November 21, 2014


 
  Shelbi wanted to be in charge of taking the birthday pictures tonight.  Not bad.  At least his eyes are open

November 20, 2014

Lunch with Bailey-B.
Between lunch with the kids at school and lunch out with Jeff and this Cha Cha, I'm not sure what I would even eat at home anymore.

November 19, 2014

Lunch with Ry-Guy.

November 17, 2014

   It snowed a few inches while we were at church today.  On the way home, the kids were begging me to get out the snow clothes.  My initial response was that three inches wasn't really worth the trouble.  Until I realized that this could be one of only a few snow storms this winter.  So I caved.  


 They were out there for hours. Totally worth it.


November 16, 2014

  They boys having a who-can-leave-his-hand-on-the-cold-window-the-longest contest.  So strange.

November 15, 2014

  At the top of this picture is Ryan and his buddy R from church.  She loves to make him little notes and play around with him in the church gym.  They are both happy, silly kids.  She's been inviting him to come to her house for a while now.  Her mom, knowing that the age difference is a little awkward, invited our whole clan over for lunch and some play time.  We had a great afternoon enjoying stew and cornbread and playing at their ranch.  Such nice people.

November 14, 2014

A common sight around here.  Shelbi is sick, sick, sick.

November 13, 2014

So many things to love about this picture...

November 12, 2014

  Today was Syd's last appointment with the endodontist.  She has had to go to his office four times to take care of the teeth that came out in the dog accident.  She ended up needing root canals in two of them.  She was definitely nervous before her first visit.  I tried to assure her that it's no worse than getting a tooth filled.  The worst part is the shot to numb your mouth.

  When she was given the shot, I couldn't even tell that anything was happening.  She didn't flinch or anything.  At each of the visits, she's been totally unfazed.  
  The dental hygienist told me that when they first heard about having a child as a patient (this is mainly an adult practice), they were all worried about the trouble.  But she told me today that Syd's the best patient they've ever had. Her endodontist said that if he ever has kids, he wants them to be just like her.  
  I feel very blessed that we got to work with the fine people at this office.  They really cared about Syd and her comfort and what is best for her.  

November 10, 2014

  Waiting for Shelbi to finish her piano lesson.  Luckily I had just stopped at the grocery store.  

November 9, 2014

Syd Croft, nerf raider.

November 8, 2014

Another great district band concert for Shelbi.


November 7, 2014


  Syd was chosen to be on the 5th grade team for an egg drop competition sponsored by some science organization.  Teams from the middle and high schools around town built containers to house an egg, which were dropped from twenty feet up to see if their product could keep the egg from breaking.  They spent weeks perfecting and testing their design.  Luckily Syd's smile (above) was still there after the drop.  Their egg survived.

Bailey made herself comfortable among her new high school besties.

November 3, 2014

  Bailey can make about anything she plays with a Frozen prop.  This house is Elsa's ice castle and the barbie is Elsa, belting out Let It Go.

November 2, 2014

Nice.

November 1, 2014

Shelbi snoozing in the car, late at night.
  I don't have an appropriate picture for today's activities.  It started out as a lazy Saturday.  As we were finishing breakfast, I was looking at some Thanksgiving decorations online at Crate and Barrel.  The items I really wanted were out of stock online, but possibly available in stores.  I came up with the brilliant idea to drive to Oklahoma City today to see if I could get them.  Once we realized that there is no Crate and Barrel in Oklahoma City, we had already made our plans.  So we went anyway.  An awesome pre-birthday day of shopping and Cheesecake Factory.  (We're so predictable.)

October 31, 2014

 Pre-trick or treating
  With Bailey being red riding hood and Ryan a lumberjack, I tried my best to get Erik to be the wolf and Syd the grandma.  No dice.  Erik had his heart set on Emmet from the Lego movie and Syd wanted to be something scary.
  Here's Erik and Syd in front of the Halloween house in our neighborhood.  These people take their Halloween seriously, with multiple blow-up yard decorations, a photo booth, refreshments for the adults inside, and a video game trailer.

    After trick or treating Ryan was the best candy-hander-outer ever.  He watched out the window intently, and once he saw a group approaching, he'd count out the appropriate amount of candy needed before the doorbell even chimed.

October 30, 2014

  Holiday sugar cookies always seem like a good idea.  The cookie cutters are so cute and festive.  The kids love cutting them out and decorating them.  But I think of the three dozen we made, we ate about eight.  Nobody actually likes them in our family.

October 29, 2014

  Today was bad hair day at school.  This is 100% Sydney's creation.  She has participated in all of the dress-up days at school this week with zeal.  She and Shelbi could not be more different in this area.

October 28, 2014

Playing car.  Can you spot Bailey in this picture?

October 27, 2014

  Many months ago my sister Jami told me of some friends who were coming to Amarillo to hunt wild pigs.  They had heard that we have quite a problem here.  I knew nothing of this until today, when I saw this in the paper.  I guess I should stay alert.

October 26, 2014

  I took this picture as I was returning home from dropping Shelbi off at a fireside tonight.  With sunday services, youth activities, scouts (in a couple of months), and various meetings, it sure is nice to live so close to our church.  It's located at the entrance to our neighborhood, only a couple of minutes away.   We're so spoiled, I don't think I could ever go back to living far away from the church building again.

October 25, 2014

   Shelbi had her church friends over tonight for a casual birthday party.  No planned activities, besides making pizza.  The girls spontaneously broke out into doing the "cups" routine.  Very teenager-y.  Don't know what the cups routine is?  Google it.

October 24, 2014

A pretty girl, excited for her first school night dance.

October 23, 2014



October 22, 2014

Oh, Shelbi. Thirteen already.




We've definitely already had some teenage moments.  But this is one extraordinary girl.

October 21, 2014

  It's a good day when these semis carrying windmill blades pass us on the road.  This picture doesn't do them justice.  They are massive.  It's about Bailey's favorite thing.


October 20, 2014

It's good of Best Buy to play Finding Nemo to entertain a three-year-old whose father won't stop looking at speakers.









October 19, 2014

  The kids came up with a very strange game tonight.  They tossed a whoopee cushion to each other, and when someone failed to catch it, that person had to sit on it.

 Bailey's little buns had to work a bit harder to deflate it.

Disaster struck later when the whoopee cushion popped, due to a thin spot in the rubber.  There were many tears.

October 18, 2014

I really like it when Jeff's home to do the haircuts.  The sideburns actually come out even.

October 17, 2014

Tonight.

October 16, 2014

Halloween 2000
  The scrubs and gash on my forehead were my costume for work.  The ladybug was my niece's costume.  The teeth?   I don't know...

October 15, 2014

Happy birthday to my dad, a peek-a-boo playing, dish doing, grandkids loving cowboy.






October 14, 2014

  We didn't see this movie.  We saw Meet the Mormons.  The poster for that movie was too dark for a picture.  Technically there are Mormons in this picture, right?