Decorating the Tree

 As soon as Thanksgiving Day is in the past my children are ready to start decorating for Christmas.  They love this time of year and I love getting in the spirit and getting ready for all the funtivities that happen.  The last many years we have had a fake tree and I have disliked it VERY much.  It was too small and fake and scrawny and fake.  I sold it last year and was SO excited to get a real tree.  I had heard great things about Costco's trees so we thought the $45 was worth a try.  I LOVE our tree.  It was all bundled up when I bought it, but we were all very pleasantly surprised when we opened it.  Our only complaint is that the trunk was a wee too wide for the holder, but Greg worked throught that, physically:).  I am not sure what the future hold for us and fake versus real trees, but this year I love the small and the size of our gorgeous tree. 
The kids were really excited to decorate the tree.  They love looking at their ornaments, year after year.  Looking at the ones they have had since they were babies and then the ones they got just the year before.  Both my parents and Greg's mom give the kids new ornaments for Christmas and so they are always excited to see ones from just the year before.  I love watching them.  It reminds me of my Christmases as a child.  I still have many of my ornaments from my childhood and while I don't hang them up due to the amount the kids have, I do take a peek at them every year.  I tried to take a cute picture of Greg and I but he kept making goofy faces.  That is one of the many reasons I love that man!

Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving this year was smaller than I can ever remember.  That isn't a bad thing, just stating a fact.  We had 16 people and went to a church building so we could run around.  We found out right before dinner that other people also reserved the church so for the most part we couldn't let the kids run crazy in the gym like we had wanted to.  Oh well.  My four and 2 other cousins were the only kids so it wasn't that bad thanks to primary and nursery rooms.  The kids and I made little cornucopias with ice cream cones and M&Ms.  We then tied a name to each one so people knew where to sit.  I remember making name plates for big dinners at my Grandma's house.  I originally had Annabelle place them all around but then I had to go back and put spouses next to each other.  We actually had Thanksgiving lunch and it was fabulous!  I love all those trimmings and the turkey and the pies...YUM!  I look forward to making a turkey dinner when my parents come out so I can do everything my way.  We played a rousing game of "Samurai" that Grandpa taught us, so great PIG games when the gym became available and some other board games while the kids played.  Jeff and Bri came over and we played Munchkin with the boys and then watched "The Hunger Games" when the kids were in bed.  It was a long day but lots of fun hanging with family.

Planet Play

 Planet Play opened up to Pass of All Pass holders so we can come here anytime!  We got there right when it opened and were able to do everything we wanted right away.  We all loved the race cars and I love that Callie was even allowed to go with me.  For laser tag we split up.  The boys and Annabelle were on one team and Callie and I were on another (plus other people).  They loved shooting at me and Callie since we were mostly sitting ducks.  I got them a bunch too:).  We also did miniature golf, miniature bowling and a play area.  We will definitely come back again!

Chess

Greg took turns playing chess and checkers with each of the kids today.  I didn't think to go and grab my camera until I saw this:

Yes, Callie played chess.  For about one minute and then she wanted to hold all the "horseys."

Snow Day

 While we didn't get a ton of snow, it was enough to make the kids happy.  I even suited up in snow pants and boots and was ready to go out before the kids were.  It was wet and cold and we had yummy hot chocolate and cider when we came back in.  I am glad it came and I am glad it didn't stay.  Yeah for snow, for now.

Basketball Hoop

 

 I have been really excited about getting the basketball hoop up in our back yard but I have been even more excited watching Greg and the kids play with it since it was installed.  I hoped that everyone would like it when it was in, but I had no idea how much they would love it and play with it, even though it is FREEZING outside.  Greg even has this game that he made up as a kids where you earn treasure and other things as you make baskets, it sounds a little confusing but the kids already have it down so it can't be too hard.  I love that it is already bringing our family together.  Even the girls want to take part.  I love my handy husband and all that he does for our family.  Next up, BBQ pit in the spring!

