Christmas!!!

Monday was mostly a day of preparations - however in the morning we took time for a fun little nearby museum.  There is a nearby museum called "Wings over the Rockies" that was right up his alley - so the kids and I, my cousin Julia and my dad all bundled up and headed over for a morning of fun and exploration - they have a fun area of math games that the kids just loved.  It was a fun morning - we went home and put James down for a nap, then Julia and I spent the afternoon singing at the piano.  :) 

 

In the evening, we went to Aunt Joan's house for Bagna Caulda night - a fun family tradition, followed by more singing!  We finally got the kids home and to bed with their new slippers and started getting set up for Christmas - pies made, presents set out and finally, bed time for the adults! 

Bright and early the next morning, the kids were up and ready to get going.  They had a blast digging through stockings and unwrapping stuff - they all seemed to be happy and loved what they got, so i guess we did ok :)  My big presents for the year were a serger from Dan and a Game boy 3DS from my parents.  I got Dan a bike rack and bag for his bike so that he can ride his bike to work once it warms up :)  (don't look at me like that - it was his idea)

We tried to skype with Great Grandma Penny and Aunt Pam, but had connection issues - but the kids now have a whole new wardrobe of very cute clothes :)

The rest of the week has mostly been recovering.  My parents headed home on Friday and decorations came down Saturday - now we are (not really very) quietly enjoying our vacation together - well the kids and I are - Dan has had to work to get a project done, so he's been at work every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas.... 

Last night I got to go hang out with a friend from Texas who was in the area - we had a really fun quiet night playing games and chatting!  I left to over an inch of snow on the ground - and today we have a nice soft blanket of white covering everything. 

More Holiday Fun

We've had a busy week getting ready for Christmas and company.  We had school, pre-school for Evie - helping our dear friends move, and of course Christmas activities.  The kids all had their last day of school on Thursday, I went in to volunteer to help out in Anna's classroom party - we had fun reading stories together, doing crafts and eating treats. 

Friday, we had Becky and her girls over for making Christmas cookies - Becky and Zoe and I did most of the making and decorating - my kids were still trying to meet the "you must clean up the play room before you can decorate cookies" requirement that they had been trying to meet all day.... not that the play room was that messy, but they kept forgetting that they were supposed to be cleaning.  They did finally get to decorate a couple cookies before dinner.  Then they got to pick one to eat after dinner. 

Saturday was busy with cleaning and such, in the evening, we went over to Grandpa's for a Christmas carol sing - my cousin Julia was supposed to make it in time to sing, as were my parents, however delayed flights for Julia and treacherous weather for my parents meant that neither one made it on time - they did however eventually make it safely.

Sunday we all headed to church for the Christmas program - it was beautiful!  Sara really did an amazing job of bringing everything together, even though she had hardly any time to prepare and plan!   After, Uncle Doug and Grandpa joined us and we had a great dinner of waffles and hash browns - which James insisted on helping to make! 

Holiday fun

It's been a fun and busy week. We had preschool here this week and had fun reading books and playing games and coloring. After preschool on Tuesday, I helped out one of the moms by watching her kids for a bit after preschool - when she came back to pick them up, she locked her keys in the car and had to hang out with me while she waited for her husband to come unlock it for her - I fed them lunch and as a thank you - she helped out with the pile of dishes that was the result of me forgetting to start the dishwasher the night before. Which meant that when Dan got back on Wednesday, the house was relatively clean.

Dan got back on Wednesday, just in time to make it to Eileen's concert - she has been singing with a choir at school and they had their first concert on Wednesday - she did such a good job - it was so much fun to watch her!
 

We have some good friends who are getting ready to move - I've been helping out with packing and cleaning as much as I can - on Friday, Taylee came over to spend the night and have one last sleepover - her mom was really sweet and provided some fun gingerbread stuff to decorate and the kids had a blast decorating and eating gingerbread men and trains.  And of course they had a blast just hanging out and being together.  

