Snow Time!

Yesterday this little lady begged me to build a snowman with her.

I looked out the window, and could FEEL the ice shimmying it's way into my boots and gloves and wanted with all my heart to say no.  But, we had a similar conversation last time it snowed that ended in no ice for me and disappointment for her.  I just couldn't handle that sad face again.  Plus the three other girls had just gone down for naps, so I thought we might actually have a shot at finishing. 

So we bundled up, and out we went. While I was technically helping her, I pretty much just started the snow balls and then let her have at it (until the end when she started to lose patience and the babies began to wake up). 




At one point I got this silly notion in my head that maybe I could actually get some nice snow portraits of her, so I asked her to look at my camera.  This is what I got:



The one on the left is her token "What?" face these days.  Every time she doesn't know what I'm talking about, she gives me this face.  The other is just testament to the fact that I have kids with big mouths...especially when they're missing their two front teeth.

Her boots and scarf got rather caked in snow at one point.


So she took a cookie break


Then she decided there wasn't enough snow in the ENTIRE BACK YARD, so we headed out to the front.



There may have been more snow eating than snowman making at that point.



She also decided it would be fun to kick snow at me.  She was pretty proud of herself. 


At some point, she decided the scarf was too much of a hassle and lost it.



Then she got back to work.



The only thing that would convince her that that head was too small was telling her the carrot wouldn't fit in it...(she was ready to be done at that point).

Then Hannah woke up and decided to come help...but she ended up mostly eating snow and picking icicles off the van. 


For the record, I do tell my kids not to eat snow.  They just don't listen to me...of course, it probably doesn't help that I'm behind the camera, snapping pictures of them eating the snow while I'm telling them not to...note to self, no more snow eating pictures.

In the end, we did finally finish the snowman.



Well, snow kid really...I doubt he was three feet tall.  But naps are only so long. 

He seems like a happy little guy, and in the end I wound up with a happy little girl.



Hopefully this will curb her snowman building craving until next year.  

The Way I View - Blessings

I think the topic this month was particularly fitting for me.  True, everyone else in the US was also celebrating Thanksgiving this month, and most likely feeling especially grateful for all of their blessings.  But I have to say, I have really felt the Lord's hand in our lives lately.

There is seriously no doubt in my mind that He led us to this home.  We really had no intention of moving at the beginning of Summer, and before the end of the summer, we were in our new home.  And let me tell you, it has been SUCH a blessing.  Not just for the extra space, but it just feels like everything is better for us here.  The school is wonderful, the neighbors are so friendly and kind, the ward has been so welcoming.  At first I was a little bit nervous about the transition for the kids, but even they just love it here.  It truly feels like home. 

Yes, we miss our old neighborhood, and being so close to good friends, but the Lord knew what he was doing when he put us here.  And for that, I am so grateful. 

Now head on over to MelissaGibson's blog to check out another blog circle's take on gratitude.

Her First Letter to Santa

On Monday Addison wrote her first letter to Santa.  She didn't tell us she was doing it, but she did ask us how to spell a few words while she was writing.  Then she asked Hannah what she wanted for Christmas and wrote a letter for her too.  When she was done she brought us the note and told us she had to put it on the fireplace so that Santa's elves could come and get it.  I told her we'd have to mail it.  Mostly because I wanted to make sure we had a copy for future reference.  :)

Then, she came home yesterday with homework to write a letter to Santa.  So she made another one.  This time she didn't ask for help on anything, so it's 100% her own.  I can't believe my kid's old enough to be writing letters to Santa!!!  I LOVE it!

Here are the translations:

(Front)
Dear Santa,

What Hannah wants for Christmas is a Barbie house and barbies.
(side words, "I hope you like my picture.")

Dear Santa what I want for Christmas is a puppy

(Back - I think she realized she hadn't put her name on the front so she wanted to make sure he knew who was asking)
Dear Santa,
What I want for Christmas is a puppy.
Addison.

Hannah
Dear Santa,
What I want for Christmas is a barbie house and barbies.

Dear Santa,
What I want for Christmas is a dream light and a kite, and a kitten, and why do you like cookies so much?
Dear,
Addy

(I'm going to have to teach her that usually you don't end a letter with "Dear")

I'm seriously in love with the Santa and the Elf.  Is this not like EXACTLY what you imagine a kid's letter to Santa to look like?  It's like she pulled the vision out of my head and put them on paper! I LOVE it!

