merry christmas

We hope your day is wonderful. Ours has been. The kids woke up around 8 {I'll enjoy this while it lasts} and Santa did come...even after many "threats" and worry that he wouldn't! I guess the kids were good afterall. ;-) I mean, they are pretty cute, they have to be good, right?

I hope that amid all of the Santa madness, however, that you remember the reason for this day. And the importance of our Savior's birth. And the importance of the greatest gift we have ever received, which is that of the Atonement. Something, that I am very grateful for, nothing else under the tree can compare.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!


{for those of you who never sent your address ;-), or who I just couldn't find an address for, or for those that I may not even know...}

The day we took our pictures, Macie had a fever of 102, Jacob was just getting over strep, and I wasn't feeling the greatest, but the picture turned out pretty good! I love the palm tree in the background. It gives a little California vibe. Not a bad picture taken from the back of our car on self time, eh? ;-)

Here's a few more that didn't make the cut:

suspicions

I heard the truth today. After telling the kids multiple times to clean up the living room and put away their playdough, Noah turned to me and said, "I like it better when Dad is with us. He doesn't makes us clean. We just watch Netflix and movies, and eat everything on the couch." I knew it! My suspicions were right.

christmas is almost here

Five days. That's it. Holy cow, I better get crackin! I had all these ideas for Christmas presents this year, and now it's only 5 days away, and I haven't done much with them. Crap. Oh well, I do it every year, I think 'Procrastination' should be my middle name! Can I use the "I've been sick" card?? It'll come, it'll be good, the kids will love it!

We do have Christmas decor up, however. Not the outside lights, though. {ahem...Adam? ;-)} Maybe it's 8 years of marriage that will be the lucky one to have outside Christmas lights? It's been fun having the Christmas stuff up, the kids love it. This year we have three trees. Yes, three. One in the "book room", or the room you first see when you walk in our house. Another in the TV room, and then the kids have one in their room. I had hoped that it would detract them from taking all of the breakable ornaments off the "good" tree, but so far we have had one casualty, I guess it didn't work so well. Our elf "came" back this year, too. Since we are ghetto, and didn't want to pay the money for the Elf on the Shelf book, we compromised, and just bought an elf. It serves the same purpose, and it works! It's kind of creepy, but isn't the whole idea of the Elf on the Shelf creepy anyway?;-) But, I think the novelty wore off this past week, they haven't been so good , and even the threat of elf watching them doesn't help!

I am excited for Christmas, I love this time of year, I do. I just don't like the stress that is involved! Most of the Christmas cards are out, you should be getting yours soon! Watch for it.

the big two.

Happy Birthday, Jacob Maxwell! I can't believe that it's already been two years since we first met him. But, yet, it seems like he's been here forever! I wouldn't trade him for anything! He's the best little guy. He always has a smile on his face {even while at the doctors, he'll even say thank you when he gets a throat swab!}. He always has us laughing. Always. He comes the most alive at night, however, when the other two are in bed, and then he starts spinning in circles, singing songs, everything he can do to keep himself awake, really! He just loves having time with Mom and Dad. He talks very well. He'll repeat any word you say, but says phrases, too, so we pretty much know what he wants usually. He repeats one scripture every night, and is pretty good at it, but his favorite thing to say is "And it came to pass". He says his nightly prayers by himself without any help...

"Father, Pease bless Papa. Pease. Grateful. happy, sleep well. Amen."

He loves his crocs. He has other shoes, but would much rather wear the crocs everywhere, and he puts them on himself {always on the right feet}, he used to wear them ALL of the time, but now it's just when we leave. He loves his Aunt Erin. They are best buds. He loves anything associated with a bike, it isn't uncommon to see him with a bike helmet on! He loves his sunglasses, and wants to wear them all of the time. He's pretty smart, he can figure something out pretty quick. {he loves ice, he's always asking for it. After watching me so many time get it from the fridge dispenser thing, he figured it out, and would do it all of the time, so we put the lock on. To get the lock off you just push it three times fast. He apparently watched me to it, and now knows how to unlock the fridge.} there is no stopping this kid! He love his Momo and Pa, and his Nana and Papa. He talks about all of them daily. He wiggles his eyebrows and sticks out his tongue--just like Papa. He has the best eye color ever, it's not blue, green, or brown, they are hazelish. He weighs 35 pounds, is 34 1/2 inches tall, wears a size 8.5 shoe, is in 3T clothes, and growing everyday. We love Jacob! I'm sure I could go on for days about all of the things of Jacob...he's great! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKEY BOY! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Here's to another year full of playing, laughing, kisses, and snuggling!

