Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas!
We spent Christmas with my side of the family this year. We ate tons of good food, visited tons of family and made many memories.


all I got for Christmas is my second bottom tooth! :0 and i kept mom and dad up all night Christmas eve because of it!

good thing I am so so cute

I let Grandpa Marty hold me finally...and he put me right to sleep and there I slept for 3 hours!!! precious!

here are the adorable letters my Aunt Carisa made for my wall above my crib.

We made many of our gifts this year. Here is Adam with his Aunt Anna and the awesome cougar blanket that he made for her.

Adam with his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books that he begged and begged and begged for

Tylerman enjoying one of his gifts. He let everyone know that he didn't get what he asked Santa for this year. At first it made me sad, now it's just annoying. He asked for Harry Potter legos...he has no idea who Harry Potter even is, I hear they are outrageously expensive and the ages on them were like 12 and up...hence he got buzz lightyear legos from Santa. I think Santa made a good move...but hey what do I know!

Grace in the new gracemobile! she loves it!everyday i ask her where she's driving to, she responds, "tostto!" (costco)

grandma showing off the adorable pots we made her. we put all the kids hand prints on them, they turned out great!


the only two girls cousins, they better stick together!


all dressed up

the cousins sporting their new Christmas pj's courtesy of grandma!

Christmas Programs, Gracie's new bed, Max's new tooth!

Whew, lots going on here!
We'll start with both boy's Christmas programs.


Adam was a shepherd. We felt honored that he was one of only two kids in his entire class who were asked to be part of the main nativity scene. He did awesome. He had to sit up there and be still and quiet for I'd say 45 mins or so. He looked so handsome. His program was awesome this year. It was called "teach the children". It was about Santa telling everyone to teach the children the real reason for Christmas which is something I think most all of us can benefit from hearing each year.



The preschool has their own separate Christmas program. Tyler was the narrator. This is a BIG part. He tells the entire story while the rest of the kids do the acting. A few other kids have 2 or 3 lines, the rest was all Tyler talking in a microphone in front of a crowd. I will be very honest I was shocked that they picked him to do this, he is rather shy at school. I didn't really know for sure whether or not he would do it...but he did! and he did AWESOME. He was hilarious to watch. He had an x that he was supposed to stay on and he stayed there and would wiggle and squirm...but stayed on that x. He was so proud of himself afterwards...and of course so were we! It was very entertaining to watch. Some kids played on the floor, one kid took off his shoes, on girl kept running to her mom in the audience. It was great. There is something about watching preschoolers act out the nativity story that is so heartwarming.




Grace finally has her big girl bed. An upgrade from a toddler bed. This bed was given to us by Justin's parents, it was his sister's old bed. We painted it white and it turned out beautifully. Every one of my children, except Max of course ruined nice clothing by getting paint on themselves while coming out to "just watch mommy or daddy paint". GRRR. I had a very fun time picking out Grace's bedding. I think it all came together very well. Does she sleep better? not really. Does she go to bed better? not really. Oh well! :)



Max turned 6 months old! Ahhh, where did 6 months go? He had his check up today and weighs in at 17lbs 13oz (50%) and is 27 1/2 inches long (80%). He has one tooth in and one on the way. He is sitting up, crawl/lunging for toys, and starting solid foods. He sleeps pretty well for the most part. He is in the grabby stage where he wants everything he can't have. He will grab your face, lip, ear,hair, cheek or whatever he can get his hands on. He loves attention from his siblings. He has a decent case of stranger anxiety and so there are a few people who just scare him for some reason. He also has also found his toes and loves to play/suck on them. It is adorable! He is very sweet and lovable and a wonderful addition to our family.

We went and saw Santa on Sunday. That was great! We have gone to see the same Santa every year since we moved here. He spends about 10 mins with us talking with the kids. It is always memorable. I especially love the part where he tells them to "take good care of mom and don't break dad!" he says that every year. too funny. He must know how rough little boys play! :)

Time to get baking/candy making! Christmas is just around the corner. I think my favorite part is the anticipation and the shopping, wrapping, baking...oh and the decorations, music, food...okay okay okay I love it all! :)

Winter Wonderland before Thanksgiving????

