A Disney Christmas

Well, it's taken me awhile to actually post about our Disney World trip because pictures and words just won't do it justice! We had SUCH an amazing time. We went with our good friends the Taylors, who made it such an incredible vacation, as always! This is our fourth trip to either Disneyland or Disney World with them, and it amazes us every time how much fun we have together and how well we all get along! Nato and Robin are Disney experts, so it's an added bonus for us that we have them to lead the way at the parks and tell us where to go and what we haven't seen yet. Plus, we got to play lots of "Chicken Foot Dominoes" (our favorite game) at the condo every night after the kids were in bed....it takes us back to our BYU days, and it doesn't matter if we didn't get any sleep. It was worth all the laughing!

And we took millions of great photos that I would love to put on here, but I figured I might have to weed some of them out....so I made some photo collages of the ones I HAD to include! Here they are with some of the highlights of our trip:

Everything about this trip was magical. We last came to Disney World with the Taylors a couple of years ago (with only 5 children between us rather than the 7 we had this year), and we were so excited to go back! Our favorite new ride was Toy Story Midway Mania, which is like Buzz Lightyear but with 3-D glasses and really fun games! It was too cool and totally worth waiting in line just FOR A FASTPASS!

We also had a major milestones this trip: McKinley is now 48" tall! That's tall enough to go on EVERY RIDE, and she really did! Here is a picture of her in front of the height sign for the Rockin' Roller Coaster and in front of the ride with me afterwards (it is the best ride EVER!) She also loved Expedition Everest (in picture with Dad) and she learned to like Tower of Terror. The first time she went on it, she was NOT happy about the going "down" part, but she didn't mind the "up" parts, so she agreed to try it again and went on it a few days later and loved it!

Kennedy was just tall enough to ride the little kid roller coaster "Goofy's Barnstormer," and she LOVED it! We knew she would because of her thrill seeking-ways, but it was such fun to see her on it! We wish we had gotten a picture of her in line for the Haunted Mansion though...that was when she started clinging on to us and saying, "spoooook-y" over and over. It was fun finally seeing her scared of something for once! She is still talking about the "spooky witch!"

Kennedy's favorite thing: MEETING CHARACTERS! Whenever people say that they want to wait until their kids are older to go to Disney, I think they're crazy! The little ones feel the magic so much more! Kennedy was entranced by meeting her favorite characters...totally worth the trip just to see the look on her face meeting Mulan! And Mary Poppins even commented that Kennedy was "quite enamored" of her. That's one way to put it. She could not stop staring at whoever we were meeting in complete awe. It really shows the "magic" of Disney!

Here are some of the pictures of all 7 of the kids we had with us! Anytime two of the adults would be on a ride (with the oldest 2-3 kids), the other two would stay behind with the 4-5 little ones. Then, the other two adults would baby-swap with the first two and take the oldest kids on the ride again, so McKinley, Jacob, and sometimes Emma got to ride every ride TWICE in a row! What a great trip! They're not going to know what hit them when we go again when they're old enough and THEY have to watch the little kids for us while all of us adults go on rides together! While we were there, we even got to go to the Orlando temple and take pictures after church, and we got some fun pictures of all of the "walking" kids lined up. The oldest three became especially close (besides two of them being betrothed since birth), so saying goodbye was especially hard!

The kids all got along incredibly well. And Milt and I got used to being asked, "are all these kids yours?" when Nato and Robin were on a ride and we were watching the little kids. But we survived! Here are some pictures of the craziness of having such little kids go without naptime for a week! They just got used to falling asleep wherever we were, and our arms got so tired (see Milt in the pictures...he looked SO funny carrying a sleeping Kennedy AND Maddox!) And I think we only got all four of the little kids to sleep at the same time ONCE, so Robin and I took a picture...we were so proud of ourselves!

Going to WDW at Christmas time was PERFECT! The lines weren't bad and the weather was great! Plus it was so beautiful all decorated up for the holidays. The castle was amazing, and at Hollywood Studios they had a Spectacle of Lights show that was indescribable at night. I've included a clip at the bottom of how they synch the music up with the lights...it really was one of the coolest things we saw there. I had no idea that there could be that many lights in one area...it was really incredible!

The only hard part of the trip was saying goodbye to the Taylors. It is so hard every time we have to leave them at the end of our trips. We love them like family, and we wish we got to see them more (although meeting up at Disney every few years isn't a bad place to get together)! We can't wait until next time!

