Joy

I have to start with one of my favorite happenings over Christmas- Allie's reaction upon finding Santa made it to our house. The girls woke up and came into our bedroom, so we told them to head on in to the living room to see if Santa came. We could hear their little shouts of joy and then they came racing back in to our bedroom to let us know he had definitely made it. My little Allie stood in our doorway, the excitement just oozing from her little body. She held her hands out and exclaimed, "Santa has comed!" I can't even give it an adequate description of how darn cute it was, but it was the perfect start to the day.

Actually, the Christmas weekend started off perfect on Friday when my parents arrived. I was giddy like a little school girl all week just waiting for them to come. Having them with us was so nice. We haven't been with family during Christmas for 6 years, so it was perfect.

Thanks to Grandma, we read lots of Christmas books. When your mother is the elementary school librarian, books are a plenty.


Grandpa Kerry chillin' with the Ty man. Maybe Santa should have brought Grandpa some new Christmas socks. He he he. Love you Dad.


Of course the girls got to open their Christmas Eve jammies. And in perfect timing I might add. Take a gander at what Allie had chosen for her sleeping attire prior to opening the new jams. Yikes!


Santa definitely "comed" to our house this year. Mostly in the form of incredibly generous family and grandparents. Yes family, you spoil us every year. You are much too good to us. Here are the girls ready to crack into their stockings.


I tried to keep a good balance between taking a gazillion pictures Christmas morning and just enjoying the time, so I'll sum it up with a picture of what the girls had been asking for for the past few months: pillow pets. Unicorn for Miss Kenna and a ladybug for Allie Gal.


I think the smiles explain everything. Having children at Christmas is so incredibly delightful. We had such a perfect day just lounging and eating and enjoying each other. Of course the next few days left us with disaster clean-up, but it was all worth it.

For Christmas, Ty man got his very first tooth. Here he is chewing away on a piece of jerky. It's a great teething tool. Hopefully number two will pop up soon. He HATES it when I try to get a peek in his mouth, so you'll just have to trust that his sharp little chomper is there.

I think we're ready to welcome in 2011! As of yesterday, we are going to welcome in the new year with our new van. Well, "new" to us, but it should be a great little vehicle for us. Yes folks, we have joined the ranks of the family van. Jacob is still getting used to the idea, but I am really pleased with our purchase. Haven't gotten any pictures yet, but stay tuned to meet the newest member of the family!

Merry Christmas

I received this little story in an email, and really liked it. So I share it with whoever lands upon my blog to wish you a very Merry Christmas.



The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas. My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.

Amazed in His presence...

Humbled by His love.

May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His amazing love for us.

Christmas Elves

Our two little delivery girls:


And don't they look so proud? These girls LOVE helping to take things around to the neighbors, and Christmas gifts are no exception. This year they decided that they were going to sing too. So they grabbed a goodie, bounced their way up to the door, handed over the gift, then Kenna put her arm around Allie and they sang "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!" It really was so darn cute to watch. Not bad having little runners to do all the deliveries! Someday I will learn how to hook up my video camera to the computer to download my little clips. Someday. But by then, video cameras will be obsolete and there will just be some microchip you can slip in your eye like a contact lens and it instantly copies itself to your computer which will be the size of a nickel. Ya, someday.

Kenna's Party

Blog neglect.

But for very good reason.

Last week for some crazy reason I got the cleaning bug. Perhaps my nesting instinct was oh- 6 months too late. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. Every major closet and cupboard in my house got a serious makeover. We're talking garbage bags full. I figured a pretty good rule of thumb was that if we haven't used it in the 6 1/2 years we've been married, then we won't miss it. Crazy how we hang onto stuff just in case we might need it. I just hope someone doesn't pick it up at the DI simply to store at their house for another 6 1/2 years!

So, as promised, here are the highlights of Kenna's birthday party (and whatever else has been going on while I've been filling up the garbage can).

Kenna tends to be a bit of a socialite, so she was so very excited for friends to come over for her party.

To break us in, we started with a rousing round of "hot potato." Gotta be honest- these little ones have obviously never played hot potato. It was a bit more of entertainment for Jacob and I than anything, but after a few rounds they got into it a bit more. Of course the camera didn't make it to this game.

While we had the music going, we just threw in another little game where the kids danced around until the music stopped, then they froze into random positions. It was pretty cute. Once again, camera was MIA.