Saturday we went over to Grandpa's for some caroling - we walked around his retirement center and sang Christmas Carols - the kids had fun singing and enjoyed even more all the sweets that everyone was handing out.  :)  They also loved ringing the bells and making lots of noise....

After the caroling - I went to my concert and the kids went home.  The concert went really well and I really enjoyed singing with the group. 

Sunday night was Dan's company dinner - Dwayne and Nicole came with us and we had a lot of fun - I always have fun with Dwayne and Nicole and Newell and Becky - the food was really good too and we had a really nice time. 

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

Monday this week, we went out after school and work to get our Christmas Tree - we headed to Home Depot and had fun picking our tree  :)

We then took it home to decorate it - it was kinda late by that point - so we just let the kids hang their ornaments.  James mostly just wanted to play with them and it's taken a few reminders (every minute) that they aren't toys and he can't touch.   He just has such a hard time not playing with the "BALLS!"  

The kids were fighting over who would put the star on the tree - so Daddy decided that Mommy would put the star on.  So for once, there is a picture of me :) 

Tuesday, the temperatures dropped drastically and we got snow - unfortunately, the snow caused one of Dan's co-workers to slip and break his ankle - which meant that he couldn't go on the show this week and the only other person who could go was Dan - so bright and early on Thursday, Dan headed off to Florida (and somewhat warmer weather)  We have been below freezing since Tuesday - which means that there isn't a lot of ice - but by now the snow has been so packed down it is a bit slippery.  The kids have still been having fun playing outside though - and Eileen came home from school on Friday and said "Mommy, when I finish my homework and piano, can I go shovel the drive way?  Why yes, Eileen, yes you can!

Eileen and Anna were both very good shovel-ers and helpers and because they were outside, everyone else wanted to be outside too!

This little girl came inside after playing outside in the snow and she just looked so CUTE with her rosy cheeks and all bundled up in her winter clothes!!  

Saturday and Sunday have been a bit insane - Saturday I had my first Christmas concert with the Colorado Mormon Chorale - I brought meatball subs for everyone since we were gonna be there for almost 5 hours without break (mostly I made the mistake of asking the president if there were any plans for feeding people...)  

Sunday since Dan was gone, I couldn't go to ward council meeting, so I watched the kids of my counselor so that she could attend meetings - which meant that I didn't have enough room in the car, which meant that we all walked to and from church in below freezing weather - they way there wasn't so bad, it was chilly, but sunny so we made it there with cold noses, but otherwise fine.  The way home 4 1/2 hours later was not quite so nice.  It was colder and the sun was going down and all the girls were complaining horribly about being freezing before we got home (and that was with hats, scarves, gloves, snowboots, big coats, tights, and everything else we could find.  Church was eventful - as it always is with a grumpy (almost) 2 year old - but James did well as long as I was willing to hold him the whole time - then he was sweet and cuddly and quiet - but now my back and arms are a bit tired!  LOL - a good work out though!

After we got home we had hot chocolate to warm us up and nice hot oatmeal for dinner.... yeah - I was tired..... and then we put James to bed and the rest of us went downstairs to enjoy the Christmas Devotional - it was WONDERFUL!  such a wonderful way to start the Christmas holidays with our family!  It's so nice to be able to enjoy it at home with out having to drag a bunch of tired cranky kids and a cranky momma out of the house to watch it!

Home Again

We really enjoyed a fun few extra days with our Utah family - we kept very busy!  We made and played the Thanksgiving game.   

 

We helped Paul and Candace take care of their chickens - feeding them, cleaning their coop, collecting their eggs and catching them to put them back in their coop after cleaning.

We hung out at the Haymore's cabin and had all kinds of fun on swings, zip lines, ATV's and more!  (Well Dan and the older 4 hung out at the cabin - James was horrendously cranky and needed a nap. 

 We ooh and aahed and cuddled with an ADORABLE new little baby!  The kids really loved little Eliza - even James was fascinated by her and did a good job of being gentle with her. 

