Christmas 2015

Here we go . . .

 Our only picture from Christmas Eve.  The kids were opening their homemade sibling gifts.  Miles made Emmy an earring holder.  Cool.

Then on to Christmas!  The kids were like up on and off the entire night.  Supposedly they were up at 3am and just sat and waited and read books until 5 - when they came in to ask if they can go down early (normal set time is 6:30.)  We said sure - at 6.  They came in a few times more, than it was finally 6 - or close to it.  Let the Christmas crazy begin!

 We gave Lucy's baby-blanket doll (that she had gotten when she was a baby) away a while ago.  She was saddened by it and asked Santa to bring her a new one.  He pulled through!

 Emmy and Lucy both got American Dolls.  Apparently Santa had them mixed up - Emmy was given the one with longer hair and Lucy with shorter.  The girls decided to trade.  (I guess it didn't matter that Emmy now had the blonde one and Lucy the "caramel" one . . .)  They were fine with it and so I was, too.

 Miles showing the camera his Coca-cola lego piece.

 Jonas checking out what Santa brought him - lots of stocking stuffers, plus lazer-tag guns (just like Miles).  Cool.

 The girls had a great time playing with their dolls, dressing them, and styling them at the local Salon.

 The kids all in their paper crowns - part of their Christmas-firecracker gifts from Aunt Renee and family.  Fun, fun!

 Hairstylist Emmy.

 Since we had a true White Christmas, Ben and I had to get out to enjoy it!  It started snowing on Christmas Eve and snowed until mid-day Christmas.  I think we got around 7-8 inches.  So fun!  We had a fun walk with Brigham.

 He loves the snow!

 Snow cute.

 Sorry, I'll end up with more Brigham pictures than the rest of my kids . . . But he was so funny.  He just kept digging his head under the snow!

 Okay, last one.  Check out those snowballs on his legs!

 Jonas got THIS GAME today.  And we played it.  And it was hilarious.  I truly don't think I've laughed that hard in a really, really long time.  I'm not sure what flavor Ben was eating this time . . . ?

 Emmy also got a sewing machine (I'll get to borrow it . . . :).  We learned about the machine and how to thread the bobbin, wind it, wind the other thread, etc.  Then she practiced on a piece of paper - with pivoting the needle.  She loved it.  Then she sewed some other random things with some fabric she had gotten.  Cute, cute.

 The kids played out for a little bit.  Snowy, snow!

 Then the girls passed out on their beds around 4pm.  Cute, cute.

 Miles spent his whole Christmas a little sick (stomach bug?  Nothing coming out of him, but not much of an appetite) and building his lego set - the Palace Cinema.  It's super cool!  It has over 2,000 parts and was for "experts."  Apparently Miles is an expert.

 You take off each level and there is more inside.  The first level has the ticket windows, concessions, etc.  The next floor is the theater and has some super cute theater seats with the screen of a black and white movie.  A reel projector as well.  There are two sets of fancy stairs.  The top is the roof, with an access door.  It's just cool.  Oh, and the limo is pretty styling as well.

Can you see that something on Miles' head?  I saw THESE online and got them for Ben.  Ha, they are hilarious.  But wonderful, too.  Kids kept using them all day long.  They were a goofy hit.  :)

Ben spoiled me with a new wheat-grinder, a super-duper immersion blender, and an awesome shirt.  I got Ben a bunch of little things, plus his "big" gift of a coat.  Well the other night he came back from clothes shopping - and he had gotten himself a coat.  So I had to tell him what I had gotten him.  Then he stewed for the next couple of days trying to figure out which coat he wanted . . . he couldn't make up his mind.  Just tonight, he decided on the coat I had gotten him.  :)

Anyways, we finished the day watching Elf.

It was another grand and blessed Christmas and I think the kids loved it.

Merry Christmas!

They Slept Under the Tree . . .

Brigham "graduates;" Lucy pukes

So Brigham's last puppy class, and his graduation, was on Monday.  I had missed the week before because it was Jonas' birthday so I didn't have a chance for a "run-through" for the "final exam."  But Brigham and I managed okay.

