Since it's literally been a year since my last post

I'm not going to even try and catch up.

It was a busy year.

Ty was gone for 6 months

(deployed to the Middle East)

and I had a baby.

Fun times.

We took family pictured for the first time in about 2 years.

Hopefully we don't wait that long until we do it again,

but there are no guarantees.

Leo

This boy is a great big second grader.

He likes school even though,

"all we ever do is work, work, work."

He loves to read.

He is almost always happy to read by himself or to his brothers,

but he still loves to play outside most of all.

This year his artistic talents have really emerged.

Ty and I can barely draw stick people,

so we're not sure where his talent with a pencil came from.

We've been pretty amazed with the drawings Leo brings home from school each week.

Leo is a great older brother and does his best to look out for the other kids.

He is also really into the holidays.

He makes sure we have the house properly decorated

and that we do all of the "appropriate holiday activities."

Jay

This boy started kindergarten this year.

It was pretty much the worst thing that ever happened to any one.

3+ months later and he can almost make it through the day

without a major melt down.

Even though he's a total stinker,

all of the people at school love him.

(He has that effect on people.)

Jay is sweet and generous

(when he wants to be).

He loves tangerines and had to take enough to share with all of his classmates.

He is obsessed with Elf on the Shelf.

(I'm super glad his teacher is doing that at school,

because I absolutely refuse.)

He comes home every day and is so excited to tell us all about Elf's shenanigans.

Jay thinks life is super funny

and is almost always laughing about something.

He's also very concerned with things being fair for everyone.

Jaxon

This boy is 2 now, and he sure does act like it.

He's finally started talking

and his favorite words are:

NO!

Mine!

Nein! (His German heritage is showing through.)

Go!

Stuck!

and Uh oh!

All shouted as loud as possible.

He still loves babies (much to Ari's dismay),

dolls and stuffed animals.

He also loves keys and escaping the house to play outside.

He can open the front door even when it is locked,

dead bolted, and child safety latched.

He's really good at noticing when no one is looking and slipping out.

He also loves to be a big helper.

Heaven help you if you take the trash out without his help.

And you'd better not even think about unloading the dishwasher by yourself.

He's still a little drink stealer,

and he eats frozen Gogurts like they're going out of style.

Ariadne

 This little girl had her two month well check today.

She is 10 lb 8 oz (40%)

and 22.2 inches long (45%).

She's starting to stay awake for longer stretches and is quite social when her eyes are open.

She likes to swing in her swing,

especially if the mobile and the music are on.

She tolerates her brothers fairly well.

She loves to sleep in our bed,

especially when dad cuddles with her.

She's on her way to becoming the most spoiled of our children,

but she totally deserves to be so we aren't even worried about it.

She has crazy hair that sticks up all the time

and the cutest little smile you've ever seen.

She's also getting rolls on her thighs

which we love to pinch.