 

 

 

Organizing

A lot of people have made the mistake that my house is always clean and always in order.  That is SO not so.  Over the years I have become more and more relaxed when it comes to daily cleaning.  If I am going to have people over, and I know that ahead of time, yes, my house will look great.  But if you show up unannounced, you are in for a bit of a mess.  That is just on the outside.  Behind my closets and drawers I am not so neat.  Every once in awhile I will clean drawers and closets, but they always get messed up again.  My pantry is one of those places that gets REALLY messy.  I bake a lot and I am always looking for my ingredients in my mess of a closet.  Until now. 

A friend came over and helped me envision a new pantry, a pantry where I could find things and everything had a place (and I knew where that place was).  It has been about a week with my new closet and I LOVE it!  When my kids first saw the makeover they exclaimed how "pretty" it was.  That was probably Annabelle but even the boys noticed how neat it looked.  I am so happy with the outcome and glad that I can keep things neat and organized behind at least one of my closets.

Me and Callie

Callie and I have quite a lot of time together.  About 6.5 hours, 5 days a week.  When my other children were this age I had another baby or was pregnant.  Since that isn't the case with this one, I am amazed at how much time and joy I am having with Callie.  I love all my children and have loved watching them grow, but I get to see Callie and just Callie all day long.  She is SUCH a talker.  When people meet her they are amazed that she is just 2 1/2.  She can talk your ear off, sings songs, count and sing the ABCs.  I thank her brothers and sister as well as her lack of ear infections that plagued her other siblings.  Sometimes Greg and I just look at each other when she says something more sophisticated than what we would imagine her saying.  The other night Annabelle wanted to play "Go Fish" and Callie wanted to take part.  At first I was going to have her be on my team but then decided she could try it on her own.  She LOVED it!  We played it at least 7 times that night and another half a dozen the next day.  I love how she holds the cards.  When we start out I give them to her the right way but with picking up new cards and giving others to people, they get a little crazy.  She really caught on to the game and loved saying, "Go FISH!"   I love this sweet and independent girl who always reminds me that she isn't a baby anymore.

 Just some random stuff for posterity now.  I love plants and flowers.  I used to kill them all, but I am learning and have had more success lately.  This first plant is party of my grandma Sally's Jade plant from California.  My Aunt Judy somehow gave a bunch of us grandchildren parts of the plant about a year or so ago.  The rocks you can see are also part of my grandmother's plant.  I remember the pretty rocks from years ago.  About 2 months ago the plant was dying.  IT was in the same pot my Aunt had given it to me in and I was about to toss it.  I figured it wasn't going to work out here in colder Utah.  Then I was walking around Ikea (I hate how lost I get in that store) and saw this bigger, but still small, pot.  I decided to buy it and see what happened.  The plant has flourished in the new pot.  It is alive and growing and it makes me so happy every time I see it.  I think of my grandparents and my wonderful Aunt.  I think of my childhood and my family that I don't get to see enough.  I am not sure what I will do when I need to re-pot the plant again.  I don't have much counter space.  But when that time comes I will definitely find a way to keep the plant.

 

 These beautiful daisies are outside right now.  Back in May for one of those May holidays I was given a small pot of daisies.  I kept it inside for awhile and then planted them outside.  We have really hot summers and my plant eventually withered and died.  I thought that was the end of that.  Until late summer when it started cooling off I started to see some green growth coming out around the dead plant.  Sure enough I large daisy bush was growing and I was so excited to see these flowers again.  We got snow 2 weeks ago and the flowers hadn't opened so I feared I wouldn't see them this year.  And then it got sunny and beautiful again and my daisies bloomed.  I LOVE daisies.  They remind my of my youth and friendship and happiness.  Right now it is snowing outside and I am sure my daisies won't last much longer.  But for now they are beautiful and I am so glad I got to see them before the weather turns cold and nasty for the winter.

