I HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD!!!

What in the WORLD!  Seriously....Lincoln turned 5 on the 16th of February, and I can't even believe it!  We had lots of fun, and he is such a sweetheart.  He is quite an emotional fellow- but that is alright!  We love him so much.  He absolutely ADORES his Father, and can't wait for him each day to get home so that they can play together.  He LOVES superhero stuff, and building things, and reading.  He loves his sister Morgan to DEATH- and loves to help out with her whenever he can.  Unless she is ruining his legos- then they don't mesh!  Little sisters can really be pests can't they?!  He LOVES his brother Payton. They have a great brotherly (love/hate) relationship and can't live without each other (but at the same time can't live WITH each other.  Silly boys.)  Lincoln is into anything superhero right now- but since I have done superhero themed stuff for the past 3 birthday parties, I talked him into doing something a little bit different.  He really wanted to have a dress-up party and have all of his friends come dressed up in whatever they wanted, so we tweaked it a bit into a Midevil Knight Party!  We had so much fun!  That morning we opened presents with just or family, but then on the weekend, we had his friend party.     

He is all of the sudden TOTALLY into Legos- and would prefer Star Wars Legos if you gave them to him. But he also requested some little green army men (8 to be exact- so that none of them would get lost) but we found these cool Lego's and he was STOKED!  They were a hit!

The Invite!

This kid got seriously hooked up from all of this wonderful friends....he loved EVERYTHING!

Coolest cake EVER- if I do say so myself!  Took me a few hours to do- maybe it took a little longer too because Cole was cleaning the house, and I wanted that to last as long I could!  Bad wife?  Maybe.  Cake decorator extraordinaire...definitely!

OH so excited for cake and Pizza!

I love that this little sweetheart still has his dimples!  I hope they stay for his whole life!

Lincoln- we love you more than words can say.  Last night for FHE he gave the lesson, and told us the ENTIRE story of Ammon without hardly any help at all!  He is such a good boy.  He has a great zest for life, and is pretty fiery!  He loves to do things on his own, but also loves some good quality time with those that he loves.  He asked me yesterday why he and one of his friends "haven't gotten together lately?!" Too big for his britches.  There is NOTHING wrong with his ears, or his brain for that matter.  He remembers EVERYTHING!  He now knows more about Star Wars than us all- just a little sponge that absorbs everything.  One of his favorite things to do though is to curl up on the couch and watch a good movie- just like his mama!  We love you Lincoln and can't believe that you are 5!  We have been telling you that "you are FIVE for heavens sake!  Act like it!" for about 6 months now, so now that he is really 5, we should probably lay off the poor boy.  It seems like just yesterday that we drove to the hospital, were admitted, started the induction, and watched the Olympics A-L-L-D-A-Y before you finally decided that wasn't the way for you to come!  A few short minutes, and a few painful cuts later- you were here, and we are SO grateful for everything that you have brought to our lives.  I (we) love you!

Valentines Dinner

For our Valentines Dinner, I made some heart shaped pizzas that the kids thought were pretty sweet!  Then, halfway through our dinner- we had a special visitor (OUR DAD!) at the door who came bearing gifts!  He brought me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers and he even brought Morgan her very first rose!  It was so dang cute.  What a great dad.  He brought the kids a new Wii game that they are PRETTY stoked about!  They are both into Star Wars right now- even though they don't know JACK about Star Wars- so Cole brought the Star Wars Lego game and it has been a huge hit!  Thanks Daddy!  What a wonderful Valentine we all have!

Looks pretty gross, but tasted delicious!

She didnt' know quite what to think about the whole thing- but loved that Cole was holding her.  She LOVES her dad!

I LOVE getting flowers! YEAH FOR LOVE!

THANKS GRANDMA SMITH!!

Wow!  We sure do love to get packages.  The kids got a package from Grandma Smith yesterday, and wow are they on a sugar rush today!  We love it!  They got some FUN STUFF- and love getting stuff in the mail!  She sent some really fun Pez (but not really Pez) dispensers that shoot out smarties- and the boys played with them ALL NIGHT yesterday!  They are so funny!  And Morgs is sporting her new hair bow that Maxine probably MADE (so crafty!) and she looks like a doll!  Thanks Grandma!!

They ripped that package open SO FAST!!!

Showin the loot!

It's Link's 5th Birthday tomorrow, so Grandma sent him a little something to burn a hole in his pocket/piggy bank and WOW was Lincoln excited!  He LOVES money...even though he hardly ever spends it!

