So Happy to be 4

For James' birthday this year he wanted to go to Chuck e Cheese again! We weren't really up for a big Chuck e Cheese party so we told him he could pick three friends that we could pick up and take with us for a couple hours of games and pizza. James wanted Eli, Isaiah and Joey to go with him, and since we had an extra seat, we invited Allie, Joey's big sister, and Haylie's best friend.

James was so thrilled to finally be turning four and he was really hoping that meant he could automatically move into Eli and Isaiah's class at school. He was very disappointed to find out that wasn't the case.

The Replacements

After giving Max away, Haylie was set on healing her broken heart by getting a new pet. We went to the pet store and Haylie picked out a cute little guinea pig which she named Bella.

After a day of playing with Haylie's guniea pig, James decided he wanted a guinea pig for his birthday, which was just a couple days away. We headed back to a different pet store where they actually had guinea pigs and bunnies living together. We all fell in love with this tiny black bunny that James named Coco.

The kids have really enjoyed their new pets and although cleaning the cage isn't much fun, these pets are so much easier to handle!!!

Workout Buddy

My workout buddy for today since we decided it is too cold and rainy to go to the gym. Bob Harper worked us good!

Cupcakes at school

Cupcakes for my sweet birthday boy! Working in his class today and bringing in cupcakes for his friends.

Haylie's First Broken Heart

It was a sad day in our house when we had to make the decision to give away Haylie's puppy Max. He was already driving us a little crazy because he kept nipping at the kids and chewing up their toys, but he crossed the line when he bit James and made him bleed for the third time in a row.

The first bite: Max was chewing on a bone and James leaned in to pet him. Max snapped and bit James in his hand, leaving a small hole that was bleeding through the bandaid. We decided all bones had to be chewed outside. Second bite: Max was eating his food in the kitchen and although we had warned James not to get near him when he was eating, he leaned in to pick up his ball on the floor near the food bowl and Max snapped and bit James in the cheek. That should have been the end but I figured we could keep the food outside as well. Third bite: The final straw was when Max was chewing on Haylie's toy in the living room and James went to get it and Max bit him in the hand and made him bleed again. I figured I couldn't control everything in the house and we were done with Max biting James. Poor Haylie cried for an hour and Mommy and Daddy almost ended up in tears because we felt so bad. Haylie seemed so broken-hearted and we doubted the decision several times, but in the end we just couldn't keep him and risk James really getting hurt.

The best news was that we were able to give Max to Haylie's nanny and her teenage daughter, Catheryn. Now Haylie will be able to see Max and visit with him. She did a good job understanding that is wasn't ok that he was biting James and she decided she could live with the new plan, on the condition that she get a guinea pig, which we were original planning on getting her for her birthday, instead of a puppy. Deal!!

Happy Date Night New Year

Yay for a New Year's date night out!!! Since auntie Nicole and uncle Brian were in town for the holidays, and they enjoy letting all the cousins have a sleepover, we got the great benefit of having the whole New Year's Eve night and New Year's Day morning by ourselves. Micah went right to work finding a fun murder mystery dinner theater and monte carlo night.

The dinner theater was a little crazy and not quite our style of humor and weirdness, but the worst / best part was that Micah kept getting picked on which he hates. He was a"pallbearer" so everytime someone "died" throughout the night, he had to help carry out the body. Plus the corrdinator picked on him a couple other times and "interrogated" him in front of the audience. It was pretty funny!

Eph 3:20

Happy New Year! So blessed! Ephesians 3:20 - to God be the glory for the many blessings and challenges in 2011. Looking forward to 2012!