It was a few days before Thanksgiving and look!!!!!! We had about 12 inches of snow. It was craziness. It has since almost all melted. It sure was fun while it was here. The kids played in it often, like 3 times each day. We had 2 snow days from school and 2 late start days. My van does suprisingly very well in this stuff.









Happy Thanksgiving. We were supposed to go to Justin's parents house but as you can see from the above pictures, the weather kept us home. Here is our sad attempt to get a picture of all 4 darling children. Guess who wasn't cooperating. Looking back these pictures are hilarious...at the time, not so much.







We are making fleece tie blankets for Christmas gifts. I let the kids play with the scraps, here is what they came up with. Karate kids. :)





Mr. Max is darling as ever. He started solid food this week. He is doing okay with it. He spits a lot out still. He is also pretty much sitting up on his own, he'll topple over some still.

But the BIG thing he is doing this week is this...

SERIOUSLY STOP THIS MAX, it's not funny. I do not want you to crawl already. Do you know how many tiny tiny toys, pieces of lint, garbage, etc there are lying around my house for you to eat!?!

Tylerman!

After saying in my last post how I was going to take time to blog more I do realize I went weeks without posting anything. LIFE happens!

This post is all about Tyler. He turned 5 way back in September and I was waiting for his well child check up to write about him so I'd have his stats. He is 44 3/4 inches tall and weighs 46 lbs. That is the 75% for each. He is reading extremely well. He read an entire magic tree house book this past weekend. He amazes me. I think he is reading better at 5 than Adam was. Tyler is impulsive, full of energy and keeps us on our toes regularly. He is stubborn and still throws massive tantrums on occasion. Most mornings, he is by far the hardest child to get ready and out the door. All that being said, he is the sweetest little boy ever. He tells me he loves me most every day and I know he truly means it. He won't go to bed unless he gets a kiss and a hug from everyone and he has to "feel it" (it must be a tight enough squeeze). He will cry if you hurt his feelings and they will be REAL tears. He is so caring he will make me stop the cd we are listening to in the van until we get Adam from school because he doesn't want Adam to miss his favorite song. He is an attention seeker, he will do most anything to make people laugh(usually it's sometime inappropriate I might add). At school, I hear he is a quiet little boy who has never done a thing wrong...while I am thrilled to have this excellent report of behavior sometimes I do really wonder if we are speaking about the same child. What Justin and I have both said many times, is that while Tyler has been one of our more challenging kids when he is on, he is on! By that I mean when he is behaving, he is one big stud muffin. He is compassionate, caring and eager to please. We love our sweet Tylerman!

Time to Blog

I have been "blogging" for over two years now. The other night something made me go back and read some old blog posts and it was great! It reminded me of why I started this blog. Time goes by and you forget to write down the funny things that happen each day and before you know it your kids are having another birthday!! So, I am going to post more often and write down more of the "little stuff" because someday I will be printing these off and what a precious thing it will be to have these memories written down!




The boys are supposed to be in bed, instead I find Tyler up in Adam's bunk with a flashlight and the knock knock joke book. They are laughing hysterically. Way too cute to get mad! :) I love that they have each other...brothers rock...when they aren't beating the crap out of each other that is! :)

Max is quickly approaching 5 months and has a bottom tooth about to pop through! He is very happy about it! He is sleeping great during the day, going right down for naps with NO fuss. Night time hasn't been awful, it could be better but it could be a lot worse too...I know that first hand! Now, as I look at this picture I think who does he look like?!? We get asked that a lot and my answer is...MAX! :)

I made Gracie's day when I gave her a pile of expired coupons and let her "clip coupons" with mommy. That's my girl! :)

