Christmas Dresses

Here are the girls in their holiday dresses.  Levi fell asleep on the way home- so his cute little outfit will have to be documented another day....

Christmas

Christmas Eve- new jammies

Everyone got just what they wanted....

New dollies

A new buddy

A new big-kid toy

No pictures of my presents because I was taking pictures.... I got a new camcorder and a dress (that I can't yet try on- so hopefully it fits!)

Christmas Cookies

We had to make cookies for Santa....

Levi was caught red handed....

He spent more time trying to eat than decorate. Wouldn't have been so bad if he'd have finished a cookie before grabbing another one.

SANTA!

We got to see Santa a couple weeks ago.  The girls were thrilled- Levi not so much. 
Maija asked for an American Girl doll....

Brielle asked for a Beanie Baby (What she really means to say is a "Bitty" Baby- or a baby doll)

Levi was too busy trying to squirm out of Santa's lap to ask for anything. 

Presents are bought and wrapped here- just need to do the holiday baking! Oh, And I guess I should think about cooking some kind of "real" meal for Christmas.  The poor kids have been eating out of a box or the freezer for a long time- Christmas probably warrants mom to actually be a real mom for a day huh? 

Christmas Programs

Brielle had a fun pre-school program.  She was very good at singing the words to the songs and had lots of fun being in "a show."

The very next night Maija had her First Grade program.  They did such a good job!  And she even got to go up on stage and be a "snow angel"  because she had been one of the extra special good listeners one day.  She loves performing.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Levi had his 2nd birthday on Thanksgiving!  I just love this little guy.  He is so funny lately and I love watching him explore and learn.  I especially love seeing him doing boyish things and playing with boyish toys!  He is a good little boy and listens and follows instructions very well.  If he would sleep at night, I would call him the perfect child. He is a little slow to talk, but communicates well with head nods, head shakes and the universal word "EH!" He LOVES his sister Maija.  He also likes his Mama quite a bit when it comes to babysitters or nursery- but I'll take that while I can get it- it may not last!

Levi had a Buzz Lightyear Birthday.  Every gift he got had some sort of Buzz on it.  He especially loves his true to size, "authentic" (thats what the box said) Buzz Lightyear toy.  He never gets tired of pushing the buttons and hearing Buzz talk. 

Snow!

If you want to call it that!  It "snowed" one morning right before Thanksgiving.  Maija spent most of the morning staring out the window and asking if she still had to go to school.  Yes, no snow day this time. 
My children get SO excited at the sight of snow.  I used to love it when it snowed too.  Then I moved away from it for 3 yrs and realized how NICE it is when it doesn't snow.  Am I depriving my children of a happy childhood for the sake of my own comfort?  :)

Grandma came

My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving.  Despite all the fun we had, I must have been too lazy to take many pictures, because this is all I got....

BUT I LOVE IT!  Because, when Grandma comes, I don't have to comb hair!  She always does the girls hair and does it so well it holds for 2 days. 

AND I remember sitting just like this when I was little, getting my hair done.  I wish I had a picture like this with ME in it. 

Halloween!

Of course I have to join the ranks of mommies doing the obligatory Halloween costume post today.


Maija was Princess Tiana

Brielle was "Ariel when she was a mermaid" (As opposed to Ariel when she wasn't a mermaid....people might get confused you know....)

Levi was a frog, but he wouldn't wear the head part of the costume.  He was supposed to be a frog prince to go along with Maija's costume....but I didn't want to sew anymore.  He was awesome at Trick or Treating.  After collecting all sorts of candy- Dad took the girls to a haunted house- which was, according to Brielle, "only a little bit scary."

Happy Halloween!

New Toy!

Dad built a new sandbox.  We had one in Albuquerque that the girls loved to play in.  Ben doubled the size this time.  It might take us a little while to fill it full of sand.  All 3 kids LOVE playing in the sandbox.  We are having a few lessons about brushing off your clothes before coming in the house.  :)

Come over and play!

Love this place....

