The Fords: the big kids

So I was going to make a post for Mace and a post for Kota, but there were too many pics with them both!

Dakota. She is such a beauty. Sometimes I just look at her face and smile. I love her face. :o) She is feisty and tough, spunky and crazy. She is sweet and cuddly, forgiving and generous. She would share almost anything as long as you asked her nicely.

Mason. He is such a fun boy to be with. He makes me laugh every day. He is funny and goofy, energetic and sarcastic. He is kind and loving, helpful and competitive. His teacher at preschool sent home his progress report and said that he is always seeking out and including kids who are quiet or not playing with anyone. Brought tears to my eyes when I read that. Love that kid.

Funky moves come from this little girl. Love it.

Hey if Daddy leaves his shoes out, they are too tempting not to wear!

And the older brother will certainly want to try them on too! (yes, yes, and a beautiful necklace :o)

Kota loves Cooper so much. But sometimes she tries out new things on her. Like, what would happen if you hold a hard folder above Cooper and drop it. Let's just say, she found out what would happen....

Every night, I give the kids quiet reading time in their room. They usually read quietly in their own beds unless I leave them too long without coming to tell them reading time is over and it's now bedtime. If I've waited too long, they end up in the same bed with Mason over-exaggerating the reading of books to Kota. Which is pretty cute, but also pretty loud. :o) It's such a joy to see them side by side like this.

Kids love to dress up. I didn't catch Kota's full costume on this day, but she was wearing glasses, shoes and maybe a pirate eye patch or something.

I should do it more often since the kids love painting so much. But the mess and clean up are always hard for me afterwards. If there's one thing they'd choose over almost anything else though, it's painting!

This made me laugh SOO hard! Cooper was standing up leaned up against the couch, and Mason loved it so much he had to squeeze her. As he was doing that, Cooper spit up in his hair! Mason didn't even notice it or believe me until I showed him the picture on the camera. Hilarious moment.

Packing and getting ready to go to Arizona for Christmas means an open suitcase. Which is just so inviting...

Valentine's Day. I've heard some say they don't like the holiday that much because you should show love every day of the year. I say, what a great time to express your love and remind people in your life how much you love them. I cut out some hearts for Scott and wrote down on each something that I love about him.

I also made a heart for each of the kids for when they woke up. Scott actually got me these DELICIOUS cupcakes and so I shared two of them for the kid's Valentine's Day.