Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

little boy, BIG instrument

I think I mentioned to many of you how Ethan had the opportunity to play the organ in our church for the primary program.  (a yearly program the children of the ward put on)  While my mom was visiting, they did their run through and she took a little video of him playing.  I finally got a hold of a copy!  It's a bit blurry, but you can get the idea.  He looked so little up there!  Enjoy!

12

I just can't let the whole day slip by without saying Happy Anniversary to us!  It's been 12 great years!

Hee Haw, Hee Haw, Baby Jesus We Love You!

Chandler's little pre-school did the cutest program today.  They have been practicing for weeks and Chandler was thrilled to be cast in the part of the Donkey.  It was so nice to go to a Christmas program that actually acknowledged the reason that we have this season, and didn't just sing songs about Santa, as much as I love the big guy.  It was darling!  Thank you Noah's Place Pre-school!

Carol of the Bells

So proud of our little music man!

ham and jam

Aidan and I had a little exchange this afternoon about how he must make himself a ham or PB sandwich before he would be allowed to play Wii.

Mom:  Make yourself a PB or ham sandwich, I know you're old enough.

Aidan:  I don't want to.  Make it myself?????  are you serious?

Mom:  Yes.  You can do it.  Now do it.

Aidan proceeds to make a jam sandwich.  When he's digging into it, I notice there is no PB.  

Mom:  did you put PB on that?

Aidan:  No.

Mom:  Like I said earlier, if there is no protein on the sandwich you have to eat another one.

Aidan:  Fine!

He heads back to the kitchen to finish up.  When I turn around again, this is what I see. . .

Um. . .  

Well, at least he ate it.

Zat you Santy Clause?

We paid a little visit to a local "mall" (if you can call it that) yesterday.  Cedar Mills Crossing.  We were just looking for somewhere dry to let the children run around.  They have the tiniest play place in the world, but it suited our needs.  We were eating some lunch before play time and the kids spotted Santa at the end of the hall.  Emilee kept looking at him, waving, etc.  When all the kids were done sitting on his lap (this was an EMPTY mall) he came over to say hello to our kids.  They all enjoyed this quick little visit.  He was such a nice Santa!

 Santa had a magical way of telling if the kids had been naughty and nice.  He just tapped them on their nose with his index finger, and if there was a little squeak, that meant they were on the nice list!  Luckily, all of our kids passed the squeak test!

Thanks for the visit Santa, even though we weren't "paying customers."  As Santa said yesterday, "Santa always has time to visit with children."

Snoodle Returns!

It's December first!  Hurray!  Christmas is really coming, can you feel it?  We were feeling it this morning because Snoodle, our North Pole Elf is back for his annual visit.  He keeps an eye on things and gives the "big guy" the naughty and nice report every evening while we sleep.  The kids have been looking for him since the day after Thanksgiving, wondering when he would show up again. . .

 Aidan read the book to all the kids this morning before school.  Everyone was excited!

Can't wait to see where he pops up tomorrow morning!

the snow dance

Last Tuesday morning I noticed Ethan's PJ's were on inside out.  I asked him why and he said it was part of his snow dance!  The kids at his school have a little ritual when it's a possibility of a school closure due to snow.  They wear their PJ's inside out, sleep with a spoon under their pillow, and flush the toilet right before bed.  Guess what. . .

it worked!  No school. 

Good job kids!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

I had so much good help yesterday getting things ready for our big feast.  It was such a nice Thanksgiving!  Chandler helped with the turkey. . . 

 Aidan peeled potatoes

the boys were in charge of table setting

 After dinner we had a turkey trot. . .

 and a piggy-back competition

 and a pie eating contest!  (not really, but we might as well have!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

a pre-Thanksgiving Feast

 Chandler's had the cutest program and feast for all the little pilgrims and Indians!  They knew Emilee was coming and even made her a costume.  They loved it!  Especially Emilee, who ate like a pilgrim who had starved through the winter!!

 Here are our little Jasper and Constance Wilde.  Happy to be in the new world!

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!!!  Eat lots of pie!

lap warmer

I don't know what was up with Emilee last week, but she seemed to pass through this phase where she HAD to be attached to me at all times.  If we were both awake, she wanted me to be holding her, or to be sitting on my lap, no matter what my activity.  See seems to be moving on now.

If I walked out of a room, she'd yelp "Don't leave me!"  If I put her down, she would pull her legs up so I couldn't set her down easily, and then hold onto my leg like a koala bear.  Wherever I wandered, she was right beside me.  "I want to go with you!"  I'm glad she seems a little more independent this week, as I am accomplishing lots more!  But I hope my little lap warmer comes to visit again from time to time for a snuggle!

keeping me humble

You know, if I hadn't known they were kidding, I just might have been offended.

