The kids are feeling sick today, so they won't be going to church. It's a good thing Grandma Cindy is here and happy to stay home with them! Grandpa Steve is doing his best to help, too, reading a book to Joseph before heading off to church this morning.

After getting back home, Tim and I offered to play the piano and violin duet we performed in church last week for Tim's parents. It's a lovely arrangement of "I Feel My Savior's Love" and "Jesus Loves Me" by Todd McCabe and April Moriarty, and I only wish we had played as well at church as we did here at home today! We were both pretty nervous!

Grandma Allison took this shot of the kids playing with their Tinkertoys this morning, and I'm only sorry she's not in it, too, because she has been playing with them nonstop! They sure do love their grandparents!

One of my birthday presents from Tim's parents was a set of resistance bands, which Joseph and Rosalie immediately started asking Grandma Cindy to tie around their waists like rubbery sashes. Here's Rosalie wearing all three (red, green, and purple) and having a little rest with Daddy after work this afternoon.



After dinner tonight, we all had a little more cake, which apparently put Rosalie in the mood to sing, and it's really no surprise which song she chose!

She has the resistance bands back on again here, although they're a bit harder to see with Daddy's arm around her waist. The kiddos sure love their time reading books with Tim before bedtime!

It's amazing how the time keeps flying by, and here I am again at another birthday! This year we're lucky enough to have Tim's parents here with us to celebrate, and here's the famous Allison family chocolate cake Tim and his mom whipped up for me this afternoon.

That lone little candle looks a bit puny compared to all this cake, but I guess I'm past the stage of numbering candles for years!

It's just as scrumptious as ever. Happy birthday to me!



The kiddos, of course, are just as excited about having cake as I am. Rosalie excitedly announced "more cake, please!" when she spotted it across the room. They sure do learn quickly, don't they!

Now it's time to open a few gifts, play a game or two, and head to bed. It's been another great birthday!

Although we've always had a can or two of store-bought play dough around, Joseph has never really seemed too interested in it. I made up a batch of homemade play dough during Joy School today, though, and he has been loving it! I guess it should come as no surprise that homemade is best!

Joseph also had a flash of inspiration today when he realized he could convert his boring, flat road rug into the hilly variety simply by pulling it up on the slide. What a great idea!

Meanwhile, here's Rosalie figuring out how to put this headband on Baby Stella, and telling us about it in her cute, garbled Rosalie-speak. I love seeing her focus and determination!

Rosalie's dress-up choices for today include a fairy necklace from her Aunt Angie and the tutu I made for her first Halloween costume. Good thing I accidentally made it a little too big! That nasty scratch on her face is from an unpleasant encounter with a leafless Red Bird of Paradise during our walk yesterday afternoon. She actually has several others, but they don't show up as well as the big one. It got her pretty good!

Never wanting to be left out of the fun, Joseph ran and got this cape my mom made many years ago and recently passed on to us. Rosalie pulled over another chair for him, grabbed a book for herself, and now they are happily reading together. I sure love mornings like this at home!

For the last week or so, Rosalie has been eating all her meals with her own spoon and fork. She is quite proud of herself, as she should be, and insists on gathering a collection of utensils and placing them on her highchair tray for easy access while she's eating. Here's her assortment at breakfast this morning!

One thing that hasn't changed, and likely never will, is her love affair with accessories. She dug this butterfly hair clip from Grandma Susan out of her drawer before lunch today and brought it straight to me, telling me in her garbled Rosaliespeak that she wanted me to put it in her hair. What an adorable little girl!

Joseph thinks the "cm" on rulers and yard sticks stands for "chameleons", and while I haven't agreed with him, it's so cute I haven't had the heart to tell him he's wrong yet, either. Here he is this afternoon hard at work measuring in inches and chameleons!

Rosalie is busy this morning making stacks of board books all over the play room, and she sure is proud of her hard work!

Note the lovely necklace she's wearing—it was her handmade, one-of-a-kind Christmas gift from Aunt Angie, and she's hardly ever without it anymore!



Aren't they adorable?

You wrapped me around your cute little finger
You made life a song—you made me the singer
And what's that bathtub tune I always "Bu-Bu-Boo?"
I don't need anything but you

Rosalie sings this little ditty about our family's names all the time. What a cutie!

Tonight is our anniversary, and although we didn't take any photos of ourselves this year, we did catch a couple shots of the heart pizza, the alstroemeria flowers, and the carrot cake. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since that sunny AZ day when Tim and I were married for time and eternity! 8 years, 5 degrees, 4 states, 2 kids, and 1 dog, I wonder what the next 8 years will bring?

Good work, Rosalie—I think you got as much on the paper as on yourself this time!

It took me several iterations, but now I'm really proud of this coat I made for Kepler! Sighthounds are tricky to make coats for, because of their rounded backs, but I think I finally figured it out. What a handsome puppy!

Tim claims that dogs are better than cats because you can take them outside and throw balls to them. While I'm not so sure the argument is that simple, I will admit we're having a lot of fun in the back yard this New Year's afternoon doing just that!