Locked out and finishing January

So one day it was time to go get Seoul from dance class. I usually put the keys in the baby carrier next to Sierra's leg. Well, this time she apparently kicked them out before we made it out the door. So I looked in the window and there they were. Panic! I called a couple friends and eventually my mom to pick up Seoul. Meanwhile it's freezing cold and I hadn't bundled my children (because I'm that kind of Mom) so we're hanging out in the garage. Sydney, of course, decides she has to use the potty. So we go across the street to a friend's home and fortunately they were there so we could use the bathroom but I felt awkward staying and waiting there. Kelley was in Wilsonville so he came home and rescued us with his house key. Argh! Sydney kept trying to open the door. She was determined... but kept saying, "Well, if you just use the key it would be easier." Yes, dear, if only you understood that I would if I could. Adventures!

Then the rest of January we just played and finally relaxed. Life is good.

On to a relaxing, less eventful month ahead!

{January 2014}

Sierra and the iPhone

Sierra already loves the iPhone and wants her turn with it just like the other girls. We were hanging out and I realized she had made a little video. Silly girl! (I know, this means nothing to anyone else but I like hearing her giggles.)

{January 2014}

Sierra crawls!

Our little Sierra is now crawling... and terrorizing her sisters. They are so excited for her to move around but they hate that she now gets into everything because she wants to be included. I find her getting into everything also! She loves shredding tissues if the box is left where she can get to them. Oh, the fun times!

{January 2014}

Happy 5th Birthday Seoul!

This sweet girl is the joy {and trial} of our life sometimes. She is beautiful and smart and becoming more assertive, which is not always a good thing. She uses those smarts to argue everything and ask questions I already have a hard time answering. We love that she reads and teaches her sisters things. It's like that nursery rhyme... "When she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid." Lately she is extremely emotional, which we are working hard to figure out how to control. Those tantrums she has are a bit scary, to be honest. I foresee a close relationship with a smattering of stubbornness and definite testing of the boundaries. She is a good rule follower so far, though. We love our oldest child and wouldn't have her any other way!

This little sneak came out at midnight so she could scope out her birthday goodies. Lucky we had just finished wrapping everything! Then she got a little goofy for getting caught.

Birthday goodies for our special girl!

Oh my, her hair isn't looking too swell here...

One of the favorite gifts is from Sydney - an Elsa wand that plays music.

She chose Red Robin for dinner - yum! She wanted the birthday ice cream sundae badly enough that she stood and let them sing to her. (She is not my child!)

Happy birthday to our wonderful Seoul!

Combined Birthday Party - Sydney is 3 and Seoul is 5!!

With all the other events in January, Kelley acquiesced and let me have a combined party for the girls this year. Whew! It was a lot of fun, and the girls enjoyed having two birthdays each :)

After church we were able to get a few family pictures. Love all these people!

Then the festivities... the girls were very specific about what kind of cake they wanted. Seoul wanted a chocolate butterfly cake with Elsa and snowflakes on it. Sydney wanted a round, white cake with vanilla frosting and strawberries. Think our girls are spoiled? Better believe it! There was lots of laughter, visiting, and present opening. The girls had such fun. We thank everyone who came and celebrated! To another year of growing and learning for these beautiful girls :)

almost there...

Ok, I'm slogging through January photos. This was too cute to not document. Sydney doesn't nap regularly anymore so she falls asleep when we go on errands. We went to Costco today and she slept through the entire shopping adventure. Kelley got tired of holding her so I finished shopping while he lounged with her in a recliner. When we put her in the car afterward she woke up to ask if we were still going to Costco. Goof!

Sleeping Beauty

My Grandma Salway passed away in January. She was such a sweet lady but it was time for her to join her husband and family members on the other side. We were able to say our good-byes, which was nice. She was a valiant, faithful woman that was extremely talented in many areas. We went to the funeral and the girls enjoyed spending time with the cousins at the luncheon afterward. Although funerals are sad events it is nice to visit with the people that come from out of town.

Just some fun impromptu pics with my cute girls!

Fun lunch at DQ with some of our besties! Two moms and five kids.... always an adventure!

{January 2014}

outside fun

Shout out to Aunt Klorissa and Uncle AJ for the awesome jeep for the girls. They love it! Sierra just gets bundled up to sit outside and wonder what all the fuss is about. Sydney has learned to ride a tricycle.

Seoul draws Elsa and Anna {from the movie Frozen} everywhere, including chalk drawings outside.

{January 2014}

no title

I'm running out of creative titles for posts. These are random pictures from January. It's been so long since I've posted I don't remember how they were grouped in my list. There are so many pictures because of the multiple events that happened... I may never make it through January pictures. Oops!

Sierra already loves to "read"... especially this birthday card that has a cat playing a bass guitar inside.

Lovely ladies! Seoul loves holding Sierra (who she still calls Si-ah-rra.)

Spaghetti! She isn't super messy when she eats, which is nice. She does eat a lot, though!

Seoul read this book to us for our bedtime book. I had never read it before so I'm not sure if she knew the story or not.

Wrestling with Uncle David!

Chilling with Uncle David. (This is before her separation from mommy anxiety.)

Sweet sleeping pictures. For a while she would only sleep soundly for naps in our bed. She wants the softness!

This little girl thought she was so clever scooting around. We had set a fort for the older girls. Sierra was playing, and when I looked over again she had disappeared inside. She was tickled pink to be inside playing with the "hands off" little toys when nobody was watching. Then she came out the other side and was pleased with herself for the mobility.

{January 2014}