Bon Appetit!

CRASH!

I'm sure this post isn't going to be as exciting as you are thinking it may be with a title like "crash!" I'm not talking about anything crashing except Chandler crashing into bed!  This boy. . .

is such a hoot.  He goes 110 mph all day long.  And when it's time for bed, he literally crashes!  Last night, I was out at bed time, and when I came home Gordon and the boys had placed friendly bets on how long it would take Chan-man to fall asleep.  They decided they'd check after 3 minutes and sure enough, he was snoring!

Tonight I upped the anti a bit and placed a friendly bet on 75 seconds.  And guess what I saw and heard when I went back to check. . .  

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. . . .

I think this is pretty amazing since we put him to bed with Emilee in her crib right next to the bed, and she was still chatting with her dolls!

the wonderful wool

Do you love wool?  I do.  Except when it's scratchy on my neck.  But otherwise, I love it.  Recently, upon trying to dress Emilee for church, we discovered that she is getting mighty tall for many of her dresses.  And the ones that did fit were summery.  That same afternoon, I bumped into this beautiful piece of wool Grammy gave me a while back and thought, "it's time."  So, with no further adieu:  the wonderful wool jumper.  Designed on a scrap of paper bag and made with only geometry, and no pattern.  It's amazing what you can do with a little know-how.

 The skirt is a "circle skirt" so Emilee likes to fluff it out into a big circle!

 So cute!  And so fun!  And so warm and wooly!

Pumpkin Carving

We have had a really fun halloween with Gram in town.  Last monday for FHE we carved pumpkins.  It was a gooey good time!

Little Red and her Big Bad Brothers

My mom has this cookie jar:  

And while we were down in LA this summer, one look at this cookie jar replica of my daughter and I knew what Emilee should be for Halloween.  One episode of Max and Ruby featuring this story and the deal was sealed!  Here is our sweet little riding hood in her costume, enjoying herself thoroughly!!!

 Watch out for the big bad wolf!

 You've never seen a child so happy to prance around the neighborhood in character.  So sweet!

We also had Captain Hook back again this year, I'm always glad for a costume repeat!

 And R2D2 and a knight, who was kind of in a costume.  They had a great time!  We told Ethan he had to retire R2 next year and find a new suit.  3 years in a row and it's starting to look a little bit raggity!  (not to mention he's a foot taller and the effect is not quite the same!)

 Happy Halloween Everyone!  I hope you ate yourself silly on candy like we did!

Grammy!

Grammy came to town this week to celebrate Halloween with us!  One of the first things she did with the little ones is take them to McDonalds for happy meals!  The kids spent an hour decorating their new buckets with her and putting on the stickers.  It was lots of fun!

 Thanks Grammy!

My little Max

Did you know. . .

That Emilee calls me Ruby?

That she calls her Daddy "Mr. Huffington."  To the point of "Oh!  Mr. Huffington home from work!" every evening, and "Milky bottle please, Mr. Huffington!"  This might be because although he rolled his eyes the first time she cast him as Mr. H, he has encouraged it unceasingly ever since!

That she calls Ethan Rodger?

And Aidan Louise, much to his protests?

And Chandler Morris?

Did you know she is going to be "Little Red RUBY Hood" for Halloween, instead of "Little Red Riding Hood?"

And that if I even TRY to call her Emilee or Emmi, she says, "No!  Me MAX!"

Oh Max. . .

At least Max and Ruby love each other, because this one seems to be sticking!

peeking

I don't think I'll ever get tired of this nightly routine.

Stitched!

Last Friday night Aidan had a minor run in with a trash can at the park.  The result was a lot of blood, a deep cut,.and four stitches on his cheek.  He was a trooper and agreed to let me take them out so we wouldn't have to drive all the way back to Hillsboro where they were put in.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be!

Hurray for doctors who know how to sew!

Spontaneous Happiness

thrills my soul!

Nothing is better than when my kids come up with an activity on their own, that involves ALL FOUR, and then manage to see it through without argument.  Bliss!

Afternoon

Livin' it up on the Cul-de-sac, and loving the warm weather. . .

Harry Potter in the tree. . .

 can you spot them?

Did you know I'm totally a "soccer mom?"

Well, I am!  Because I have a super star soccer player.  His name is Aidan and I don't think anyone has ever enjoyed playing on a team more than he does.

 Aidan is a natural athlete, and I am so happy when I watch him playing soccer!

 We missed team pictures today due to some misguided directions, but did our own anyway, and I made up these little sheets for the other kids that also missed, as well as Aidan.  I think they turned out every bit as good as the ones that would have cost me 20 bucks.  I think we'll make this a tradition. . .