The Sherwood Forest

Christmas Day 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 06:36:00 +0000

We had a fun Christmas day! The kids woke up around 6:30am and were happy to see that Santa had indeed left a couple of cookies behind for them to eat, but he drank the milk, the reindeer chomped on the carrots and Santa even knocked over a few of the candles that Grandma had arranged in the fireplace! Stockings were opened up first with lots of fun things - lots of candy too! Ayla popped a half dozen Hershey kisses before she even opened a stocking gift.

We paused after stockings to eat breakfast - breakfast egg casserole and cinnamon rolls! After breakfast, we dove into opening presents and the kids all had a wonderful time and it was very fun to watch them. There were so many fun gifts and we are very blessed to give and receive so much!

After the presents had all been opened, we set about to play with everything for a while! Some took naps, some watched a movie, some went out to play since it was a beautiful day. After all the nappers were awake, we all headed over to Great Grandma's house for prime rib dinner and gift exchange. The kids played and played and played, we ate, and exchanged junk in the Left/Right gift exchange, and enjoyed being with all the family!

It was a fun day and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and enjoyed watching them have fun! Levi declared it a very good Christmas and we agreed. Thankful to celebrate this special day when we remember the birth of our Savior, the gift of God's one and only Son! Enjoy the pictures from the day, out of order as they are.

Grandma & Baby Quincee (5 months) Ayla playing a new game

Modeling on of her new princess dresses Audra was very excited for Christmas!

The Harden clan

The finished Lego project - he worked for about 3 hours straight

New Dot Dot markers!

Lego building Organizing the princess shoes

Checking out Jameson's new fort Settling in to watch Cinderella

Audra & Great Grandma Harden Checking out the filled stockings

Opening stocking gifts The tree Christmas morning!!

How did he get so big!?

Grandpa & Grandma covered in kids opening presents!

Lucy found a safe spot to rest from the action

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 05:44:00 +0000

We arrived in Medford on Christmas Eve Eve around dinner time and quickly added our pile of presents under the tree and enjoyed reading the Christmas books that were out!

Christmas Eve day was spent playing games all morning, checking out the snow on Roxy Ann, watching Frozen, and hanging the stockings.

Christmas Eve afternoon, Lewis, Angalee, Jameson and Quincee arrived from snowy Klamath Falls! The kids got dressed in their Christmas best and we attempted some cousin pictures, most of which included at least one child crying and one or more escaping, and some pretty hilarious outtakes. After pictures, we headed to Christmas Eve service, and then back home to set out cookies and milk for Santa, carrots for the reindeer and off to bed for a long winters nap!

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 12}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 05:39:00 +0000

The Official Christmas 2015 Cousin Picture!

Levi (5), Ayla (3), Jameson (2), Audra (15 months), Quincee (5 months)

15 Months Old

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 05:57:00 +0000

Audra is 15 months old! Not sure how she is a toddler when she was just born like last week?!? She had her well child check today, and she weighed in at 21 pounds and 2.5 ounces (up about 2 pounds in 3 months) and was 32" long (about 1.5" gained in 3 months). She's growing very well and everything checked out great. She is getting four teeth right now - all slowly coming in. She's walking a ton and will crawl if she needs to get somewhere fast. I hope we'll get a great 15 month picture of her in the next week, maybe when she's all dolled up for Christmas! Thankful for this happy and healthy girl!

Christmas Break Swimming Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 05:55:00 +0000

Levi is doing a short session of swimming lessons this Christmas break! I would have signed Ayla up too, but I think they would have been in the same class, and I just didn't think that would fly (for them, or the instructor!). This morning was the first lesson and I was super impressed with how much Levi picked up where he left off from lessons this summer. He was confident and did well, showing more confidence in the water. He even jumped off the side with no assist, going completely underwater and even touching his feet to the bottom of the pool!

Rain Break

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 05:43:00 +0000

Midday we bundled up for a little fresh air at the park. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. We arrived a the park and were treated to this amazing view!! The play time was short, as you could imagine, as the rain drops started to fall we made a run for the car and spent the rest of the outing at the library! What an amazing December sky - a glimpse of God's power!

Peek-A-Boo

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 05:59:00 +0000

I took Audra upstairs with me this morning while I took a shower, and when I peeked out to see what she was doing - she was in the towel cabinet! She stayed in there, opening and closing the door to peek out, long enough for me to dry off, grab my phone and snap a few pictures!

