Updates

As many of you know, it's been a really busy month full of packing and planning for the big move.  No, I'm not giving up blogging.  It just seems like I haven't had a spare minute in quite a while.  So here is a quick run down of a few of our activities.

 This princess turned one.  She is on the move and into everything.  It's hard to get her to sit still for even a second.

 We've had to start saying some sad goodbyes.  The kids had their last play date with their favorite babysitter.  She started becoming part of our family when Em was three months.  We're really gonna miss her.

 Rugs turned the big 8 and got baptized.  These ham balls are two of a kind.

 I think he might be just a little like his Daddy.

 This picture clearly portrays their personalities right now.  Can you tell?

 Oh, my little baby-- 8!!  Seriously?  It's just sickening.

 The whole gang.

 Rugs and his very best friend Max.  They staged these pictures themselves-- spy style.

 There is the look of trouble.

Ms. Beans always up to something.  We just love her.

I know lots of you are curious about our big move so I'll keep the pictures coming.  I might be out of commission until we can get all set up, but I'll do my best.

We are moving on...

 We are moving.  I know it might come as a bit of a shock to some of you.  I know we are Elkhorn life-ers but it's time for the Taylor family to move on.  We have our house for sale and we are looking at homes in the Alpine/Highland, Utah area.  So if you know someone who wants to buy a house-- send them our way.

A little Taylor Fun

This week the kids had so much fun with the school dress up days.  My parents were here which meant that grandma was free to paint some faces before school everyday.  Rugby took special advantage of that and had my mom paint him a mustache to coordinate with his outfit everyday.

 This was career day.  Rugs is a salesman (selling X's and P's again-- just like Dad).  Zoey is a chef.  Breckyn is a dog trainer and Em is a professional athlete.

 They were each very excited about their choices.  Rugs even took some business cards and a name plate to school along with a brief case.  We'll see if he can sell any power supplies to his fellow 2nd graders.

 Here is just a small sample of grandma's work.  There are a few from "mix don't match" day and Rugs on the bottom is for crazy hair day. 

 The girl's with their crazy hair (and painted eyebrows for B).

This guy and his mustaches were crackin' me up.

Zoey got some new glasses.  She also entered the world of contacts!  She is super excited to be soooo old and sophisticated. 

This guy is amazing.  Little Cam is the perfect primary kid.  Here he is in all of his glory with a little help from his side kick Chloe.  These two little trouble makers had the best week together.  They  were the perfect little friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week at school the kids have crazy dress up days.  Today was red and pink for Valentine's of course. 

 They all wanted Grandma to paint their faces.  Em refused but Rugs really got into it and requested a red mustache. 

 Coop came for a visit and this kid can eat.  He is covered in whatever it is he is eating.  It's like watching an artist at work.  It's mind boggling.

 These two are having so much fun teaching their younger cousins new tricks.  They are trouble-- that's for sure.  (especially together)

 Cam thinks his cousin Em is the funniest thing.  Em is enjoying having an audience that appreciates his farty humor.

Grandpa is catching a little Libby time here.  Both of them are all smiles enjoying the time together.

This one is for you Mingo.  Thanks for all the memories.  We love you.

Libs, Max and Snow

 Last week was Tim's birthday and we celebrated in Chicago.  It happened to be the day after a major blizzard so there was a ton of snow down town.  The valet at the restaurant got creative and made good use of the snow in his own way.  I thought it was pretty funny.

This big girl is getting pretty old.  She has recently gotten a mouth full of teeth. (OK, maybe more like 5 or so-- but still, that's major for little miss gums)  She is a crawling machine.  She no longer wants to be held.  She wants to be let down to explore anything and everything.  One of her favorites things to explore is Lulu's chew toys-- eeww.  She scootered her way over to the piano today and I caught her in action.  The best thing about Libs is her huge smiles.  She gives them out all day long.  It's adorable.

Here she is in action.

Jodi, Tim, Mads, Max, Caleb and I got a chance to go skiing a few weeks ago.  We had a blast.  Maddie picked up skiing for the first time like a pro.  Caleb rocks his snow board and as you can see here Max was getting the hang of his board too.  He was pretty proud of himself.

SNOW

We got snowed!

Here's Rugs standing on top of our summer spot.  It's a little snowy-- huh?!? 

 B all bundled up to start building a fort.

 Em sledding down our back hill.

Apparently the snow won in this fight...

