A Toothless Wonder

Aiden lost a top front tooth today! He yanked this one out himself. A big change from the first loose tooth that required hours of coaxing and lots of tears. This one had been loose for over a month, but wasn't making much progress until he got knocked in the mouth at wrestling last Monday. I guess it just needed the help!

Waiting

I had a preschool council meeting last night, which usually ends up resulting in a rather late night. When I finally got home, I went upstairs and saw this in the doorway of the boys' room. Nathan had been waiting for me to get home and just couldn't stay awake. I love that he's holding tight to his stuffed Olivia doll.

Happy 5th Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan is five today. My kids' birthdays are always a little bittersweet, especially Nathan's since he's our last one. We've loved watching him grow and can't wait to see what this year will bring for him. Starting kindergarten in the fall will be a big step....for all of us! He has definitely completed our family and we are so blessed to have him as our own. Happy birthday, Nathan! You are loving, sweet, family oriented, creative, energetic, and a mama's boy (in a good way!). We love you.

Lumberjack

Back in May, we took down a very tall tree in our backyard. Our backyard is WAY too small for a tree that size and it was growing at an angle, slowly popping the fence apart. So John cut it down and managed to keep from getting injured/killed in the process (somehow).

 Say goodbye, Ash tree.

We have a gas fireplace, so we had no need for firewood. The pieces sat in our garage for months, waiting for something. Then our new nephew, Logan, entered the world in November and we knew exactly what to do with the beautiful Ash tree pieces.

John got to work cutting the logs into blocks and sanding them all down.

He then handed them off to me, and I stenciled letters onto them.

 The dolphin on the table has absolutely nothing to do with the project. Apparently Nathan felt it needed to be included in the picture.

After being coated with a natural oil that is completely non-toxic and won't ever rub off onto furniture or carpeting, we had a beautiful set of blocks for Logan that are safe for him to play with (and put into his mouth - we all know kids chew on things!). We did one set with his name and another full alphabet set.

It still boggles my mind that we took a tree and turned it into blocks. How Oregonian of us. We presented them to Brady, Carrie, and Logan (although he was asleep, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it later) on Christmas day. Not only was the whole project fun, John and I got so much joy out of making something for our nephew.