Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

We had a great Christmas! On Christmas Eve we took the kids to Pump It Up (it's a place with tons of bounce houses) to get their wiggles out. It was a great distraction from being asked every 10 minutes if Santa was on his way yet.

When we got home, I made our Christmas Eve dinner and we had a wonderful feast.

After dinner, we read from Luke 2 and Hayden and Lincoln were kind enough to play Mary and Joseph in a little family nativity. Our sheep (Spencer) refused to participate minutes before showtime. Just so you know, he had the option of being the sheep, the shepherd or the wiseman and he chose the sheep, but then bailed on us.


I love this picture! (Even with Jude's big head!) Ohhhhh, now I can use my gift from my sister-in-law (photoshop)!



After our Christmas Nativity pageant, we read the Homer Story (the real name is "Christmas is for Sharing" by Robert Warner) and it helps us remember what the season is all about. It was a fantastic night! Okay, it was fantastic until the kids went to bed and the putting together of Christmas toys began. Why do we always get toys that require assembly???


Christmas Morning!!!! Santa left our toys in our family room, away from the Christmas tree because he knows that Jude is dangerous in the living room. Santa brought the big kids bikes. Pictures of the kids riding those to come.


Hayden got American Girl doll clothes.


Yup, Spiderman and Ninja-man.


Spencer cuddling with his Sing-a-ma-jig and the Monster my mom made (she made the kids their own, cute monsters). She is so talented.


The boys with their racetrack from Nonni and Bobpa! It's a crazy slot car racetrack that is awesome. I've found Joey in the boys' room playing with it (the boys were not in there with him!)

Mom and Dad finally did it! We finally got the present that kept them occupied for 4 hours on Christmas Day. The trampoline is a huge success, so much so that they wouldn't stop to smile and take a picture.

Attempting Christmas Pictures

This is why they invented Photoshop, but what happens when you don't get one "non-crying" shot of Mr. Jude??








What am I going to do with that kid??

Christmas Programs

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday night. Hayden was in the primary program and she was an angel!





Hayden also had her program at school called "Reindeer Rock"! The teacher said it was not an accident that she was front and center. She knew all the words, dance moves and smiled super big! Our video camera died so we don't have video of the performance but I'm trying to track down other parents who recorded it to see if we could get a copy! No one but grandparents care about that!

Graham Cracker Houses

It's the time for graham cracker houses. I'm lazy when it comes to the whole gingerbread house thing and we do graham cracker houses instead. The kids have fun, they get messy and it's a lot easier for me! I love that the kids are entirely in charge of their house. They get a lot of satisfaction out of it.

If I had to guess, I would say that the kids ate 80% of the candy and 20% actually got on the houses. We also went through a whole tub of frosting! It's one night, it's fun, I'm okay with it!

Here is our Jude! He had fun watching the excitement and eating graham crackers!


Here is Link enjoying his frosting covered hand!

Spencer's approach to eating the frosting is a little more subtle.

The boys were so proud of their architectural accomplishments.

Hayden and her house! We especially love her snowman!

The kids in all their Frank Lloyd Wright-esque glory! (minus Jude, he was upset by this point and wondering if we were ever going to change his diaper!)

Guess Who's 1?

Yep, our little Jude turned 1 last week. I can't believe how fast this year has gone! He is a happy, wonderful, sweet guy! We are so grateful he is a part of our family.

Here are a few things we love about him:
1. He has the best smile.
2. He says "da-da" for everything but he also knows that Joey is "da-da".
3. He was a daddy's boy until a month ago and now he only wants mommy, this may not be something we love but it's something we want to remember.
4. He is LOUD! He loves to yell. He isn't usually mad but he just wants to be heard.
5. He loves his siblings. If they are giggling about something, he joins right in. He wants to be big like they are!



Opening presents!




Time for cupcakes!





Happy Birthday to our sweet little guy! We love you!

School Spirit Day - Crazy Hair!

I'm loving these fun Spirit Days for school. I bet as the years go by they will turn into a drag but right now I'm loving it! Today was Crazy Hair Day!


My camera was dying while I was taking the pictures so here is the only one I got of the "big kids". The boys insist I call them that, so in our family we have the "big kids" and Jude.

Here is the big kindergartner on Crazy Hair Day! She was super duper cute!

The boys wanted to participate so I did their hair like normal (yes, the faux hawk is their normal 'do) and put barrettes in their hair. They liked it for a bit then asked me to take the barrettes out. My camera died before I could get a picture of Lincoln, but trust me when I say he looked cute!


This picture was not taken today but Jude wanted to prove that he can hang with these "big kids" and their crazy hair!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday at our ward's Trunk or Treat. The kids had a great time! I think they looked cute, if I do say so myself!


The kids painted pumpkins on Saturday, we will wait until they are a little older to give them knives to carve their pumpkins! Joey carved one but I didn't get a picture of it.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch. It's a must for the Fall!

The boys rode on the horses. Ride 'em, Cowboy!


Yee-Haw!

Hayden rode the John Deere power wheels. Poor thing had an allergic reaction last year when she rode the horses, so I'm glad there was another fun activity for her to do.

Our cute little kids.


Jude and his tongue! For those of you who see us often, you know this kid has his tongue hanging out of his mouth all the time! I love it!


Happy Fall Everyone!

A little of this and a little of that!

Biggest caterpillar ever! Joey and the kids found this huge caterpillar outside a few weeks ago! We played with it for a while then returned it to our yard:)


Hayden and one of her best friends, Anne! Anne's sister took this picture and I just love it!


Hayden started kindergarten on September 13th. I'm a little late with this post! She loves it! Her teacher is fantastic! I can't believe my Hayden is in kindergarten!!

Hayden and Joey on the first day of school!

Hayden and me on her first day, I'm wearing sunglasses to cover the tears! It was a great day but it hit me like a ton of bricks that she is getting older.