Malloy is walking!

She has been taking 2 or 3 steps on her own for a while but Thursday during physical therapy she just took off. She walked all around the house and even pulled her pull toy behind her.

We also went to the dentist last week and Mallory figured out how to say "no". James and Kinley were trying to take her raisins and she was saying "NOOOOOO!" "NOOOOO!" Now she will walk around saying no in all different voices. It is so weird that she seems grown up so much in two days.

We have been outside and at the park more in January than we were in all of the fall. Last year on January 24 there were 14 inches of snow on the ground and this year the same day it was 65 and Kinley was running around in the sand barefoot.

James is still enjoying school but since Christmas has been a little bored and very annoyed with the immaturity of kindergarteners. Mrs. Orizal and Josh and I are working on some ideas to keep him engaged and challenged. We'll see how the next few weeks go.

Mallory drilling her gums.

Kinley in her cool shades at the dentist.

Last week we told Kinley it was time to get ready for bed and she freaked out. Josh told her she needed to go to the bathroom right then or she would get a spanking so she walked in the bathroom saw my pone on the counter looked at Josh then picked my phone up and threw it in the toilet! Josh of course ran and fished it out. When Kinley tells the story she says "I got mad and frew mommys phone in the potty but daddy wan and gabbed it out before it fwushed down!" Needless to say she had some major consequences. We ended up having to pay $100 to fix my phone. That girl is a loose cannon. She is really good most of the time but she can whip out the craziness in a moments notice.

We had a very different Christmas than normal but it was still great. The whole month of December we tried to stay as unbusy as possible. I'd say we succeeded. We were home together most nights other than the occasional Christmas themed night out. We did our advent box and updated it with a few new activities and Bible stories. One night we went to the Christmas Train which is a little theme park about 1 hour away from Tulsa. A local church owns and runs it. The park is a town set in the early 1900's and they have restaurants, a playground, pony and carriage rides, a puppet show, Santa, and two real steam engines that take you around the park passing signs and live scenes that tell the story of creation and Christ. We enjoyed it but definitely don't need to do it again anytime soon. Before we left I set out all our coats, hats, and gloves then went out the door without them. It was in the 40's. Go mom of the year!

One morning we blacked out the window in the bathroom, had a candlelight bubble bath, and listened to Josh Groban holiday on Pandora. They stayed in the bath for over an hour. They were total prunes when I drug them out against their will. The spiritual principle we talked about during our bath was how God is our comforter. Which prepared us all for the month of January. We feel that God has called us to fast for the month of January from all carbs (other than fruit and vegetables) and sweets. Everything edible/drinkable that is comforting. We are having the kids do it too and it has been a good time of learning self denial and how to let God comfort us even in the tiniest moment. The kids have done really well not complaining , begging or cheating. Kinley did ask the other day if when we're done with our meat fast can we have a sugar fast. The thing we are working on now is when it ends that we aren't going to go sugar crazy just because we "can". Mallory saw the video below that has cinnamon muffins in it and started reaching for them and crying. It is definitely worth knowing God on a deeper more personal level and seeking His will. One thing we are praying for this month if for God to tell us if He wants us to stay in our house for a while longer and fix it up a little or if He wants us to move and if so where and when.

The kids and I made 120 Christmas cards for elderly shut in's in Broken Arrow. It was a little too big of a task for us in the end but hopefully it put a smile on their faces.

We made a homemade ginger bread house for the 5 year in a row. I don't have a finished picture of it! Like I said weird year. I got sick the weekend we were supposed to make it so it got put off and I had to do it by myself with the kids and it wasn't as good as usual or done as early as usual.

One of my favorite advent activities is washing each others feet like Jesus washed the disciples feet. When we're done washing we say one thing we love about the person whose feet we just washed. James said he loves that Kinley is generous and Mallory is funny. Kinley said that James is nice to her and that Mallory is sometimes kind. Mallory thoroughly enjoyed getting her feet washed.