Next up we played "Don't Eat Pete." The game where one person goes out of the room while all the others designate a little character on a poster board as being "Pete." The person then comes back into the room and starts to pick candy off the poster one piece at a time. Hopefully they get as many little candies as they can until they reach for "Pete" and everyone yells "Don't eat Pete!" Petty cute, they really get into it. And yippy doo, I finally remembered to take a picture! This is minus one little friend who came late, and two friends who couldn't make it. Boo. But it turned out great.


Next up we decorated gingerbread houses. I had rushed to the store in the morning to make sure I had the decorating tips to use for putting the frosting on the houses, and of course I did something screwy with the bags and they really botched. So, I just put the frosting into bowls and let them use knives. I LOVE it when I make extra work for myself. Love it. But, it turned out great and the kids loved it.



Allie, with a plate full of candy sitting in front of her- It's as though she could hear heavenly hosts singing above her. I tried my darndest to make sure these little bodies didn't go home needing detox from sugar overload.


Next was time for gifts. Is there any question this little lady likes attention?






About halfway through the party, we decided to have Jacob go hook up the pony cart to take the kids home in. I'm so glad he did, they LOVED it! It was so cute to watch. What a fun daddy!




Hooray for surviving our first official birthday party!

Now if you haven't yet met your quota of cuteness for the day, get a load of this: (take note of the major DI pile behind Ty in the first picture- told you I was crazy).





Oh you just wait, there's one more. Love him!


My favorite part? The fuzz on his head. I can try to gel it, but within an hour it's straight back up. He's got me hook, line, and sinker.

Brumphey Explained

After I posted about Brumphey, I remembered that I was going to explain about how this silly little Santa creature was named.

First of all, Brumphey was a random ornament that my mom was getting rid of, so I threw it into our pile. When I was pulling out our Christmas stuff, I decided that he would be our little helper. I figured it wasn't worth all the extra effort to find an actual elf. That's my incredibly practical side coming through.

When I introduced the ladies to Brumphey, I told the girls to come up with a name for him. Kenna quickly chimed in with "Brumphey." I have absolutely no idea where it came from, but sure, we'll roll with it. It's not the easiest name in the world, and poor Allie usually ends up calling him "Grumpy."

Hmm. Who knew the 7 Dwarfs were part-time Santa helpers?

Don't know why we couldn't have scored Happy. Maybe next year.

Brumphey

Meet Brumphey:


Brumphey is Santa's little helper. He showed up at our house a few days ago. Brumphey watches over Kenna and Allie to see all the good things they do so he can report back to Santa. He is magic and moves all over the house. The girls never know where they will find him next. In this picture he is on top of the microwave. I would have never imagined how excited the girls get over this! Whenever they see that he has moved, they squeal and go crazy until they find him again. It is so fun to watch them.

BUT...

...the other night I was lying in bed and had a moment that I think is probably shared by other parents. I had a twinge of guilt. I told Jacob that essentially I'm lying to my children. You know, the whole Santa thing. The magic of Christmas is so fun and wonderful, and I really want my children to experience that, but at the same time.....

Well, I decided that as fun as Brumphey is and whatnot, I am really trying to emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus. We can have fun finding Brumphey, but essentially we are making good choices because who we really are trying to please is Jesus and our Heavenly Father. The magic of Christmas is feeling the Spirit. Trying to be a little more nice, finding ways to serve and give to others. At the heart of those things is charity, the pure love of Christ. THAT is what Christmas is about, and why this time of year is so special. Hopefully that is what I can teach my sweet little children. And perhaps give myself a good reminder too.

The Big 5

That right there is the portrait of perfection. My beautiful first-born little baby. Now fast forward five years:


Yes, that again is my sweet little first-born so excited to open her birthday present that she absolutely insisted she couldn't possibly eat even one solitary bite of dinner (lasagna, by request- thank you Stouffer's) until she opened it. The excitement is just oozing!

What could it possibly be?


My oh my!

A Dora the Explorer Snuggie! Hooray! Much to the dismay of their father who loves picking up blankets from all over the house, my children LOVE their blankies. Or, "rankies" as Allie calls them. So I figured Kenna would love a blanket that she could wear. I was right. It was a hit. And of course she had to wear it while eating the birthday lasagna.

