Santa Clause and Snowmen!

I usually pretty good about taking pictures, but of course that didn't happen this Christmas. It was a good Christmas for the older kids, but not the best ever for the little kids and me. Christmas eve was pretty good, there at the end the babies got tired and grumpy and that is when Santa came(my little down syndrome brother AJ plays Santa), so we didn't get the best responses from them. TJ would have nothing to do with him and Knightin just kept trying to get off his lap. Our Christmas eve party has been going o forever, the tradition of it started when my mom was a little girl. We get together, have a huge dinner, the last few years have been prime rib, visit, eat, visit more, eat more, then towards the night we read the Christmas story, have a Christ cake, and sing Silent Night instead of Happy Birthday. Then, for the past 5-6 years we have had Santa come, and he passes out all the presents to the grand kids, kids and, in-laws. It's getting quite the production for poor Santa.As for Christmas day, Knightin decided not to sleep pretty much from about 12:30 am on. I guess he got some sleep, but was so restless and unhappy that I was up with him trying to help him feel better. And Todd and I didn't get to sleep before midnight trying to get Christmas set up, so my total sleep included about 1 hour, and to the fact that I've only been averaging 4-6 hours lately, I wasn't doing very well. Knightin stayed grouchy all day, TJ was OK and the kids were happy and enjoyed the Christmas presents they got and what Santa brought them. They played all morning. Then we had to send Todd off to work at 11:00 am, and we got ready to go sledding at my parents house up the canyon. It was pretty bad weather and were in 4-wheel drive the entire time, but it was worth it for the kids, they had a blast, sledding down the big hills and being pulled on sleds by the 4-wheelers. Then of course we had lots of food to eat again and hot chocolate for all the cold kiddies. TJ took a nap as soon as we got there, and Knightin proved to be a bear the whole time, I finally broke down(yes in tears, lack of sleep does that sometimes) and tried to lay down with him on my parents bed, he continued to scream, until uncle Brettie came and saved the day. He is so patient with the little ones and after about 1 1/2 hours he won and Knightin slept, and would have continued to sleep if I didn't have to wake him to go home before it got dark. Todd got home about 40 minutes after we did(it was only a 6 hour shift) and he help me the rest of the night. I'm so grateful for a loving, wonderful husband. We finally got to sleep and I slept, it was nice. They next day Todd, Ki and I spent a wonderful day together for Ki's birthday. This was the first day we got a chance to celebrate it. We went into Provo/Orem and did whatever he wanted, which included ToyRus and Carls Jr., then we did some of our own errands and called it a long day, but fun. We spent the evening playing Wii with the whole family(yes we broke down, but we haven't given into gaming games, only ones where they can be active), a much better day then Christmas! Kids sure can make or break a day, I am just glad the bigger kids had a great day despite Knightin and me.
The kids found out that they could climb up the tall snowman that they made, and how the sun was hitting them when up on the top, we just had to take the photo Opp. Enjoy!

My Baby Girl all dressed up for church!

I'm not as good as Mandy yet, but we do have something in common, I love taking pictures of my baby. She is at that perfect age of discovery and does so many fun things.

Perfect Snow for a Snowman!

We got another 6-8 inches of snow today and it was wet and sticky, perfect for making a snowman. Here is the kids finished product. No arms and No hat, but we gave him a candy face.He is a tall skinny snowman, I guess we need to feed him a little more candy!

Happy Birthday Ki. We Love You!!!!

Our baby boy is growing up, and by time anyone reads this he will be 8. I don't know where the time has gone. Ki has brought so much to our home, and makes us smile all the time. He loves to be creative, draw, make up stories, get his baby brother and sister to laugh. He loves to learn, and will soak up any information that you are willing to share with him. He has taken on his dad's love of movie, and can't wait to make some with him. He is easy going and never gives teachers or friends hard times. We are so blessed to have him be a part of our lives and look forward to spending many more years loving him and laughing with him. Ki you are a light in our lives. Happy Birthday. We love you!!!!

Pink Snowman,... I mean snow woman,.... I mean snowperson, No, it is a Pink Snowgirl!!!!

TJ wanted to go outside so bad, so we got her all bundled up,and it lasted about 10 minutes and she had, had enough of the cold. Well, she was cute while it lasted. This was Tay's snow outfit, little dingy, but still functional, and cute.

We let our driveway go to long before scraping it, but Todd has been working and shoveling with he 2 little ones wasn't a fun thought, plus I wasn't around much either. Today I decided that during nap I was going to get some of the snow cleared. Getting into I also decided we have a heck of a lot of cement. Anyway it had compacted pretty good and was pretty slow going, but before we went in, the main area was pretty clear, and because of the compaction the snow came up in little block pieces. This was perfect of course for the kids to make a snow fort. They worked on it diligently while I was out and got a pretty nice start on their fort. What do you all think?