Candy Experiments

 Every year we go trick or treating and come back with an insane amount of candy.  Between class parties, birthday parties, piano rewards and my yummy baking, the kids get enough sugar and so this year I wanted to try a few new ideas to have fun and get rid of some candy.  I had read an article years ago about experimenting with candy and was able to find it.  It recommended putting candy into water to see what would happen and also cooking it.  We tried both and had lots of fun watching the results.  Did you know that the "M" on an M&M or an "S" on a skittle will float off in water?  Did you know that if you bake a bunch of candy at 350 for about 5 minutes it will melt, expect for licorice.  I am not sure I like thinking about why licorice doesn't melt and what it does once it is in our body.  Good thing I don't like Twizzlers.

 

 

 The color completely comes off of nerds and they look like little crystals. 

 

 

 

 

 WE had fun experimenting and then we made cookies out of a bunch of chocolate bars AND some blondies also.  I thought that with all of the candy the kids kept bringing me for stuff we were depleting it quickly.  Then I had them all bring it together so we could combine it, and this is what was still left:

Seriously?!  Why do we have Halloween and pass out THIS much candy to little kids?  I don't get it.  Dressing up is fun, but pounds and pounds of candy just is ridiculous.  Too bad my kids have no desire to ever stop trick or treating, it is their favorite holiday.  Oh well.  I can't say that I am not enjoying an Almond Joy here and some PB M&M's there, but we don't need it all.  Any takers?

Reflections

 I am so proud of my children for entering the Reflections contest this year.  I love that they all won an award.  Annabelle worked the hardest of the three of them and she was rewarded for her work with an Award of Excellence.  While the boys didn't really want to do it this year and complained a bit along the way, they pulled through and did a great job earning them each an Award of Merit.  All three of them did a piece of literature.  Annabelle wrote a fictional story while the boys both wrote stories from their life.  The theme this year was " The Magic of a Moment."  I love how they each thought of different ways to meet this theme.  That is what I love about Reflections and why I encourage them every year to enter.  I like them to think "outside of the box."  I like seeing what they can come up with when given a random phrase.  Congrats kiddos!  I think you are all AWESOME!

Halloween

 Oh Halloween how I am so glad you are over.  Really, we had a great morning and lots of fun allday.  The three big kids got ready quickly.  Ryan is our blue ninja.  Annabelle is Rapunzel.  She has ribbons weaved into her braids and a purple dress-we went for simplicity this year.  Nathan was cool to be the same as last year, a Shadow phantom, whatever that means.  I love that we didn't do face paint-that stuff is messy. 

 After we got the big kids off to school Callie and I got ready.  I curled my hair and then asked Callie if she wanted that too.  I was surprised when she said yes.  She looked so beautiful as another little purple princess.  The outfit is an old ballet outfit of Annie's, again, simple equals more fun:).

 

 Callie and I loved watching all the kids go by in their costumes.  They looked GREAT!

 

 These are two of Callie's little buddies, Jillian and Allison.  We go to the library with them every week and I love chatting with their mommies.  I love seeing Callie start having friends.  One of her favorite people is her cousin, Jacob.  She loves whenever he is with us.  He sat with us for the parade but I forgot to get a picture.  I think Sarah took one though.

 

 I got to help in Ryan's class this holiday.  I helped the kids make vegetable monsters.  Ryan actually made a monster mobile.  It was fun hanging out with him two days in a row.  Right after school we headed over to daddy's work for games and trick-or-treating.  There aren't too many employees so it was nice that the kids didn't get as much candy as years past.

 

 When we got home we ate some yummy soup and then Greg took the big kids out while Callie and I manned the door.  She LOVED whenever the doorbell rang or someone knocked.  She LOVED passing out candy.  She also LOVED eating the candy.  You could tell she was a little hyper by her laughter.  It was pretty cute.  Overall it was a fun night.  The kids have enjoyed their candy but starting tomorrow we will find some other uses for it here.