The big 9

Michael turned 9 on Feb 4. Here's also a few photos from his actual birthday.. he's been into Diary of a Wimpy Kid (books) so he got the entire set for his birthday. He thought that was pretty cool!

Mr. Smarty Pants

Luke won an academic award near the end of January for doing so well in Spelling and Math - he aces nearly all his spelling tests, including all the bonus words. He loves being so smart and likes to rub it in! He was pretty proud of this award but I think he was actually more excited for the gift certificate for Wingers he got as a result of getting the award!

Pottery Barn Kids Inspired Floral canopy

My Inspiration: (This was a photo from a PBK magazine)

I basically just used a craft wreath base and wrapped with with 2 inch satin white ribbon, then I hot glued the heck out of the flowers. It still looks like it's missing something and I'm not sure how much I like the ribbons hanging down.. they almost look kind of awkward. Maybe I need to shorten them a bit and add a few more?! What do you think? Brynley loves it and it adds a perfect princess feel to her room!

Korean Exchange Student - Haemin

We got a flyer from the boys' school about a Korean exhange program. We thought it would be a good experience for the kids to experience another culture. It was for about 6 weeks and he would attend the same grade school as the boys. It was fun, but there were a lot of cultural differences that made it difficult at times to fit him in with us. The kids had a lot of fun with him and miss him, but we were happy when the time came to say goodbye and be back to just the 5 of us again. I think it definately benefited Haemin to learn what it was like to be a little more independant and part of a different family. My kids definately learned some things NOT to do :)

I learned that a 9 year old is far to young to go on an exchange. My experience has always been with high school exchange students and a student this young is definately takes a lot more energy and work! There' a blog I started (and didn't totally finish.. ) with quite a few pics on it if you want to take a look: http://haeminsadventuresinidaho.blogspot.com

Christmas 2010

AND.. Last but not least...My Favorite Photo of these three kids - They are SOOO cute!

Halloween with Darth Vader, Black Spiderman and Alice in Wonderland

Punkin carving

This face TOTALLY cracks me up.. I guess Michael's not too fond of pumpkin guts! :)

Girl always has gum!

Luke has NO problem with guts!

Family Photos - October 2009

The family pictures were taken by our friends, Kevin & Maria Draper - who are in Nyssa, Oregon.