The Last Four Months....

It is time to play catch up.

The pictures range from November 2012 through February 2013.

November 2012

Sunset at the park.

Saguaro Cactus

Skyline

I-Man juggling the soccerball at dusk.

I-Man playing with his brothers.

On the basket ball court.

This is a little baby girl outfit I made

 for one of Noure's Coworker's new baby.

Mr.Mr. being silly.

During the fall I started a cooking club for kids. 

J-Man with all the ingredients to make pumpkin bars.

Mixing it up.

The pumpkin bars in the oven ready to bake.

(note to self: don't put that many pans in the oven at once,

 it doesn't bake quickly or evenly)

They still tasted yummy!

I-Man blew out his cleats at the beginning of practice one night.

I challenged J-Man to read out loud for twenty minutes each day.

I gave him a reading chart to fill out. 

Each book on the chart represented 20 minutes of reading. 

When he finished the chart he got a reward.

Here he is filling out the very last book on his chart.

Well Done!

J-Man's 6th Birthday!

He dressed in the outfit Grandma Alabi had made for I-Man and set off for school.

When he came home from school a birthday package

from Grandma Allred was waiting for him.

J-Man jumping for joy.

He got a nerf gun with about 64 foam bullets.

We took him out for dinner that night, and sang happy birthday to him.

J-Man dressed for church in his new warm clothes.

Thanksgiving 2012

Grandma and Grandpa Hall

(my Dad Russell Hall and my Step-Mom Rae Ann)

came to visit for Thanksgiving and to celebrate J-Man and Mr.Mr.'s birthdays.

We went up Madera Canyon for a hike before the big feast.

Grandpa Hall and the Boys!

The boys taking a break on the big rock.

Walking on the trail home.

My Dad's brother Bruce was visiting his granddaughters

that just moved near me and we ate Thanksgiving Dinner at their house.

Birthdays!

The next day we celebrated everyone's Birthday's. 

Grandma Hall had a birthday in November too.

I made each one of them their own cake.

Zebra Stripe cake for Grandma

A Basket Ball Cake for Mr.Mr.

A Turtle Shell cake for J-Man

He blew out the candles before I could take the picture.

Time for presents.

Nerf Gun

I-Man helping J-Man put the nerf guns together.

Grandpa gave Mr.Mr. a basketball hoop and ball.

Grandpa putting it together.

Mr.Mr. with his new basketball.

Then we went to the park to play and have fun

and  Grandma wanted to see the sunset.

Mr.Mr. wanted to play on the playground.

The next day we went to In-N-Out Burger for lunch.

Mr.Mr. fell asleep in the car and Noure stayed with him.

The kids played at the mall.

On Sunday, we attended church

and then they flew back home to Seattle, Washington.

It sure was fun having them visit.

Mr.Mr. is ready to celebrate his 3rd birthday on his actual birthdate!

I-Man, Mr.Mr. and J-Man all together.

We went out for dinner and Mr.Mr. got a special dessert at the restraunt.

December 2012

We bought a live Christmas tree this year, it smelled so good when we brought it home. 

I-Man is putting the Star on the top.

I-Man and J-Man putting the train around the tree.

The Christmas tree all lit up.

Christmas lights on our trees in the front yard.

I-Man's team won gold in the Soccer Tournament.

I took a picture of the clock on December 12th 2012 at 12:12 pm.

J-Man loved I-Man's trains so much he wrote a letter to Santa for one of his very own.

He even drew a picture of what he wanted it to look like.

J-Man's school put on a winter program

where they sang songs and each class dressed up as different winter characters. 

 J-Man's class were snowmen, and he insisted

that I make him a "real" snowman costume.

J-Man on the back row. 

He is quite a bit taller than most of his classmates.

J-Man and his cousin RR after the Program.

 White Elephant Gift Party

We invited some of our neighbors to join us. 

Each person brings one item that they already have,

 that they don't want anymore and wraps it up.

Then everyone gets to choose a present. 

Some like their gifts and others don't

but it is mostly just to see who brought the funniest gift.

We also had hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies to eat and decorate.

White Chocolate Ginger Bread Cookies.

Hot Cocoa Stirrers

Large Marshmallow with melted chocolate and crushed peppermint.

Christmas Eve 2012

On Christmas Eve we made and painted Santa Cookie Plates to put treats out for Santa Clause.