Brigham was super thrown-off by having his whole family there.  It's only been me taking him every week, so to have everyone there was super distracting for him.  We had to each go - one at a time (well one owner and one dog at a time) - and do various exercises.  Heel, figure 8, stand, and recall - I think that was about it.  Then we all came out to the floor for the long-sit and long-down test - we have to walk away from our dogs and they were to sit for 1-minute and then lie down for 3 minutes.  Brigham, as well as most of the other dogs, aced it.

Then we waited while the teachers tallied the points to award the winners.

And while we were waiting, Lucy went and puked all over the floor.  Awesome.  Not.  I hadn't felt good all day long - really nauseous, not eating, stomachache, etc.  Lucy started complaining of her throat hurting, but that was really it.  Until she barfed.  Some other nice lady helped me clean and mop up the area.  Lucy and Ben went out to the car while we waited for the award presentation.

Somehow we got 2nd place.  Probably because there were only 5 in attendance for the final.  But whatever, it sure made the kids proud of Brigham.  :)

Lucy puked some more at home, once during the night, a few times today.  But is doing better. I had a rough night but am doing a little better as well.  I had to make a popsicle run to the store today.  Lucy couldn't remember what popsicles were.  So cute.

Anyways, 'tis the season, right?  Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-ralph.

Ben Turns 40!

Well it was kind of a typical Sunday - even though it was the big 4-0 for Ben.  (But we are renting an ice rink for a couple of hours on Saturday in Littleton for family and friends - that's his "big" gift.  It should be fun!)

Ben was gone all day until 5pm - he even had to speak at sacrament meeting.  What a present.  He did great, of course.

Actually, he got home "early," at like 4:45.  Then we had dinner, pie, he opened his awesome CD gifts (2 Christmas albums - one of John Denver and the other of the Carpenters), then the gingerbread decorating began!  Fun, fun.

Ben has been really wanting to watch Fiddler on the Roof and so we ended the night by watching an hour of it (it was late and the movie is 3 hours long . . .).

Emmy wanted to take some nice pictures of the kids for her dad.  Here are a few:

 Cute Lucy.

 Cute Emmy.

 Strange boys.  (Don't ask, because I don't know!)

 Ben's birthday pie.

 Jonas and his nice gingerbread house - he had some good order to it!

 Emmy and her "love" gingerbread house.  I think she said it was her's and Dillon's house.  Dillon is her crush.  Oh my.

 Lucy and her all-done-by-herself house.  So cute.

 Miles and his loaded house.  He always goes crazy.

 There they all are!  I love them!

It is a little blurry, yes, but I think Ben's house was definitely the best.  I love it!

Pictures we found on the camera . . .

Jonas turns 10!

 Jonas opened up the traditional "morning birthday-gift."  He opened the "Complete 8-film collection of Harry Potter."  He was pretty excited once he figured out what it was.  Each time the boys finish reading (or listening to) a book of HP, they get to watch the movie.  They finished listening to book #5 about a month ago and Jonas has been begging every week to watch it.  I found this super-deal DVD collection on Cyber-Monday and snagged it up.  It was a fun way to start his birthday, I think!

I took him and his best-friend Ivan out to lunch.  I forgot my camera.  :(  But the boys were cute and both ordered BLTs.  Lucy came along, of course.

After school I let Jonas play on his tablet for 20 minutes - and he was thrilled.

 His dinner choice:  spaghetti and meatballs.  We called this "Elf spaghetti."  Or we could have called it "Christmas spaghetti," too, of course.  Yum, yum.

 Jonas danced the jig as he got ready to open his gifts . . .

 He got cash from both his grandparents and I decided to give it to him this way - I thought it was a fun presentation.  He was thrilled with the cash!  :)

 We can't have gift-giving to the boys without Lego products . . .

After dinner and present-opening, we began watching movies.  The boys started watching HP and the girls watched Thumbelina.

