Sleeping under Mr. Willowby

The three oldest kids got to sleep under Mr. Willowby on Friday night.  Ben and I didn't.  We had a lot to do and by the time we were done, the kids were fast asleep - so we figured it didn't matter to them if we slept there or not.  Truthfully, I had never planned to sleep on the floor - the couch, perhaps . . .  They had fun though under the magical glow of lights.

Ben's Birthday - or rather Birthnight - or rather Bornnight

So Ben's birthday, of course seeing as it was on a Thursday, was spent at work.  Right up until dinnertime.  (He's had another week of having 40-hours, give or take, by Thursday evening.  Blah.)  But when he called and said he was heading home, I told the kids and about 10 minutes later we went out on the porch to watch him ride up.

 Don't ask what they were wearing.  But it was freezing (maybe in the teens at this point - warmer than our -2 this morning).

 The boys were the "look-outs."  Although I'm pretty sure I was the one who shouted, "There he is!  He's coming!"  I get excited, too, when he comes home!

 Yes, it is now a tradition - 2 years running.  Decorating Ben's bike.  I took all the kids after school and we got some balloons.  We then went to his work and tied them on.  Luckily for Ben it was pretty cold in the shade and so balloons were all we did . . .

 I had my flash, but I guess the snow confused it or something since none of my pictures really worked out.  Oh well.  He's a good sport.

After dinner - his choice:  Bean and Ham and More Soup (which he loved) - we had cake.  Or Apple Pudding Pie.  Or Apple Custard Pie.  I can't remember what it was called.  It was pretty much delicious.  Make a wish . . .

Then, well after a few phone calls (the visiting kind, not the bishopric kind. . .:), we started decorating our gingerbread houses.  This was Lucy's first year and she was really good and pretty serious about it all.  I would put some frosting on and then she would place the candies.  She did great.

 Hard and studiously at work.

 All done - what cuties:  Lucy and her 1st gingerbread house!

 Emmy did pretty great, too.  She had an idea, then would ask me to squirt out the frosting, then would go at it.  I love her's since she "designed" it all by herself.

 Miles, miles, miles.  At first his house irked me.  Probably because I am a bad mom and all I could see was Miles' hoarding/greediness tendencies.  But, ya know, Miles is extremely creative and festive and so I need to focus more on that.  :)  We'll dedicate his house to Grandma Dee and Diana (both love gum drops . . .).  Nice work Miles!

 And Jonas.  I think those are marshmallow missile-launchers on the side.  Awesome.  He's cute and had fun, too.  Thataboy.

 Here they all are - L-R, oldest to youngest.  And we finally have a decent place to display them!  We usually have our nativity set here but were able to put it elsewhere this year.  So I was happy tonight when I realized we'd be able to showcase them here.  :)

Not only do I love this handsome man a lot, so do all the kiddos surrounding him.  We are lucky people to have him.

Happy Birthday

Technically it should be "Happy Bornday."  To his lovely mother, we should tell her, "Happy Birthday."  That's how Ben and I feel about it.  :)

Anyways, I really love this man.  A lot.

Happy Day, Ben!

It's about time

Santa Claus Came to Town!

We have this super sweet set-up for Santa in our town.  It's a cute little cabin that is all homey and nice inside.  It even comes with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  You can't beat that!

 Lucy's first picture with Santa!  Yes, she got a little nervous, but Mrs. Claus told her to sit on her and so I plopped her down and she was okay.  When asked what she wanted, she told Santa, "A sleeping bag and a dolly."  Santa knew exactly what she had said and was quite impressed.  :)

The whole gang.  So super cute.  I love it.

Jonas' 7th Birthday

We "lucked" out and were able to have Ben home on Friday morning for Jonas' birthday (he had already put in 43 hours by Thursday night).  I don't have a "classic" picture of birthday kid walking through his/her crepe paper door because Lucy or Emmy or someone ripped it down "accidentally" before I had the chance.  And by the time it was put back up, I had forgotten to get the picture.  Oh well.

 Here is Jonas opening his one present in the morning - a very cool Star Wars Yoda watch.  Yay!  He loved it.

 Jonas sitting in his birthday chair with his special birthday cereal.  Yum.

 Jonas showing off his new watch and the cool star wars snowflakes on the widow.  Cool, huh?

 Here are the girls "helping" me make the cake.

