Happy Birthday Allie!!!

Allie is 4 years old today! We have had a great day celebrating. Allie is growing into such a sweet girl. I want to post a photo of each of her years so you can see how she has grown.

Here she is on her first Thanksgiving - still at the hospital. We missed out on the family gathering, but we had much to celebrate. God had given us another healthy baby girl. She weighed in at 8 lb. 10 oz.

This is Allie on her first birthday. She has always been bursting with smiles. By this time, we could see that she was definitely going to be a red head - she was growing some adorable red curls in back.

Here's Allie at two, affectionately known as "Allie-bear".

Here's Allie at three, just as precious as ever.


And here's our girl today, on her 4th birthday. These 4 years have gone by super fast. She is still our bundle of joy, just a bigger bundle. We thank God for her everyday. She loves to sing and dance and to take great care of her baby dolls - or any real baby who happens to come over. She is learning so much at preschool and she is such a sweet sister to her siblings and precious daughter who loves lots of hugs and cuddles. Happy birthday Allie!!!

Team Weber

This is the first week for the kids in our house doing official chores - and it is going great! They have always contributed when I have asked them to help out, but their responsibilities have never been quantified in a to-do list, but I think they love having the opportunity to do these tasks on their own and checking off the item on the list when they complete it.


You're probably thinking that these are very simple things, and I agree, but we needed to start somewhere. In fact, the kids have probably already been doing about 5 of these tasks everyday all along, but by adding them to the list, I hope that they will do these things without having to be asked. The lists are on a magnetic chalk board, so they use a magnet to indicate that they have completed a particular job. Then at the end of the day, all of the boxes should be filled with magnets, and then we can remove them to prepare for the next day.


Here's Macy doing a great job making her bed.


Here's Jack when he was putting the napkins and spoons on the table.


Allie does a great job at wiping off the bathroom counter.

All three big kids are doing a great job. I think they are enjoying this new system as much as Steve and I are. If they earn another star today, they will get a reward. Yeah for them! Well done!


Tommy doesn't contribute much when it comes to chores, but I had to include thie photo of him. One morning this week when I went in to get him out of his crib, he already had this hat on and he was pretending to be riding a skateboard.

And here he is with his buddy Tyler. They have been able to play together two mornings this week. They are a joy to watch - great entertainment!

Fun and fellowship

We have had a great weekend of fun and fellowship! On Halloween, we enjoyed a potluck dinner with all of our neighbors and then we trick-or-treated with them too. Macy was a cowgirl. Jack was a football player. Allie was a cheerleader. And Tommy was Mickey Mouse. They have enjoyed plenty of candy since then.

We also enjoyed two soccer games and a picnic dinner at a park on Saturday. And on Sunday, Steve's sister, Amy, made a great dinner in a pumpkin. It was a delicious stew sort of dinner that was baked inside of a pumpkin, and you could eat the insides of the pumpkin too.

We thank God that all of our kids are healthy so we could enjoy these fun times!