christmas --round 2

Since we stayed home for Christmas (because of the snowstorm), we headed out to G&G Vawdrey's house on Saturday for dinner and presents. Here's a great shot of Rachel showing off her new soft fluffy pink boa! All the boys (except Matthew) got a zero gravity remote control car. (My pictures are in the wrong order, but you'll see how it works in a couple of photos lower.)

Here's Jared showing off the BYU pillowcases grandma made for the big boys -- love them!!

Ryan & Ethan spent awhile building with legos on top of the pool table -- it's out of Matthew's & Katie's reach, so things can't be destroyed.

Finally, here's the remote control car -- it drives on walls. So cool!

Here's Matthew checking out his stocking.

We had a fun afternoon opening gifts, eating, playing and watching a movie. Thanks G&G!

christmas day

A few pictures from Christmas. Here's our filled stockings (it's a family tradition to stuff real socks) Each sock had cereal and grape juice for Christmas breakfast, some candy, and one other little present. Jared got an ihome -- ipod dock, clock and radio in one. He was totally surprised and thrilled!

Here's Matthew figuring out his leapster thingy -- lots of buttons to push and sounds to hear, plus a phone to practice talking to grandparents. He loves it.

Here's the boys checking out Ryan & Jacob's DS's. Ryan's previous DS broke a couple months ago, so now he has a snazzy white one. Jacob is thrilled to have a DS like the big boys. He figured it all out in no time!

This is Matthew enjoying one of his new books. He loves looking at books -- he must take after his Dad!

I got a super deal on this lego set for Jared -- he was pleasantly surprised and excited to start building. With 625 pieces, it took some time to put together -- he really enjoys doing that. I'll post a picture of the finished product later.

Here's Ryan with his Lego Coast Guard Platform. He was totally excited to get it -- so was I, since it was really a little bugger to shop for.

And here's Jacob with his Lego Imperial Dropship. He was soooo excited!

The kids loved everything they got and especially enjoyed opening gifts they gave to each other. The boys each drew names this year, but when it finally came down to it, the older boys decided to give a gift to everyone. I love that they did this all on their own. They really found joy in giving as well as getting. We enjoyed the day together at home playing with our Christmas stuff and Mark & I even managed to get in a long walk together in the afternoon. A very nice Christmas all around.

gingerbread houses

A fun tradition we have is decorating "gingerbread" houses at Grandma V.'s with the cousins. Here's Jacob pulling a funny face. Ryan getting serious about the placement of the candy.

Jared trying to smile -- at least we got a picture!

Matthew sampling the M&M's and me squirting frosting.

Thanks for the fun, Grandma!

pre-christmas festivities

I've been a real slacker when it comes to blogging lately -- just simply too busy getting ready for Christmas. Here's a sampling of some of our pre-Christmas festivities: This is Pirate Jacob with his cousins Kaymi and Colten. They had a fabulous time playing together at our family party. They always get along so well together, that its too bad we don't see them very often. OK, these picts are in the wrong order, but oh well, you get the idea. We had a santa derby -- each of us built our sleds from two large candy canes, two small candy canes, one Hershey bar, and one little santa with lots and lots of tape. Then we raced them down an inclined table. We had a fun time trying to see whose sled was the fastest.

Jared's grade had a Christmas concert. My camera batteries were totally dead and this was the only shot I got -- a terrible one at that! (Jared is in back of Santa) The kids really did a nice job. They sang, acted, and played their recorders. I was really surprised -- 100 kids playing recorders and I only heard a couple of squeaks --truly an amazing feat!

christmas eve

Christmas Eve day was very productive -- everyone pitched in and cleaned the house for the Christmas Eve festivities. Mark got to work on putting our storm door back together since we FINALLY got the parts for the door. He also got new weather stripping in on the regular door, so we are all snug and cozy again in our house. We invited our neighbors, the Muellers, over for dinner. We had all the fixings for tacos/taco salad with soda and cherry cobler for dessert. After dinner we all played a fun present opening game and "Scene it?", Disney version. We had a fun time together. When Muellers left, we opened the Christmas pj's (the basketball theme pants were a big hit this year!), got ready for bed, and then read the Christmas story from the scriptures together. After family prayer, the kids found their biggest socks, hung them up and we got everyone tucked into bed. Jared, Ryan, & Jacob had a sleepover in Jacob's room. Mark & I relaxed a bit, watched some news, and then went into "Santa" mode. I love setting out the Santa gifts and stuffing the socks and anticipating the kids reaction in the morning! Merry Christmas everyone!

done!

