Alex's Stocking

I FINALLY finished Alex's stocking!  Woohoo!  His was no where near as detailed as Logan's and Annie's, so it was less time consuming, but I really struggled with the patience to work on it.  I guess I need to make the next one when I'm not pregnant.  :)  I'm just glad I finished this one in time for Christmas. 

 

Alex is thrilled with it and doesn't like his siblings to touch it.  The neat thing about his stocking is that the drum has a music chip in it, so it plays 'Jingle Bells'. 

I also wanted pictures of all our stockings. 

Last, a picture of the tree with presents underneath. 

Christmas Kickoff Party

We had our annual Christmas party a little early this year (December 1st) because our month is going to be so full.  It was a great night!  The only thing that would have made it better is if our house were big enough to invite ALL of our friends.  (Not that I'd want a bigger house on any other day of the year...)  Anyway, four families came (making 10 adults and 15 kids) and we had an enjoyable night complete with dinner, gifts, games, and conversation.

 

For dinner we did a potluck salad bar complete with meats, nuts, veggies, fruits, etc...; I'm sure all the husbands thought this sounded pretty lame, and maybe it was for them, but I sure enjoyed it!  I thought it was a fantastic meal.  :)  After dinner we had a white elephant gift exchange.  This was a true white elephant meaning that no one was allowed to spend any money.

 

We did the gift exchange in three parts.  First the girls did theirs.  They passed their gifts around in a circle until I stopped the music.  The oldest girl (age 11) ended up with some baby toys which was pretty ironic, but she was a super good sport. 



The anticipation built for the boys as they waited for their turn.

I tried to take a picture of Lynnette with her girls when her son took a flying leap in front of the camera.  It's funny because this totally captures his personality.

The boys had their turn second.  The ages were a little less spread out here.  I kept the music going for a long time for the boys.

They passed and passed those presents...

Finally, I stopped the music and they opened their gifts.  Logan ended up with a Santa hat and he has been wearing it CONSTANTLY.  I guess he liked his gift.  :)

The adults did a slightly more complicated white elephant exchange.  We sent the little kids downstairs to run wild play.  The adult exchange involved the ability to steal gifts and the gifts were opened one at a time.  There were some amusing gifts this year and we had a fun time.  My favorite was a Michael Jackson VHS. 

After the gift exchange we had dessert and then sent the kids downstairs again.  I know the kids had a fun time running around in our big basement, but the adults possibly had a better time.  We played a simple game called 'Take Your Pick' which fostered good conversation and lots of laughter.  I think we were louder than the kids!

Thanks everyone for a fabulous night!

Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound last week!  We didn't get very good pictures, but I'm not complaining.  It's always fun to see the baby's development.  Everything looked fine and we're having a girl!  For months Annie has been emotionally hoping for a sister.  I was seriously concerned for her reaction if she was getting another brother!  I'm glad for her sake and of course I'm thrilled to have another girl.   I'm excited to use Annie's cute baby clothes again and for her to have a sister to share a room with.

 

 

Here are the few pictures we were given.  Like I said, these aren't great. 

 

This is a side profile.  The baby kept putting her hands in front of her face and she was VERY active during the whole ultrasound.

This was the first time we've had 3D imaging.  The pictures didn't scan very nicely, so it's even harder to see the baby.

This is the best picture.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I'm getting behind again; I guess it's good I haven't taken many pictures lately because I forget what I'm behind on.  :) 

 

Anyway...

 

We decorated for Christmas the day after our enjoyable Thanksgiving.  Considering we lived in an apartment only two years ago, our Christmas decorations aren't very extensive and so they are easy to put out.

 

I love real trees, but this year am really grateful that we have a fake one.  The kids were excited to help put the tree together.  They organized the branches and brought them to me to spread out as Jim was ready for them.

We turned on some Christmas music, wrapped the lights, and then commenced decorating.  I have to admit, it's nice that my family wants to decorate the tree.  I enjoyed just handing them the decorations and watching.  :)  Everything about Christmas is so exciting for these kids.  I love it.

Annie has so much personality and this picture captured it so well.  That's my funny girl!

Owing to their height, we had a heavy concentration of decorations on the bottom.

Alex focused on just a couple of branches.  As ornaments have come off (AKA been played with) he's been putting them back on in the same spot, so it's getting even more concentrated.  :)

Ta da!

