Our Neighbor Larry

The girls have developed a most darling relationship with our neighbor
Larry and his wife Jannelle.
 

It all started with his backyard pond which is home to several huge fish in the summer.

The girls (especially Avery) love to run into his backyard to
 "help" Larry feed the fish.

At times they have been lucky enough to tend to the fish when Larry and Jannelle are out of town AND then they insist on paying the girls for this "service."
I almost think we ought to be the ones paying them because the girls love going over there so much.

Larry is now teaching Avery to juggle, which she thinks is just the coolest thing ever.
On Christmas Eve Larry and Jenelle came over bearing thoughtful
gifts for each of the girls.

Side note: The girls put on their PJ's at noon on Christmas Eve wishing to go to bed early so that Santa would come sooner.

 It was a very long day.

Fantastic Find

The other day when I arrived to class I had a wrapped

 Christmas gift greeting me on my bench.

It was from one of my "regulars" who has been coming to class for years now.

I unwrapped the package after class and found this sweet ornament inside.

I was tickled pink to receive this thoughtful gift.

Thanks Pauline!

Christmas 2012

Christmas was exciting and filled with many happy giggles and screams.

The girls thought it was close to the most terrible thing in the entire world to have to eat their bowl of oatmeal and read scriptures before opening any gifts;

their parents thought otherwise.

Avery worked very hard on two lovely homemade gifts for us.

both gifts were flat pieces of wrapping paper, mine with cut-out snowmen

images from another wrapping paper roll, and Cody's 

with "I LOVE YOU" spelled out in duct tape.

These were two of our most treasured gifts of the day. She had wrapped each paper very carefully with more wrapping paper and sealed them shut with duct tape. They had been hiding in her room for weeks and she was over the top  

thrilled for us to open them. These are the types of gifts we will someday miss.

The girls each take turns opening gifts and are expected to sit and watch whomever is opening a gift until it is their turn. This is very hard for them and requires many reminders, but it is important to have manners even on Christmas morning.

 

We all know about Reese and the Christmas tree by now. 

She mostly fussed and rolled around the floor 

until it was time for her first nap of the day.

Santa brought the parents Ski helmets for the Ski conference we are headed off to soon.

Overly protective Santa insisted that this would be a perfect and mandatory 

gift for our future skiing days.

**See the chore charts in the background with only ONE chore on them. 

The girls were thrilled about this Christmas day miracle.

The big daddy-o gift of the day was a WII. Two years of parental discussions and contemplation finally yielded this most unexpected gift for the girls. 

They responded with screams and more screams and a few more screams. 

Soon they had sweat dripping down their faces as they danced their little

 hearts out to Just Dance Disney. Having all three girls playing a game together, without fighting for 30 minutes straight, was my Christmas miracle. 

I don't recall that this has EVER happened before.

Aspen didn't really get what all the Wii excitement was about, 

she was just completely content and enthralled with this little plastic 

horse set from the Lewis family.

Oh the sweet simplicity!

We had a very Merry Christmas!

1

 On the 21st of December Reese turned ONE.

**Take a look at Aspen in the corner of this picture. Mother Aspen was just sure that father Cody was going to let Reese burn herself on the candle and was letting out high pitched screams to warn father Cody of the danger he was posing to Reese. Thank goodness for mother Aspen who saved us from burning our FOURTH child. 
What would we do without her screams of caution.

She was thrilled with her blueberry muffin.

She made a really big mess with it.

Then it was time for her big sisters to argue over who opened what gift for her.

Thank goodness Brinley gave up the fight and just sat back to watch 

the other two clamoring over the gifts. 

They raced around her opening her few gifts and then  

playing with them on her behalf.

We love this little munchkin and are so thankful she is part of our family and has survived 

in our household where she has FOUR mothers who all seem to know
what is best for her at all times.

Merry Christmas

The other day I happened upon these drawings by Avery.

Merry Christmas!

Mr. Elfie

Elfie has been stirring up mischief at our home again this year.

Last night he ate Dad's gingerbread house,

  

and the night before that he gift wrapped the downstairs toilet.

We just never know what that sneaky guy is going to do each night, 

but it's sure been fun to find out in the morning when we wake up.

Baby Jesus

I loved a tradition from my growing up years and we have finally incorporated 

it into our Christmas tradition.

At the beginning of the month we started with baby Jesus lying in an empty manger.

As the children are observed showing love by serving a family member in word or deed, they are given a few pieces of hay to add to the manger. 

Our goal is to make a soft warm bed for baby Jesus. 

They also each have the opportunity to take turns holding baby Jesus during our nightly 25 Days of Christ devotional time. It is sweet to see how excited each of them is to have this chance to hold the baby as we read and learn of Him.

The other day I peered in and found that these little puppies had been added  

to the manger, apparently by Aspen.

Well, we know that animals were present, so I suppose the puppies are a fine addition.

Curly Sue

On Tuesday Aspen had pajama day at school. 

After school we stopped off at Cookie Cutters and had about  

4 inches of hair chopped off little miss curly sue. 

Aspen was tickled pink with the chance to get a balloon and  

watch a kid show during the hair cut.

Four days later our back yard took on a different look. The girls had been waiting and waiting for even a spot of snow to appear, 

and as soon as it did they were out playing in it for two days.

This is the creation they made yesterday. 

Now all the snow is melting away and they are somewhat depressed.

Gingerbread Houses

This week we had our annual Gingerbread house making night.