Poor little Evie got sick - and slept for most of 2 days, then felt mostly better :) 

 We all had a lot of fun playing outside - the weather was cool, but sunny and James had a blast with all the big boy's balls - soccer balls, basket balls, baseballs - he would have spent all his time outdoors if we let him - but the kids all spent a lot of time outdoors, playing, riding, jumping, running.  James loved getting lifted up to make a basket - he would run after the ball - walk in front of the hoop and say "help me!" 

Thursday we drove home - the kids were all sad to leave, and we are already planning another visit!  We spent the next couple days settling back in and re-stocking our fridge - The kids had oatmeal and cereal for dinner on Thanksgiving day :P  I had potato skins, I don't think Dan had anything....

Sunday we got to church early to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency - Dan got a new calling, he is now officially the Executive Secretary, which is going to mean some changes around here. 

Utah Ho!

This week has all been about preparation for our trip - Dan and I spent most of our week trying to get things ready, food eaten, clothes washed, car packed.  The kids had school and Evie had preschool, so I tried to get errands run while she was at preschool.  And by Friday when we were ready to pick up the kids, we were also ready to go.  We grabbed the kids and headed out to Utah.  We made it in late at night with the kids asleep - they did a good job of being good at watching movies and not causing trouble.  And we all made it safely there. 

This was our Thankful table cloth - the kids all got to color pictures of things they were thankful for - My kids drew pictures of our family!  They are SO AWESOME!

Grandma and Grandpa Jones brought back some fun things for the kids from Thailand - and here are the girls showing them off! 

Saturday, we did our early Thanksgiving - we spent the morning cooking and the kids played - the cousins all get along so well together!  Then the whole crazy party got together for a delicious meal!  Candace's parents and one of her brothers were also in town and we had fun seeing them again.

Sunday we went to Paul and Candace's ward for Eliza's baby blessing - I didn't get to hear any of it - James and I were out in the hallway while he threw a massive tantrum - but it was so nice to be there.  I also really enjoyed getting to go to Sunday School and Relief Society. 

While we were packing - I went into a massive panic realizing that on this huge weekend, we had no working camera - I had one camera with dead batteries and no charger or cable and another camera that had recently stopped working.  So on our way out we stopped at Costco - we've been having fun playing and taking lots of pictures - but I didn't bring my computer on this trip, so I'll add the pictures when we get home!  It's been a wonderful trip so far and we are looking forward to spending some time with family this week!

Busy... as Usual!

We've had a fun week - lots of the normal - preschool for Evie, school for the older kids, work for Dan, napping for James, piano lessons, church, choir, all that fun stuff.  I had some fun Relief Society stuff this week.  Nicole and I went to a little 'Spa Night' type thing on Thursday and made sugar scrubs and bath salts and ate chocolate :)  Then on Saturday, we went to Peoria ward's super Saturday and had fun making hair bows and magnets.

Saturday afternoon, Dan and I took the kids to the Zoo - i actually managed to get them to try a new area (something other than bird world and the hippo statue, but after a fun trip through tropical discovery - we ended up back there anyway - the kids love it!  I promise that Dan is holding James in this picture! 

I know i got more pictures and better pictures than this, but I'm having a hard time finding them.... The girls took their cameras to the zoo and had a blast taking lots of pictures of everything they saw.  

Today after church, we headed down to Frank and Tina's for Frankie's birthday - the kids had a blast playing with their cousins and James had a blast stealing my cake.... When we got home - the kids (and maybe the adults too) were a bit tired....

Fall Leaves and Lots of Parties

We've had a busy and eventful week - well, really weekend - the rest of the week was mostly just the normal amount of busy.  But starting Friday, things really got crazy - Friday night, Eileen had her slumber party - she had 5 friends come and we made little pizzas and they watched a movie before we 'sent them to bed' 2 had to go home before the slumber part - but the rest of them didn't sleep until very late!  But they had fun and no one wanted to go home after.  Saturday morning, Dan took Anna and went to clean the church building and got back in time to help me set of for our Primary Teacher Instruction meeting.  The slumber party girls were getting picked up right as people were showing up for our meeting.  Attendance was low, but the spirit was very strong and the meeting was wonderful!  