Mallory has been assigned a physical therapist through Sooner Start who is coming every two weeks to work with her on walking. She has given me some good ideas on how to motivate her to walk and strengthen her muscles. I am trying to do exercises with her a few minutes each day. She is a little resistant unless I make it really fun and exciting which is getting harder and harder because I'm running out of ideas. Today she got a pair of ankle braces "orthodics" that she is supposed to wear all day everyday until her bones straighten out. She and Kinley have an appointment with the ENT to look at getting tubes. Kinley's first set she got at 18 months fell out at the end of November and she had a double ear infection right before Christmas which could mean that she needs a second set. Mallory has been holding fluid on her ears constantly since birth and the Sooner Start team thinks that getting tubes could help with her balance and walking. Josh is really excited about the medical spending we are already looking at and it's only January!

Work is going well for Josh. He and Debbie (his new administrator) are getting along well and learning to work together. The little amount of training he is having to do is such a blessing. His office was profitable again this last trimester which is a really big accomplishment. It is really fun watching him hit his stride and get more comfortable with his job. We are really excited to go to Rome in 43 days!

Two days before Christmas we made french breakfast puffs for Jesus' birthday.

So I said Christmas was weird. Josh got sick in November, then me, then James, then Kinley, then Mallory then me and Josh again, then James again then Kinley again then Mallory. So we literally have been sick since November. Christmas Eve we woke up and were scheduled to leave for OKC that morning and be gone for a week visiting family. Well, Mallory had a fever and bad cough so we took her to urgent care to make sure it wasn't viral but it was so we call our families and told them we were all sick but Mallory was definitley contagious. They all said the didn't want us...can you believe that! (Just teasing you family) So, we stayed home! For the first Christmas in my entire life I got to stay in one place all day and not just for one day but for three in a row. I did miss the food, fun family time, and presents but being with my sweet family during a special time was really nice. Since we had planned to be gone we had NO food and no presents because we had already given the kids their presents from us and Josh and I don't do presents. I went to walmart and picked up some shrimp and pineapple for Christmas Eve and green bean casserole, house shoes and a Wii game for Christmas. We pulled a ham out of the freezer that Josh got from Edward Jones and called it good. I would have liked to have had better food but it was so nice not to cook and clean the whole time. We played a lot of Wii, went to the park on Christmas day, and made cookies for Santa. I have gone shopping with my mom early in the morning the day after Christmas every year for a long time and this year we couldn't be together so I took Kinley with me and it was so fun and cute. She was really into it. She kept saying "beat those ladies to the sale!" We went to OKC two days after Christmas and were able to spend time with my family for 3 days then we went to Duncan for 3 days. Even though we never really had a real holiday meal or family gathering we still had fun and feel totally blessed. We are excited for 2012. We want to know God and reflect His glory and we can't wait to see how He shows Himself!

I am way behind on this thing!

Mallory is 17.5 months and still not walking so she had a developmental assessment with Sooner Start today. They are a state run agency that works with children under 3 that have developmental delays. She qualified for their services because she was found to be "significantly delayed" in the gross motor area. That means they will set us up with a physical therapist that will come to our house and work with her. There is still no speculation on why Mallory is having this delay. She tested wonderfully in every other area.

These are some cute pics of the kids when we went camping in Ocotober.

Kinley has been talking with her hands a lot lately. She hold them palm up with her fingers all close together and raises them up and down for emphasis. It is hilarious. Tonight she said excuse me and Josh has just told her not to get up from the table and she said "I mean excuse me because I burped, not excuse be because I need to leave". She is so smart! Her imagination is going wild too. Everyday we are different animals or movie characters. This month I have had to be Ginch (the grinch) a lot and she is either Max (his dog), Joyce (a cat from Milo and Otis), or a fire breathing iguana. I must address her properly and I must ALWAYS talk in the appropriate voice for my character. (Of course she doesn't always get her way) It makes for a very entertaining home.

