For Grandma Ruby

Thought you would enjoy these pictures Grandma Ruby!! The kiddos love the gifts!

 The girls are performing on their music station all day long!!

Knitting!

It was almost a year ago I decided to finally take a class and learn to knit. I am soo glad I did. I just love it and it gives me something to do when I am waiting in waiting rooms, watching TV, hanging out at playdates, and listening to speakers at various places like Mops and church. Yes, I actually focus much better if I am knitting. I just need something to do with my hands I think. I used to doodle all over my papers when I was in school. Anyway, this little tank top took FOREVER. Little needles and small yarn. But I love how it turned out. She was supposed to wear a plain shirt under it but ended up with the birdie shirt...oh well...you get the idea!

Christmas!

Christmas was so fun! I think it is as fun for the parents as the kids! Scott and I were up early waiting for them to wake up. And waiting. And waiting! Finally one by one they got up. They were thrilled to discover that Santa really had come this year, once again, despite all the threats during December that he would only come if......

They each got a playmobil toy! Scott and I literally then spent almost the entire day putting the toys together! Sooo many pieces!

Stockings! So much fun. They got various craft items and small toys.

That night we went to Dan & Becky's for dinner and gingerbread making.

Big Avery and "Baby Avery". Avery also has a little sister Ruby. Our kids adore these kids and were thrilled to get to spend Christmas with them!

 Classic surprised face. I love it when I capture these faces when they are opening gifts!

Christmas Eve Treasure Hunt

Last year I put together a treasure hunt for the kiddos on Christmas Ever where they all found a Pillow Pet at the end. Of course, they remembered the treasure hunt and asked me what they would be getting this year. So I kept my eye out for a little something that was all the same, but different. Well the day after Thanksgiving I found a great deal on Cozy Hugs. They are stuffed animals that you heat up in the microwave and they release a lavender aromatherapy. So they are warm to snuggle with and also scented. The kiddos love them, the only thing is, it now adds one more thing to the little's bedtime routine. Heating up their cozy. But that's OK. They love them!

We also went to church Christmas Eve and then out for Chinese food. Yummy! Then home to put out cookies for Santa and sprinkle reindeer food outside on the lawn. I love that they still believe in Santa, but are no longer terrified of him!

American Girl Christmas Party

Drinking Hot Cocoa out of the tea party mugs Grandma and Grandma Ruby have bought through the years!

This year I decided to do a Christmas party for the girls with their American Girl Dolls. They each have a couple friends that they like to play American Girl Dolls with, so I thought it would be fun. I will just caption each of the multitudes of photos below to explain. I knew Grandma Ruby and "Regular" Grandma and Claudia would enjoy these! I hope the rest of you do too!

Avery and her friend Ava

We had a hair salon set up for the girls to do their doll's hair.
This is Hailey helping Ava.



Each girl made some hair clips for her doll and a princess wand, and a bracelet.
Notice "Lizzie" with her new hair clip and wand!



Star cookies that Grandma made!
Mini cupcakes and mini fancy cakes!

Hair Salon above with photos from Hailey and Karis' trip to the store.
Each girl got a little star bucket I made to take home their new doll accessories.
We also used mini cups to drink a pink drink out of and
tea party cups for cocoa. These cups are very special to Hailey because
Grandma Ruby bought them!

I took each girl's photo with her doll and will give them each
one as a memory from the party.

Making hair clips

Making more clips and bracelets. The bracelets ended up being
quite challenging! Thankfully my friend Mary assisted!

Each girl decorated a plate of miniature cookies for her doll to take home.

So much cuteness! What a fun day!
I'm already planning the Easter party with miniature baskets and
eggs for them to let their dolls hunt for!
I love having Girls!

(Don't worry....Scott was with Alex doing a fun "boy" activity!!

More Christmas Fun

We have had such a busy, fun month already! Karis participated in the First Grade Teddy Bear Parade. Once again, I hope Hannah got better pictures than me! Why is this the only one I have? You can tell that the children were quite enthralled with the float she made that had a throne for her bear to sit on! What a fun, cute parade this was. I remember when I used to teach thinking how much fun school is for kids and how excited I was for mine to get to go to school. And now here we are!

Another little tradition. Every year, I let each child choose a Christmas cookie they would like to bake with me. It is lots of messiness, but lots of fun. I have not been good about  taking pictures lately! I only have 50% of my children and their baking here! Hailey made oreo truffles with Scott. Karis made thumbprint cookies with our homemade peach jam from this summer, since she loves peach jam. Avery made fudge! And Alex made spritz!

Last week Grandma also came to visit. And I have no pictures!!! I guess we were so busy shopping, going to Great Harvest Bread everyday, drinking coffee, and baking that I forgot! We had so much fun with her, but it was way too quick. She made all my Christmas cut out cookies for this week and the cupcakes for Karis' class party, and individual cakes for a cake walk we went to. It was so nice not to have to do all that baking! We also took the girls out of school one afternoon and went shopping while the wonderful Auntie Hannah was in charge of the preschoolers. It was a great visit! We love her so much and am so thankful she comes to visit us!

Christmas Stuff!

Here are the twinners all dressed up for Christmas in their Christmas outfits! Don't they look cute?!

 Just Kidding! And yes, they are wearing the same outfits they wore last year. They fit...so why not?!

