Up with Lainey.

(This is not what she looks like at 12am)

Its late. Too late. But when you are ready for bed at 10 - 10:30 and you know your baby is going to get up at anywhere between 11 & 12....is it worth it to fall asleep or get other stuff done?

Happy President's Day!

Nothing says "President's Day" like a cape with a flag on it.

Kai sewed this for her American Symbols Project at School.

(Who's more patriotic than Ralph from the TV Show "The Greatest American Hero"?)

That's what the cape kind of reminds me of - instead of the Declaration of Independence.

However, my favorite part about her making this project is when she said in a loud voice - "Mom, I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" with reference to her sewing. She was excited with her newly discovered skills.

So just for effect she made a crown to go with it. Check out the purple mountains majesty. That's our Colorado Girl.

We had an extra special weekend with my sister and her "man-friend," Frank (Brett's nickname for Frank.)

I have to say that it was nice to have 4 extra hands. The twins especially like the extra love and attention that their mother never gives them.

We played basketball, jumped around, watched a movie, took naps and had way too much fun.

Thanks for driving out and entertaining us for a weekend guys. A blithe time was had by all.

What do you own?

The Milk Chase

Frequently after school I would see a few teenage or tween boys running full throttle down one street and then up another. They would point in a direction and then just bust out running. My first reaction was to think - "Those boys must be up to no good." But of course, I rediscovered an old truth. Boys really only have the desire to sprint and chase a couple of things in this world. Now I know that chocolate milk qualifies as one of them.

Last week Cody found out that the boys were chasing the milk delivery truck because (as the story goes) that if you catch one, the driver will give you a quart of chocolate milk for free. I thought for a moment about lacing up my shoes. With the new information, Cody and his friend Rory graduated from chasing the mail truck for suckers and stepped up to chasing the milk truck.

Tuesday was their lucky day. They caught him and brought home a quart of the best chocolate milk in town. I heated it up and made hot chocolate for the boys while they scooped the driveway. It was chalked up as one of the best days of the year so far. But that is not the funny part.

That night at dinner, Cody was telling his dad the story. Brett told Cody that the man who owned the Dairy where the chocolate milk came from was the uncle to one of the kids in his class. Cody thought for a minute and he said - "Dad, what do you own?"

Both Brett and I paused and looked at one another quizzically. Brett said, "What?"

Cody repeated the question. "What do you own?"

That question got us both thinking. I started to make a list in my mind and then realized that it wasn't very long.

That's when Brett said, "Well, the only things that we actually own are.....2 cars."

"What about our house?" asked Cody.

"The bank owns the house. Someday, if we give the bank enough of our money, they might let us own the house," replied Brett.

"Gee dad. I own a bike, a rip stick, a skateboard, some legos, a scooter and a bunch of other stuff."

Silence followed.

Cody was feeling pretty big. He had brought home chocolate milk AND owned a lot more stuff than his dad. It was indeed one of the best days of the year.

Brett and I were just chuckling to ourselves. Kind of funny.

Mahalo

Aloha.

Gma & Gpa Downey sent us a package from Hawaii.

The boys took a fancy to the clip-on flowers and of course - the chocolate.

I guess they are my sons.

But the T-shirts were a big hit too.

Try to ignore the messy family room.

I personally appreciated the "enrichment" the package added to our simple FHE that night.

In other events (oh how boring our lives really must be if we call this an "event")

Lainey is sitting up in the tub.

Kai loves having a sister.

She loves being the big sister and I tell her frequently that she was born to be a mom.

The boys are just doing their duty by smiling for the pictures.

Bath pictures are some of my favorite.

I will have to get these to you Martha - to complete the generations of bath pictures starting with Great Grandpa Larsen!

Test

Hi Larsens. I thought I would run a test for Pam and see if this would work on the Sleepy Seven Blog for the Larsen Cabin.

Click below for the Cabin Schedule:

Cabin Schedule

Getting Closer.....

Knobs today, shelves tomorrow.

Still have to get tile for the counter top.

Then I have to organize it.

Not sure about you all, but to me that is the worst part.

Glad to have the storage though.

Just Chillin'

With the Sub-zero Temps around here - it gave us no choice but to hang out inside and consider finishing a few projects. Here is what we've been up to:

Lainey has been working on her "sitting up skills."

She's at about 80% consistency. The falling forward on her face is the most common mishap.

Hanging with Lainey

Soon to be triplets.

Brett is convinced that Lainey will grow exponentially faster than the twins. That way, in about a year, she'll be just about as tall as they will and will be running around with them looking like one of the twins.

We'll see. Triple Trouble.

6 months old with the "indestructible mohawk"

No hair gel. No magic. Just pure baby hair.

"Hiding" under the table. At night, when I am putting them to sleep and we have to repeatedly retrieve Ben from Dane's crib, Ben always says - "me - play- Dane." As if they don't already play all day together.....as captured here.

Cruisin' on the our bikes. Chicks dig us.

Project #1 - Mud Room and Bench

Brett made this over Christmas Break. Moved the washer & dryer down to the basement and built a mudroom. I LOVE it! Lots more room and places for the kid's stuff. Each of their initials in their colors.

Project #2 - Cabinet in the Office

Brett installed these this week and we've been painting.

Not done yet, but here is a peek.

I LOVE these too. They are going to be great!

Project #3 - Baby Blankets

That's all for now! Stay warm :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here are a few pictures from the past year.

Its been up.

Its been down.

Somehow we are all still here.

Ben, Brett, Dane, Karrie, Lainey, Cody & Kai

(left to right)

I'm trying to think what happened this year and it really is quite a blur.

Mostly we spend time together and during holidays we are lucky enough to be with Brett's family who lives close by.

Winters we like to play in the snow out back, sometimes ski & definitely drink hot chocolate.

Summers - baseball, swimming at the neighborhood pool, riding bikes & golfing.

This summer we got lucky and Lainey came on July 22nd.

Fall is our favorite....school, soccer & Halloween!

Now we are back at the beginning. We hope there is as much in store for us in 2011.

With much Love,

The Larsens

Kai swinging at Grandma Downey's House

Dane (left) & Ben (right) eating up San Diego

Literally.

Cody golfing with dad in Colorado

Cody at the Big Thompson River

Lainey on her blessing day

Kai

Dane

Benjamin

Larsens in San Diego

Happy Halloween

Benjamin Mouse Ears

Cinderella and her Mice Gus Gus & Jack Jack

Kai's First Day of Kindergarten

Cody with his new sister Lainey

All the Turkeys together

Dane & Ben at the Larsen Cabin

Lainey Getting Big

She's the "smiliest" baby we've ever had

5 Months Old

Having fun in the backyard

Dane chasing the balloon.

Good Times.

Hope you have some too.