Grace turns 3!....and Halloween

Our sweet Gracie turned 3! Again, I am just shocked at where the time goes! Why do the days feel so long, yet the years just fly on by?!? Grace had a wonderful birthday. We had a minor set back when her brother Tyler starting throwing up Saturday night. My brother was staying with us that night and I was so appreciative that they didn't pack up and leave! :) They stuck it out with us like troopers. Sunday morning we called everyone to warn them about our germy house and most people decided not to attend her party. We still however had a decent sized group and Grace didn't even seem to notice the missing guests. Tyler felt better by Sunday and it ended up being a great day. How many times do we have to say "never a dull moment around here!".
On Thursday, Grace's actual birthday we didn't do much. I made her a special breakfast and took her out to lunch then we carved pumpkins that night. As I was putting her to bed that night she asked me if it was her birthday. I told her yes. She asked, "right now? it's my birthday?" Again, i said yes. She sadly looked at me and said, "you didn't make me a cake!". I was heartbroken. We had a huge party planned for Sunday so I hadn't done much on her actual birthday. LUCKILY I am positive we made up for it on Sunday. Clearly, in her mind having a birthday means CAKE. So CAKE we had!



Grace sporting her princess crown...she later turned it upside down to use as a visor...that's our practical girl! :)

This picture says it ALL. Her (and mine) favorite part of the day. She LOVED being sang to! It was seriously just priceless watching her reaction to this.

BLOW!

Another adorable cake by our fabulous cake baker.

Turning 3 is just plain fun!

Tyler sporing HIS princess crown.


After the party we all costumed up and went trick or treating. It was very fun.

Batman, Optimus Prime, Ballerina

Grace the ballerina...the most adorable tutu in the world thank you Jones family!
Max the coug football player. My plan B outfit. He was going to be Tigger because we have an adorable Tigger sleeper in his size but as I went to zip him in it, the zipper broke. Not all things last through multiple kids! :)

our trick or treat group.

At 3 years old Grace is 34 lbs and 38 inches tall. She is spunky and runs every where she goes. She talks a lot, I mean non stop all day long. She is full of questions. You can not read a book to her without 50 questions during it. She is very independent for her age. She has been potty trained for about a year. She completely dresses herself including shoes and socks. She even buckles and unbuckles her own car seat. If she can't reach soemthing she pushes up a chair climbs on it and gets it.You get the picture, bascially if she can do it herself, she does. She is very funny. Daily I have things that I could write down that she has said that made me chuckle. Last night I told her how much I liked her jammies and that I wished I had a pair. She looked at me and said "if you were a girl you could have some!". :) That same night she was telling Justin how she rode her bike that day. He asked her if she wants a new bike for Christmas and she said "when I turn boy I will get a new bike". yikes! :) My "friend" :) got her a harmonica for her birthday and that is all I have heard the past few days, except for the quiet moments when I hide the darn thing. I have to admit she is adorable when she plays it, she does a little hippy shake shake! She still is terrible at going to bed. I know the reason, it's all our fault. She is too cute and funny and we tend to laugh when she comes out of her room doing funny things. I suppose one could stress about it, instead we are just trying to enjoy it...she is already 3! Thank you God for our sweet Gracie Girl, we are truly blessed! :)

Halloween Stuff

Spiderman at his school halloween party

our ballerina at Tyler's school halloween party

batman at his school halloween party

i was in charge of the snack table but can't take credit for the idea. its supposed to be a vampire mouth...apples, peanut butter and cut up marshmallows for fangs...we figured a little better than more CANDY! :)

another mother made and brought these...pretty cool eh?

Adam's pumpkin he carved mostly himself...scooby doo

Grace helped a little with hers. turned out so cute

Tyler helped me quite a lot with his...a scardy cat...will look very cool all lit up I am sure

the haunted house we made with aunt anna...okay aunt anna did most all of it! ;)

the puppets we made...thank you aunt anna



and a few misc pictures of us all just hanging out! :)