SNOW!

Just a few days late for a white Christmas - but oh so fun for the girls! They went out first thing this morning and back out after lunch. Syd told me they had to go NOW because the she saw some sunshine and it was going to melt the snow.

Merry Christmas!

The kiddos last Sunday all ready for church (Sydney wanted to wear her baptism dress instead of her Christmas dress and that ok with me!) and pics with Santa - I think this is the first time we've had no tears - at all. Not an "I don't want to see Santa"on the way there, not a pout while waiting in line, just excitement all around. And Carson - well he was thinking his dad was being a bit crazy trying to get him to smile(which he did right after they took the picture) . Sam's holding onto her letter that she wrote all by herself - so proud of her, she loves to write and her handwriting is pretty good for her age. I made Chad go back inside to get the letter back after we were all in the car - I couldn't let them throw it away! (notice her s's - love the curly-q at the end - I wonder how much her kindergarten teacher will like that next year!)

The girls are trying super hard to keep their names off the window so Santa will come visit tomorrow night. So far so good today! I spoke too soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

A big week

Sydney had a big week - turning 8, last day of school for 2 weeks and most importantly she was batized on Sat. Would you believe I forgot to take pictues? I got a couple afterwards...oh well!

Day 2,3,4,5

so i'm bit behind in reporting and no pics for today. It's been fun reading the books each day, even if we aren't getting the activities done!
Day 2 - Snowman (we were supposed to make scarves, but well maybe tonight)
Day 3 - Mooseltoe - went to the tree lighting event in town
Day 4 - The Perfect Tree - set up the tree, it's up, a day late and no decorations yet, but it's a start. :)
Day 5 - Christmas Around the World - we talked about how different countries celebrate and then left our shoes out for St Nicholas in the German tradtion. He brought gold chocolate coins, a yoyo and a puzzle for each girl and thre mini books for little man.

Day One: We wish you a merry Christmas

Following my sis-in-law's example, we are opening one Christmas book each day. Today was one that I picked up in the dollar spot - We Wish You A Merry Christmas - which is just the song with pictures. I'm not sure we will have an activity each day - today they got a little present with the book - a new Taylor Swift Christmas CD. The girls were so excited!

playing catch up - Halloween and Turkeys

the Mayor sharing a little bit of Halloween candy with Little Man. mmm good chocolate!

pie breakfast - cherry, turtle cheesecake, chocolate mousse torte, pumpkin and key lime and candy kiss acorns.

Our little gaggle of turkeys - the kids were well dressed for Turkey day thanks for Autie and Emily W!

a little pre-thanksgiving taste of pumpkin pie - Little Man loved it - thanks Pawpaw!

A witch, a princess and a frog. Aren't they cute!!!!!!

family pictures

some of my favorites!

A quick trip to Ocean Shores

flying a kite

I think she wanted hot cocoa - it was a little chilly Sat morning on the beach! She had the cutest curls all around her face from the mist!

collecting sand dollars!

The girls were amazed the the ocean is so close to our house! At one point on the drive there, Little Bit said to me, "Mom, I just can't wait - I need to be there right now!" What a fun trip!

trouble makers

he was supposed to be sleeping. she was supposed to be cleaning her room. this is what I found when I got out of the shower.

asleep

One of Little Man's favorite places to sleep - in the middle of the living room floor - head on a pillow - this pillow only and the rest of him scrunched in his boppy. with the tv on. and his sisters running in and out of the front door. silly boy! (the other spot is my bed - perpendicular to the way you are supposed to sleep)

we have a thumb sucker! well, we did for about a week. Now he's fond of my thumb and the mayor's thumb. And more of a thumb gnawing than sucking. Isn't he too young to be teething???? He's drooling like crazy. hence the burp rag - oh and he likes to chew on that too.

new recipes

Some friends decided we'd have our own craft camp for our kids. Today was my turn, we filled containers with sand and made our own puff paint. This was I think the most fun. Depending on how much paint you put on your cardboard, your paint puffs up higher when heated. Definately a keeper!

I tried these because hers looked so yummy. Of course mine didn't look as good, but they still tasted good, my fav was the cinnamon and sugar covered ones. My chocolate didn't turn out as smooth...

grrr

gone is the cute background. when trying to add a new one, i can't. why? i don't know and am not going to spend more time figuring it out.

what I've been up to...

It all began with the Turquoise mushroom fabric. Little Bit picked it up and sweetly said, "Mom - will you please make a blanket for me with this fabric - I just love it!" How could I resist?

of course, then I needed to make one for Little Dude - she picked out most of the fabrics for hers.
I just need to finish sewing the binding down.