We went real fancy and used chocolate graham 

crackers this year,instead of the regular ones we've used in years past.

2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

Reese learned how to kiss this week. 

She prefers open mouth style.

These candy houses present an incredible temptation to the girls 

as they quietly sit on display.

Typically after they have asked "Mommy can I have a piece of candy from my house" 

for the 234523452345 time within the first 24 hrs. 

 of the gingerbread houses being on display...

I set each house in front of each child and say E A T,  

and then I get back to being a happier Mother.

 

Oh Christmas Tree

 Don't let this innocent face fool you,
Reese has become the Christmas tree attacker.

 All of our ornaments have moved higher and higher up.
 Several of them have chipped paint or broken parts from her teething on them.

She crawled to the camera and proudly showed off this ornament she plucked off the tree.

Now that most of the ornaments are out of reach she has resorted to grabbing the branches and pulling them as hard as she possibly can to make the tree sway.

We are so grateful for this darling baby who loves to mess with the tree!

Annual Pudding Bath

My Mom started a very unique tradition when we were kids...

The Pudding Bath.

Here the girls are in eager anticipation waiting
for Daddy to pour all the pudding into the bath. 

It is quite brilliant actually. 

What kid wouldn't want to splash around in chocolate pudding?

For the cost of a few boxes of instant chocolate pudding we are able to provide 

one heck of a messy fun time for our little sugar babies.

Reese looked on like "What in the heck are they up to?"

I'm not sure if she was more confused by the mess, 

or scared by the very loud and constant fits of laughter. 
 

Cody and I smiled at one another then looked at our precious children and then back at one another as we witnessed their pure and innocent joy.
 

How we love our four gifts from God. 

We are reminded that each day we have to be with them should be cherished.

We have started a new Christmas tradition and replaced our usual nightly scriptures 

and storybook with THESE lessons.

THIS was tonight's video clip portion of the lesson.

 I sit on the couch with the computer in my lap turned to the children, who are sitting on the floor, 

and I am able to watch their little faces light up.

I choose to stay right there, with the computer turned away from me, so that I can absorb the tender learning taking place within our children's hearts and minds.

I watch Aspen, who is most often the one tenderly holding our "baby Jesus,"

then there is Avery who is wide eyed and bouncing up and down unable to sit still,

Brinley sits formulating her response to share and Reese crawls around the 

floor babbling ma ma, da da.

It is in these peaceful, quiet moments that my heart is so full.

Tooth Fairy

After the extraction Avery was tickled to have a visit from the tooth fairy.

She set a cup of water out in case the fairy got thirsty and was excited to wake up and see that the tooth fairy took a drink of water and it changed sparkly pink.

She liked it so much in fact that she set a cup out the next night as well and that 

fairy was back and this time the water changed to a sparkly blue.

The girls love to create things with their tinker toys. 

Here is a triple stroller they made a few days ago.

 

Last week we took our annual trip to the Zoo Lights. It was short and sweet and cold. 

Reese serenaded us with screams the entire way there and back in the car. 

The screaming was so loud and non-stop that all of the girls ended up crying too while 

pleading for her to STOP CRYING.

On Friday Santa showed up at our ward party! Brinley preformed a special musical number with a few friends. They played bells to a Christmas carol and did a great job. 

On Sunday she preformed a different musical number with the bells during sacrament meeting. 

 

Today Avery tripped and fell on her face at school. I rushed her into our fantastic pediatric dentist and we found out that the affected front tooth had fractured horizontally 

 and the tooth high up in the gum pieces needed to be extracted. 

Thank goodness this was a baby tooth!

 She was given laughing gas and lots of numbing "tingles" for the procedure. 

Avery had the dentist and assistants in awe with her 

happy giggles and smiles throughout the procedure.

She was thrilled to have a milkshake on the way home and, as if that wasn't enough, she is now enjoying watching a movie on the couch. 

She thinks she has lucked out...we will see how it goes once all the numbing wears off.

She will have an empty space for a while before the big tooth grows into place, but hopefully there will be no other complications.

Hybrid Revealed

A few of my favorite little touches:

1) Flower pillow from etsy 

2) Ever so soft bird blanket from Home Goods

 

2- Shabby chic table from Meijer, same place I buy our food if you can believe it!

This sad little table will have to sit barren until Reese is past her toddling stage.

3) Bird wall rub-ons from Hobby Lobby.

 4) Hand-made "in" and "out" magnets by yours truly, idea by Amy.

This file is where the girls place all of their school papers for me to go through.
I sign and place items to go back to school in the "out" file.

I clip bills, coupons and to do items on this magnetic board, the one with the bow.

Brinley insisted the clutter looking things come off and magnet clips be

 neatly lined up along the bottom 

for the picture...I think she may be a bit type A like her parents?

I choose orange for my pop of color.  

You can't tell by my pictures here, but the  

office space is in the adjacent corner from the ladder shelf.

The plush footstool from Target is a highly functional feature we use a lot. 

The girls are still learning that it is not a weapon or rolling gymnastics ball.

I wanted the main wall to be uneven, cost effective and semi homemade. 

I spray painted an old frame silver, covered a couple of cheap canvases with fabric and added the "Y" and "faith" and bought the blue frame from Hobby Lobby.

The 16 x20 frame hosts this Life Manifesto.

I had some leftover supplies after the front room was finished and so I created

this wall display at the bottom of the stairway 

 that sits across the hallway from the front room

I failed to take before pictures of the front room, 

but those who have been in our house can hopefully appreciate the change.