Then we took a break for cake and ice-cream:

 Jonas and his volcano-cake - so super cool.  It wasn't coming out the top liked we hoped and so Ben drilled (yes, drilled) a few more holes . . .

 and it worked a little better.  It was a simple cake to make and it didn't have to look "pretty" or nice 'n neat.  So that was pretty great.

 Jonas really got in to the "Happy birthday" song!  Crazy kid.

 Make a wish!

 This is how my crazies roll.

We finished the night by finishing HP.

What a fun day to celebrate a fun boy!

Dearest Jonas,

Happy birthday Jonas!  You are 10 - double-digits.  Wahoo.

You've had a year of ups and downs - like most everyone.  Some good and some bad.  You continue to whine at the drop of a hat - or the drop of a "no" is more like it.  You tend to lie as well.  But other than that (!), you're a pretty great kid!  Hopefully you'll grow out of those two less-favorable traits, right?!

It's been a rough past couple of months in our home - lots of crazy and, I'll just say it, horribleness.  A lot from the kids, some from me.  But you've had yourself some shining moments.

The other night Emmy "ran away."  She had previously made plans to head to Mexico or Texas and so we knew this was serious (haha).  You boys (meaning you and your brother) went out and dragged her back home.  It was splendid.  Then, all on your own, you made a little card for Emmy that said, "We *heart* U."  You had all of us sign it.  Then you made Emmy some coupons:  clean your home, do your chore, free hug.  Pretty dang cute of you, huh, Jonas!?  It was super-duper sweet and Emmy loved it and it is hanging in her room.  I loved this - and so hope I can see this type of stuff more often.  Hint, hint.

You helped me make dinner tonite - after I had asked your brother (so as to keep him away from making all the siblings cry every second) and he rudely told me "No!  I'm not going to!"  You came in and asked if you could help.  It was awesome and I really appreciated it.

You are aware of others and their feelings - as these stories demonstrate.  You care about relationships and friendships.  Those qualities are going to serve you well.

Oh, I better put this down so we have proof:  you sang Christmas hymns tonite!  We went to a Christmas fireside and lots of the songs we were to come in on the last verse or so and join in - and you sang each song.  It was truly a Christmas miracle.  :)

You had a great finish to your 3rd grade year.  You "officially" got in to the honors program (you were a part of it, but not officially as some of your testing scores didn't "qualify" you for it technically.  But you qualified on the math part at the end of last year and so now it's "official.")  You are quick at math and win the "math krypto" pretty much every single time at Quest (it happens once each week).  This is good leverage as you sometimes will put yourself down and say "I'm the dumbest and worse kid ever!"  (What you say when you've been caught either lying or just doing something wrong. . .)  Then I say, "Then how come you win krypto every time against all the other math whizzes?!"

I just asked you dad what I should write down.  He said something like, "He's generally a happy kid.  He likes to talk like a baby.  He likes jokes."  Those are all true indeed.  Your baby-talk is, ummm, really annoying.  Just save it for when you're playing with Ivan or something, please!  You like to laugh and sometimes try to make up jokes.  Most aren't so great (unless you are a 10-year old boy, I suppose), but you did come up with one once that goes something like this:  "Why did the lip blow up?  Because he put lip-bomb on it."  Get it, like lip-balm.  Haha.

You're a good kid Jonas and we don't have too much trouble with you.  We love you and are super happy that you are a part of our crazy family.  I hope your 10th year is wonderful!!!

I love you,
mom

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

I think I do a post like this every year with probably the same things.  But whatevs.

 Our lovely "wild" Christmas tree.

 Our nativity with the cool star.

 The best stockings in the world (ahem, sis, the kids have all requested one for Brigham . . . just sayin').

 I love these prints.  I won them years ago on a blog or something.  I found the frames at Salvation Army.  They make me happy.

 Our newest treasure - which is a treasure, indeed!  This is from Germany - my parents gave it to us as our Christmas present.  Luckily they told me we can open it early.  :)  I love it so much.

 Eljin, our elf, is back.  He isn't tricky like the Elf on the Shelf - but does move every night.  Except, ahem, the night I was gone, ahem, in Moab.

Our awesome advent made by my sister - am I lucky or what?!

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .