JACK TURNS 2!

  Today my baby is 2! I love watching him learn new things and hate seeing him grow up all at the same time! Here's a look at his birthday extravaganza.

 He has been obsessed with The Cat in the Hat for months and seeing as Dr. Seuss' birthday was Wednesday, I thought a Dr. Seuss theme would be a hit.

 Not my best work but considering the obstacles I faced in trying to put this cake together I'll take it.

The kids seemed to really like it.

 Excuse me for a moment.....

 Two thumbs up for a new Spiderman backpack.



 Jack's newest obsession..... all things Buzz Lightyear. If you can't tell, Mason was also very excited about this gift. The karate chop action is irresistable.

"you got a friend in me..."

I could not resist the hat. How cute is he?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

WE LOVE YOU!

MUSICALS 101

I have been thinking lately, that my children need to experience the joy of a good old fashioned musical. I thought that I would start with "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Singing, dancing, brawls, humor and romance, good clean family entertainment, right? For those of you have not had the pleasure of watching this Howard Keel classic, it begins with a song. Here are some of the lyrics, "Bless your beautiful hide where ever you may be, I don't know yet but I'm a willin to bet, your the gal for me." Catchy isn't it? My kids got a kick out of the song and the movie. Later that night Mason was cuddled up to me and as sweet as can be, looked up at me and said, "mom, you have a beautiful hide". You gotta love him, he sure makes me laugh.

Ella turns 7!!!

Ella was very lucky this year and got to stretch her birthday into two days. Her birthday fell on a Monday this year so we took her out on Saturday to Joker's (similar to Chucky Cheese) as part of the celebration. Then we took cupcakes in on Monday so she could include everyone in her class.

Mason was in performance mode for all the 1st graders

Ella wanted green frosting with pink dots for her class cupcakes.

I was expecting her to ask me to make something super fancy for her cake but she wanted Death by Chocolate instead. For those of you who have not tried this cake it is basically a trifle with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, whip cream, and Chocolate covered toffee bits( in this case we substituted Snickers for Miss Ella). I think this may have been the most stress free birthday cake I've made in a while. What a sweet girl she is to consider her mom's sanity.

 Almost forgot to get her picture in front of the Shaw's Hardware sign so we had to make a quick trip before bedtime.

Ella before heading off to school

 

She doesn't seem very excited about her gifts does she? She also got a new outfit to wear to church which she loved., this is a big deal for me because she rarely likes what I pick out. Ella came into this world like a bullet (literally) and she hasn't slowed down since.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GIRL! WE LOVE YOU ELLA!!!

SANTA COMES TO MAINE!

Christmas Eve we delivered a few christmas treats to friends, read The Night Before Christmas, and set up our Christmas train under the tree before settling down for Santa's arrival.

 Christmas morning we cuddled up and read the account of the birth of Christ and then went into the living room to see what was left under the tree.

 The kids had a great time opening all there gifts and spent the day trying to play with all of them.

 Cooper and Victor enjoyed a few rounds of Nerf Dart Tag.

 We had to get a picture of Cooper wearing this shirt

We brought the day to a close with a lovely Christmas dinner. We had a great holiday and hope all of you did to. Bring on 2011!!!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS PICTURES 2010

Here are a few of the pictures we took for our holiday photo. Our friend Gina took the pictures. Of course I didn't charge the battery in the camera, which died, so we didn't take as many fun ones as we would have liked. Here are a few of the pictures we did get. Some of you may have seen these but here they are for all to enjoy.

WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY

Every couple of years we have "A Night in Bethlehem" for our ward party.

 Our little family after our long trek to Bethlehem

 My kids first stop was the toy shop with their friends

 Jack enjoying a bowl of soup

 Mason won a back scratcher at the toy shop and

preceded to scratch the backs of  his friends and anyone else in reach

 Cooper and his buddy Kale as shepherds

We had a great night. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season

THANKSGIVING IN VIRGINIA

Well I've procrastinated long enough. I seem to be easily overwhelmed with the amount of pictures we take. So here is my attempt at documenting the highlights of our trip.

Thanksgiving day at Kelly and Scott's house. Dad is rockin it in a festive apron don't you think? And I think it's safe to say that we have a pretty good looking group of cousins on the end there. They are all growing up way to fast.

Here is our little shout out to Maria who couldn't be there but was on the phone. Sorry you missed it sis!

There really should be a vampire at all family functions. I like how captivated Uncle Christian is by little Mason. Scott and Kelly had a house full. Thanks for letting us come be a part of it guys!

What would a Virginia Thanksgiving in the boonies be without some target practice. Cooper was the first to step up and try it. Dad was there for some instruction and Cherie's coat helped cushion the blow to my arm when I fired. We were aiming for a #10 can which I totally missed.

A little Christmas music to begin the Holiday season. Cooper was a little bummed he did not bring his Trombone but we just didn't have room to pack it.



 Annual making of the gingerbread houses. Mom decided to do it over Thanksgiving so our kids could also participate. Thanks mom, as you can see, the kids loved it.

 The proud architects

Family time!
A couple of the pictures are doubled but they are so cute I'm not going to worry about it.

Welcome to the family! Kaleb Holt Starnes was born the tuesday before Thanksgiving. Thanks for making an early appearance so we could get this adorable shot. Even with his eyes closed he did not like the flash.

Our trip could not be complete without a stop in Maryland to see Victor's Uncle Avery and family. The kids had a great time playing together and look forward to another Nerf battle in the future.

So there it is, our very fun Thanksgiving holiday that went by way to fast!