We have adjusted to having a school age child. James is still loving school and thriving in his environment. He did however get in trouble last week for being too rowdy and not listening when the teacher was talking. That was sad but we dealt with it and he is showing much more restraint and respect. He can count to 100 and is reading entire books.

Josh and I went backpacking just the two of us in Arkansas the first weekend of November. Everyone thought we were crazy for taking a weekend away from the kids and doing something that involved so much work and dirt but we loved it. We hiked 4.7 miles in then about 4 (we took a shortcut) out. We camped two night right beside the Buffalo River. We ate Raman noodles, oatmeal, and peanut butter tortillas. Josh went fishing in the river, I read two novels, we laid in a field under the sun, we talked a TON (yea for Josh!). It was wonderful and we will probably make it a yearly tradition.

This was the blazing fire Josh made the second night. He is such a MAN he can make a fire Bear Gryles style (well almost).

The field we took a nap in.

Mallory can eat an entire ice cream cone faster than James or Kinley!

We did feet washing for Advent yesterday and I had each kid wash the other ones feet and say something they love about each other. James said he loves that Kinley sometimes shares. Kinley said the she loves that James is her friend. James said that he loves how funny Mallory is and Kinley said the she loves that Mallory is usually kind. It was such a sweet time.

This is her I want your ice cream face.

She loves jewlery!

We celebrated Josh's 30th birthday November 20th. I surprised him with tickets to the Dallas Cowboys/New York Giants game at Cowboys Stadium December 10. He loved it and was totally surprised and I couldn't believe he was surprised and didn't kill me for spending the money. We had a great time at the game other than when the Cowboys lost.

We went to Duncan for Thanksgiving and Josh fished in the pond out back a couple of times and wasn't very successful then the morning we were leaving to come home he went out and caught 4 fish in the first 7 cast and ended up with 10 all together. Below is the biggest. Can you tell he's proud! He can't wait to get back at Christmas.

Some friends of ours gave us tickets and ride passes for the Tulsa fair, so against our better judgement, we went. We got out of the car and were getting the stroller together and Kinley threw up in the parking lot out of nowhere. She wasn't coughing, she didn't end up having a stomach bug, she just threw up her whole breakfast for fun. After debate we went ahead and went in. We told the kids they could have one thing to eat but it could be whatever they wanted. Kinley chose pink cotton candy, and James chose a cinnamon roll.

Mallory LOVES animals so she went crazy in the petting zoo.

I don't know if you remember, but I posted a year or so ago about James getting a Texas Longhorn hat and refusing to wear it in public because he didn't want to get made fun of; well, he wore it for the first time in public to the fair. He didn't even get made fun of. One guy commented on how much he liked it.

Mallory chose a corn dog and ate the whole thing herself!

We were all going to ride the farris wheel but it would have cost us $25 in tickets for the whole family to ride. That is beyond crazy in my opinion. So we settled for the carousel then James and Kinley rode the few they could agree on.

Last week we had our annual fall camping trip. We normally go to Beaver's Bend but because of the burn ban we had to look for a new place. We ended up at Lake Murray just south of Ardmore which ended up being plan E, yes that is right, 5th choice. Josh, the kids and I actually went to Chickasaw National Recreation Area near Sulphur and set up our camp the first night but had to move in the morning because the burn ban wasn't lifted there like we thought it would be. That was a big pain but we all handled it with a pretty good attitude. We went down the road to Lake Murray and the best campsite we could find was right on the lake but you had to walk about 1/4 mile from the car to the campsite so we got a LOT of exercise unloading the massive amount of stuff we take to go camping. Jason, Emily and Kate joined us that afternoon and we enjoyed campfire time alone with them once we got the kids to sleep. We actually smoked cigars together which was fun until the end. I couldn't keep mine lit so once I was puffing on it a lot to try to light it back up and I inhaled too much smoke and got so sick I threw up. Needless to say, cigars aren't really my thing.