Our month of Christmas is underway!  We had presents ready before Thanksgiving, so we just get to enjoy this time.  We're looking forward to doing our favorite traditions and seeing family!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks to a lovely friend, I'm making this post on the actual holiday.  Whoa!  The reason a friend made this possible is because she invited our family to dinner today, and saved me the headache of spending the day in my kitchen doing what I really dislike.  She can't possibly know the depths of my gratitude (especially after yesterday...details to follow).  So to this dear friend, you know who you are.  I was thrilled to accept your invitation, and we are super excited to come over today! 

 

In preparation for today, I decided to make some pies yesterday.  We've had eleven pumpkins sitting on our porch since October, so I was definitely making pumpkin pie.  I was also feeling ambitious.  I don't like to be wasteful if I can avoid it, so I'd been intending for a long time to preserve these pumpkins.  So, my plan in the morning was to clean, cut, steam, and puree all of these pumpkins, make pies, and process two bags of apples (because they'd somehow frozen in our fridge and were very mushy).

 

The kids hauled in the pumpkins for me (except for the one that is still green) and we started optimistically.

We started by cleaning out the seeds and guts.  This took some time, but wasn't too bad.  The kids were great helpers with the seeds.

My problems started once the pumpkins were ready to be steamed.  I've made fresh pumpkin puree before, so I knew what went into it, but I hadn't done 9 pumpkins at once (one was rotten and went straight to the garbage).  Basically my kitchen wasn't equipped to handle so many pumpkins, at least not in a reasonable amount of time.  I had four pans in the oven, my biggest pot on the stove, and our steamer working on the counter.  I quickly realized that it was a day to have a window open.  :)  That covered half the pumpkins.  I could have used the microwave as well, but felt that would be too many things at once. 

While the pumpkins steamed I chopped apples, made apple compot (a drink we always had in Russia), and prepped the pies.  I had one casualty early on.  In the process, I managed to ruin my big (and best) pot because all the water boiled out and I didn't realize it for a long time.  :(  Apparently, I had at least one too many things going at once.  At that point, I decided to take the pans out of the oven as well and let the steamer handle the rest of the pumpkin. 

I took a pre-clean up picture here.  I used every pot, pan, and bowl yesterday, as well as several appliances.

By the time my pumpkin puree was almost done, I decided that this whole process wasn't worth it.  Two pumpkins would have been fine, but nine was too many.  It took longer than a once a month cooking day!  My freezer could have been full of dinners instead of pumpkin puree.  My back and feet hurt.  So NOT worth it.

Here's most of my puree yield.  That's 20 cups worth.  There were 8 more cups unprocessed at that point.  At least I can bake with pumpkin all I want now.  *sigh*

I yielded four pies and a pitcher of apple compot.  The pumpkin pies had an incident with the broiler...that's why the edges are black.  :(  Thankfully, that was the only part of the pies to be damaged...my other casualty of the day.

I also yielded lots of pumpkin seeds.  I would say that this part was worth it.  I LOVE seeds, and the time it took to get them wasn't so bad.

It was a LONG day for a pregnant woman who dislikes cooking.
So to my friend who has enabled me to relax this morning, thank you!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Kids Say

Alex after tooting and between laughing about it, "A bark!"

Part of Annie's prayer the other night, "...and please bless Mommy and Daddy to be a good boy and girl..."

Logan, "What would happen if a house fell on Dad?"
Me, "He would die."
Logan, "What woul happen if a tractot fell on Dad?"
Me, "He would die."
Logan, "That's why he never goes under falling down houses and falling down tractors!"

Annie is so sweet.  She frequently says to me in her mousey voice, "You're a good mommy!" and as I tucked her into bed the other night it was, "You're my best mommy!"

Logan, "I'm organizing my Legos cause I'm a smart boy with my tiny brain."

Annie totally out of the blue, "One time I thought I was going to bite you, but apparently I didn't."

Logan was asking me why my hair mousse was white.  After some discussion, he considered and observed that there is an animal called a moose.  Then he said, "If it was red (meaning the mousse) it would be made from the blood of a moose!"

Logan, "Mom, I'm addicted to reading scriptures."

Alex while trying to unbutton his white Sunday shirt, "Open me!"

Logan, "Mom, I'm addicted to working.  Is it good that I'm addicted to working?"

Logan, "How would you like a blob of purple streaks of blue?"

Alex to me, "Kiss my bum."  I guess he had an owie...

Logan while I was trimming his nails, "I'm holding back my blood so it won't come out if you cut me."

Logan, "I'm as warm as an elephant in elephant skin back home in Colorado."

Annie to Jim, "There's white dots in your black hair."

And the sweetest for last.  Over the last two weeks, Alex has started saying his own prayers.  He's becoming rather insistent about when it's his turn, and I love hearing his sweet little voice say each word.