Yes, my kids have goggles for every season.  You can never be too prepared.

We got slammed last night with a pretty bad blizzard.  We had to dig our way out of the house this morning because of all the drifting.  It was half way up our doors and caved in when we opened the door.  It was pretty awesome.

Disney Baby!

We spent the last week in the most magical place on earth-- Disney.  The kids were pretty jazzed to see everything.  We drove but surprisingly enough, the kids did really well.  In fact we might be a road trippin' family (emphasis on might if it's up to me).

We spent an evening at Medieval Times.  If you have never been, it's a lot of fun.  They assign you a knight to cheer for and you watch them joust and fight while you eat dinner.  The kids were in heaven.

We got them each a glowing wand/sword to cheer their knight on with.  They never stopped all night long.

We went to Down Town Disney and looked through all the shops.  We split up into boy and girl teams to look at stuff and we ended up doing the same thing.  I got the girls trying on hats and Tim got the boys.

 I was remembering THIS and laughing at how much our kids are like us.

Tim took the girlies to Universal were Zoey got her fill of Harry Potter and some Butter Beer (cream soda).  They had an amazing time while I stayed and watched a few sick boys.

Here they are all ready to go into the park on the tram.

Tim looks ready to spend the day on kiddie rides doesn't he?

When we got to the park B had to go potty.  When we came out to wash our hands she said, "Wow!  Even the soap here is magical!"  It was a pearly blue and she thought that was pretty awesome.

When the boys were feeling better they rallied for a swim in the pool.  What they really wanted was to wait around long enough to get slimed.

So we did...

Pinewood Derby!

Yesterday was the big Pinewood Derby!  We had so much fun.  The kids did really well and Tim ended the gala with a bang-- literally.

 This is the gun he designed to use air pressure to shoot his car across the track.  It was awesome.  It's based on his original potato gun design from a few summers ago.

 This was the car.  The gun shot out a stick that rammed the car on the red square.  It was stinkin' fast.

This was the car he designed (and made) for me.  It won first place-- yeehoo!

It's pretty sweet-- right?!!

Pinewood Derby

It's that time of year again-- Pinewood Derby!!

 The kids each picked their theme and Tim got to work.  The big race is this Saturday and the smell of victory is in the air!

These are two special crafted cars that will blow the wheels off the competition.  The one on the left is for the regular open class.  The one on the right is for the crazy class and goes about 40 mph.  It's a scream. 

May the best man (Tim) win.

Cousin Love

 We got to hang out with the Barlows this weekend and the kids had so much fun as usual.

Jodi and I bought these two BFFs matching shirts.  They are in heaven.  They are planning which days they want to match for school.  Sweet!

Chloe got a hold of Em's Paper Jam (which is a real hit at our house).  The kids are literally waiting in line to use it.

New Shoveling Techniques

It's been steadily snowing here for several days.  We've got just an inch or two of accumulation at a time.  Just enough to need to shovel our walk but not enough to really want to.  So Timmy thought it would be a good idea to get the boys out on the job.  I watched them out the back window for a few minutes.  They are shoveling away like normal and then I see Rugs flip his shovel over and try it the other way.  He tells Em that he found a new way that works better.  So the two of them are out there sweeping the snow together.

Here is the snow director himself.

 Em is always our willing participant. 

This guy has all sorts of new ideas for the shovel.  Nice work boys!

Here they are in action.

Flat Poppy

Flat Poppy arrived at our door a few short weeks ago and has been partying it up here in Wisconsin.  Flat Poppy has been having a blast playing with her cousins and frolicking in the snow.  She says next time she would like to be drawn with snow pants and a coat cause it's cold here!  Brrrr!

 Flat Poppy tried on lots of Badger Gear to take home with her.

 She made some new friends.

 She loved to make snow angels when she was playing outside.

 Flat Poppy loved to be outside when it was snowing.

 She watched a few movies with us.

 Don't worry.  We closed her eyes during the scary parts.

 Flat Poppy got pretty good at the DS. 

 Flat Poppy loved to look at our fish tank.  It reminded her of the ocean.

 She also played a lot of air hockey with her cousins.

Flat Poppy liked to read books before she went to bed.

Shhhh...  she's all tuckered out from playing so hard.  It's time for bed.

Thank you for sending her to us.  We had so much fun!  Next time we'd like the real Poppy to come for a visit here in Wisconsin.  Oh-- and don't forget your mittens!