Here is a clip of the Spectacle of Lights show at Hollywood Studios..it's pretty fun to watch...and way more impressive in person!

Middle Child Syndrome

Milt has pointed out to me that I never write posts about Kennedy, and that she is only included in posts and pictures with all of the kids (unless it's her birthday). So I thought, well what am I supposed to write about -- that she's always in Time-Out? Then I realized that I am spending all my time writing and taking pictures of the oldest and the youngest, and I am treating her like a forgotten middle child!

Now, I am a middle child and I LOVE it. Most people claim that the middle child in a family is the one that is always forgotten and ignored, but I just figured at least my parents didn't expect me to be perfect (like the oldest), or baby me (like the youngest). Both of my parents were middle children as well, so I always thought that made me more relatable to them (okay, so that may be a stretch, but it's more or less true.) But because of all this, I always planned to spoil rotten the middle children that I would someday have.

Fast forward to now. I have a middle child, and she is driving me CRAZY! Maybe it's because she is 2, or maybe it's just because we're too much alike (although I do not throw food or tantrums...very often). I have found myself following the very path that is such a cliche: I expect my oldest to be perfect, and I LOVE babying the baby (see previous post). Sooooo, how did this happen? Why, when I'm looking through the pictures I've taken recently, do I have such a hard time finding pictures of Kennedy all by herself? I am supposed to be spoiling her! So the last few days I've tried to focus on her cute moments (which do happen in-between tantrums), so that I can remember this lovely, joyful, 2-year-old stage of her life.

This is the Kennedy that makes us crazy at times: She is WAY more stubborn than I would ever admit to being (Milt says she gets it from me). She wants to get her way every second, and she has absolutely NO patience yet...but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will come. She screams whenever she wants something, and she is constantly beating up her older sister and her baby brother (when she consents to even coming near him...she's not a huge fan of him yet and I'm thinking it's repressed issues of him taking over her baby years too soon, but we'll see.)

But here is the Kennedy that cracks us up: She loves to make us laugh. Usually that comes from hanging food out of her mouth and making silly noises, but she loves getting us all smiling. She likes to mimic everything I say and do, and then she quirks her head sideways and gives me a "knowing" look to let me know that she's copying me. She doesn't talk a lot, but when she does, she says things so cute, like "Here go you" (for here you go), and "BIIIIIIG" when she wants more. But the best is when she says, "WHAAAAAAAT?" with a scowl on her face whenever she is woken up or interrupted from something.

Kennedy climbs everything and falls at least once a day (usually on her head), but she only cries if it REALLY hurts. Usually, she just lays on the floor with her eyes closed, hoping that no one will notice her mishap. Of course, she also closes her eyes when she's embarrassed or the center of attention around strangers, and I can totally relate. Who doesn't want to make everyone disappear when you feel uncomfortable? I think closing your eyes is brilliant!

She is actually much cleaner and neater than other kids her age. This may result in an OCD future for her, but for now she CANNOT stand having dirty hands, and if she spills something it has to be cleaned up IMMEDIATELY (or she goes crazy!) And everything in her world has to be "just right" and put in its place before she can move on to the next thing. My mother will tell you that Kennedy DOES NOT get this from me (although she is obsessed with chocolate, and I'm afraid that probably does come from me.)

She dresses up in dress up clothes everyday. If I hide the dress-up clothes, then she takes off whatever I put her in and puts on McKinley's skirts or dresses (over and over if necessary, along with taking out any "hair stuff" I've attempted to put in). She has to wear her ruby slippers or dress-up heels at all times, and the only reason she even cares about going to "time-out" is that we make her take off her shoes first. I have great fears about her future shoe expenses! But it is pretty funny to see a girl in a full gown and high heels trying to climb counters and cabinets, and we see it everyday. A high-heeled rock-climbing future is ahead of us.....the girl has no bounds!

We really really love our Kennedy girl. Even if she looks like no one ever gets her dressed or does her hair, she's ours, and we ADORE HER! And I'm SURE that once she outgrows her 2-year old stage, she will be absolutely PERFECT, just like her mother (right Mom and Dad?)!

This is "pouty" Kennedy. We see this face often. And yes, she is wearing Maddox's jammies, because they were close at hand and they can wear the same size.