I'm also glad she wrote the 2nd one because I don't think Santa's going to be bringing her a puppy.  :)

Our Thanksgiving

Whoa! I totally thought I published this back in November.  Nope, it was just waiting around in my drafts folder.  Sorry about that.  I'm going to try and get caught up with holiday blogs over the next week.  So I guess I'll start here.  :)

This year we did Thanksgiving at my parent's house in California.

While I do love eating the food, I have to say, I think that cooking it is almost just as fun for me.  Especially when everyone's pitching in.

Bart was very concerned about the turkey.  He kept asking my mom what she was planning on doing, if she was going to use a brine, what flavors it was going to be, etc.  She thought it was pretty funny, and just let Bart take over, and let me tell you, it was incredible!  I've NEVER had such a moist turkey.   My husband is officially King of the Turkey.  His task next Thanksgiving: The Stuffing.

And poor Eric.  He grew up in a house full of controlling women (we give Bart special treatment because  He was so willing to help, and then whenever he tried to do something at least three of us were there watching over his shoulder explaining what he was doing wrong.  But I have to say, everything he worked on ended up tasting great.  Eric, you're a saint for putting up with us.  ;)

Amy, Stacy and I made the cakes.  And somehow I managed to miss getting a picture of the best cake.  But it will have to suffice to tell you that...it tasted good.  ;)  (That's for you Amy).

My Grandparents also got to join us this year.  I can't remember the last time I spent Thanksgiving with them.  It was so great having them there.  We played games, put together puzzles, and just talked and enjoyed each other's company.  It was wonderful!

And, can I just say, my mom seriously has the most beautiful dishes!  She has ones for all seasons/events.  When she and my dad die, my  sisters and I will most likely split up the family fighting over her amazing dishes. JK...kind of... But for now, they sure make a beautiful table! ;)  (By the way ladies, I call dibs on the Thanksgiving dishes!)

These little ladies got tired of waiting, so they had a Thanksgiving feast of Bananas, peanut butter Ritz, and yogurt bites.  And then went to take a nap just in time to let the rest of us eat in peace.  :)

And while I'm sure they thoroughly enjoyed their bananas, yogurt bits, and peanut butter Ritz, I'm awfully glad I waited for the real feast.  :)

Of all the things I'm grateful for, I think I'm most grateful for my family.   I have been so blessed.  No matter where we are, it's always wonderful being with them. 

All I want for Christmas...

On the 6th of last month, Addison lost her third tooth.

Then, on the 23rd, Addison came up to me with a big smile on her face, and a crooked tooth in her mouth.

The next day, that little baby came out too.

If she keeps this up, she's going to be eating nothing but smoothies for a while.

I'm secretly hoping the other one doesn't start growing in until January.  As I recall, when I was about 6 years old, all I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth too.  :)

The Way I View - Halloween

So when the twins were born, I dreamed of taking full advantage of them when they were toddlers and dressing them up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween.   Two days ago I realized that dream.  In fact, we made it a family ordeal.

About a year ago, just after Halloween, I asked Addison what she thought about our whole family dressing up as characters from the Cat in the Hat next year.  She was thrilled when I suggested she be Sally.

She also suggested Hannah be Nick (for those of you wondering "who?", there's a Cat in the Hat series on PBS staring the Cat, Sally, and Nick, Sally's friend...I assume it's a friend...although I suppose I don't really know.  He could be her adopted or half brother I suppose...I haven't watched closely enough to figure it out...but I'll go with friend).  At this suggestion, I responded, "How about the fish instead?"

Not gonna lie, I was pretty intimidated at the thought of one of my kids being the fish.  I was planning on doing everything as inexpensively as possible, which meant making costumes, and I had no idea how to do a fish.  Fortunately I found this blog, and took it from there.  In retrospect I would have changed the head to look more like a fish and less like an octopus.  I also would have made it a bit smaller, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. 

