Bad blogger...

Again no excuse except I am just a bad blogger. I have debated between updating the last three months or just starting from here. I am going to quickly update because this blog is my family journal and the only reason I blog! So since I last posted....

 - about 2 weeks before Christmas our beloved dog Buster died. He was attacked by the neighbors dogs and poor Buster didn't have a chance. It was a hard time for the kids but it was a great learning experience. 

- Hadley turned 8!! I can't believe she is already 8! She is an incredible smart almost perfect child! She loves to read and reads at a 6th grade level! She love Nancy Drew books, the old ones, that I used to read! Her big accomplishment was her baptism! She was so ready and has taken it very seriously! We are so proud of her!

Hadley at her birthday party with her best friend, Grace! 

Hadley at her baptism. It was a great day and she looked beautiful! 

- Christmas 

We had a great Christmas. We tried to keep it simple this year and I think for the most part we succeeded!

Santa came Christmas eve and brought jammies and blankets. It was actually my dad dressed up and only Hadley could tell it was him!

I decided this year I would make a few homemade gifts. Each kid got something homemade and then their big gift from Santa I made card table playhouses. The boys was a pirate theme and the girls was a bakery theme. They were a huge hit and I loved the way they turned out! 

 We have had a very mild winter, but we finally go enough snow one day for the kids to go outside and play and build a snowman!

 Izaak lost not only his first tooth but his first 2 teeth and then about 2 weeks later he lost another one! 

Izaak also broke his foot/leg. He is such an accident prone kid. He had it broken for 3 weeks before I took him in! He has a high pain tolerance! He never cried when he did it, just running down the hall and twisted his ankle, so I thought he just sprained it. 3 weeks later it was still hurting and starting to hurt more so I finally took him in and of course it was broke and on the growth plate. He is in this hard cast for 6 weeks and then a boot for 2 more weeks to see if there is any plate damage. Doctor said there is only about a 30% chance of plate damage so we are crossing our fingers he wont need surgery!  

 We have been super busy with ballroom this year. 3 of my kids are dancing and competing as well as me teaching 4 different teams and it has been crazy but so much fun! We just got back from the Idaho competition and the kids did awesome! Hadley and her partner took 4th in cha-cha and 3rd in swing and Izabelle and Izaak took 8th in cha-cha and 7th in swing. Izabelle was the youngest competitor they had there by 2 years and Izaak was one of the next youngest. They place 1st in both of their team numbers as well!

We couldn't go too long without another family pet so the beginning of  March, Copper joined our family and the kids just adore him! Especially Zoe!

Our little bug is growing up so fast! She is 8 months old and such a busy body!

Of course I must end with MAX! He is still a monster but slightly getting better! There are about 20 picture of him doing something naughty or cute or funny! I could do a whole post just for him. Here he is with some of my ballroom costumes!  Pretty dang cute with an afro!