On the Way to School Today

We were listening to the radio on the way to school today. The guy started talking about an article he just read about some study that apparently shows that 1 in 6 moms has a favorite child. I told the kids, "Don't worry, I don't have a favorite child." Courtney replied, "But if you did, I bet it would be me." =)

Creative Courtney

Courtney had an animal project for school and really wanted to do a giraffe. Not the easiest thing to make from scratch, but a little cardboard, masking tape, and papier-mache actually worked out a lot better than I thought it would.

Here she is with her finished project, ready to head off to school.

An afternoon project - matching crowns for her and her bunny

An art project at school

Courtney's picture was chosen by her art teacher to be part of a display at a local credit union. We thought she'd be more excited about it, but she was the first one ready to leave, and she barely tolerated this picture!

Fun with Cohen

The day we were all waiting for finally arrived... Melanie and Ben needed a babysitter for Cohen. He got tons of love and attention...

And then it was time to have a little fun. A little background: Ben is an diehard University of Utah fan, and everyone else is loyal to BYU. Needless to say, lots of trash talk is the norm. Jordan decided to put together a little surprise for Ben. We call it babysitting with a bonus:

Don't Look if You're Squeamish

All three of my poor children have inherited their mom's much-too-small mouth. Thus, part of the leap into orthodontia includes having to pull a bunch of permanent teeth for which there is simply not enough room. I had permanent teeth pulled when I was a kid. Jordan had permanent teeth pulled during his time in braces. Recently it was Alyssa's turn...

Yikes, huh? They look a lot different when they don't fall out naturally. Thank goodness the tooth fairy leaves a little extra for traumatic cases like this.

More Snow...Already??

Getting snow in December was definitely a surprise. Getting another round of snow only two weeks later had us questioning the crazy NC weather.

Courtney with her mini snowman

Alyssa looking cute in the backyard

The snow actually profited Jordan financially when a neighbor hired him to shovel his driveway.

Here's Courtney out again the next day. (Yes, she's licking a giant piece of ice.) It snowed most of the day Monday then turned to rain that evening. Unfortunately, because it was still so cold, everything was a solid sheet of ice by the next day. The yards looked like frozen ponds. Jordan tossed a rock at one end of the backyard, and it slid all the way across to the other side. It was very weird.

The kids ended up being out of school three days with a delayed start the fourth day. Hopefully they enjoyed it because they lost a January holiday and their only two days off in February!

Jordan does his part to contribute to the neighborhood.

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Year's Eve by watching Despicable Me, playing games, and watching the ball drop at Times Square. Everyone gets to pick a favorite treat or snack, and the result is a junk food buffet...

They were ready to dig in but patiently waited while I snapped a picture. Alyssa wanted Swiss Cake rolls; Courtney picked Twinkies; Jordan requested Pringles; and Mom made fondue. Dad thought everyone had chosen well and figured we didn't really need more.

Build-a-Bear Fun

One day over the break, we hit the mall and headed to Build A Bear so the girls could use the gift cards they got for Christmas.

A good time had by all...