Happy Birthday, Brooklyn!

I can't believe Brook is 2. We celebrated her birthday on Saturday, April 25th. Her actual birthday was on Sunday, but it was full of meetings so we got the family together the night before. Grandma and Grandpa Anson and Emily and Chris came for the celebration.
Brook made a haul, as evidenced by the trash all over the floor. Chris told Zac to bury himself in the wrapping paper. So, he did. Zac thinks Uncle Chris is super cool and would do just about anything he said. Maybe we should be using that a little more to our advantage:)
Brook was hilarious. As we opened presents, someone would ask, "Brook, what is it?" She would say, "mine." She got into singing "Happy Birthday" to herself. All the unwrapping was a little overwhelming. She wanted to play with each gift she got. I think the highlights of the night were a Dora doll from Grandma Walker and the Snap and Style doll from Grandma Anson. She also got some fun animals from Ally, a snake from Zac (that she was not too sure about) and a puzzle from Sariah. Not to mention all the other fun presents from aunts, uncles and cousins.
Brook wanted a "Clue's cake." After searching for a little cake topper and coming up with nothing, I broke down and did the cut up cake on Nickjr.com. I think it turned out OK. When we asked Brook what it was she said, "Clues, I eat it!"
Her true favorite of the night was her new car. She would not get out of it. It was a rainy weekend so we left the car inside for a few days. She lived in it. When the sun came out, I took the car outside with visoins of many happy hours of fun in the sun. She still has not forgiven me. The first day walked around asking, "Where my car go?" We checked on it several times to make sure it was still out there. Occasionally she still asks to bring it inside. When we are all outside together she has fun sitting in it. As soon as she gets the hang of walking it around, she'll love it even more.



As promised, we now have video capabilities. I am still not sure how to edit so some of these first videos may be a little long. Enjoy. We love our Brook and her fun personality. She makes us laugh everyday. She is a little fiesty at times, but we couldn't imagine life without her. Happy Birthday, Brook!

Put Me in the Zoo

Wow! I have a lot to catch up on. Going clear back to Spring Break in the middle of April . . . we had a fun trip to the zoo with Aunt Nicole and Marc, Liz, Rachel and Benjamin. The kids were way excited to get to the zoo again. Brooklyn still talks about "my trip" to the zoo to see the "amnimals." The weather was great and so was the company.

Ally had a blast with Rachel. She literally dragged her from one animal to the next. Ally also provided the drama for the day. She was trying to jump out of the wagon and did not quite clear the side. She landed on her face. I did not see it, but Joseph said everyone around them just went quiet after they heard the thud. She scraped her chin up and had a nice bruise on her forehead. After we cleaned her up and gave her a few snuggles, she was fine. We were lucky.

Of course, one of the highlights of any visit to the zoo is a ride on the carousel. Zac chose the snow leopard this time. He usually likes to ride on a ferocious animal. The girls on the other hand . . . .

decided to play it safe. They all piled onto the peacock bench. Sariah especially wanted to ride without going up and down. They had a ball.
This is us leaving the zoo. We had to haul Brook out kicking and screaming . . . for real. It is a little hard to see, but the seat of her pants is wet. She had a blow out. That has not happened in so long that I did not have a change of clothes for her. Poor thing. All in all it really was a great day and we can't wait to go again!

My Easter Bunnies

We have had a wonderful Easter and it isn't over yet. We still get to have Easter dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids looked great in their Easter clothes, even if they did not cooperate for their picture. Joseph got to come to Sacrament meeting in our ward today. That was a great Easter treat. We have tried this week to do a little something each night to help the kids remember why we celebrate Easter. It has make the week special for all of us.

Brook was too cute in this picture. She loves her "pretty dress for nursery class."

Of course, yesterday was Bunny Day. The Easter Bunny made to our house again. Ally and Sariah were the first ones up in the morning. They went out to the living room to check out the Easter baskets. Joseph and I were trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. From the living room we heard Ally loudly exclaim, "Sariah, you're never going to believe this. I got M&M's!" And then, "These jellybeans smell disgusting!" The hightlight of the day was the egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house (followed closely by opening Easter cards from Grandma Walker). It was an inside hunt this year because of the rain. Brook was not really sure what was going on at first, but she loved to show you the eggs in her basket and tell you which color they were. Zac was most impressed with the money in some of the eggs. Ally had fun running around with Rachel. Sariah gathered eggs like nobody's business. In years past she has just kind of sauntered around. Not this time. She single handly found 35 of the 93 hidden eggs. That's my girl!

Thanks for a fun Bunny Day, Grandpa!

