More birthday pics...

Cooper got a small taste of the treats sitting in front of him and he was not satisfied.

"Please mom? Just one more taste?" How could I say no to those incredibly droopy cheeks and puppy eyes?

Jack was so excited to ride his bike and he had to get right over to Butch and Karen's house to show them. I love how all my kids are in their pajamas and flip flops outside in the middle of December. I also love how Madelyn is helping Jack with his first time on his bike. What a good big sister. December 19, 2011

The big reveal!

Jack has been asking Santa for a spider for Christmas...I don't know why, so when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he said a spider cake. Well, here it is and it was super fun to make.

Cody added the spinet parts...thank you. It's all in the details.

I thought it turned out so funny! Cody thinks the spider looks a little like Mr. T. Too funny!

Jack was so excited! He thought it was the best. It's these little moments that make staying up until two in the morning with Cody making it all worth it.

December 19, 2011

Jack-Jack's Three!

Jack woke up to a delicious cupcake just for him...for breakfast. "Mommy's great! She feeds us chocolate cake!"

Jack loves to blow candles out and we lit these candles over and over again. Then he decided he wanted to eat the cake.

Jack's been riding Hannah's old little pink bike through the summer, so we decided he might want a boy bike. He was so excited! Too bad it's absolutely freezing outside. I let him ride it around the house a little bit.

"Buzz Light Year to the rescue!"

The girls gave Jack a remote control car...his first one and he thought it was awesome!

Happy birthday Jack! December 19, 2011

Life with out homework,,,

Madelyn does not appreciate doing homework. If fact, it's quite a chore to get her to get it done. Today she came home and told me, "Mom, I wish I had a robot that would do my homework for me. It would use my exact hand writing so that no one would know I didn't do it." Makes sense to me. December, 14, 2011

Chocolate thief!

Our home teachers brought us over this box of chocolates and they didn't last long. I caught Jack helping himself to a little treat...one for each hand. He was too cute to take it away, so I let him enjoy. That's what Christmas is about, right? Stuffing our faces with chocolate? Sounds perfect! December 14, 2011

School programs

Kenadee, Madelyn and Mecka in the black and red dresses

Hannah in the red dress

While I enjoyed the show, Angela entertained Cooper. She is the best! Cooper was happy; he had a fist-full of hair.

The girls' classes sang some fun holiday songs for us. Madelyn's class memorized a pretty long poem and recited it for us as well. It was a nice holiday performance...and we're done with school for about three weeks...YAY!!! December 13, 2011

Dreaded family pictures...

So, every year we try to take a family picture and every year it's very stressful. It might be better if I hired someone to do it, but I can't justify it when I can take them. This is Cody's 'find a happy place' face. I didn't find that happy place today.

First: It's absolutely freezing outside. My fault...I had to get rid of some of the 'I just had a baby' look, so we had to do in the middle of winter.

Second: Jack decided he did not want to take pictures, so while we are all smiling, holding our shivers in, Jack is scowling, crying, pouting. So, here we are trying to cheer him up. It didn't work. I finally lost my patients and pushed him right off my lap and he landed on his bum with a thud. Yes, it was a terrible mom moment, but it felt great.

Third: I finally got Jack happy to take a picture when Cooper lost it. Come on!

Amidst it all, we ended up with this and we are done with the dreaded family picture for one more year. It's funny how happy and perfect a picture can look, but behind the scenes, it's a whole different story. So if you're thinking right now that we look like such a happy, perfect family, we are...crazy, hectic moments and all. I love my family...they drive me crazy at times, but I love them just the same. December 10, 2011

Christmas Dance Recital

Hello make-up! Madelyn still just does her ballet class. This recital, they joined her class with the older ballet class. It looked nice, but Madelyn had about 20 seconds on stage. That was not worth my $35 costume fee. I was really disappointed, but she did a great job.

Her hair had to be in a tight bun. That was a project with her shorter hair.

Madelyn adores little Cooper. She runs in the front door from the bus everyday asking, "Where's Coops?" She gives a big sigh when I tell her that he's sleeping. She really is a great help with the baby. December 9, 2011

Piano Christmas Recital

Madelyn played "No Place Like Home For The Holidays" and did an excellent job. She is just really excelling in her piano. She now uses the pedal which really improves the depth of her playing. We are so proud of her. December 3, 2011

A Country Christmas!