Star Wars Party

{I'm kinda slow in the posting of this. I guess I forgot about posting it. I'm not a very good blogger anymore. I'm going to start over! But, the party was too great to forget about.}

Noah has really been into Star Wars. He loves anything and everything Star Wars. Sadly, his pirate themed bedroom will shortly be transformed to Star Wars. The pirates seemed cuter {well, not the skeletons and cross bones, but the blanket}. I guess it just means he's getting older. I have been planning this party for a while. It's always been in the back of my mind. And, really, it wasn't a very expensive party either. I was proud of my money saving tactics! Here is what we came up with.

The invite:

The decor:

{it was pretty simple. but it totally worked. we also had a star wars tablecloth, but that isn't pictured for some reason.}

The Food:

{the decor was really all about the food.}

and we also had "saber dogs", there isn't a picture of them either. birthday parties are crazy, forgive me, please! They were just a hot dog with a crescent roll wrapped around the bottom. they loved them. and they were cheap and easy.

The Activity:

Each child was issued a "Jedi Tunic" upon arrival to the party. They were going to participate in Jedi Training, so they needed to be official. And then with an adults help they were able to pick their color and "build" their lightsaber. Or, duct tape the foam, whichever works! And they they were put to the test in mock battles and exercises to test their Jedi abilities.

And then Darth Vader made a surprise appearance. They learned well in Jedi Training, Darth Vader got quite a beating with those lightsabers!

And you can't forget the pinata!

It was a very fun party, we had Star Wars, the movie, playing in the background the whole time for those who didn't want to participate in thje lightsaber duals. Or if they were just tired. It turned out well. Another one down and one more to go for the year!

Happy Birthday, Jedi Noah!

the dentist.

So, I previously blogged about Noah going to the dentist, and then having to go back for a follow up and to get a tooth pulled. Remember, the tooth fairy "forgot" to come? Yeah, well, he had to go back and get another tooth pulled out. And the tooth fairy remembered that night. And even took the tooth! But, the dental excitement doesn't stop there. Oh no, he had to go back again today to get a space maintainer put in, and get a 'pulpotomy', or a root canal for kids. Poor kid. I feel like the worst mother! I really do brush his teeth, I promise! It's so crazy. It's a good thing he's such a good kid, he has been so great all four times he's gone. Now we just have one more visit to fill one more cavity and we'll be dentist free for 6 months!

Keep your fingers crossed for no more cavities!

Macie has been asking for the singing and dancing Dora doll for a while. Today, she grew up, I guess. She told me,

"I don't want the dancing Dora anymore, now I want a 4G iPhone."

She's 4. I'm starting to worry.

seven.

You've heard of the "seven year itch" right? Well, we've surpassed it! We made it SEVEN years! Seven years ago we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was VERY cold. {I think it's colder there now, so I'm glad it was seven years ago!} But, it was the best day of my life. In those seven years we have graduated college, had three children, lived in 3 states, and 8 different houses, owned 4 cars, and we still love each other! Amazing. ;-)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ADAM! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!

6 years old.

Noah is 6 today. I'm in shock that it had already been 6 years ago that I held him for the first time. He is the best kid ever! I love him so much! Everyone does! He is so imaginative, and so full of energy. He is very social, but shy all at the same time. He's very sweet and tenderhearted. He looks after his brother and sister. And his friends too. Just today he didn't get any candy from his pinata because he was worried his friends wouldn't have enough to take home. {there were two HUGE bags of candy in that thing...it was very full} He's just a good kid!

I'll never forget the day he was born. The day I became a mother. It must not have been too horrible, I did have two more! ;-)

Happy Birthday, Noah! Here's to another awesome year.

opinions

My children all have very strong opinions. On pretty much everything. And they let me know it. I've been planning Noah's birthday party coming up tomorrow. It's been crazy, but not NEAR as crazy as Macie's birthday party. Luckily boys are little more easy going...but not much, in my case! We are doing a little Jedi Training. I had two ideas. One was to make Jedi "tunic/cloak things, or I thought it would be cute to do a freezer paper iron on to a t-shirt for everyone to take home. Apparently, I was wrong, that was not a good idea. Noah told me, "Mom, are you trying to ruin my life? This is a Star Wars party. We are doing Jedi Training, and we have to have Jedi shirts. Just like this. {and he showed me a picture.} My friends are going to want a Jedi shirt thing." Okay, Noah, you win. But the rest is up to me! ;-)