While up in Logan for Thanksgiving, we had a little birthday celebration for Kenna. Grandma Shelly made a darling snowman cake with long black licorice eyelashes and a red colored coconut scarf. Notice there are no pictures? My camera didn't make the trip with us for Thanksgiving. Oh well, at least I remembered to take all my children up. So, since we recently had a big cake, we opted for birthday donuts. But, alas, the birthday has not ended. Saturday will be Kenna's birthday party with 5 of her cute little friends which will include another cake. Stay tuned for that!

Kenna has really been anticipating her 5th birthday. On the morning of her birthday I could hear her in her bedroom talking to Allie. "Allie, I'm 5! But I still feel like I'm 4." All day long it seemed she was waiting for lightning to strike to initiate her into her next year of life. But, she loved the extra attention and it ended up being a great day. Oh and I can't forget lunch at McDonalds. When I asked where she wanted to go to lunch I was definitely not surprised at the response. We just over-utilize the hand sanitizer dispenser while we're there.

Happy Happy Birthday Miss Kenna D Dolly! We love you! Thanks for adding such a beautiful little spirit to our home.

OH- speaking of Thanksgiving, we had such a great weekend! It was so fun to spend time with family. The girls were in heaven playing with their aunts and uncles and cousins. We ended up coming home on Saturday instead of Sunday because of the storm (which proved to be a VERY wise decision) and Kenna was so upset to lose another day of playing. Another wonderful weekend of great memories with no pictures. Maybe we'll make up for pictures at Christmas. Hopefully the batteries are all charged...

Money Well Spent

I honestly can't remember who was the gracious donor of this baby gift from my first ever baby shower before I had Kenna. But this little bouncer toy has made it through 3 babies, almost 5 years, and is still in great shape! Maybe when this thing bites the dust, we'll know it's time to quit having kids. He he. I'm totally kidding. Really. This thing will definitely outlast my uterus.

Round 1: Miss Kenna D




Round 2: Miss Allie Gal (who, thanks to her sister, is sporting Mr. Potato Head's glasses- this picture is classic)




Round 3: Ty Guy


It's nice to know that out of all the you-MUST-have-this-or-die baby paraphernalia out on the market, at least one is worth the investment, huh?

So on Saturday morning while Kenna was eating her breakfast, she wheeled around in her chair to look at me, held her piece of bacon up in the air and shouted, "Hey mom! I made a Lamanite!"

Here is said Lamanite:

Not sure if I should consider this a parenting success or not....

Perhaps she should have been a Lamanite for Halloween.

Instead, she opted for the fairy princess she was last year. With whiskers and kitty ears, of course. What fairy princess is seen without them? And of course her little sister needed some whiskers too. After all, only the best ladybugs have whiskers. This year party-pooper mom decided we were going to dig through the dress-up bin to find our Halloween costumes, and we pretty much just did a repeat of last year. But these little spooks sure looked cute!



Lest we forget the cutest pumpkin in the patch, here is our little Ty man.


Let the fun begin!


The sugarfest started with a round of trunk-or-treating at the church which, many thanks to the cold, wind, and rain, was held in the cultural hall. But no matter, as long as the treats keep coming life is good! Later on the wind died down, and Kenna was determined to hit the neighborhood as well, so we headed around the block to top it all off. A giant diabetic nightmare. Now I get to be the treat referee. Those silly girls have organized and reorganized their treats a million times. I remember doing the same thing when I was a little girl, it's so fun to see their excitement.

Oh, we can't forget the pumkin carve. What is better than carving pumpkins in your jammies? Hmm, I guess the only thing that tops it off is carving pumpkins in your mismatched jammies!



Another Halloween goes down for the record books.

Now, on to Thanksgiving!

CHAMPS!

Some people mumble under their breath about their in-laws, but I am so blessed to have married into a darn good family! Check out these champs:

These handsome young fellows did us proud on Wednesday at the state cross-country meet. On the left we have Benson, coming in strong as the number 2 runner for Mountain Crest. Next to him in the middle is Daniel, number 1 runner for the team and 9th overall! On the right is their next door neighbor, Addison. We had so much fun watching them run. It was my first time at a state cross-country meet and I loved all the chaos as people ran back and forth to cheer on the runners as they passed by on different spots of the trail. Way to go Uncle Bens and Uncle Dan the man! We're so proud of you!

