Winter and Birthday Fun

Well, winter is here in full force now.  The kids have been absolutely thrilled with all of the snow to play in.  There have already been some snow days for the public school kids, so our girls really enjoyed playing outside with Jamesen a few days last week.

We have also had some very cold days, with temps and wind chills below zero, which also contributed to snow days.  The kids spent their days confined to the house having picnics and tea parties for lunch. 

 Ezri also created a fun activity to occupy Barb for a while.  He loved it!

 Friday, the girls had a snow day as their friends Travis and Emmett, also on a snow day, spent the day playing at our house.  While the kids played, Tierney helped Mommy bake the cakes in preparation for our party on Sunday.  Friday night, Alora and Elam got to begin the birthday fun with gifts from Jay & Becci and a yummy worms in dirt dessert made by Becci.  Alora was so excited!

 Then we enjoyed a quiet night with friends and I enjoyed cozy snuggles with a sleepy baby and kitty.

Saturday morning, we got up and I got going on the birthday cake.  Three hours of decorating while the kids watched Thomas movies with Daddy and it was finally done!  My kitchen paid the price... 

 But the cake turned out great!

 Alora wanted to share a cake with Elam this year, instead of having her own.  She thought a Thomas cake would be fun and as Elam is really beginning to enjoy Thomas (he calls him "Mas"), it was perfect.  Alora was thrilled with the results.

We spent the remainder of our day relaxing, hanging out, playing and cleaning the house in preparation for the party with grandparents on Sunday.

Sunday morning, Alora woke up very excited and anxious for the day to get going.  She spent a little time reading with Elam before we got ready for church.

After church, Alora and Elam got to open gifts from Travis and Emmett.  Elam squealed when he saw the tools he was given!

Alora was very excited about the fancy car the boys gave her.

 Back at home, Grandpa & Grandma and Opa & Oma joined us for a lunch of tacos and fruit, at Alora's request.  Then, FINALLY, it was time to open gifts.

And then it was time for Cake!  Alora wanted the cake to be a surprise, so it was fun for her to reveal what it looked like to our guests.

 A joint effort to blow out candles...

 And finally some delicious cake to eat!

The kids had a lot of fun playing with the new toys.  Alora was especially thrilled with her new sleeping bag, wearing it all around the house the rest of the day and digging through her box of wood and building supplies, plotting what she might make.  Elam donned his Engineer outfit and got to work using his new tools.

Daddy was proud to show our guests his new CNC mill in action, so in waves, he took our parents out.  Ezri went out with Grandpa and Daddy and he let her push the button to run a part. She was hooked and asked when she could come out and help him work again!

We were all pretty tired after our busy day of birthday party fun, so we spent a quiet evening watching the kids' choice for a bit before getting them all tucked into bed.  Elam didn't last through much of the watching before he was already asleep, having missed his nap and having such an activity packed day.  There was excited chatter from Alora for a bit once she got into bed, all about the anticipation of waking the next day a 7 year old and the fun birthday things she knew would be waiting her.