 The boys can earn a coupon for a free personal pan pizza for every month that they read every day.  Both boys had gotten their 2nd coupon and we decided to go out on Jonas' birthday.  It was fun - though Jonas gulped down his root beer (his "special treat") so fast that he was freezing for the rest of the time.  He also chomped down his pizza pretty quickly and then he felt sick.  Ha.  He ended up having a good day at school - it was the December birthdays celebration in his class that day and so that was extra fun.  He had asked me to make some carrot/spinach puree brownies (since the school requires only "healthy" snacks - blah) from a cookbook he had looked through.  As soon as he walked through the door from school he declared, "No one liked your brownies mom!"  Hahahaha.  No duh.

We then opened presents.  He got a lot of fun and great things and spent a lot of time with a bunch of his toys.  He really liked the big Star Wars lego set he got and spent most of his time working on that.  We had dinner and then started watching Spy Kids.  Half-way through we had an intermission and had cake.  Too bad Jonas didn't feel like eating it then - perhaps it was the huge chunk of "sugar bread" (as Jonas called it and was given to him by an "older" friend) and spaghetti and meatballs he ate for dinner. . . (He did eat his piece of cake before bed.).

His cake was the Millenium Falcon, from Star Wars of course.  Awesome.

After cake we finished the movie and then the boys played for a bit and then slept downstairs in the playroom in their sleeping bags.  A fun night and a fun way to end a special day for a special boy.

Happy Birthday Jonas

Dear Jonas,

I will most likely (hopefully!) come back later and write you a real, decent letter.  But, sadly, I'm so tired.  So, so, so tired.  It's been a long week for me (and your dad).  But don't think I've forgotten you, because I most certainly haven't.  You and your birthday have been on my mind for a while.  I hope you like your gifts and all the little special things we'll do to make it your special day.

You are really a fantastic kid.  There is only one big fault you have - that of whining.  In fact tonight Miles came up with a great nickname for ya :  Monas.  Like moan-as.  I thought it was pretty clever.  (But, I can't blame you for whining so much - your big brother has pestered you since you started becoming more than just a lump.)

With only one big fault, I would say you're pretty awesome.  Even with all of Miles' pestering, you still are best buddies with him.  And best enemies. . .  Every day (yes, I'm pretty sure I'm not exaggerating) you come crying to me about something that Miles has done.  And every day I tell you "Then don't play with him."  And every day you go back and play with him.  I wish you wouldn't, but you do like your brother and I guess I shouldn't complain too much about that.

Truly, though, you can play with pretty much anybody.  Any age.  Young girls, old girls, and any boys.  You're adorably sweet with little girls.  You always want to have your best-friend Jake over.  Every Wednesday we have 2 boys (brothers) walk home with you guys and you love that (and Jake usually ends up coming over, too - double perfect for you!).

Okay, well that's not much nor much of an ending.  But I'm looking at about 6 hours of sleep again already, so I better call it a night.

I love you.  I'm thankful to have you in our family.  You're a blessing to us all.  (Unless you're whining. . .)

Happy birthday,
mom

The Little Things

Sometimes it's just the little, insignificant things that make me smile.  Like this Christmas decor I finally got finished and put up:

I got the pictures for free last year from some blog, I think.  I can't quite remember.  But I love them so!  We didn't have any frames for them nor a place for them (my husband is anti-nailing-in-things right now).  But lo and behold I found these frames at Salvation Army for $4 (for all of them).  Yay.  And this was the perfect spot - we already have pictures that hang there year-round, so no new holes!  I smile every time I walk by.  And sometimes I just walk by for no other reason than to smile.

Dear Santa, from Lucy

I was reading "Curious George and the Toy Store" to the girls.  Emmy had to go and wipe her nose or something and so there was a break in my reading.  We had stopped at a page where George is inside the toy store and so I asked Lucy, "Do you want Santa to bring you a toy?"  Lucy:  "Yes!"  then "A doll. . . (in a whisper) for Christmas."  "Oh," I said, "a pretty doll?"  Lucy:  "A big doll.  With boobs."

Good luck Santa.  :)

The Nativity

Our family was asked to do the nativity for our ward's Christmas party.  So for FHE this past Monday we went to the church, ate pizza, and practiced.  We practiced like 1/2 a dozen times - which seemed like a ton!  Then we got to "perform" it on Friday night.  It went pretty well.  I had the easiest part (although I did write the screenplay and came up with most of it. . .) and still messed up a bit.  Lucy, who had done her part perfectly (and by that I mean waiting to come out when I said, "and, lo, the star") at every practice, must had been to excited and didn't wait for her grand entrance.  Oh well.  The camera didn't focus when it should have, either.  But overall it was fun and people really enjoyed it.  So I share this mainly for our family (especially grandparents!) to watch.