cute

this month's cutest valentines:

from one of my favorite blogs here

this month's cutest super bowl treat:

chocolate whoopie pies

that are freakin' incredible

recipe found here

this month's cutest two year old:

charlie babe

ellie day

yesterday was all about

ELLIE!

she turned 5.

she helped paint these little butterfly clips for her healthy birthday treat at school.

they turned out adorable.

when her classmates finally figured out how a clothespin works and took them off to eat their snack, cousin everett was smart enough to call his a caterpillar.

ellie invited ev to come play after preschool.

they made a band, which i forgot to get pictures of, but it was very cute and very loud.

then we headed to chick-fil-a for lunch!

jack got ellie a new swimsuit for this summer

look at that smile!

she loves her scrapbook from grandma janie and grandpa bart

daddy took her out for her birthday dinner.

her choice: olive garden

while they were at dinner, the boys and i made some special rice crispie treats to have after FHE.

jack gave a great lesson on the resurrection and then ellie got to blow out one last candle.

(we sang happy birthday to her 5 times over the weekend, whew!)

we love our ellie bug, even if she is a bit sassy :)

FIVE

ellie helped make banners, decorate aprons, and arrange flowers 

for her baking party this past saturday. 

it was a great success and all the girls had a superb time!

the birthday girl

how is she five already?!

ava

dipping strawberries!

sophie

 lily

frosting cupcakes!

making a wish!

school pics

the kids had their school pictures taken so long ago, and it has taken me forever to remember to post them.

chris has all of his childhood school pictures, and my mom bought maybe two or three. 

he wanted to buy them, i didn't care too much. marriage is about give and take, right? 

chris won.

in the end, they made chris and i laugh so hard, 

they were worth the arm and leg they cost!

this is the first year that ellie hasnt cried, 

but charlie wasnt so sure what to think of this bearded man.

our tree

our family tree