Jackson Beutel

Here is our new little guy, Jackson. This is the picture we framed to give to Katie for her birthday. He won't be cleared to come home to live with us until after Feb. 8th, so for now, we have his owner send updated pics to us. What a cutie!

Baby, it's cold outside

When Katie was a baby, we learned very quickly that she had a fear of fire (even birthday candles!) For this reason, we wired the fireplace shut three years ago and haven't used it since. This week, it has been so cold that we felt it was finally time to open the fireplace up for business. Ben was particularly entranced by it, and quite enjoyed warming his hands by the fire. I know it's much colder elsewhere in the country, and we "enjoy" temps into the low 40's during the day, but we live in Florida for a reason, and weather is one of them. This has been an unusually cold week, to be sure. We're all ready for it to warm back up this weekend.

Presents galore

Opening a doll house dining room set from Grama & Grampa Beutel

In this shot, Katie just learned she's getting a dog! To be honest, we were expecting more of a reaction, but as the evening wore on, she was more and more excited about it, and this morning, it was the first thing she asked about ("When is Jackson coming to live with us??")

A new stuffed friend from brother Ty

Trying out her big girl bike (Disney Princess, of course.)

Four years old!

It's so hard to believe that Katie is four! We celebrated her special day, not with a birthday party (per her instructions) but with a Tea Party at Elizabeth's Tea Room.

Katie's best friend Lindy (along with brother Ben) joined in the fun.

We had a small family celebration at home the following night (as Momma has class on Tuesdays and wasn't around to have cake and open gifts on her actual birthday). Katie requested a Little Mermaid cake, so $80 in supplies later, this is what I came up with. To justify the cost of the supplies, I will have to make every cake until all the kids are off to college, but it was well worth it to see the smile on her face when she saw the finished product.

Blowing out the candles.

More Disney memories

Katie hugged the stuffing out of Eyeore

Ben was initially a little put off by Eyeore's height, but once Eyeore got down on his level, he was happy to offer a big hug.

Our final "friend" of the day, Winnie the Pooh.

The four of us (yes, Chris WAS with us....just usually behind the camera!) in front of Cinderalla's castle and the Walt Disney statue. As you can probably tell, we had beautiful weather all three days (although it was chilly in the morning and evening) and we all four had an outstanding time. The kids were so well behaved and as we were strapping them into their carseats for the ride home, all Ben could muster was "More rides!!" What wonderful memories!

A Little Character

Ben and Katie meet Jasmine and Aladdin

On our third and final day at Disney, we initially chose to go to Animal Kingdom. After about two hours there we realized that there just insn't much our kiddos can ride there (tons of animals to see, though) so we opted to go back to Magic Kingdom for a second day. We snagged a lunch reservation at the Crystal Palace, which boasts a "Character Lunch" with Winnie the Pooh and friends. It took Katie a while to warm up, but then she really enjoyed meeting her much larger friends. Above are Tigger and Piglet.

Race cars and Teacups, oh my!

I don't think we have ever ridden more rides in one day...EVER. Did I say ever?? We arrived at the park just after they opened and stayed for the night parade and fireworks. By the time we poured the kids back into the stroller to make our way out of the park, they were well beyond ready for bed, and it took them under a minute to konk out.

So many princesses, so little time...

Ben and Katie cuddle up to Ariel, always one of our first stops at Magic Kingdom

Katie and Cinderella

Katie and Belle

Katie and Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora). That's Lucky (one of the 101 Dalmations) clutched in Katie's arms in each photo. He's Katie's newest stuffed "friend" so you'll see him in most pics this weekend.

Sweet on the ladies

Ben saw that they were doing a character greeting with Mary Poppins (who he's kind of got a crush on) and Alice in Wonderland and INSISTED on standing in line for over half an hour to meet them both. Katie claimed to be afraid of them, and stayed hidden in the stroller.

Finding Nemo

Momma and Katie in a "clam-mobile"

Momma and Katie in the belly of Bruce the shark

These kids don't seem to mind that Bruce has fallen off the "fish are friends, not food" wagon.

EPCOT

The weekend before Katie's birthday, Tyler went to Oregon for his annual snowboarding trip, so the remaining four of us headed to Disney for a celebratory birthday weekend. Katie is still anti-birthday party, so Disney was the perfect way to celebrate instead. Here are a few shots of the kids in front of "Spaceship Earth" (no, it's not a golf ball) and at the Nemo ride.

Shhh....don't tell!

While we were in Seattle in September, my Dad dog-sat the neighbors golden retriever, Lizzy. The kids fell in love with her, and the prospect of getting a dog has been a hot topic of conversation ever since, especially for Katie who loves all creatures great and small. We have finally decided that we are ready for a dog again and have selected this young pup, who will be named Jackson. Although we are "giving" him to Katie for her birthday, he will really be Chris's dog. He's already been researching all about pet-ownership, training, and specifics of the breed so that when Jackson comes home to live with us sometime after Feb. 8th, we'll be ready for him. But don't mention it to Ben...he stinks at keeping secrets, and we want Katie to be surprised!