Have I told any of you how much I love my house?  Especially the location.  Sure, there aren't other kids to play with, and we are the furthest out in our ward- but I LOVE seeing this each time I pull into the driveway (which is about 4 times a day)

I don't think I will ever tire of my red trees.  They get so bright- I've never loved fall so much!

We also have some friends here that have been living with us.....under the deck

Finished!

I finally finished this quilt I've been working on for Ben's neice Ashley.  I loved the pattern and wanted to try it out- and then I fell in love with this fabric.  It was quite the project- but I'd say not too bad for my FIRST real quilt!

( I know the picture is sideways- but that is the way its supposed to go anyway- so I'm not going to fix it.)

What are YOU working on?

SPAIN

OK- So we started out our trip in Barcelona.  So cool!  Fun city with lots of cool winding neighborhoods.  It was hot, and we were terribly jet-lagged.  But we all paid $12 for a nap on a harbor cruise and were good to go! 
Lunch at a Tapas Bar  (Spanish a la carte)

Harbor at Barcelona

A favorite walkway in Las Ramblas neighborhood

The first of MANY churches we saw- this one was enormous!

Gaudi's unfinished cathedral (yes there is scaffolding and such, because it has yet to be finished. Impressive nonetheless)

Montserrat- a monestary in the "serrated mountains."  If you go during school, the boys choir performs each day, which I'm told is the highlight.

Terragona ( and Gelato!)

Cadeques- on the Mediterranean- Much like how I'd imagine Greece

Stay tuned for France! 

I love this girl!

I just came across these pictures from the 4th of July.  She fills my days with smiles and giggles!
Its so hard to get mad at her because she is so happy and, of course, she looks at you with those EYES!

Toothless

Finally time to play catch-up....

Maija lost her first tooth while staying at Grandma's house!  She had a little help from her Aunt Jessie, the dental expert and was so excited to finally go home to Oregon so the tooth fairy could find her. 

She lost the one next to it a week after we got home, though I think it was premature.  She and Brielle were playing tug-of-war with a pillowcase using thier teeth. 
She is RICH now from all her tooth fairy visits!

Long Time Coming.....

OK- SO I know I was gonna post pictures of our awesome Europe trip and Ashley's wedding and the quilt I made and the beach and all the fun stuff we have been doing....

BUT....

I was looking at all these pictures and decided I can't post ANY of those, without first posting this.....

Because you all would have thought it after seeing the pictures anyway.  :)

AND we had our ultrasound today.  Ben and I were convinced it was a boy.  How perfect!  A boy to be a buddy to Levi and share a room with Levi (since we don't have any other rooms....)  We only talked about boy names and I've only been looking at baby boy clothes.

but, we were WRONG.

ITS A GIRL!!!

And we are still excited and that is still PERFECT! 

Due Jan 9, 2011

NOW I can post other pictures without you all speculating in your mind..... 

EUROPE baby!

Here we are. Day six in Europe. So far we've seen Barcelona, cadaques, tarragona in Spain and collioure, Carcassone and Lourdes in France. Having a wonderful time seeing the sights and eating the food. OH THE FOOD!
Ben is starting a bike tour today.
I have yet to find a wireless connection that will allow me to upload any pictures, but when I do, I'll be sure to give a preview of our awesome pics (if I'm not doing, or eating, something much cooler)
Thank you to the babysitters!

These guys make me happy

I love it when I find all 3 of them snuggled up together.  This was a rare morning with everyone home, still running around in the jammies....

Future Chef

Levi's favorite thing to do in the kitchen is find the oven mitts in the drawer and wear both of them around the house.  Its not worth it unless he has BOTH on.  And yes, I realize my anti-heat attire for the kitchen is severely lacking in trendiness and style....

Maija Performs

Maija has been busy!  She marched with her gymnastics exhibition group, Rising Stars, at the parade during Memorial Day weekend.....

She had a special year-end kindergarten singing show where she performed right in front of us....

And she danced as a fairy in her dance recital this last weekend....

She loves being able to do all these fun things!