And the results of the Abraham Lincoln cake.... drum roll please... (please remember this is designed by a 7-year old... I just helped create... so if something doesn't make sense, sorry!)
1. 200 in pink marshmallows: Lincoln turned 200 this year

2. A.L. initials in white marshmallows: obviously Abraham Lincoln's initials

3. butterscotch chips: outline of Abraham Lincolns face

4. chocolate-covered pretzels: James thought they looked like 2 eyes and a mouth, so they ended up representing Lincoln's 2 terms in office. (He didn't finish his second, obviously, but he did start it!) 5 pretzels (4 plus 1 :-))

5. peanut butter: representing the copperhead pennies... once again, 2 for his 2 terms!

Thanks for all who participated!!! It was fun to see what everyone thought! The winner goes to the Bluemels in Wyoming! They actually got them all and then some! They even added the twist of the brown pretzels off-setting the white marshmallows representing the civil war and slavery movement! I thought that was clever... so did the boys! So, I'll be sending cookies off to you guys sometime soon!

As for the rest of our lives, I thought I'd add a few funny pictures with a few funny moments this past week... First, is Ellie stretching... is she ready for karate, or what!? James was QUITE proud of her! Her new favorite thing to do now, is to put cars in shoes. Many-a-time lately I have gone to quickly get in my shoes... only to step into a car!!!! Gotta love her!

James literally had a minute between doing his math and spelling, and he ran over to the chair to be silly, and said, "Ahhh.. I'm taking a break!" I thought he was funny, so I snapped a shot.

My 'bad-mom moment' with him this week came when he said at night, "See mom, this is what I was talking about when I told you about the vultures carrying those heads away." What??!! Ok, so I have NO recollection of him EVER talking about that, EVER! So, this is my 'bad-mom moment', when I'm sure he mentioned it, and I was doing something else and not really paying attention, and saying "Oh sure, hon, sounds good!" Yeah, so much for my New Years Resolution! :-) Anyway, turns out he was reading a fun book (believe it or not!) that lets you choose your way through Ancient history (if you think you should make spears for the soldiers, turn to page 14, etc.) and there was a part about a Sumerian army advancing on the Ummaites, and talks about vultures carrying off with their heads... yikes... the things parents let their children read these days :-) honestly, it is a fun book!

So, while we are doing school, Alex actually loves to participate by coloring in my Teacher's Math Manual, while the kids do their math! When I say it's math time, he eagerly pulls out their math books for the boys, and pulls out my manual, and starts to color in it! We're talking full concentration here... tongue hanging out and all! Other than that, he loves to create his army on the table while we work away! Isn't he proud of himself!

And the last picture, is a cute picture I took when I found Alex in the carseat, and I honestly thought it was Ellie at first! He sure is cute... when he wants to be! If he doesn't want to be... you better watch out :-)

One more funny story of the boy who didn't make it into the pictures this week (better known as Glenn, or G-2)... Aristotle came up nonchalantly in our history this week, and I asked James if he remembered who he was... he thought for a moment and said, "Oh yeah, he's the guy who thought the Earth was the center of the universe." Glenn says, with hands moving, "But that's not right, it's the Sun that in the center. It's a good thing the Earth isn't in the center, or we'd all be on FIRE!" We got a good laugh out of that one.

Well, hope you all have a good weekend! The Iditarod starts Saturday, so we'll be watching! The boys have their mushers picked out, and I'm hoping to whip up some 'dog chow."

Anyway, we had Stake Conference last weekend for church, and they showed a phenomenal video on prayer that I really enjoyed. If you haven't seen it, check it out. I loved it! Enjoy, and Take CARE!