10 things we love about Sophie

Sophie turned 10 on January 31st. She is our only girl and our oldest child, which makes her very special in our family! Here are 10 things we love about our little Sophie. Sorry that it took so long!

1. She is the best big sister. The boys love her, they especially love one-on-one time with her, which she is very good about. She has such great imagination and comes up with great games to play with them. During the summer break last year she had them work on little craft projects and then had a carnival celebration with them outside.
2. She is a great reader. She is always up for reading to her brothers, she makes it so fun for them. They love running to the book shelf and picking out another book, and another, and... She usually has 2-3 books that she reads at any given time. She has read the Harry Potter books so often, she probably has them all memorized by now!

3. She is a talker. I think it is an oldest child thing, she can talk to any adult about a variety of subjects. She soaks up anything she reads, watches, and hears and she will make it a point to correct you when she knows you're wrong. She has started to learn though that it's sometimes best to jsut hold your tongue, although she still likes to tell us about it afterwards!
4. She is affectionate. She still insists on a kiss good night again and again. She is always up for bussies (kisses) and hugs for her brothers.

5. She loves to learn. She is a sponge! She loves not only kiddy shows, but also TLC and the Discovery Channel. She loves to read our magazines and to keep up with all our friends and families' blogs.
6. She is a morning person. Every morning she gets herself up, dressed and ready for school. She is in a good mood most mornings.

7. She loves to laugh, tell jokes and make silly faces with her brothers. We love to hear her laugh, we know she is really happy then.
8. She is talented in so many areas. She draws well, is a good communicator, plays the piano very well, is a good listener, has a great memory and is very creative.

9. She really wants to be good. She is not perfect, but we know she has a desire to really good. When she knows she's done something she wasn't supposed to, she realizes it and feels quite bad about it. Plenty of times she has come in our bedroom at night with tears in her eyes confessing something she has done during the day, because it wouldn't let her sleep. We love that she listens to the Spirit so intently.
10.She will always be our "little girl". OK, so she is 5'4" now! When she climbs in bed with us it gets pretty crowded, but it still reminds us of when it was just the three of us for almost 5 years.

We love you Sophie and hope you have a great year!

Four birthdays in December

December has turned a big celebration the last few years. Herb turned the big 4.0 this year and since he does not like to make a big deal out of his birthday, we decided to skip town. We went on a Carnival cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We went to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We loved it, the water and scenery was beautiful. It is always a treat to go with Herb and not worry about a thing. There was no cooking or cleaning and no children. Thanks again, Aunt Maryann for taking a week to watch our kids for a second time.

We came home and Alex's birthday was the next day. He wanted a yellow cake because he loves Bumblebee, the transformer (a girl during Halloween painted an actual bee on his cheek!). He turned 3 and if you ask him, he insists that he is still 2. He is trying to stop time I guess, but definitely do not call him a baby. He will punch first, then tell you he is a "little boy".

We came home from a trip to Disney World on Henry and Max's birthday. We previously told them they were getting bikes and they would get to pick them out. We had not gone bike shopping, but the boys wanted presents. I went to the stash in our closet and picked out two puzzles (they were glow in the dark!). I could tell from Henry, Max and Herb's faces that that was not the best choice. Herb had disgust on his face and went to get them different presents. They were excited about their Optimus Prime (another transformer) and a Superman toy. We told them earlier that we would celebrate their birthday the next day because of the drive. The next morning, Henry runs into my room and says,"Mommy, I'm ready for my present". How does this happen? He was not happy when I explained he had to wait for his bike. This is after the fact that both boys have told me they do not want bikes. I, of course, think I know best and so they are getting bikes. I know they will love them!

I had the bright idea to let them decorate their own cakes this year. Anyone who knows my sons, will be able to tell who decorated which cake. The cakes are a testament to their personalities. Max said his was Santa Claus and Henry said his is a spy lab. He knew exactly were he wanted each jelly bean, marshmallow, sour gummy worm, M&M, and sugar sprinkle. I loved it so much, I'm thinking of making this a tradition.

Another first!

Sophie made her first cake all by herself yesterday. Not bad, huh? You better watch out Jen!

A little messy but it tasted delicious. Anything with dark chocolate is Elizabeth's favorite.

Sophie turns 9!

Henry and Max turned 4 years!

Henry and Max celebrated their 4th birthday today. Aunt Ruth and Aunt Maryann came over and along with Tante Sabine we all went to Chucky Cheese's. The boys had been asking us to take them their for months. They didn't know that that's were we were going to take them today birthday, though and they were quite surprised when we pulled into the parking lot!

We ordered some pizza, sodas and bought a bunch of tokens. They couldn't wait to play the games and arcades. Even Alex wanted to get into the action. After almost 2 hours it was finally time to get out of there.

When we were back at the house Elizabeth brought out their special birthday cake. She had spent last night making a "Cars" inspired cake, along with Buzz and Woody cars. Henry and Max were quite impressed. After a piece of cake for everybody it was time to open their presents. They both finally received some of their Planet Hero toys (the ones Henry had found in the attic), Henry also got a car from Sophie, a Mickey plate from Aunt Maryann and some toys for the tub from Tante Sabine. Max got a new Harmonica from Sophie, also a Mickey plate and a new Baby Buff from Sabine. He had begged us for a baby brother for his doggy Buff for months now. He was quite happy that he finally got one.

Just a few minutes later Uncle Joseph called to tell us that Brandon was sending the boys his best wishes in typical 21st century style via their blog! Thanks Brandon!

PS: Alex also received a present, a little book about puppies.

Alex's Birthday Pt II

Ruth's post made me remember just how excited Alex was opening up his presents and how proud I was about Alex's excellent taste in sports cars:

Mia and Dallin gave Alex two Matchbox cars, a Porsche Carrera GT and a Chevrolet Corvette. He laughed and giggled and smiled holding up the Porsche and couldn't wait for me to get it out of it's box, while the Corvette was left behind sitting on the couch.

I guess his German half won this round!

Alex's Birthday

Alex turned 2 today! I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have flown by. It seems only yesterday Elizabeth and I raced off to the hospital, with friends watching the kids until Ruth came over to watch them for the rest of the day.

He has "grown up" to be the most expressive of our children yet, and believe me, that means a lot!

He really enjoyed the birthday cupcakes and eventually got the the idea of blowing out his 2 candles, but then for some reason he started kissing his, over, and over, and over again. Of course we all had a quite a good laugh and it didn't take long before his siblings just had to start doing the same thing!

As you can see he was extremely happy to find out he had finally gotten his OWN Buzz Lightyear action figure, after St Nikolaus so rudely ignored his little heart's wishes for one.

Afterwards the sugar and no afternoon nap finally caught up with him and we found Henry and Alex snuggling on the couch.

PS: Yes, Henry was wearing his pyjamas. At times he loves to just run around in pyjamas all day long.

Happy Birthday Henry and Max!

They turned 3 today! Sophie and I woke them up and as you can see Henry wasn't quite up to open Birthday presents this early in the day. Max on the other hand got right to it. Once Henry realized what it was all about he did give us a smile, though.