I took this picture because Kennedy was ADAMANT that Barbie (and not Ken) should be driving. She would not play with the car until I put Barbie in the driver's seat....that's my girl!

Here is Kennedy wearing McKinley's necklace and skirt...at one point in the day her hair was done and she had on pants and a sweatervest. I think the only reason she's still wearing the turtleneck is that she couldn't get it off herself. Two points to the turtleneck!

Kennedy pretending to be Sleeping Beauty. I love the lips puckered, waiting for her prince. Too funny!

Here is me and my Kennedy girl!

A Readin' Machine

I was watching McKinley walk home from the bus stop the other day, and I had to take a picture of her. She was reading "Charlotte's Web" the entire way from the bus stop (taking baby steps) so that it took her almost twice as long to walk home (but at least it gave me PLENTY of time to get my camera, and she never even noticed me!) I think it's great how much she loves to read...just like her mom (who prefers a book to doing laundry any time -- just look at our overflowing laundry hampers!) This girl seriously LOVES TO READ!

I'm in love...with Maddox

Yes, I am absolutely smaltzy, gooey, head-over-heels in love with this little guy (and yes, Milt knows, and comments about it often). And today, he turned 1! I can't believe I don't have a baby anymore...but actually he hasn't been the size of a baby for quite some time now, so it's not as hard as I thought it would be. But he is actually 1 now, and I REALLY wish I could find some way to keep him from getting any older. HE IS PERFECT! He is so handsome, and sweet, and he has the best personality (this is where Milt starts reminding me that Maddox looks just like HIM, and why am I not gooey over him anymore?) But Maddox is absolutely the best! I had no idea that having a baby boy would be like this! He just makes me so happy all the time, and I don't want him to ever be a tantrum throwing 2-year-old, because he is just too sweet now!

We had a fun little family birthday party with presents and cake, and surprise, surprise, guess what was Maddox's favorite part? THE CAKE! Now, when McKinley turned 1, it took her almost 45 minutes to finish her ONE piece of cake, and she daintily ate it with like one finger (which prompted her Uncle Roger to "help" her by smearing it around her face, which we luckily caught on video). When Kennedy turned 1 and had her first piece of cake, she was so tired she just ate a little bit and wouldn't even finish it because she wanted to go to sleep (boy have times changed for her!) But Maddox, oh no dainty eating here. He was MADE to eat cake. In fact, he had not one, but TWO pieces of cake, and probably could have downed the entire pan in about 5 minutes had we given him the chance. I swear, it's going to take everything we have to keep him from entering Competitive Eating Competitions! He'll probably be a natural!

Maddox LOVED his cake...see video below!

Maddox and his girls getting ready to open presents

Some things about Maddox: His favorite room in the house is definitely the pantry, and I find him in there ALL the time! He is always knocking everything off the shelves in there, and he has TWICE gotten into the Crystal Light packages enough to actually eat the powder! The boy has major skills! And let's face it...the chub legs are somehow the cutest things ever on a baby!

Maddox in his "happy place" -- the pantry!

Here is Maddox after the eating the Crystal Light...what a cute sour face!

Maddox ALWAYS has a sock off, and usually it is in his mouth (just hanging there). In fact, if he does not have a sock in his mouth, he probably has something else in there, like a toy or a Barbie shoe, or a pretzel!



He is forever being attacked with "dress-up" stuff by his sisters. Poor kid. We always take pictures too, but so far, he just loves the attention!



His favorite person in the world is his Mommy (although he does like his dad quite a bit too)! He just lights up whenever he sees me, and it melts my heart! I'm such a sap for this boy!

Here's a fun video of Maddox eating his first piece of Chocolate cake ever...enjoy!

Thanksgiving art

Happy Thanksgiving from McKinley and all of us! We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Eating everyone!

The 'ol Thanksgiving Program

Milt and I got to go and see McKinley and all of the 1st graders at her school in their Thanksgiving program yesterday, and it was so cute! Seriously, it's the kind of thing that should be cheesy, but as a parent, it was the cutest thing ever! They did the "ABC's of Thanksgiving," of which McKinley ws the "H" and memorized her part very well. Then they sang a bunch of songs, most of which were very funny and included a Thanksgiving rap-song, which was all about getting stuffed eating, watching football, and being with lots of cousins you don't see very often...it was quite good! And we even remembered the video camera, so we felt like the "good" parents! We usually forget it, and then wonder why we even have it!