YEAH!  Love it!  Thanks Grandma!  On to our 4th package of smarties- EACH!

Link's project

Lincoln made all of his own Valentines this year, and it was lots of fun for the little dude! (I think!) We made chocolate covered pretzels (a favorite around here!) together, and he even designed his own little card on the computer!  He put them all together, and I think they were a big hit!  Way to go Link!  It's so weird to see you growing up and becoming more and more independent, but we sure do love you, and think you are the BEST!

Such concentration!  He cut out 18 hearts all by himself!  That's alot!

He designed the heart, the shapes inside of it, and decided what he wanted to put on it.  Cutest ever!

SNOW FORT!!

So Cole- as I have mentioned here before- is the BEST DAD EVER and LOVES to play with the boys and do fun things with them.  This past Saturday was no exception.  It was fairly warm- (mid 40's maybe up into the 50's) so the kids got their snow clothes on, and we all headed out back for some fun in the sun/snow!  Morgs and I didn't last too long, because there isn't tons for her to do out there, but Lincoln lasted a couple of hours and Payton lasted about one!  So that's pretty good for them!  They built the FUNNEST snow fort ever- complete with slide and stairs leading up to it!  We used just about every last speck of snow we have in the yard, and it's about all melted now because it is so warm, but they had a blast playing on it when they built it!  Even now, every time that we go outside to head to the car, they have to run over and go down the slide a couple of times- just for good measure (and to get their little bums extra wet and stinky to get into the car!)  So- the building of our annual snow fort...

I know her eyes are closed, but she wouldn't sit still for the LIFE of me, but she still looks SO FLIPPIN cute in this pic, that I had to include it. :)

She REALLY wanted to venture off of this blanket, but didn't get very far, because it was SO wet from all of the snow that was melting.

Buildin away

Maybe doing a little bit more climbing than building...but hey, it's all good!

Checkin out the slide

weeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Thanks Daddy!  We can't wait for the next fort to come along!

Thanks Grandma B!!

Yesterday we got a REALLY fun Valentines Package from my mom and we had SO much fun opening it!  THANKS GRANDMA B AND GRANDPA DICK!!!!  We love everything we got.  Cole finished his WHOLE bag of candy that night!  Like I said...sweet tooth. :)  The mini pillow pets are a TOTAL hit!  All three of the kids slept with them last night...sticky hands and all. 

We LOVE getting packages around here! 

With all the loot!

Look at Morg's new trick!  She can stand for like a minute on her own, and this is when she really started getting the hang of it!  She is TOO BIG!!!

Sweet toothed baby

Its almost Valentines! 

Valentines Cookies!!

He LOVE to make cookies around here...so a few nights ago, when Cole was home, we frosted some DELECTIBLE sugar cookies!  The boy are really into it!  I give the kids 3 cookies each, 1 small, medium, and large cookie, and a lump of frosting and they go to town!  They LOVE it! We had already put Morgan to bed when we started frosting, but she heard us having a great time, and decided that she wanted to come out and join!  She ALWAYS has crazy hair, as evidenced by the last post. :)  Happy almost Valentines Day!

Apparently she's REALLY excited that she can have this cookie!  She definitely has a sweet tooth- like her Daddy!

Isn't that a beautiful two-toned cookie!  So talented. :)

Complete concentration

Thanks Mom!

Arrrgh Matey!!!

It has been some SERIOUSLY crazy weather here in Denver!  It has been 70, -15, and just about everywhere inbetween  in the past few weeks!  So we have done all sorts of things to keep busy!  Lincoln is AMAZING at helping Cole to shovel the walks, and has done it quite a few times during all these snowstorms.  Payton gets all bundled up, goes outside, gets attacked by the dog in a matter of SECONDS, then wants to come back in.  Poor guy!  That Gus is a crazy dog...not quite sure about our decision to adopt him into the family or not yet!  Needless to say, I am excited to be OUT of the puppy stage, and onto bigger and better things (like NOT chewing up the shovel, siding on the house, spatula and grill cleaning brush, electrical outlet hooked to the side of the house, etc.)  Here's hopin eh?! Anywhooooo, one of the days, Cole took the boys outside to build a little snowman, and they had SO much fun!  Here are the fruits of their labors, and some other pics of us playing in the snow. 

Gus had a HAYDAY with the cape on the snowman when we went inside!  Silly guy.

As my brother would say....My little Eskimorgan!

Here is the snowman after a few beatings, and some loss of buttons and stuff.  Things don't last SUPER long around here! :)

Both boys really like to play on the tramp in the snow.  Who doesn't?!