Knightin, Kelten, and Taylar

Since it snowed Knightin has been bugging us to go out and play in it. We finally bundled him all up and sent him out, he was in heaven. We thought he look so cute all cozy in his snow clothes.

Kelten has loved shoveling the snow. He is not very fast, but he is very dedicated. This is the pile he is so diligently working on, what a little man!I got to go to District School Meeting tonight with Taylar. She and and 2 other classmates were chosen to represent Mona Elem. for there new writing program they are using. They were picked for there excellent work and grasp of the concept. At the mtg. the students were to share there booklet in front of the district members and all the others that were there(probably about 35 people),and she had to go first. Those who know Taylar know that she is pretty shy. This was so hard for her to do. She didn't feel very good in the first place and then so very, very nervous. She was shaking and and almost started crying telling me she really didn't think she could do it. I hugged her, told her that I was there, and that she would do great, but that it was a very hard thing and even I get nervous and scared to talk in front of people. She bravely went up and read her booklet, and I don't think there was a person there that would have been able to tell that she was scared. She did so amazing and we are so proud of her. Her certificate that she was presented.

Taylar up in front of the crowd!

Taylar getting presented the award from the district lady!

Is Ki really starting to get it?

So about a week ago I came up with yet another plan of attack to get my kids to do their work. I think I'm finding that changing things often might be the best solution, but since my brain doesn't seem to work fast enough to have another brilliant plan before the one before it stops working, we end up having many down times where things just don't get done without me giving in and doing it, or a lot of threatening. Not that my new plan will last very long, but I have had perfect kids for a few days now when it comes to cleaning and keeping up on their things. One thing that I think is working better this time is Ki and Kelten don't do any jobs together. I use to have them clean their bedroom together, but that was just more pain to me, and a lot of physical pain the 2 boys inflicted onto each other. They now are alternating weeks on them cleaning the playroom and bedroom. This plan is much more effective and quiet. So tonight I follow the boys into their room to turn off the light as soon as they get into bed. The blankets and pillows are all nicely folded and put away at the ends. Ki nicely explains to Kelten that he can only use 1 blanket and 1 pillow, and that he needs to leave the others folded so that the bedroom doesn't get messy. WOW, did I just hear my own child tell his younger brother the concept that Todd and I are continually trying to explain to them. This could work, the other thing that I noticed, is there were no clothes anywhere on the ground, they actually put their snow clothes away(this happened after they got their room checked off for the day). My spirits are high, and I'm going to relish in the success, for I have know Idea how long it will last.

Merry Christmas From My Dancing Elves

I hope everyone is having a great season so far. We wanted to share with you our little dancing Elves. A Little classic Christmas and a little Disco Christmas. Enjoy and we hope you all have a great Christmas!

Dancing Elves Classic

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dancing Elves Disco

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Gwendolyn

Here are a couple of pictures that we got of little Gwendolyn when we went to visit a little over a week ago. What a little doll.

Healthy Utah!

The State and County both have a Healthy Utah program. We never ended up signing up when Todd worked for the state, but decided to do the program this time around with the County. So about a week ago we went and had a health assessment done. We found out that my BMI was high (tell me something I don't know), but all my other stats were in the normal range, yeah for what I am doing right. What was fun to find out is that Todd's BMI was high as well. Men are suppose to be under 25 and he was a 26. I never thought I'd see the day. For so long he hasn't even registered on the fat % scales and was always considered underweight, WOW what a change. We also hadn't weighed him for awhile and My skinny husband is up to 161 lbs. He is my fatty now. I love the fact that he has gained weight, now it won't take me as long to weigh less then him, Wahoooo! I can't wait for the day that I can say I weigh less then my husband, better yet the day when Todd can't put on a pair of my pants, because they are too small. I'm excited! So, we now have set our goals, and we will have to track them, and report on them. If we do this we get a cash incentive every quarter. We love getting cash incentives. Now everyone can look forward to seeing the new and improved Todd and Kristy, it's our time to get healthy and fit.

This will become the new me, hopefully in 6-8 months. I'll be working my butt off, literally!

Stayed tuned for the real picture, of the new me!

Until then, this will be a good goal reminder.

I think we need to find a really fit picture of a guy that we can stick Todd's head on, that would be fun.

Tooth Update!