Doesn't she look right out of a magazine! I think she looks like a famous person's kid walking through the city after a play date.

Joe, Caren, Jennifer, Kathy, Steve, Kelly, Tristan and Cade got there on Friday afternoon and the party started.

At the marina there were huge carpe and a few geese hanging around that you could feed. The kids had a great time with that. They even got to tough a couple of them.

Kinley, Tristan, James, Mallory, Kate, and Cade

There weren't very many things to do at the park and the kids were so desperate for a hiking trail or a canoe ride that we had to figure something out so Uncle Jason suggested that we go to this place called Elephant Rock and let the kids wade out and climb on it. Of course we don't have swim suits because it's low 40's and high 70's. We decided to let them have their fun. They all stripped to their undies (when camping you can't afford to get entire outfits wet or you won't have enough clothes to make it through) and tried to swim across the lake to a rock sticking out of the water that I guess someone thought looked like an elephant (I wasn't seeing it). The water was cold and the boys were wimping out until Jason manned up and went across with them. The girls did not want to be left behind but they were too short to cross by themselves so Jason made another trip back for them. He was not stripped to his undies in case you're wondering but he did get really wet.

On Saturday Josh started feeling really sick to his stomach and had some issues but we didn't think much about it. Saturday night around 11 some storms came through. The wind was so strong it laid our tent almost flat on top of us which caused the rain fly not to work properly so water came in. Then around 4:30 James sat up and threw up all over the tent. Then around 7 Mallory woke up in a pack n play full of diarrhea. Everyone in the group except Steve and Kinley ended up getting some version of the bug. Needless to say the camping trip started on a rough note then went downhill fast the last day. I will say that after having to get home and clean that mess up it will be a while until I'm ready to go again.

That's the "this is really cold" face.

Beautiful girls!

I gave the girls this box full of cornmeal to play in and Mallory loves to climb so of course she had to sit in the cornmeal. I went inside to get something and when I came out Mallory was standing there giggling while Kinley poured buckets of cornmeal on her back. They are becoming friends more and more. Mallory loves for Kinley to crawl and chase her around. Kinley likes to hold her Bible out for Mallory to pat while she sings the pat the Bible song from BSF.

We made sugar cookies for James' class to have on Halloween. It took 5 hours from start to finish and of course I lost the kids after about 1 but they were really fun and good.

James is still doing really well in school. He came home today with a note that says he's been chosen to receive the Hoover Award which is for kids who show academic achievement and good behavior. We also had his parent teacher conference and Mrs. Orizal said he was the smartest most well behaved kid in her class and that she can tell we are good parents and to keep up the good work. It was incredible to hear those things from someone who doesn't have to say it. I am so glad that she and James like each other and that he is thriving in that environment. I was so scared to send him.

This is Kinley with Grandma Barbara Wagner who is also her preschool teacher this year. The preschool has a costume parade every Halloween. Kinley couldn't decide on one thing she wanted to be for Halloween. She kept changing her mind and I didn't want to spend time or money on a costume that she would refuse to wear the day of because she had changed her mind. So we made her be the chicken which James was when he was 2. She woudl tell us she doesn't want to be the chicken but in the end she was happy with it.

We trick or treated with the Henslee's like we have the past four years. Above is a dog pile with James on bottom then Ezra then Kinley then Levi. They were so cute and funny trick or treating. Mallory dressed up as the bee that Kinley was last year and she rode in the stroller with her treat bag hanging off her arm while chewing on a package of whoppers. Below is her chew face.

We went to the doctor for her 15 month well visit. The doc referred us to Sooner Start for her not walking yet issue. They will come out to our house and assess her development and set us up with physical therapy if she needs it. It is looking like her hips are just really tight in the areas they need to be loose in and too loose in the areas they need to be tight. We'll see what happens. It is also looking like she will need ear tubes in January. I told the doctor about her crazy fit throwing (she is biting me, screaming, hitting, and kicking when she doesn't get what she wants) and how she climbs everything that can possibly be climbed (we walked in the kitchen to find her on top of the table last week) and she said those are 18 month - 2 year old traits. She said she thinks Mallory is really smart but fooling us with the delay and that we should watch out and be diligent to train her and not treat her like she's delayed. I was convicted about not staying on top of her attitude and behavior so it's boot camp for Mallory!

