Thursday, December 30, 2010

Christmas 2010






 


We had a great Christmas this year. The girls had fun opening their presents and playing with their toys.  We were able to visit my family and Nick's family and eat all day long!  The only downfall was when all the presents were dropped of at our house and the real work of putting everything away began. We are very fortunate to have generous families that give us and our kids so much! We are totally spoiled!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Like Father, Like Daughter





Ha Ha Ha! These pictures make me laugh! They are real and not photographed "fake sleeping". Every time I took the picture they were totally asleep.  You see, my kids like to read a book by themselves after we read a book to them. The rule is: you read one book (or one chapter in Emma's case) and then throw the book on the floor. So we hear "thuds" a few minutes after we put them to bed.  One night I could not figure out why Brielle was still reading because she had been up for an extra half hour. Finally, after checking a couple times through the door crack, I walked into her room to find the "Frosty the Snowman" book propped up so I couldn't tell that she was totally asleep! It was so cute! The next week, I found Nick asleep with his book propped up, too! Then, Brielle wanted to sleep in the dollar hat that Emma gave her for Christmas so I saw another fun picture opportunity.  And the most recent time we found Brielle asleep after reading, the book was completely resting on her face! I love sleeping pictures!

Monday, December 20, 2010

December Dash

















December is crazy! This year especially because I had a brother get married and another brother leave on a mission the month of December as well! Nick got hit with a sinus infection/TMJ combo right after his birthday that kept him down for about 2 weeks. I also got called to be the Primary President the first week of December (when Nick was sick so it felt a little like deja vu). This month we also had 5 family birthdays, a school-sing-a-long and we did the 12 Days of Christmas for someone. It was insane but with some good memories!

December Extras






In addition to the crazy month of December, we added a wedding and a mission farewell into the mix. Before Christmas, my middle brother (Connor) got married. It was a busy day with the sealing in Bountiful and the luncheon/reception in Brigham City. It was fun to have everyone together though. Then, the day after Christmas my youngest brother (Caleb) had his mission farewell. The following week he was set apart and off to the MTC. His mission call is for the Mexico City, Mexico mission, but Visa's are taking a little longer right now, so we will see how soon he gets there.  My girls (and I) miss him so much. He is a great brother and an awesome uncle. But we know he will do a fabulous job on his mission as well.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Burnt Offerings


My poor children. When Nick works at night (which is only once a week), my kids are used to less than gourmet cooking. For at least 6 weeks in a row we dined on chocolate chip pancakes (at least the pancakes were wheat, I tell myself) and then Emma burned out on that meal! (imagine that) Lately, we have switched it up a little by rotating between spaghetti, pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Tonight it was grilled cheese sandwiches. It seemed to be taking awhile to heat up the griddle, so I ran to the bathroom for a minute. When I came back the tomato soup had boiled over and the girls' sandwiches were black! So, I got everything out again and started on round two. When I called the girls for dinner I presented them with the burnt ones first--just to test their reaction. Emma looked at them for a minute and then looked at me and said, "Mom, these are burnt." (uh, yeah) So I said, "I know....I'm sorry. They burned when I ran to the bathroom!" So, Emma took her plate to the table and as Brielle joined her she said, "Brielle, Mom burned the grilled cheese sandwiches when she went to the bathroom." I waited for more reaction.....I waited for the refusal to eat dinner (which happens when I don't burn dinner).....I waited for demands of a new dinner.......nothing! I was biting my cheek to hold back from laughing. Emma just started dipping her sandwich in her soup. Then she commented, "Brielle, it's pretty soft if you dip them in soup and you can't even tell it's burnt!" Brielle starts biting into hers and while I'm watching her she says, "I can't really taste the burnt....just a little bit." (really? because they're totally black!) So, being the mean mom I am, I watch them take another bite or two before I realize that they are going to eat their whole burnt offering unless I stop them! So, I grab the second-round sandwiches and tell them that I made them new ones when I burned the first ones. The charred sandwiches quickly end up in the garbage as we laugh about it. And then I start to wonder--- do I really have the best kids or is my cooking regularly this bad? Maybe it's a combo of both!

Dinosaur Park 2010



Last month I got to go with Brielle on her preschool field trip to the Dinosaur Park.  First they started off learning about dinosaurs in the education room and coloring their own stegosaurus (I think). Then, they could explore the rest of the park. It's funny how the kids mostly wanted to play on the playground toys, but eventually we got them to wander around and look at the dinosaurs! Right before we left we went inside the museum to explore the dinosaur bones and they were all mesmerized by the animated T-Rex who was roaring at the Mama Triceratops! You could see their imaginations running wild! 

Happy Houses




I'm so grateful for grandma's who have the patience and time to be creative! A couple weeks ago, my mom invited the girls over to decorate Haunted Houses (it didn't matter that it was 2 weeks past Halloween)! They made a huge mess of orange and black frosting, but they had a great time and snacked on their houses for the next few days. My mom also had some big boxes that they made into houses and decorated the outside and inside. They had brick, flowers, grass, clouds, and birds on their houses. They were so cute and the girls were very proud of the homes that they made. I love it when they are entertained with simple things!