Well, as I reported this morning, Kelten's 2nd tooth wouldn't be far behind and it wasn't. When he got home from school, he would work on it off and on. Then when Ki got home the played in the snow a little(yes, we finally got some snow) and worked on that tooth together until they got it out. Dinner was the only break they took. Double duty for the Tooth Fairy tonight. Hopefully she doesn't forget like she has in the past for the other two kids. I hate when she does that!!!!!

First Tooth Lost

Kelten lost his first tooth this morning, he was so excited. After watching his brother and sister lose many teeth, it is finally his turn to have the Tooth Fairy visit him. It was only hanging on by a little skin this morning, so Taylar got him the pliers and that was all it took. As you can probably see from the picture, his other tooth is already on its way in. The other front tooth won't be far behind, it has the same problem helping the tooth to become loose.

Kids are so cute with missing teeth, especially with that proud little look they get!

Full Day!

Yesterday was a very full but fun day. We started this fun day out with the phone ringing at 5 in the morning. It was the county asking to see if Todd could come into work, Todd declined telling them that we had plans, but call any of the the other days if the person is still sick. Todd went back to sleep, but I couldn't so I got up and proceeded to get ready for the day, we had a lot to accomplish. The phone rang again about 40 minutes later, again the county. They couldn't find anyone and asked if there was any of the shift that Todd could come in, I told him whatever. All the things we could do a different day. He told them he would work until 11:00. So the day begins. Todd headed off to work, I made a huge pasta salad for the ward Christmas party, and as the kids woke up they got breakfast, took baths, and got ready to go. One of the things we were going to do yesterday was take the kids to Toys'r' Us and let them shop for each other. This can take a long time and needs 2 parents, so we did it online instead. I actually quite enjoyed it. I brought the site up, put in the age of the kid that we were shopping for, then the price range and WaLa there were only gifts shown that the kids could buy. None of the seeing all the other toys that were way to expensive and having to work through them wanting it anyway. I really shouldn't love the perks of shopping online so much, it makes me much to lazy. So shopping was done and we head out to pick up Todd. Then start the journey, Home Depot first, then JoAnn's, next we stopped to get a bite to eat and then on to the scout office. This spot took a little bit longer, we had to get a lot of prices of things so that Todd could put together a Cub Scout budget proposal for 2009, fun stuff! Next it was off to a Food Drive that was put on by James Sly, a old friend of Todd and his family from Camino, stayed and visited for awhile, then headed to Taylorsville to see our newest little niece Gwen, and of course to visit Jake and Louise. I do have a couple of cute pics of her, but since Louise and Jake haven't posted any pics we will wait. After visiting a while it was back home and straight to the Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and was centered around the kids, so of course mine had fun. There was cookie decorating, tin punching craft, card making, stocking making, ring making, and food and some entertainment. To top off a great day, we got to stay and do the church building cleaning. It actually wasn't to bad, we had extra people stay and help, so it was done quick. What a full, full day, and we survived it without any complaints from the 5 kids. WaHoo!

Some fun pictures taken this morning!

TJ doesn't really like us to feed her anymore, and she does really good, until she is done with what she wants to eat. After that it is art time. I guess she takes after Daddy!

She didn't want to get down and especially didn't want me to clean her up.
While TJ was in the bath, Knightin wanted a bath too. Todd had just finished dishes and so in the sink he went. Good Times !

TJ fell and hit her face on the stairs, and got a little bit of a black eye. It didn't look as bad yesterday, but I think she did a pretty good job. Looking at her this morning, it made us remember Taylar's Black eye. She also got hers from the stairs, but hers was because she fell down them. Taylar was only about 3 months older then TJ when she had her run in with the stairs. The other thing we realized is that only our girls know how to get the black eyes. 3 boys and the girls get the messed up faces, Go Figure!!!

This one is just for fun, Taylar wanted us to give her a 3rd eye!

TJ

Sorry, I just really love taking pictures of her. Sunday we thought she looked so grown up. She had on this dress that was more a big girl look and with her walkng around I just couldn't help it.

OK, The Tree is Done & The Office is Finally Clean!

So, it didn't take us very long to finish the tree we actually didn't make any more ornaments. Why, you may ask? Well, the kids were decorating and TJ and Knightin were taking them off as fast as the kids could put them on. I did predict this, but what I didn't predict is how creative they would be to get them. They would stand on the chair, bring in stools and even climbed up in the window seal. They can still reach some of them, but the height that they are now at least slows them down. So, since we didn't have a whole tree to decorate the ornaments made Saturday were quite enough and maybe a few to many.

So there it is, my kids very first tree done all by themselves, well maybe a little tiny bit of help on some of the ornaments, but only for Kelten. I love the half done look making it very baby/toddler friendly!