I also am pretty proud of the fish bowl.  Bart does these people sculptures out of packing tape with his art classes every so often.  I used the same technique with a yoga ball instead of a person....well, really Bart did most of the work.  :)  (Like I said, it was a family ordeal.)  If I had had more time I would have cut down the top a little more so it'd look a little less like a ball, but eh.  She was happy with it and so was I.

In fact, Hannah wasn't just Happy with it, she LOVED it!  All night she was doing this little dance down the street singing, "I am the fish, I am the fish."   A few days before Halloween I even heard Addison telling someone that if she had known the Fish would have a fish bowl, she would have wanted to be the fish.  The bowl was a hit.

We decided Maya would be thing one since she was born first.

And let me tell you, it's a small miracle that I got any pictures of her.  She WOULD NOT sit still for even a second...EVER.  Most of the pictures I  got of her (and Lilly for that matter). Were very out of focus.  They played the part of energetic Thing 1 & 2 VERY well.

And here's Lilly:

Not gonna lie, they made some pretty dang cute...Things.


I gotta teach Lilly how to kiss without sticking that tongue out.  ;)

At first the twins weren't quite sure about the whole trick or treating thing.  They are rather shy shy around people they don't know well.

But they warmed up to it quickly.  It kind of reminded me of that Jerry Seinfeld sketch, "Everyone that we know is just giving out candy?!?!"

And Addison was actually with us.  She was just a lot faster than the rest of us.  As soon as she got the candy in her bag, she was off to the next door.  Thing 1 & 2 and the fish needed a little help getting down stairs (it's hard to walk in a fish bowl).

My sister Stacy came with us too.  She dressed up as a nerd.  She was the cutest little nerd I've ever seen.  :)

This was the most decorated house we went to.



In fact, there was a little boy right behind us that refused to go to the door because he was scared.  Poor little guy.

Overall it was a really great Halloween.



If anyone else in my blog circle posts, I'll link to their blog, but in the mean time, here's a link to another blog circle doing the same theme:  http://www.melissagibsonphotography.com/2012/11/02/the-way-i-view-halloween/  Enjoy!

The Way I View - Back To School

I can't believe another month has passed already.  I swear, the older I get, the faster time passes.

Well, this month's theme is "Back to School."  Even though Addison's my first in school, September has always felt like Back to school to me because Bart is a teacher.  But this year, the big difference in our house has been Addison reading for class.  Technically her homework is us reading 15 minutes every day with her, but we do that at bed time already, so I've been having her read books on her own, and she's doing great, and really enjoying it to boot!  :)








And um....is anyone as excited as me about Halloween?  Every time I go into a store I have to seriously restrain myself to keep from purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of Halloween decorations.  I suspect the next "Way I View" post is going to be fun.  :)

Check back and I'll include a link to the other Back to School posts in the blog chain.

Cornbelly's

Well, going to Cornbelly's has become quite a fun little tradition in our family.  And this year not only was my mom up, but my dad was able to come up and go with us too!





You wouldn't believe it by Lilly's face, but she absolutely LOVED the slide.  As soon as she got to the bottom, she'd turn around and run to the stairs to go again.  I took about a million pictures of her trying to get one of her smiling because I knew how much she loved it, but instead I got this face every. single. time!  Maya on the other hand was all dimples!  :)


Watching the animated...animal band?  I think the twins were disturbed.

Little puzzle maze.

According to Addison, we spent way too long here, but the bigger kids seemed to like it quite a bit.  :)


There were these huge pillow trampoline things that were AWESOME!


Dad and Stacy even got in on the action.  I really want to send that first picture to my dad with a speech bubble that says, "Daddy daughter dates are great!!!


 Every other year I've gotten an awesome picture of my mom at Cornbelly's.  But this year, this is all I got.  :(  Next year mom, no cell phones allowed!  :)


According to Maya & Lilly, we didn't spend enough time here.


Apparently I'm not giving Bart enough affection.


And according to Bart, we didn't spend enough time here.  Boy loves his carnie food.  He's a bad influence on my dietetics-studying sister.




Toy duck races...always a favorite.

Right before we left we went to the kiddie corn maze.  There was a giant spinner every so often that had different directions for what you were supposed to do as you went through the maze searching for the next spinner. Bart got very into the "Pretend to ride a horse and chant 'clippity clop, clippity clop'" one.



Can't wait to do it again next year!