After the program, McKinley got to show us where she eats lunch everyday and we got to sit at the short little tables to eat our refreshments. Then we got to visit the library and see her classroom and everything. It was very fun! McKinley is such a great girl, and we loved getting to spend time with her and see all of the fun places she loves at school! I totally remember doing things like this in when I was little, and it was so much fun to see how much McKinley enjoys school. She is seriously one smart cookie!

McKinley with her "H" sign

A close-up of McKinley (sorry it's kinda fuzzy)

McKinley with her friends Bella and Aamnah after the play

Me and McKinley sitting at her lunch table

Clothes, books, and flab, oh my!

McKinley got to wear Red, white, and blue for Veteran's Day today for school, so we got patriotic and all the kids got to join in. And what kind of mother would I be for not taking pictures? THEY ARE COLOR COORDINATED, PEOPLE! Besides, I think this is the first time all week Kennedy hasn't stripped down and just worn dress-up clothes or skirts of McKinley's (often only half-dressed), so it is sort of an accomplishment for me when she's actually wearing her own clothes. Moms whose children are regularly dressed should deserve some sort of award.

This week we've been hanging out at home and trying to keep life simple. I've been making great use of the LIBRARY! Yes, you heard right Saratoga Springs friends! A LIBRARY (actually, multiple libraries!) This is HUGE, because where we used to live, there wasn't one and I was (am) a little bitter about it. So I'm trying to get my money's worth out of the libraries here (which are free), and I'm making up for lost time! I'm so excited!

Also, McKinley got Maddox his pajamas tonight, and Milt put them on without realizing he might have grown. No, not up....mostly OUT! This boy just ROCKS the Britney Spears t-shirt look! And I just cannot get enough of him! He has to be the happiest little guy ever...plus who doesn't love a little extra chub around the middle? On a baby, that is...

Anyway, enjoy the pictures. He's a handsome little fellow!

Here's our little ball of tub and his abs of steel (his stomach is actually quite hard after he eats...it must be the food in there!)

Halloween Day

October is over, and so are all the fun times we had with my parents while they were visiting. They left the morning after Halloween, and we had a fun-filled time with them while they were here! On Halloween, we took my dad down to Valley Forge for a picnic lunch, since he didn't get to go with us last time, and it was the most beautiful day! The weather warmed up just for Halloween, so it was blue skies and light jacket weather along with the beautiful fall colors. Then we raced back to see McKinley in her costume parade at school and get ready for trick-or-treating. Kennedy really got into it this year...she's pretty much game for anything involving candy. And McKinley LOVED getting her face painted to look just like Mulan (hmmm...don't look to close. It was my first face-painting experience, and I'm not sure how well it turned out)! So we had lots of fun, but we are now missing having company. It was fun to see Nana Betty and Papa Kirby since we've missed them so much! Anyone else want to visit Pennsylvania anytime soon? We'd love to see you!

My Dad with Maddox at Valley Forge

My mom reading the inscription on a statue of someone who isn't George Washington (I can't remember his name...apparently these educational experiences aren't sinking in like I'd hoped).

McKinley dressed up as "Mulan" on Halloween

Kennedy was our little Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader this year (luckily the Eagles fans out here looked past the star and gave her candy anyway...we were a tad worried for her saftey!) But we did find the one other Cowboys fan in the neighborhood, so Milt is not alone!
Maddox wearing Mommy's Pippi-tails with his BYU football jersey for a minute. We figured since he already has the football belly and the jersey, being a football player was a no-brainer costume for him

Kennedy and McKinley with Mommy before Trick-or-Treating

Twentysomething

Because of the differences in the school grade cut-off dates in each state, I was in the wrong grade from 5th grade on. I was the very youngest person in my classes at school until graduation. I didn’t mind it too much, but it wasn’t super great either. I was the last one get my drivers license and I was over a year younger than a lot of my friends. Well, I've been thinking that it is finally going to pay off because this is the year that my friends from school are all turning 30, and I just turned 29. That’s right….I’ve got a whole nother year of being in my 20s.

But now the problem is that it’s starting to sound cool to be 30. You know, cause 30 is the new 20 and all that. Am I always going to feel behind (or will I finally be vindicated when I’m turning 49 and everyone else is 50?) That sounds better! Maybe someday it'll be good to feel young. Anyway….I am finally 29! Yea! Only one year to go!