Little Mister Piggy

What would we do without our Alex?  This little guy is funny in so many ways.  One way that he cracks me up is his attitude toward food.  He believes he is entitled to anyone's leftovers should they not finish their own meal.  This happens most frequently with Annie.  If she says she's done, he immediately takes her plate and finishes hers before he continues with his own.  If we try to take it from him, he gets mad.  "No!  Mine!"  Perhaps this is why he's our biggest toddler so far.  :)

Making Brownies

Or rather, licking brownie batter.  I love these guys!

 

 

Happy Halloween

I'm a little behind here I know, but at least I'm getting these pictures up before Thanksgiving.  There's something about having to upload photos that always delays me...

 

Anyway, we had a fun Halloween last week.  During the day we started our Christmas shopping (hee hee) and in the evening we went trick or treating.  Considering we had no budget for costumes, and I had no patience to make any this year, I was pretty happy they all had something to wear.  :)

 

Alex was excited when I pulled out the Thomas costume.  My mom found this for us at Goodwill four Halloween's ago, and this is the fourth year in a row it's been used.  Alex was excited about it because he LOVES trains right now, BUT he was less than thrilled to put it on.  I bribed him with candy.

Logan's Superman costume consisted of a t-shirt and pajama pants he already owned, and a $1 cape we found at Goodwill.  The best part is that once he put the coat underneath, he bulked up just like he was supposed too.  :)

I was set to make a butterfly costume for Annie out of fabric scraps this year, but when we found this at Goodwill for $4 I was happy; I didn't really want to sew for Halloween.  I'm busy focusing on Christmas!  She still considered herself a butterfly because this little fairy dress had wings on the back.

They were excited to go!

We trick or treat in a different neighborhood every year; we're strange like that I guess.  Anyway, we went to a couple of streets near the church, and ran into two families we are friends with.  The kids had fun trick or treating with their friends, and knocking on the doors of five families we know from church.  After three short cul-de-sacs their bags were FULL.  I couldn't believe it!  Gone are the days when you get one piece of candy per house I suppose.  I remember it being work to get a good bucket of candy as a kid!  :)  As a parent I can't complain, though; it sure went fast.

We unloaded their loot when we arrived home.  They had a LOT of chocolate!  Nobody was complaining.  :)

Happy (late) Halloween!

Parenting Joke

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?'

'Yes,' was his incredulous reply.

She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

(Side note:  Jim never asks me what in the world I do all day; I just found this really funny.)

Nauvoo Pumpkin Walk

On Saturday we went to Nauvoo so Jim and I could attend the temple.  Our plan was to come home after we'd both finished a session, but that totally changed.  Since we had the kids with us, we were taking turns.  While the kids and I were waiting for Jim we learned that there was going to be a pumpkin walk that evening.  The whole town had carved pumpkins (the missionaries told us there were 900) for the event, and there was to be a costume parade.  We decided to stay, and since we were going to be there later anyway, we also decided to watch the play the missionaries put on every night, "Rendezvous".

 

So after a nice day in the temple, visiting historical sites, and doing everything in the Family Living Center (Logan totally charmed everyone in there), we checked out the pumpkins.  The missionaries were making kettle corn for the whole town and handing it out for free (as well as bags of candy for kids), so we had a yummy snack while we walked around. 

 

There were several of these picture posing spots, and the kids wanted to take a picture at every single one.  We took pictures at two because my hands were pretty busy.

After looking at hundreds of lit up pumpkins, all nicely carved, I decided I should probably take a picture of at least one.

The parade started just minutes after we'd managed to look at all the pumpkins on display.  It was short, but we enjoyed seeing the costumes.  Some groups were throwing candy as well, and the kids came away with a fair amount.

It was getting really cold as the sun went down, so I snapped this final picture and we got in the car.  There were still a couple of bands getting ready to play, and a few other activities, but we were just too cold.

Since we wimped out from the pumpkin walk (but still had an hour of fun) we had some time to kill before the play was due to start.  We snacked in the car and the kids bounced around overwhelming Jim and I.  Once the doors opened for the play, we were inside!  We had another half hour to wait, but everyone was happy because we were warm, and the kids had room to stretch.

I snapped some pictures while we waited before the seats filled up.  Alex LOVED the play.  He was so cute and enthralled with all the songs, and he definitely charmed a few hearts (he had lots of little waves from the acting missionaries throughout).

Annie and Logan were totally enthralled as well.  It was fun to hear the kids' laughter when there were funny parts.

Jim and I had a good time, too.  We made it home VERY late that night, but I think it was worth it.