Then There Was the Family Party

Following the bowling extravaganza, we celebrated a little more at home with the family....

Londyn with Grammy Tammy and Papa

The cousins, minus Malachi who was napping

My three favorite kids:)

Londyn with her favorite parents!

It was a great, relaxing weekend spent with friends and family! It's nice to have an excuse to get everyone together. I would say it was a successful 6th birthday that included lots of celebrating and lots of cake. Happy 6th Birthday Londyn! We love you!

A Little Bowling...

So, Londyn wanted a bowling party for her birthday, so that's what we did. We celebrated the weekend of the 22nd with friends and family at the bowling alley in Broken Arrow. I think she enjoyed herself, and it was pretty easy on me not having to have the house cleaned up for a party!

Thanks to all of our friends and family that helped celebrate her special day!

Happy Birthday Londyn

Tomorrow, my wild child will be six years old! It seems like in every birthday post I feel the need to say something about how quickly time flies and that I don't know where it goes. This one is no different. It is amazing to me that she is actually six years old. Londyn gives me a run for my money every single day, and challenges me tremendously as a parent. With that being said, life around our house would be a little boring without her spunky personality. She LOVES her family, everyone in her family, and wishes that everyone from both sides of the family lived in our house, or at the very least, in our neighborhood. She doesn't like to be alone, ever, and does whatever she can to keep that from happening. She is a great older sister to Lincoln, she absolutely can't leave him alone, but he loves it when she's around, and reaches for her when she is near. She is the life of the party around our house, but we wouldn't want it any other way! More to come about her weekend celebrations, but I didn't want to let the day get away from me without acknowledging her special day.

A Dinosaur, Really?

Trying to use a comparison to teach my children a lesson has proved ineffective, or at least insulting. Londyn is forever picking Lincoln up and carrying him around. She really just can't keep her hands off of him. I was trying to tell her that it was dangerous for her to pick him up because he weighs almost as much as she does and they could both get hurt. Our conversation started something like this:

Me: Londyn, you can't keep picking up Lincoln. He weighs almost 30 pounds. You only weigh 40 pounds, that is more than half your size. That is like me trying to pick up.....

Londyn: A Dinosaur?!?!

Kevin is always telling me to learn to finish my sentences. I'm beginning to think I should put a little more effort into doing that for more reasons that one, but really, a dinosaur. A Dinosaur! Or better yet, I should probably put a little more effort into losing those extra holiday pounds that are hanging around. Maybe then, my daughter wouldn't think I weighed more than a dinosaur.

Blowing Kisses

You can't actually tell in any of these photos that he can blow a kiss because he was just too fast for me. We have misplaced our flip video, and so I tried to catch him blowing the most adorable kisses with my camera before we went to church Wednesday night, but I didn't have much luck. He makes a really loud smacking noise and waves. He does it over and over. At school they told me when he lays down, he blows kisses from his cot telling everyone "night,night". Kisses or not, I thought he was pretty adorable, so I posted the pics anyway. He's quite the ham, and doesn't mind having his picture taken at all. I love how each month he comes more into his personality and life around here gets a little easier. He is starting to say several words, and in general knows what you are saying even though he can't always communicate it back. He still loves attention, and is a huge cuddler.

Welcome 2011

After our long day of baking and gift opening, we finished the night by playing games and hanging out. I obviously retrired ot my super comfy clothes and the girls sported their new favorite article of clothing, footy pajamas. We had a great start to a new year!

Christmas with the Fredendall's

This is beginning to feel like the blog with the neverending Christmas posts. Yes, it is January 16th, and I am just now getting around to posting the last of the holiday pictures. We celebrated Christmas with my family on New Year's Eve, so it was a long day of festivities from the cookie baking to Christmas presents to welcoming in the New Year. We all had a great time, and I'm glad we were able to make it to Missouri to celebrate even if it was a little late and a quick trip.

Cookie Baking

December slipped away from me so quickly this year, and I didn't make time to do our annual cookie baking with the girls. I asked my mom to have some dough ready for us when we arrived and she kindly obliged. So Friday, we spent the morning rolling out and baking sugar cookies. Anastyn and Lincoln joined us this year for the cookie baking fun. They were all very serious about their baking, and took several opportunities to make sure teh dough tasted just right. I guess it's better late than never, right?

Finally, Christmas at Home

On the 29th, we flew back to Tulsa for a quick stop before heading to Missouri. There was a lot of anticipation to see if Santa actually left any presents at home for them. They were not disappointed, and were beyond excited! We had been up since 4:00AM, but that didn't seem to affect the girls much. Lincoln on the other hand was sent to bed and got to open his presents solo a little later that night.

More Fun With Cousins

We attempted a picture of all six Lawrence grandchildren in their Christmas pajamas. I think I took around 60 or so photos, and this is what we got! I think there is one where all six are actually in the photo.

Musicians in the Making...

Or maybe not if they take after me, but Lincoln and Londyn had a grand time playing on the piano at their grandparents house that we visited in Oregon. I asked Londyn if she would like to take piano lessons, thinking that a keyboard may make a nice gift for her upcoming birthday. She responded, "No, I just want one. I think I'm already pretty good, don't you?"

Multnomah Falls

One of our last days in Oregon, we ventured up to Multnomah Falls. It was a little wet and rainy, but we still managed to make it to the top. Kevin and Lincoln of course copped out on us, but the girls and I with Dennis and Jade managed to find our way to the top. I was sort of secretly hoping the girls would give up and we could go back down, but they weren't having it. They were determined to make it to the top, so I guess that meant I would be going as well. I always have big ideas of getting lots of good photos on little excursions like this, but considering the rain and the hiking and the kids that just didn't happen, but at least there is proof we were there!

Our attempt at a family shot at the base of the falls.

The best picture of Kevin and Lincoln that I could get.

Just because I thought this was a cute picture of Londyn on our way.

The girls and I at the top.

An attempt at the view looking down from the top.