I'm sure Hannah got some much better pictures than me, but here are the precious ones at their Preschool Christmas party. They were all so cute talking to Santa and Mrs. Claus that I was crying while taking the pictures. What is wrong with me??!!

Avery was so cute. She has now asked Santa for three different things though. At the mall she asked for a "Wizard Swap Bwacelet" (Lizard Slap Bracelet). In her letter to Santa she asked for the playmobil school house, and yesterday she asked for a Nintendo DS. Hmm....hope Santa can pull all that off.

Alex was super quiet with this Santa, however at the mall he asked for a watch, which was quite different from the Playmobil airplane he had asked for earlier. Next year, I am asking them to tell Santa what they want the day before Christmas, so we don't have all this mind changing! However, I have explained that sometimes Santa brings what he thinks is best!

Another funny thing I want to remember: Last week Alex was really wetting the bed. Like so soaked that it was up to his chin. Like multiple times going during the night in bed! I was finally like, "Alex....why are you wetting so much at night?" He goes, "It's all because of Christmas." I was like, "What?" So then he says, "You know...the song," and then starts singing, "He knows if you've been sleeping, he knows if you're awake..." Then he says, "If I get up to pee, Santa will think I'm not sleeping and won't bring me any presents." I tried so hard not to burst out laughing and then explain to him that Santa likes dry beds even better!

So Sweet

All of our kids have a deep sense of compassion for people who are homeless. In fact it is to the point that if we see a person with a sign asking for money, some of our kids will even cry if we don't give any to them. They worry about people who are homeless every time we see one. Scott and I have mixed feelings about giving money, although we do it. We usually give the kids the money and they take it up to the person. So one Sunday we decided to make bags. We filled them with protein snacks and then the kids all on their own decided to also put pictures they made in the bags. We keep the bags in the car. Now when we see a homeless person we give them a bag full of snacks. (Although I worry that the person is a little disappointed that we aren't giving them cash, but that's a whole other story.) The other day Avery brought me this picture and said, "This is for a homeless man. Next time we see him, he can have it." Brought tears to my eyes! What a sweetie she is!!

Party Like A Rockstar!

Bowling!

Bowling balls are heavy!

Both 5 now!

Yummy Birthday Cake!

Beaver hat from Auntie Rach!

An electric guitar! He's wanted one of these since last Christmas!
I see a Rock Star career in his future!

Alex is five! Wow.....five years old! His 2nd Birthday with us! So amazing! He had a rock star party with his neighbor boy friends and with Emmett. Had to limit the amount of boys he wanted to invite as the list was quite long and I wasn't up for 20 little boys running through the house. Then on his real Birthday Matt and Kristi were here. We went and had donuts in the morning and then went to a new family friendly (not smokey and gross) bowling alley here. He had a great time. Then we went out to dinner to a Hawaiian restaurant since he LOVES pulled pork and rice. After that we had cake. He had so much fun opening his presents and loved everything he got. He is the sweetest, funniest, greatest boy ever!!

Twin Stuff

Here's Avery in her new cute outfit that she got for her Birthday with her doll Lizzie. Not to be confused with the dark haired twin doll named Liz.

Here are our little twinners with their new Mickey and Minnie "stufties" as the like to call stuffed animals. They were quite shocked when they each received a letter from Mickey and Minnie with a little chart. The letters told them each if they could fill out all the boxes by accomplishing certain goals, that Minnie and Mickey would come to their house to live! It took over a month, but they both did it, and on the same day too. (Mommy didn't have to fudge on that at all to make it happen on the same exact day. She would never give one child a couple extra x's in the chart to make it work out that way. That would be too easy.) Anyway on the day the charts were complete, much to their surprise the doorbell rang. When they went running to see who was there, they were thrilled to find Mickey and Minnie! They now sleep with their stuftie every night. And Mommy almost never has to threaten to send them back for failure to comply with the rules. ☺

The Cuties

Karis just loves this picture of Stripes. "It's just the cutest picture in the world!" she said.

Here is our beautiful growing up girl! Our gorgeous Belle all dressed up for school!



And our adorable Karis Rach all ready to take on the day! I love that I can still coordinate the girlies outfits!
They like to pretend they are twins!



Halloween

Here's the littles before Preschool. And no you aren't seeing double, there are two Spider Mans!
Bet you can't guess which one is Emmett!

Hailey as a Dog

Karis as a Cat

Halloween was lots of busy fun. In fact, so busy that I forgot to take any pics of the girls, except these two! Darn it! It was getting dark and I didn't even get all of Karis' costume, which essentially was her Birthday outfit from Grandma.....the tutu skirt and cat shirt, and then the cat mask.

They all had parties at school, and then the Noel's came over for soup and trick-or-treating. Kiddos all got a ton of candy and had a great time. In fact, they went for 2 hours and kept wanting to go to all the "spooky, creepy" houses. Our neighborhood goes all out with lights and decorations, so it makes for a really fun time.

Bath Time Visitor

The kiddos were taking a bubble bath, when all of a sudden Tucker jumped in!! I yelled to keep him in until I could get the camera. Good times!

Tucker is a great little dog. Alex loves to give him treats and to snuggle with him. Here they are in the morning watching a show while Alex drinks his smoothie, sporting his necklace he made at Preschool. Cute!