You may recall about a week or so ago a post on a very messy craft/computer room. It was the one that my kids decorated with feathers. Well, today I finally cleaned it. It took awhile because I also went through and tried to organize it a little better plus get rid of some stuff. A few hour later the finished product. A very full but organized cubby once again, and even a little extra room on some of the shelves were we plan to start putting are very slow growing food storage.Space to spare!!!Yeah, I love when we find space in our little house.

Christmas is in the Air!

At least it is for us. I love Christmas season, there is such a fever in the air. I love driving around and seeing the lights and over all there is a happiness all around with everyone ( unless you spend to much time shopping during this season, because there can be alot of ugliness this time of year as well). Todd and I probably for the last 5 years have had our Christmas shopping done well before Thanksgiving, which we love to do, so that we can relax and enjoy the good and wonderful things about Christmas. My kids even though they aren't perfect are one of my favorite things about the season. It is all so magical for them and there is more excitement then they can usually handle. Christmas is so much fun through the eyes of my kids. This little girl down below is always bringing a smile to my face, she has quite the little personality. I hope that she can bring a smile to you as well. If not I'll still enjoy looking at her pictures.One of the Christmas traditions that our little family has, is that on Christmas morning we all wear different Christmas hats, as we were putting up Christmas decorations TJ was having a ball with the hats.These are for you Gayle. We told Gayle we would take pictures last year, of our lights, but never quite got around to it. So here they are, the outside pictures never quite turn out as well, but I think you can get the general idea. It looks so much better in person, plus they go up the sides and around the back.This our entertainment center with our stockings on them, and a few other decorations.You don't get to see a picture of the tree yet, because it is not done. We started a new tradition this year, in which the kids get to make the tree ornaments and decorate the tree themselves. This was a really big step for me, because my mom always decorated the tree when I was growing up, so of course when I became the mom, it was my turn to decorate, right? Well, I started to feel guilty, and knew that it just wasn't as fun for my kids when everything was what I wanted and how I wanted it. I want my kids to enjoy every part of Christmas, not just Christmas Day, and with this new change they already are having so much fun. Yesterday we set up the tree and got the lights on it and put up the stockings, then today we spent the day making homemade ornaments, and will probably work on them as a family a little tomorrow and maybe a few days next week, then we will be able to have a picture of the finished project! Then tonight we went to the Nephi's park annual lighting cermony, which was pretty impressive(I'll have to get some pictures of it a different night, way to crowed tonight). Then we ended the day with watching the first annual lighted christmas parade. It wasn't to bad for our little town!Our kids working on the ornaments. Very intent!TJ had a lot of fun playing in the sink, it kept her occupied for quite awhile.Knightin in this picture, just got done putting a handful of chocolate rocks in his mouth that he kept sneaking all day, the little Tupperware by the phone,at one time was pretty full.My brother-in-law brought over some of the left over pie from Thanksgiving, that was the end of playing in the sink, we moved on to bigger and better toys. Playing in the pie was much more tastieThese are some of the kids finished ornaments!I had to walk around with Knightin at the lighting ceremony, he was a little bored at first. He had fun looking in all the store windows though!The kids being silly. Austin and Taylar are attempting to lift Kelten up to see the lights better.These two pictures, are a couple of the floats from the parade!

I hope this holiday season brings enjoyment and lots of smiles to all of you, and I'd love to hear of traditions that others have during this season! Todd and I are always looking for new things that we could have fun doing that could keep the fun and spirit alive. Both spiritual and traditional, traditions!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a good day, Todd was off and I didn't have to cook, at least not the whole dinner. I am not way big into the huge dinner thing, because I don't like half of the food, and I really don't like to cook. I do like Turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, but that dinner by itself wouldn't be that bad, but a Thanksgiving dinner as far as other around me, needs to include a few more items, which means more work for me, YUCK! Lucky for me I have only had to prepare 3 Thanksgiving Dinners in my life time and I'm fine if it never grows in number. This year we went to my sister Mindy's home which we have done several times, she loves to cook, and we don't mind sharing in this. My parents, my 2 youngest brothers, the 3 nieces we have been watching, and a family that we are friends with shared in this day. My two youngest were a little moody(still going through binkie withdraw), but overall it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day with friends and family.

This is my Mom and sister Mindy starting on the prep work, Turkeys were just put in and rolls are in the process, Yummy!This is my baby brother AJ, he was determined to help out, and did a pretty good job!TJ and her baby helping out, she was a maniac on this counter, it was her personal running track.Knightin taking a snack break.One of TJ's breaks from running around.The spread!
Get ready for the feast!

The rest of everyone getting ready for the feast!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!