Science Fair

Both Alexa and Landon were required to participate in the school Science Fair this year. Getting two projects ready was quite a lot of work, but both turned out nicely. Here's Alexa with her project at the Science Fair.
Much to our surprise and joy, Alexa took second place in her grade level. A first, second, and third place was given for each grade level. This qualified her for the District Science Fair.

Here's Landon with his project at the Science Fair.

Here's a picture of Landon's project. He experimented to see if hot air really rises. To test this, he made a giant balloon out of black garbage bags and brought it outside to let the sun heat the air in the balloon. He also tested it by creating a balance with a balloon on each end and then sticking a candle under one of the balloons.

Here's a picture of Alexa's project. She exerimented to see if the diameter of a straw affected how quickly a liquid reached her mouth. To test this, she got three different diameters of tubing that were 15 feet long and got on the roof to perform the experiment.

Bowling -- A fun family outing!

Back in January (I'm a little behind in my posts!), I took the kids bowling when my mom was visiting. They had a really good time! Here are some pictures of the fun event. Here I am helping Rylan bowl using the ramp. He got quite a kick out of this and could hardly wait for his turn to come around each time.

This picture perfectly portrays how Rylan felt about bowling.

Here's Andrea giving her best attempt at a strike.

Alexa decided to try bowling without the ramp. Thank heavens for the bumpers however!

Look at that form! Watch out professional bowlers. Here comes Landon!

Double digits!

Alexa wanted a Safari theme for her 10th birthday party this year. Here's Alexa playing "pin the nose on the lion."
Here's the party crew decorating their doorknob hangers.

Opening the party presents.

Here's the Birthday Girl with all her party friends.

"Hunting" for safari animals with the blow dart gun down at the church.

The kids played a game that was like a cake walk, but instead of winning a cake, they won bubble gum. Then at the end of the game, we had a a bubble gum blowing contest.

Here's Alexa's birthday cake that I worked really hard on. I had to get a picture of it before we cut it all up and ate it.

I can't believe Alexa is 10! Only a couple more years before she's in Young Women's. She's growing up too fast!Here's Alexa with her panda bear birthday cake.

Look at all those presents!

Here's Lexy sporting the new hat and scarf that Grandma Linda gave her.

Opening presents

Christmas morning

I'm a little behind on my posts, but I didn't just want to skip Christmas morning! So here it is, a couple of months late. This year for Christmas, Joe made the kids walking sticks. He put a lot of time into carving them and decorating them with leather, feathers, and beads. They were really cool looking and the kids loved them!
Here's Alexa with her new pajamas.

Andrea got a basket, bell, and handlebar tassles for her bike and in a few months, it will be warm enough for her to enjoy them!

Landon got a Leatherman multitool of his very own. Hopefully he won't cut his fingers off while learning how to use it!

Rylan loves dinosaurs and was thrilled with his dinosaur pop-up book.

Opening presents Christmas morning. What a joyous time!

Grandma Kathy made the kids new stockings this year for Christmas. Here they are filled to the brim with Santa's goodies.

Decorating Christmas Sugar Cookies

For some reason, I thought it would be fun to let the kids decorate sugar cookies this year. I remember this being a lot funner when I was a kid. Maybe my mom would disagree. It was pretty stressful, but I do think the kids enjoyed it.
Rylan was enjoying himself!

Go easy on the sprinkles there, Champ! Believe it or not, that isn't orange frosting on his cookie, just sprinkles!

Andrea's sprinkles literally came to a point. I had to help her spread her sprinkles on several cookies.

Believe it or not, we actually delivered these cookies to our neighbors and friends. (Including, of course, an explanation as to who decorated them.)

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Here's the finished product. "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches."
Here's Rylan decorating the tree. He had so much fun hanging all his ornaments on the same branch. I had to do a little rearranging after the kids went to bed.

Andrea's really concentrating on hanging that ornament!

Landon's hanging his Polar Express ticket from school on the tree.

Alexa wanted to smile for her picture instead of getting a candid shot. You look beautiful, Lexy!

Jack-o-lantern Smile

Alexa has lost two teeth recently and they are both on the same side of her mouth. I like to tease her and tell her that we are going to have to start feeding her baby food because pretty soon there won't be any teeth left to chew.