I'm done sewing the pj pants for our family for Christmas! Hooray for me! New pj's on Christmas Eve is a tradition. I decided I should make us matching pants last year and it was so fun for our family, that I did it again this year. I got the fabric for them months ago. I starting cutting and sewing a week ago during Matthew's naptime -- the only time of the day I can work in peace. Nothing like waiting till the last minute to start a project, eh? And just to make things more exciting, my sewing machine foot pedal is on the blitz. I spent at least a 1/2 an hour one day just trying to jiggle cords and bang it in the right place to get it jump started! Thank goodness it started and thank goodness I'm finished! I'll get a photo posted soon!

that felt good

Winter seems to have hit us all at once over the past week and a half. With the cold and snow, I just can't drag myself out to do a morning run anymore. I've been braving the cool mornings up until now, but running in snow and ice really isn't a very smart thing to try. I don't have a gym membership anywhere, so last week I opted to do some daytime walking with Matthew in the stroller. It wasn't that satisfying. I was really beginning to crave a little run. Yesterday I finally got a chance to run in the late afternoon. It was short (as most of my runs are), but it felt really good to run again. I never ever thought I would say that.

christmas giving

Over the weekend we took the kids shopping with their cousins to pick out and purchase a few toys that we could donate to a "bishop's room" located at a local DI. (We do this instead of exchanging some family gifts) Local bishops can give members of their wards who are in need permission to go to that room to find items for their families for Christmas. This was good for my kids -- we asked them to pick toys that they would wish to have for themselves. Jacob had a hard time parting with a Lego Imperial Dropship that he dearly wants for Christmas, but he did it. I was proud of him. (BTW, he will get his own for Christmas, he just doesn't know that yet, of course) When we got to the DI with the toys, we found a manager to take us to the room where the kids got to see what will happen to the toys they are donating. The teeny tiny room seemed to have quite a few toys, one rack of coats, and a few socks and other personal items hanging on a back wall. The manager told us that the room had just opened last week and they had had about 150 families come through so far. Last year, that room had 800 families come through -- wow! They are expecting at least that many families again this year, if not more. There was no way in the world that the supplies they had in the room at that time would ever be enough to help that many families. Hopefully they will continue to recieve donations as the Christmas season continues. We were able to look around the room for a minute and the kids were happy to know what was going to happen with their donated toys and it helped them feel even better about giving.

There are so many places seeking donations this year. What really gets me the most is when agencies are asking for donations for basic necessities for babies -- i.e. formula, diapers, blankets. My heart just breaks to know that there are hungry, soggy, or cold babies out there. Tonight, our cub scouts get the opportunity to help out at the local food pantry -- I hope I get to go with them, I've always wanted to help with a service project there. I'm certain that any service we give or donation we make can help someone.

***Mark, Ryan and I were able to go to the food pantry last night. We filled approx. 215 individual food bags in our short time there. Each bag had 4 cans of tuna, 5 cans of soup, 1 can of vegetables, 2 cans of fruit, 2 cans of beans, a can of meat, and 1 box of mac n'cheese. Individuals can get one of these bags per month. We were able to see how our donations were weighed, sorted, and distributed. It was a really fun activity -- we all enjoyed it! Ryan even said it was one of the best pack meetings ever!! And when you compare a service opportunity with pinewood derby's and rocket making/shooting, you know you've really got a winner!

what every toddler's mom needs

All store shopping carts should be equipped with amusement park style seat restraints, in toddler size of course. Notice that the full body is restrained -- gotta love those over the shoulder harnesses!! Maybe these kinds of toddler seat restraints would make it so that the kid actually has to sit in the cart instead of wiggling out, crawling all over the cart, hanging over the edge, climbing or falling out and then proceeding to run through store aisles at lightning speed. I'm sure this kind of restraint would cause a multitude of screaming as well, but so do amusement park rides!

just sound it out

Yesterday Jacob wrote the following on a piece of paper all by himself (except for the last word, which Jared told him how to spell). See if you can figure it out:

The IFL TAWR IZ The bIGIZT TUWR HISTORY

Translation: The Eiffel Tower is the biggest tower in (he forgot to write that word) history.

He loves writing and has become quite fascinated with sounding out words on his own.

draper temple

I made my reservations for the Draper Temple Openhouse yesterday. I am so excited to take the boys to see the temple, I can hardly wait till January!