Me with my favorite birthday treat....dipped apples from my new favorite place out here, Zwahlen's. My mom even put a candle in one of them for me to blow out!

Propaganda

Before we moved we knew that our kids would be affected by moving to a new area, but we really weren’t expecting McKinley to be influenced by the locals here quite as quickly.

I remember the day that McKinley came home from school outraged because she had to wear “Phillies” colors to school the next day for their class fieldtrip (so everyone would be in matching colors). She said that she told her teacher, “but I don’t like the Phillies. I like BYU!” So we explained to her that it would be okay and that the Phillies will never play against BYU, so you can actually like more than one team if you want (which was a much more complex issue than I thought it would be to explain to a 6 year old!) She was hesitant at first but she kind of went with the flow and has been wearing Phillies colors on game days for the last few weeks with the other kids at school. And every night before a game their teacher would have them write “Go Phillies” in their homework booklet, along with making Phillies banners in class. And she would excitedly tell me, “Mom! The Phillies won their baseball game yesterday!” In fact she got to wear a baseball cap to school one day, and when she wore her “Y” hat, a bunch of the kids thought it was a “Yankees” hat. When I asked her whether or not that was a good thing, she said, “No, WE don’t like the Yankees.”

So we thought she had been completely brainwashed and had totally conformed to being a Philly Fan. Until today. This morning I went into her room and told her that the Phillies had won the World Series and asked, “Aren’t you so excited?” She looked up and said, “Well Mom, I don’t REALLY like the Phillies, but when I’m at school, it’s just better if I say that I do.”

Yikes! She sure has learned some survival techniques. And while I might like to see her stick up for what she really thinks, it was pretty funny to see that she’s realized how to keep her friends happy and still think her mind. That’s our girl...the little diplomat.

And in case anyone is wondering, it has been really really cool to live here for the World Series and to see how excited everyone has been about winning. It’s nice to see happy Philly Fans (because everyone knows that it’s not a pretty thing to see when they are NOT happy!)

Our little Philly Fan

(and yes, she totally made this face without any prompting from me whatsoever...I just wanted her to hold her banner for the picture!)

McKinley's finally lost it...twice!

McKinley has been feeling like the LAST first grader ever to have not lost a tooth. But lo and behold, she lost her first tooth on Tuesday and then her second one on Thursday! She even let me pull both of them out, with no tears...a miracle! Of course, she had very specific ideas about the Tooth Fairy (where do kids get this stuff?) so we kind of followed her lead. In fact, she told us that her friend Emerson says that the Tooth Fairy is very good for the first few teeth, but once you get to number 7 or 8, it sometimes takes a couple days before she comes. I love it! Good to know that the Tooth Fairy has limitations too (and that children can be very understanding at times!) But we think it's darling to hear McKinley talk now with her little lisp, and she is so happy to have a holey smile!

Tooth #1

Tooth #2

Valley Forge

We went to Valley Forge last weekend while my mom is here, and it was the most beautiful place ever! The leaves are all such bright colors this time of year, and we took a ton of pictures (a good number of them of trees, rather than the children!) It kind of made up for not getting to drive up the canyon in Utah to look at the fall colors, which was an annual tradition. But they definitely have fall colors here, so we made the most of them!

We got to eat lunch at the most beautiful spot right next to the Washington Memorial Chapel and we had so much fun playing in the leaves afterwards. It is so crazy to know that this is just down the road from us, so we'll have to go back and visit even more. We totally looked like tourists with how many pictures we were taking, even though we live right here. In fact there was so much to do that we could never have seen everything, so we just took it easy and saw what we could. We figure we can go back again whenever we want! Here are some of the (many) pictures:

Eating lunch outside the Washington Memorial Chapel

Another angle showing where we ate lunch. You can kind of see Milt sitting at our table down at the bottom of this picture (sorry, it's a little dark). But isnt it amazing? It was so quiet that we almost felt like the only people in the world.

Playing in the leaves after lunch

Here are some of the many deer that just wander around (they don't even run away from people...they just ignore everyone)

This is all of us overlooking what we assume is the "valley" part of Valley Forge
Some of the many pictures of trees I was busy taking...the colors were amazing!