During the meeting, Dan took the kids outside to rake leaves - and they made a nest.  A giant leaf nest.  They had a blast and were covered in leaves for the rest of the day.

And I had some fun getting some fun fall pictures - Evie is so funny - this picture was kinda accidental, but the lighting really looks nice.

This is Anna in the nest - hard to believe - but they had a bunch of sweaters and coats on the bottom of the nest.....  

This is Aaron pretending to be a bird leaving the nest.

After, we went to Dwayne and Nicole's house for Riley's birthday - the kids had a blast watching Despicable Me and then beating up a minion pinata.  

We finally finished our night of insanity with the ward Chili Cook off and Talent Show.  Dan brought his balloon animal making skills and was the hit of the party - he spent the first 45 minutes making balloon animals and hats, then the kids tried coming back for seconds!

For the talent portion of the contest, Eileen played Book of Momon Stories on the piano - from memory.  She was so cute!!!!  She got distracted by James part way through and lost her place - but she still did a great job! 

After that, even a Sunday full of meetings and crazy kids wasn't so bad - James did better in Sacrament this week - he sat quietly in my lap for almost half the meeting.  After church, he was a super duper helper - he is getting so good at following instructions and communicating his needs.  He loves books and finding pictures of things he recognizes in books - he gets very excited over balls, cats, bears, dogs, horses, birds and water - and the picture only has to vaguely look like one of those things for him to get excited about it.  In this picture, he's reading one of his favorite books - the one with a ball on the front (it's a pictures of Earth)

Free Time! NOT!

We've had a fun but busy week - it was fall break for the kids - Monday, Eileen's friend from school came over for a play date and we all went to the zoo - it was chilly, but the kids had a lot of fun - we even got to see some lions and African wild dogs getting fed.  James didn't want to sit in the stroller though - so he was a bit tough to reign it.  He's getting more independent - which can be nice, but it can also be a pain.... :) 

Monday night we carved pumpkins for Halloween - the kids drew faces and Dan did most of the carving - Evie insisted that he carve a butt on the back of her pumpkin....  

For Tues - Friday they went to Camp Tina and had fun raking her leaves and hanging out there.  I had high hopes of getting a ton of things done, then I had all these things come up that had to get done and computer problems that prevented me from getting almost anything done that I had planned.  Dan took me out to lunch on Tuesday and we went to a small Hawaiian place - it was packed so when we had a table with 4 seats and a nice little old couple behind us needed a place to sit, we offered the other half of our table.  They were nice and friendly, but Dan nearly ran out of the place screaming when he found out that the couple's day job was as clowns.  

The kids begged aunt Tina to be able to rake her leaves and play in them and even promised to bag them for her - she finally relented and let them :) 

Dan and I wanted to see the kids for Halloween so we headed down Thursday evening to Trick or Treat with them - then went home.  I got more pictures, including James as a cute little pirate... but they seem to have vanished :(  

Friday Dan took the day off so we could get some stuff done around the house before the kids got back.  We moved Evie in with the girls, moved James in with Aaron and turned the other bedroom into a school room with their desks and bookshselves.  Then we went to the temple before grabbing some dinner and picking up the kids.  

Saturday was Eileen's birthday - Daddy made her a cake and she got to place the candles and try to light them (but ended up getting daddy to finish the job)  

She also got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Jones on the computer and open her present from them - she got a book about animals which she hasn't put down since and some cute earrings and some other fun little things.

Aaron is really getting better with his reading - not quite at the level of the book he's reading in this picture, but it's sure cute to watch him try!

And of course this little guy is full of smiles and fun - especially when he's trying to get attention.  And it's fun until he crashes hard.... :)