Our ward party was nothing less than awesome! We had a mechanical bull (only for the kids...dang it!) and our kids loved it! They all seemed to know to put their hand in the air. We had a trick roper come perform who was amazing. He put on a school assembly style show involving the kids and was very entertaining. The food was awesome! They had Santa in a sleigh pulled by the big Clydsdale kind of horses in the parking lot giving rides...so cool. Madelyn and I came a little late from a dance recital, so we missed the horse rides, but we got to experience the rest of the party and it was well worth leaving the recital early for.

The cowboy turned the lights off and put on a show where he was covered in glow ropes. It was really fun!

Cowboy Jack

Hannah

Madelyn

Allen Davis took family pictures (can't post them-kodaks) that were really fun and he took one of Cody with Hannah and Jack with the sleigh. He's such a good guy. Good job 19th ward! December 9, 2011

The Humanitarian Center

For a Christmas service, the kids and I spent a few hours at the Humanitarian Center with my Aunt and Uncle (who are on an assigned mission there) and tied quilts and sanded blocks. It was a great experience for all of us.

Jack was assigned to sand blocks, but he saw all the big kids at the quilt and he wanted to do that instead...of course.

This kid (yes, he is about 24 and, sad to say, to me, that is a kid...man I'm getting old!) was so cute with Jack. He showed him how to pull the yarn and even gave him control of the SCISSORS! Jack loved cutting the yarn.

Madelyn and her cousin, Kenadee. They both can't wait to come back.

Our goofy clan! Hannah is so silly in every moment. December 6, 2011

The ugly...I mean cute...kid's tree.

The kids get their own tree...downstairs...that they have full control of. They love bright red, garland lights and every miscellaneous, homemade, scraggly, odds and ends ornaments they can find. They love it! and truth be told, I do to. It has so much more meaning than my pretty, untouchable tree upstairs. This year decorating the tree became a neighborhood project.

Jack and Hannah

Cooper and I sat back and watched the production. December 2, 2011

We must have got a new milk man.

Two boys...two completely different looks. December 2, 2011

Another cook in the house

Madelyn got a Microwave easy bake for her birthday and it's been really fun. Kenadee came over for a play date and the two girls created really cool dress cookies. Now could you get dinner going for me?

December 1, 2011

Thanksgiving trip to Montana

Cody decided to take the scenic route through West Yellowstone thinking we wouldn't have snow, but we had a lot of snow. The drive took a little longer because of it, but Cody got us there all in one piece. He is a great driver in the snow...few!

We always have to work a little bit to keep the kids happy on such a long drive...about ten hours with the potty breaks. This time Hannah got really car sick, so we stopped in Bozeman for a break. We decided to walk through Walmart and let the kids play with the toys. Hannah made it halfway through the produce section and threw up all over the floor. She did manage to miss herself, thank goodness. She was really embarrassed and I felt bad for her. Clean up on isle two! We purchased our stuff and dashed. When we got back in the car, Hannah was starving, so I fed her a lunchable which she threw up about five minutes later. It was a long two more hours to Billings, but we made it!

Jack was amazing on the drive. He entertained himself so well. All he needed was food, drinks and his motorcycle. I have no idea where little boys learn to do sound effects. His are so much better than mine.

The girls were so excited to see their cousins again. They get a long so well and my kids think Shaun's boys are super fun!

Preston and Jack are another story. They fought over everything! Preston's in the "everything is mine!" stage and Jack refused to share and protected Cooper and his things like they were gold. They are both super cute on their own, but together, they were a nightmare. Maybe in another two years they'll get a long better...we hope.

Dinner was, I must say, amazing! Gina and I did awesome! We had stuffing, bacon-wrapped Turkey (thanks to Shaun and Cody), a jello salad, yam souffle, homemade rolls, potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. DELICIOUS!

The two guys taste testing their turkey.

After dinner we did a whole lot of relaxing. Shaun and Cody...and Cooper...watched football. I loved how Cooper stretched his head around so he could see the TV. He really likes the TV.

Cody and Cooper fell asleep watching football.

The kids took over and played a lot of video games.

Hannah and Jack were kicked out of the big kid gaming. They played a little Nintendo by themselves and were completely happy even though they had no idea what they were doing.

Preston is so stinking cute! He ran around the house like he owned the place with his two fingers in his mouth the whole time. Cooper's been blessed with the same chipmunk cheeks that Preston has and I love it! Cody and I had a ton of fun with Shaun and Gina. We did a lot of shopping (with the kids at home...loved it!) and we just hung out. It was great! I did catch a bug on Friday night and was sick that night and all day Saturday, but it wasn't that bad and it made us stay an extra day, which was fun. Thanks Shaun and Gina for the fun trip and for helping us with our...my...dental problems. You're the best and we can't wait to visit again! November 21, 2011