I pressed the kids hands into airdry clay, let it dry then painted each handprint cookie plate.

Let the paint dry then put several coats of varnish on the top.

That afternoon we made cookies and decorated them.

All ready for Christmas.

That night we drove around listening to Christmas music

and looked at Christmas lights around the neighborhood.

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas is here and Santa came.

The stockings are filled.

J-Man on his new scooter.

I-Man on his new scooter

Mr.Mr. on his new scooter.

I-Man got the soccer game he wanted.

Mr.Mr. got a football.

and a dinosaur that roars.

J-Man got a cool train that also carries construction vehicles.

Mr.Mr. is my cowboy with his jump rope lasso.

We had a great holiday season together as a family.

We also did a devotional countdown each day

to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

January 2013

Happy New Year!

The new year brings us back to school, sports and family.

At the beginning of the month, I-Man particitated in the ODP (Olympic Development Program) Soccer Championships in Las Vegas Nevada.  He was on of 18 boys to represent the State of Arizona.  Noure traveled to see him play.  I-Man played hard in the freezing weather.  His team came in 3rd place against the western states. 

Mr.Mr. and J-Man built a fort out of blankets and stools.

They are playing with flashlights inside the fort.

Mr.Mr. after a long afternoon of running errands.

Mr.Mr. with his train tracks.

J-Man invited some of his friends over to play tennis in the back yard.

Noure celebrated his birthday at the end of the month.

He is such a wonderful Husband and Father, he is a hard worker and

takes very good care of all of us.  I love you very much.

February 2013

The month of snow,

well only two days of snow.

The Saturday before Valentines day (February 14th) it snowed.

Our Valentine decorated tree was covered in snow.

J-Man made a snowman.

Too bad the snow melted in the afternoon.

Mr. Mr. learned how to make his own sandwich from his brother I-Man.

First get two pieces of bread.

Spread the mayo on the bread.

Add a little mustard. (I-Man made a smiley face with his mustard)

Next comes the sliced ham.

Put the top slice of bread on the sandwich.

Enjoy.

Valentines Day

We made homemade valentines  for our friends and neighbors.

Strawberry red velvet cupcakes with pink buttercream frosting.

For lunch I made sandwiches with "heart"

I-Man gave his first real valentine to a girl he liked at school today. 

He was very nervous and sweet about it. 

 He is becoming a young man that I am proud to have in my home.

I-Man had soccer practice that night and I was not sure Noure and I were going to celebrate Valentines Day or not.  But he surprised me by having dinner (spicy Thai Takeout), Flowers and Candles all set up when we came home at 9:30pm.We put the kids to bed, ate dinner and danced.  It was very sweet.

It snowed again the following week while the kids were at school

Here is the bus stop.

The bird's got snowed in too.

I-Man walking home in the snow. 

He has grown so much, so fast he didn't have any long pants to wear to school.

He said he was warm enough.

Mr.Mr. made a snowball, and then ate it.

J-Man smiling for the camera, watch out, Austin (the neighbor kid) is making a huge snowball.

Snowball Fight

Bouba played in the snow too and got a little bit on his nose.

The snow is so much fun to play in and eat.

I-Man shoveled the driveway for the first time ever.

Then used the snow shovel to build a tunnel in the backyard with J-Man.

I-Man's 14th Birthday.

I-Man opening his birthday gifts.

Mr.Mr. wants to help unwrap the presents.

Grandma Allred sent a board game.

Grandpa Hall sent a first aid kit to go in his soccer bag.

We gave him a new pair of running shoes.

(which he immediately put on and

run down the street with before opening the last gift.)

He got the European Ticket to Ride board game.  It is so fun to play. 

It takes a lot of strategy to get the most points.  We play any chance we can get.

I -Man requested to play games  with family and go out to dinner on his birthday.

Then the following week he took six friends to the bowling alley to celebrate.

I of course left my camera at home so sorry, no pics of the party.

J-Man's Last Soccer Game

J-Man joined a U-8 soccer team this year. 

He played up by two years and did great.

Here are some pics of his last game on Feb 16th.

J-Man is #7

Half Time.

Mr.Mr. practicitng during half time.

J-Man just scored a goal, he is doing his victory run.

Noure

J-Man's team with coach Ken

He was most excited to get a trophy.

So there you have it, I am caught up for now. 

Matias, I hope this was enough pictures for you.

Take care!