1st Ward Christmas Party

Eric and Charles after the play


Eric kneeling by the baby Jesus

A surprise visit from Santa and his elves!!

Katie getting her candy cane from Santa's elf.

Silent Night

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. It was a fun night out with the family. Dessert and a show. How can you beat that? Eric was a Shepard in the play. He was quite excited to don the Shepard's cloak and carry a cane. Charles was supposed to be a Shepard too, but the minute they put the costume on him he refused. He's so picky about what he wears! It was a nice way to help us remember the birth of Christ and the sacrifices and hardships of Mary and Joseph. Merry Christmas.

Elf on the Shelf

Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf? The author started this tradition with her family in the seventies and she has since written a book that comes with a stuffed elf. The story is about how Santa sends his elves to check on the boys and girls to see who is naughty and who is nice. Each night mom and dad hide the elf in a different place. Your kids are to believe that he leaves for the North Pole to report to Santa and when he returns he hides in a different place. I think this will be one of our new Christmas traditions. Check out http://www.elfontheshelf.com/ to see more. Visit the North Pole and Hall of Registry. You can find recipes and craft ideas.

Once I get started...

So, this last week I moved the boys downstairs. They got a bunk bed last weekend. Dean set it up downstairs in the guest room because there wasn't enough space in their room. Now this meant that I had to empty out the closets downstairs and move almost everything from their room upstairs down to the basement. It was a pain in the you know what. I couldn't stop at just moving the boys downstairs. Since the guest room has to be upstairs now I thought I would move Katie into the boys old room and make Katie's room the guestroom. I have boxes and boxes of baby clothes all over that need to be put away. I can't bring myself to get rid of all those cute baby clothes. For the most part everybody is settled in their new bedrooms. There are just odds and ends that need to be put away or better yet thrown away (or donated). Once I start moving things around I have a hard time stopping. Now that everything is moved around I feel like I need to paint, get new curtains, new bedding, some storage bins and the list continues.

And the winner is...

Eric came home from school yesterday happier and so much more excited than I've seen him all year, and with good reason. The PTA held a writing contest for the school. The kids were to write a make believe story. He wrote about the way his bedroom would be if he had it his way. Eric was awarded a gold medal for his story! The way he smiled and talked about winning this medal was as if he had won a real Olympic gold medal. I told him I would write a post and put his picture on my blog. Great job Eric!!!

Who made the mess?

Sunday evening I came home from our primary presidency meeting to the smell of blueberries in the boys bedroom. I looked down and there was an open bottle of shampoo spilled on the carpet. I immediately called for Charles (this has Charles written all over it). He said it wasn't him, it was Katie. I could believe that. Katie has become increasingly interested in the contents of closed bottles. I started scrubbing the carpet, making the mess worse because its now becoming a thick lather. Dean came to help and said "you have a soaking wet girl downstairs." Eric was in the shower and Katie decided to join him in her shirt, diaper and shoes. She had a fit when I took her out and removed her wet clothes and shoes. Dean cleaned the carpet and now the room has a lovely scent. Thanks for helping Dean.

Halloween

I have always loved Halloween. As a kid I couldn't wait until after dinner when mom would let us put our costumes on and go trick or treating. I remember my family and the Signs family loading into a car and mom and Sherry driving us all over town. We always came home with so much candy and had such a great time. I want my kids to have the same fond memories that I do. This year the boys were mummies. I bought some old sheets from the thrift store and tore them into strips. Dean wrapped Eric and I wrapped Charles. They were quite cute. We didn't take into consideration getting into a car and driving to the church and the costumes still being intact. After walking around for a bit Eric started loosing pieces of sheet all over the parking lot and Charles was tripping on his loose ends. Katherine was an adorable pumpkin who wandered around and did her own thing. There was a car with music playing and a cooler with dry ice and root beer to drink that held her attention for most of the evening. By the time we left the boys were all but unraveled so we called it a night.