Hmmm, they must have a really awesome big brother. Well, actually I guess I have to say older brother. Jacob is quickly getting passed up on height. Don't worry Jacob, I love every square inch of you!

Oh, and Daniel and Benson: I guess it's alright that you run for Mountain Crest and not Sky View. *sigh* I guess we can't have it all....

:)

Resemblance

Top picture is Ty. Bottom picture is Allie. I think they're related.

Update

Hi there, this is Ty. My mom didn't put the best picture of me sittin' in my Bumbo chair, so now you can get a better look at just how handsome I am. Aaaah, life is good. Sorry ladies, you'll have to wait another 21 years til' I'm off my mission.

FIRSTS

I love the fall. I certainly can't believe it's here already, but I love it. Hopefully we can enjoy the cool for a while before the cold comes in to kick it out. So, we've recently had a couple of our "firsts" that signal summer has gone for the year.

-Last night we had our first chili for the fall. Which of course was accompanied by cinnamon rolls. With caramel frosting. Delish. We've had rain (a LOT of rain) this week and so it was a perfect night to stay in from the cold and have a nice hot dinner. Yea, some wives beg for nice weather, I actually beg for the cold and wet. It's just the only time I can actually get my husband in the house before 9 or 10 at night!

-We started our first fire of the year this afternoon. Many thanks to the fact that our furnace won't start. Nice. It fired up just fine about a month ago when it was nice and hot outside, go figure. I HATE paying for repair men to come! Perhaps it will just magically fix itself. I'll keep you posted on that one.

-And here is my little Ty trying out his Bumbo chair for the first time. How does one baby get so darn cute? His mama must be really good-lookin!

MATH

This:



Plus this:



Equals this:


The girls are always wanting to use scissors and for the longest time I haven't let them. Well, the other day at Wal-Mart they had some little kid scissors for a buck, so I thought "Why not?" After all, they can start using scissors to cut small things and do some fun little projects, right? WRONG. Yea, I suddenly remembered why I haven't let them use scissors. Kenna can be trusted, but obviously her little sister can't. Fortunately she is a master barber and I really can't tell where on her head the hair came from. Which is crazy because I found plenty of it on the floor and sticking to her clothes. Whoever coined the phrase "terrible two's" was terribly wrong. It's the terrible THREES and it seems to magically begin as soon as the third birthday celebrations have ended. My oh my we are in for quite a year with Miss Allie. There are days when she is definitely more spice than she is sugar.

Yes my girls really are quite sweet. Of course for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, for every ounce of sweetness one little girl can contain, she has an equal amount of spice to really liven it up.

Our little Spice Girls:


Complete with a little art project we did where MOM did the cutting.

'Tis a Blessing

Now really, there never was a cuter little boy. Ever.

Yep, that's my little Ty guy all decked out in his white tuxedo. Many many thanks to Jacob's Aunt LaDean for being so generous to make Ty his little blessing outfit. His blessing day was absolutely perfect. Jacob did a beautiful job with the blessing and the afternoon was spent enjoying our wonderful family and eating some really good food. I'm still craving the homemade ice cream. And the girls are craving all the attention they got from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was so awesome to have extra hands! Jacob and I even got to squeeze in a trip to the temple. Time alone with Jacob is almost non-existent, we loved the time together.

Is it any wonder this little guy is so handsome? Just look at his darn good-lookin' daddy!

My sumo son is now weighing in at 13 pounds. He is definitely not hurting for anything to eat, that's for sure! I can't believe how much he has changed. It's amazing what a difference 2 months makes in a baby. Our neighbors had a cute little baby girl just 4 weeks after us. She weighed 2 pounds lighter than Ty did when he was born, and has stayed just little petite. He has definitely got her beat. This is just so darn hilarious. Maybe because it looks like he's beating on her.

I've decided after having 3 babies that I really like the 2-month mark. It seems to be the point where we've gotten used to our "norm" and routine of having a new one in the home, and the newborn fog seems to have lifted. Life has definitely been kicked up a notch, but blessings keep pouring in along with the trials.

Some more random pics from our great weekend:

My Grandparents with Ty. So special. I absolutely love and adore my grandparents.



A 4-generation with dad, Grandpa Clark, and Great-Grandpa Floyd. This baby has come into quite an extraordinary family, I have to say.



Just in case you're wondering, I kiss these cheeks ALL. DAY. LONG.


And just for the record, his daddy's pretty fun to kiss too.