls' fingers so they can eat them off. Hailey loves it, but I don't think she loves it nearly as much as Cloey does.

Picture 8...Makayla is our first baby to not take a pacifier. I thought for sure she would end up being a thumb sucker...nope. But, apparently she likes Hailey's toe.

Picture 9...This is the cutest little boy ever!! His name is Jaxon and he belongs to my friend Jenae. Although he is totally and completely head over heels in love with his momma, every once in awhile he lets me snuggle him. I've got to get in some boy time somehow.

A couple more things that don't have pictures to go with them...

In January, I ran right around 90 miles. The half marathon is just weeks away and the full is right around the corner as well. It is pretty intense training, but it will be totally worth it.

Cory has spent a lot of hours on the trails mountain biking. He LOVES it!! On Saturdays, me and the girls go running early in the morning, then the boys go biking. It is something he REALLY enjoys and he is getting pretty good at it as well.

Katelund is loving 3rd grade and is doing really well too. She has just jumped into reading with both feet this year. I LOVE seeing her walking around the house with her nose in a book. It has taken quite awhile for her to really like reading, but now that she does, she is off and reading like crazy. She is also really enjoying math this year. She is such a wonderful big sister and I can totally see why she was sent down first. I am so GRATEFUL for all of the help she is constantly giving me with the babies.

Cloey is loving 1st grade. Unlike Katelund, I never have to ask her twice to get started on her homework. She is a very good student and an absolute SWEETHEART!! It's amazing how each child fills a different place in your heart. Cloey is so sensitive to not only her friends and her sisters feelings, but also to mine. She is just a beautiful girl, inside and out.

I think I've written a lot about Hailey along with the pictures so I'll just skip to Makayla...

Makayla is sweeter than sweet! I seriously wish I could just freeze the aging process and keep her as a 6 month old forever! She is rolling over, almost sitting, eating baby food, and I'm pretty sure she is weeks away from crawling. She brings me so much joy (Although, she may not tomorrow. I had pizza last night. It was the first time I've eaten cheese for 5 months...I'm so ready to be done with this no milk diet!!)

So that is it for January...whew!!! Now I'm ready to jump into February.