Throwback Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 06:40:00 +0000

These three have sure grown at lot from this time last year! These pictures are from this week, in 2014!

Like Mother Like Daughter

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 06:23:00 +0000

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 11}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 06:26:00 +0000

Pre-Gingerbread House party early last week with Kate and Kinsley watching The Grinch Stole Christmas. This was the calm before the storm!

Nutcracker

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 06:16:00 +0000

Ayla and I joined Grandpa David and Grandma Diana this afternoon for the Nutcracker! Ayla sat very quietly and watched the whole performance which was over an hour and a half, and only starting to nod off once. She enjoyed the brownie and cookie treats at intermission, and lots of special attention! Afterwards the dancers were in the lobby to greet the audience and she was in awe of one of the dancers and wanted her picture taken with her, but it didn't turn out well. We grabbed a treat at Burgerville after the show, where she told us her favorite parts of the performance were when the mouse army dragged away the dead mouse king and the girl that had the sparkly top and her dress on backwards (the dancer was supposed to resemble a peacock so all the ruffles over her dress were in the back!). It was fun to take her to a special show and watch her take it all in! Now we'll see how long before she asks to become a ballerina!

Gingerbread House Party

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 06:04:00 +0000

Monday afternoon we had 9 little friends over for a fun afternoon of decorating gingerbread houses! The houses were actually graham crackers hot glued together, but no one seemed to mind. Maybe it was the piles and piles of candy we had on the tables! The kids worked very hard on their houses and it was fun to see all the kids personal touches on their houses. We only had one collapse which was a success I thought! After the sugar had kicked in we played Pin the Carrot on the Snowman which they all loved, and then sugar chaos ran wild until the last friends left! It was really fun!

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 10}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 05:36:00 +0000

Our 2015 Christmas tree - up, lit, and decorated within five hours of it being harvested in the snowy forest! Levi is Mr. Christmas and insisted on the tree being decorated that night, even opting out of a Christmas party that he was invited to! He hogged the ladder for decorating up high, and Ayla made sure one single brach was ornamented from trunk to branch tip! Audra walked to and fro, checking on the progress, weaving through the ladder, climbing up on chairs, and wondering why all the decorations were moved up a layer of branches!

Dear Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 06:46:00 +0000

Levi and Ayla worked very hard this afternoon to write their Letters to Santa! I printed off some pages that they worked very diligently to color the border. Ayla finished first and we talked about what she would want from Santa, but everything I suggested she said "I already have that!". Levi worked hard to sound out his sentence of what he wanted from Santa and write it on his own. Funny that later tonight when they had an opportunity to meet Santa, neither of them wanted to!!

Ayla 3.5

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 05:04:00 +0000

Our beautiful Ayla is 3.5 today! She is silly, spunky, passionate, creative, independent and has a big heart! She is equally gentle and rowdy. She likes to play princesses, and wrestle. She can sing the sweetest song, and then growl like a bear. Ayla is just awesome. She's got a heart for Jesus and recently memorized John 3:16. She's got a style all her own too when it comes to her wardrobe!

Three is proving to be a challenging age, but there are so many things that she does and says throughout the days that we treasure, laugh at, sigh at and want to remember because soon she won't say "Mistertoe" for "Mistletoe".

At 3, Ayla:

~ Sleeps 10-12 hours at night, with no daytime nap (save an occasional car nap)

~ Loves fruit! And has been known to snack on a carrot.

~ Still sucks her thumb

~ Is a rhyming fool, likes knock-knock jokes, and says the darndest things

~ Is very active - loves to do "Dance Class" with Levi, can somersault, walk on the balance beam, do a spider walk, likes doing burpees, jumps, dances, twirls, spins, crawls, hops, runs, and can balance/hop on one foot.

We are so blessed to call Ayla our daughter and so thankful for the joy and laughter she brings to our family. I can't even believe that next year she will be heading to preschool, and out from under my wings.

Tonight we celebrated Ayla with a pizza dinner and 1/2 birthday cake, with special guests Grandma Diana and Grandpa David. We had a nice candlelit pizza dinner (kids like to have candlelit dinners nowadays), and then Ayla declared she was ready for cake. So we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and she blew out the candles and we had cake! Then a night of playing dice and having Dance Class, finishing off the fun with Grandma Diana tucking her into bed. What more could a girl ask for on her Half Birthday!