One for my room - just the top is finished. I picked up batting yesterday, so it could be done soon. I want to make some coordinating pillows to give my room a little color and life!

This one is a work in process - it's for my mom. I've since added a border, well part of a border, getting the triangles to match up just right isn't my strength!

I have two more quilts ready to start cutting...I'm hoping to complete these 4 this summer and get the next two at least started!

Another happy note - little Man went to sleep on his own in his crib at 3:30 this morning and slept til 8! Woooo Hooooo! He used to be such a good little sleeper and for the past week or so, has been up all night long. No sleep for mom and dad!

3 months

Hi - I'm Little Man and I'm three months old. I love to smile. I love to talk. I love to eat. I spit up - a lot. Sometimes my mom says I spit up more than I eat. Maybe that's why I love to eat so much. I also like to play peek-a-boo. I like holding onto blankets and sucking on them. I do not however love to be in the car. The carseat is ok, but once buckled into the car, I will scream non-stop. I rarely cry myself to sleep in the car, so hence my mom doesn't take me many places. I think I'm about the cutest thing ever and have both my parents wrapped around my finger - grandparents too. Oh and my sisters - they love me too. Sometimes a little too much. I'm trying to roll over (finally did at 3am this morning when I didn't want to go back to sleep) and I really want to sit up. I'm a pretty good sleeper once I fall asleep, but that falling asleep- thing - is kinda hard. I wake up a lot when my mom puts me in my crib. I sleep in my own room now, I can't have blankets in bed with me because I always pull them over my head and then it's hard to breathe. Well - time for me to eat again.

more happenings

The Mayor and Little bit at the top of the slip-n-slide

we love the bowtie MarMar!

Little bit fell and poked a hole in her hand, the gauze we used to stop the bleeding stuck to her hand, soaking her hand to get it off. Thank goodness for good friends and funny ringtones!

Little Bit fell asleep shortly after this picture

The Little Man was blessed at the beginning of the month. Last weekend we went to Ensign Ranch with friends and had so much fun! The girls went rode on a horse, played on the slipe-n-slide, went on a hayride, played with friends, and ate lots of s'mores and roasted starbursts.

craziness

Duvall Days - the girls walked in the the kiddie paprade and then we watched the rest with friends.

Gold medal reading assembly - way to go Little Dude! She is such an awesome reader!

Piano recital - duet with her friend Ashley, Ode to Joy.

Animals, Animals! Music class at school recital

Jump-a-thon - she is a super jumper! 189 jumps in two minutes.

It's been crazy busy around here...so many end of the year activities. yesterday we enjoyed (well sorta enjoyed, I was ready to put the girls in summer camp for the rest of the summer by 10am. It got better in the afternoon) a day of doing nothing...I did a few things around the house - but we didn't have to be anywhere and that was nice.

more pics

a few more pics of little man...

YUM!

I have two cookcooks especially for kids. I've never used them, had them for several years. I hoping to use them more often this summer - but today we needed something warm. It is just too cold out for the end of May. The girls and I made warm apple dip...1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 TBSP carmel topping, 2 TBSP milk, 1 minute at 1/2 power and stir. Enjoy with sliced apples. I didn't measure any of the ingredients - just eyeballed it - so good. Little Bit licked the bowl clean. before any pictures could be taken.

6 weeks old

My friend Natalie took some super cute pictues of Little Man this week - I love his little piggies! Here's a preview

One month already!

well - the 14th came and went...I can't belive Little Man is already a month old. He loves to be awake at 4am and is all smiles. We are learning to function on less sleep...I'm hoping he'll start sleeping for longer stretches soon, 6 hours the other night was so nice! Let's hope it continues!

I had planned on taking a pictures of Little Man with his cute monkey, Climber, that the girls made for him and brought to the hospital when he was born right away, but that didn't happen. So, hopefully it'll be a monthly thing to watch him grow!

Fun times

Sharing the duty...little man just wanted to be held. We took turns.

Sharing is good.

I love the look on her face---notice the little sister doing the same thing!

How we love our BooBoo! (Willow wanted to be included too....)

Last weekend we bb'd at the Ranch and roasted marshmallows over a fire - we were all lovin' our s'mores! Especially Little Bit, I think she had 4!!!! Last year all she wanted to eat was the chocolate - this year she ate the whole thing, although she was slightly disappointed that Booboo and mom got double chocolate on theirs. We had a yummy dinner and we are hoping for more good weather this weekend.