Our Girls

When I was young, my mom surprised me and my sister with life size dolls for Christmas. We loved our dolls...especially me. My doll was just my size. Not only did I always have a friend to play with, but I could dress her up and dance with her. My perfect doll had elastic on the bottom of her feet, so I could slip my feet under hers and waltz to my heart's content. Everyone was blissfully happy until the day my little sister decided to decorate her doll's face with marker. The next thing I know, both dolls are being thrown away. Why both dolls, you might ask? Well, if I remember correctly, my mom wanted to be fair. The horror, I know. This is the distressing memory I have carried around with me since childhood.

Well, my mom decided to make the life size dolls again. A true labor of love. This time they were for our daughters. Oh, the joy! I was thrilled for E. My sister and I wanted to have coordinating pjs on the dolls, but someone didn't bring pjs for their doll and then we ended up giving them to the girls early. But regardless, they were still excited and so now my childhood lives on...with a happy doll ending.

The girls love to play dress up. Here they are dancing at the Ball. You know, THE Ball from Cinderella.

So cute.

E's hanging out with the women folk, learning how to make Fat Noodles. It's a favorite tradition in our family, especially with me. I've always loved this meal and when we added people to the family...men folk...I gained some competition. Thank goodness we make enough each year for several helpings.

They always have a great time together.

Gifts of Merriment

A great big THANK YOU goes out to L and the Q family for sending lots of love and merriment our way. The kids loved the gifts you sent. The excitement just can't be contained when packages arrive at the door! With gifts aside, the shipping boxes and packing peanuts supply hours of entertainment.

Shouting hooray.

Adoooorable jacket. Sorry, no smile. He's still pouting from an earlier altercation.
With toothpaste in both hands (from stockings), he smiled for the picture. He loves his jacket too.

Doll and ballerina sticker book...too cute. She begs to do a page a day. We had to limit her fun or else it would have been finished within about 7 minutes. I'm happy to say that we are still having fun dressing dolls and ballerinas.

Several times she has asked to go camping with Daddy and the scouts. She's now excited to camp with her happy family and roast marshmallows "just like the bonfire at Pa's."

Don't you love the jaw drop?

Drinks out of her thermos almost daily.

She likes her sweater. "Oooo, I like the purple and green" she said.

The boys love the cars that make noise, music, and have flashing lights. We were all bobbing to Funky Town throughout Christmas day. The cars are loved so much that they too must have a limit for play time....and it is enforced.

Thank you so much for being so generous. You guys are very thoughtful and we greatly appreciate everything you do for us and the kids. Now they are warm inside cute jackets and all have their own merriment sent from afar. Thanks. You're awesome!

T'was The Night of Attempts

Daddy attempted to read a version of T'was The Night Before Christmas to the kids. The boys didn't last more than a few pages. I tried not to laugh while filming, but it was too funny. I still laugh when I see this clip. It didn't phase E, she just moved right on over to enjoy the story.

Anyone Up For a Stocking Photo?

We tried to get a picture of the kids under the stockings. We tried.

Turn around W.

He takes off.

He takes off again.

Mommy held W as we watched O decide to run for it.

O takes off again.

Stay people! Just sit down and smile.

E takes off. Drats!

And yes, my friends, that is a blue and black Mexican blanket adorning our fireplace. Not only does it cover the sub-zero metamorphic rock called slate, but it also protects my kids from head wounds, body bruises, cut toes, or broken toys when thrown down to the ground. Works like a charm.

Photo Attempt With New Pj's

E was so excited to get new Pj's on Christmas Eve. What added to her excitement was the fact that they were "sleepers" or footie pj's just like the boys. A picture was needed for the event.

Ok. Everyone sit in the chair.

Hold still W. (E tries to restrain him.)

Smile! Cute W. Siblings in the back...why are you looking over there?

Boys are done. W goes feet first, O head first off the chair.

Thrown back in for another attempt. W is on his way out again.

Thrown back in and laughter ensues.

Last attempt to keep them in the chair.

That's it folks. They all took off running.

Sing Louder

We went caroling at a retirement community with a few family members shortly before Christmas. I didn't plan on singing much because of a couple different reasons, but I quickly realized that I had to sing and pretend to enjoy it.

We chose this facility because it is where A's Grandfather lived before he passed away. Those who live there were thrilled to see us and thoroughly enjoyed our impromptu performance. They sat in the hallways and opened their doors, ready to greet us and sing along. They also loved to see the kids!

It was a neat experience and there are plans to do it again next year. I think we would all agree that it was special to see a sparkle in the eyes of the elderly as we sang.

The gang laughed out loud as they watch their cousin smash blocks of snow on his head.

Still full of giggles, we took pictures of the kids while driving home.

Because of this event, O can now hum Jingle Bells.
Oh, and I'll probably brush up on the lyrics of some songs because we sang multiple verses with no words in front of us. Eek. And maybe next year we'll have all the song titles in mind beforehand, instead of throwing one out there like O Holy Night. What was that? A miracle, I tell you. It was a miracle we got through that song. Good times.

Our Advent

There are so many advents out there and it's hard to choose which kind I want for the family. Every year I search the Internet trying to find one I really have to have. It's hard to narrow it down. Some day I would really like to sew one...or paint one.

Time was running out this year and I didn't have time to sew or paint an advent, but I did see this one all over the Internet and it screamed simple.

I used a mini muffin tin and covered each hole with holiday themed paper. I put little magnets on the back of the paper and hung the advent with a ribbon.

A decided to be in charge of the advent this year and he planned it out beautifully. Each morning (behind coordinating number) he had a slip of paper for us to unfold. On each slip, he wrote out clues as to where E and I should find a family photo from the year. He also had clues to help us figure out which picture it was.

It was a lot of fun to do together and E liked recalling the events in each picture (birthdays, the beach, Utah, the bonfire). I don't know how long we'll use this advent or if we'll do pictures next year, but we could do other slips of paper with Christmas activities to do as a family (service, gingerbread house, make cookies, sing carols, decorate tree, set up nativity, read Christmas stories, watch Christmas movie, etc).
Thanks Daddy!

Helping

December is always a rushed month because we're trying to get so many things done in a short amount of time. I had a little help this year to enjoy the holidays.

E helped wrap presents for the ward Christmas party.

She also helped construct our first ever gingerbread house for the Christmas party. It was a centerpiece and it rocked.

Since it was a last minute decision, we only used what I could find in the pantry. It's a good thing we still had a few pieces of Halloween candy left! Not bad , eh?

She loves the Kitchen Aid already. Good girl.

Washing dishes is E's new love and it's a big help to mommy...although Daddy washed a few of those over again.

W helped by entertaining himself. Give him empty containers and he's good for awhile.

While Daddy read the nativity story, E helped our nativity characters get into place.

O was a big help by taking at least 2 minutes to relax. Well, maybe it was slightly longer than that because he was busy engineering this recliner by himself. Good boy.

He also took a few minutes to read with his sister. He was still...content...flipping pages...soo nice.

E wanted to make cards to give to family, so she helped paint them. They were made from toilet paper rolls. Easy and cute.

She also painted popsicle sticks for Grandma and I made them into frames.

Decorating the outside of the tp cards. I wish I took a picture of the final result. E was pleased and super excited to give them away.
Good helpers.