She's Walking!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 06:26:00 +0000

Audra is on the move! Right around Thanksgiving she was taking a few steps back and forth between two people, and since then she's become more confident and taking more steps, standing up and walking, changing direction, going from carpet to hard wood, being more confident and definitely proud of her new skill!! She doesn't walk around much during the day, until the late afternoon and when Jason is home in the evening. She's a cute little walker, and of course there is a little jealousy from Levi and Ayla for the special attention and celebration we are giving Audra, so those silly two do a lot of "walking practice" too.

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 9}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:09:00 +0000

We had some very eager Christmas elves decking the halls the day after Thanksgiving, and every day since then for that matter. I think Levi must assume our Christmas storage tubs have an endless supply of decorations. He loves decorating for Christmas. We've got everything up except the tree, which we still need to get. It's lots of fun to see them be so excited and eager and growing each year in their understanding of Christmas.

Thanksgiving '15

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 05:52:00 +0000

We cruised into Sherwood on Wednesday night about bedtime after an almost 7-hour drive from Medford, and were out in Forest Grove on Thanksgiving morning about 11am. It was a low key Wuertz Thanksgiving with just the Wuertz's! The Hardy's were still in Taiwan and all the other usuals were out of town or with other family. We had a super delicious meal about 1pm and played and relaxed the rest of the day. Here are a bunch of pictures from the day, slightly out of order I think!

Ayla & Audra, probably watching the Macy's Parade

Playing Grandpa's guitar

Ready to eat!

She wanted Peanut to move, but he was much too lazy

Grandpa's iPad, the toy of choice

Getting lots of practice walking

No cousins = no one to play with

Ayla photo shoot with Daddy

Pumpkin Pie!!

Playing Snarf

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 8}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 05:48:00 +0000

We spent Monday with Grandpa & Grandma while Jason and Uncle Lewis went out hunting. We checked out the Medford Library, looking at books and playing until Audra slipped and got a fat lip, then we grabbed lunch for the kiddos and went home to eat and nap. Later, we met up with Jason and Lewis at the cemetery in Eagle Point where we remembered (Great) Grandpa Mel who passed away 2 years ago Monday. The kiddos, grandparents and I then took a tour through WalMart before going home for dinner.

14 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 05:55:00 +0000

Audra spent her 14 Month birthday playing the day away with Great Grandma and Grandma Terry! We played at the house all morning and then walked down to the new playground at Hawthorne Park. The kids checked out all the new playground equipment and didn't want to leave! Levi learned a new card game - War- and play multiple games with Great Grandma. Ayla and Great Grandma did puzzles and they all played Kerplunk.

Saturday Funday

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 06:10:00 +0000

We had a fun Saturday, filled with activities. The kids were up and at 'em early so we played games and colored and did puzzles and made glitter slime, all by 7:30am. We played some outside before Audra took a nap, and then we checked out the Gingerbread Festival. The kids loved seeing all the gingerbread house creations! Then we went to the store to buy our own gingerbread house supplies and went home to make our own creations. They kids both did awesome and they are getting more creative.

5, 3, 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 06:15:00 +0000

Working hard at school, learning to read, sounding out words,

writing things on post it notes and posting them all over the house

Little gymnast and in love with Cinderalla,

allowing me to braid her hair, and has high fashion sense

Sporting a spout ponytail as of this week, walking if you hold both hands

can arch her back and throw a fit like a boss, and gives the sweetest snuggles

Brother, Sister & Sister {Year 1, Week 7}

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 06:11:00 +0000

The big kids have appointments today to get their flu shot, and all three kids were busy playing with the school bus in the waiting area up until the moment the nurse called us back…and Ayla completely lost it. She was terrified of getting a shot, furious when it happened, and was upset for the rest of the day! BUT…there's all three in one frame!

Our Fashionista

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 05:40:00 +0000

Oh this girl! It was probably 50 degrees the other day when we went to pick up Levi, and this is what she came up with to keep warm. Thankfully she wrapped up in a blanket in the stroller! Love this little girl and her crazy outfits - wish I had snapped a picture of her on Sunday in her green shirt dress with dogs paired with pink snow boots!!

Bullseye Levi

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 05:07:00 +0000

Levi is quickly becoming a skilled archer! He loves going to the archery range with Jason, and today they had an opportunity to get out for a longer session with them both having the day off of work and school. Levi did awesome and got a bullseye on the regular hay bale target, and this great shot on the 3D course. I'm not sure how many 5 year olds shoot a bow, and we are super impressed with his skill!