Sassy Ally

The other day I was walking down the hall. When I peeked in her room, this is how I found Ally -- just reading her book, boa and all. I had to have a picture. I told her to look at the camera and be sassy. This is what I got:

Apparently she's got the sassy part down.

Make Wise Choices

That was Sariah's part in her first grade program at the end of March. The program was entitled, "Kids Against Violence." Each class sang a song and several kids had speaking parts, including our girl. She did a great job. I thought she would wear out the buttons on her shirt, she was playing with them so much. But, she was not nervous when it was her turn. She said her part loudly and clearly. It was fun to watch her singing along with everyone. The pictures I took of the actual program did not turn out very well, but we got pictures afterward with Grandma and Grandpa and with Ms. Snow (you know, the important people). Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad. It meant a lot to Sariah.

Eight!

Sariah turned 8 on February 15th. I still cannot believe it. Her birthday landed on a Sunday this year. When we realized my parents would be in town, we made some special arrangements to have her baptism right on her birthday. She looked so grown up in her new dress.
The service was simple and beautiful. Thank you to all the family that came and participated in one way or another. Our sweet Sariah was VERY nervous about going under the water. With the help of a priesthood blessing and many prayers she was able to be brave. She was proud of herself and so were we.
Of course, there was a birthday party, too. That happened the Friday before. We had a cooking party complete with recipe card invitations. All the kids got to build their own lasagna (thanks, Family Fun for another great idea). While dinner cooked we opened presents and the girls played downstairs. There was a lot of giggling and screaming coming from my basement. When everything was ready, we ate our yummy creations together.
For dessert Sariah wanted brownies and ice cream so that is what she got. She had a princess cake for the family birthday party we had after her baptism. Unfortunately, I did not get a very good picture of that one. We did manage to squeeze 30+ people into our house for dinner and birthday treats. Wow! Good thing we all liked each other. It was a great weekend to celebrate our Sariah. We love you and can't imagine our lives without you, Pumpkin Doodle.

Three Wishes

So, during our dinner conversations this week, I have been very enlightened on the subject of Leprechauns. (Zac and Ally apparently have very knowledgeable friends at school.) Among other things I learned that if you catch a Leprechaun he gives you three wishes, not his gold. So I asked the kids what they would wish for.

Sariah said: 1. a Wiggles DVD 2. a Cinderella toy 3. (I forgot)
Zac said: 1. a Wii 2. Leprechaun gold 3. a Carolina Panther's helmet
Ally said: 1. a dolly house 2. a Barbie 3. to splash in the tub
Joseph only got to wish for one thing and then we were off on anther topic. He said he wished for a trip around the world with his family. Ally piped up, "Even to Missouri?!" What a character.

As for my wishses: 1. that I had actually posted this on St. Patrick's Day 2. that I could remember more of the cute things the kids say 3. that I was caught up in all of the million things I want to stay on top of. So, in an attempt to stay on top of the blog, here is a little of what we've been up to lately, in no particular order and not including Sariah's big day. That will be it's own post.

The picture at the top is Ally on her way to preschool. We were invited to join a mother's preschool group. She loves it. It is the Pretty Princess Preschool. All girls. All princesses. There are six of them so I only have to take my turn as teacher every five weeks. That works great for me. It is just what Ally needed. She is too grown up for me sometimes.

My ride has been "momed." (If you haven't seen it, check out "Mom my ride" on YouTube. If I were a little more technosavvy I would have a link on my post. Just be excited you got a picture. And I did get a new camera for Christmas. As soon as I get it figured out, you might even get video!) Somehow I managed to snap my sideview mirror off by backing into the garbage can that was on the street for pick up. Really I was not going that fast. The bitter irony of it all is that we had just gotten it out of the shop for other repairs. Yeah for duct tape.
We had a whirlwind Valentine's weekend. My parents were in town for Grandma Puckett's 80th birthday and Sariah's baptism. Here are the kids in a rare "down moment" with Uncle Brian at Chris and Emily's house. We were so busy, I hardly took a picture.

Zac participated in the Kindy 500. We had fun making his car, complete with a real NC license plate (sorry about the glare) and bumper stickers. They say "Don't let the pigeon drive my race car" and "Honk if you love Mrs. Comte!" Zac was so excited. It was amazing to see all the creative cars. It was obvious which parents had let their kids help and who had holed themselves up in the garage and created a masterpiece. A lot of dads were walking around with proud smiles on their faces.

Life is never dull around here. The kids keep us laughing and practicing patience. Come to think of it, if I did catch a Leprechaun (like the one who left quarters in the kids' shoes and turned our milk green) I wouldn't wish for anything different than what I have. (Although that gold would come in handy . . . )