We have great news! Let me back up. I'm not sure I posted that Paula, Josh's office assistant, quit and her last day was last week. It was devastating because she was the 4th one in 7 years and the business is at a really critical state and ready to be taken to the next level but with the hiring and training process it would be really hard to push forward. Well, God answered our prayers so quickly! Josh hired Debbie on Friday and she will start on the 22nd. She has been an Edward Jones assistant for an advisor in Indiana for 8 years and is wanting to move here to be closer to her children. She is in her 50's so she won't be having babies and she is already trained!

James is doing so well in school! He just got "student of the month"! The child selected each month demonstrates kindness, teamwork, excellent listening, and good attendance. He will be honored at a spirit assembly called the Husky Huddle tomorrow. He is so funny because he loves to get peoples approval, climb the ladder, be the best, etc. I don't know where he gets it ;) but I can already tell it is going to be a spot God will be working on for a long time. But, as a parent I'm glad he's bent that way because it will keep him out of trouble.

This is his tree swing that we've had for 1.5 years and he has finally mastered it.

The mount has been the hardest part but he does it perfectly.

Such a goober!

Miss Mallory is growing like a leaf yet looking thinner by the week. She is crawling, pulling up, and walking while holding on to things all with proficiency. It's only a matter of time until she's off on her own. She has recently learned to play on the slide all by herself. She thinks she is so big.

She smiled on command for me here!

What's funny is she has the hardest time pushing herself down the slide. She freezes up once she gets up there then when she gets to the bottom she cries every time then crawls back to the stairs and does it again.

Mallory wearing Kinley's underwear on her head while pushing the walker. She LOVES to have clothes on her head. Actually she likes any accessory hats, shoes, necklaces, glasses.

Josh and James have been going to Bible Study Fellowship on Monday nights so to break up the monotony of the girls and I being together all the time we've been doing special things on Monday's. This week we had wrestle night and taught Mallory how to play in a pillow pit. (We have had three tea parties so it was time to ditch the girly stuff for a night.)

Kinley's super duper jump.

Mallory preparing to fall off the couch into the pillows.

This was mid fall. Kinley was being so supportive!

Last weekend we babysat Levi and Ezra Henslee for 3 nights and 4 days while their parents had an anniversary weekend. We are thankful we have the margin in our lives to love on other kids and we are sooo thankful that 5 under 6 isn't our reality! It was fun though. They really didn't fight until the last 4 hours of the weekend. The above picture was when we went to Bass Pro Shops to see the fish, feed the ducks at their pond, and shoot the guns.

This was when we made smore's on the deck. Notice Kinley does not have clothes on. We are always finding her naked and have to tell her "Kinley put some pants on!" or asking "Kinley where are your clothes?" I am really going to have to teach her about modesty and boundaries but I keep forgetting!

Mallory wearing Josh's Dallas Cowboy hat. She is also signing now. She does more, all done, and please.

James is really getting into football with Josh. It is so cute to watch him ask a million questions and try to figure it all out. The best part is he is getting really good with numbers trying to figure out who's winning all the time.

Mallory loves to talk on the phone!

Down Dog is one of her favorite new positions. She loves it when you look at her through her legs.

Josh's BOA (secretary), the 4th one in 7 years, resigned this week. She has decided she hates OK and wants to work for a Jones guy in Arizona. So, we are on the hunt again. Josh is handling it really well comparatively. We know God is leading us and uses all these things to grow us and bring glory to Him. We are excited and nervous to see when and who He brings.

We are going on our 4th Annual Beaver's Bend camping trip in two weeks!