Gingerbread Houses

We made graham cracker houses today. We even had leftover candy from Halloween to use. The kids had a great time. Eden, especially, thought it was too good to be true. The kids made the houses by themselves. Andrew filled the whole inside of his house with candy too. I made the mistake of doing this before dinner, though it isn't much worse than the cookie dinner we had last night. I made the kids brush their teeth extra long tonight.

Anna's Lost Tooth

Her first tooth is gone! She is so excited and got a dollar from the tooth fairy. She left her wallet next to her tooth. I'm still smiling about that. I can't believe she is old enough for this. I still think of her as my baby.

Eden

Eden loves to read books, especially Dora books. And Eden loves her daddy. And she misses him. We got to see him for Thanksgiving and when he left, she fell to the floor and started yelling, "go get me my daddy!"

Blogging

I don't blog enough. Or journal enough. And when I look at other blogs I feel guilty and a little lazy. So a bit of an update:

1. Anna lost a tooth last week. Her first one. She left her wallet by her tooth underneath her pillow.
2. We saw Santa today and Eden was terrified. I said, "ho, ho, ho" and she said, "don't do that!" I had to reassure her that Santa was stuck in his seat and couldn't get out. When we went to our ward Christmas party tonight she said quite a few times, "Santa not here."
3. Andrew is playing Angels We Have Heard on High in church tomorrow. I'm nervous for him.
4. Elizabeth fell asleep at the ward Christmas party with her legs tucked up all the way underneath her.
5. I did the full splits in yoga today.
6. Andrew is obsessed with chemistry. And says things like, "if this element is put under immense pressure then such and such happens." And then he tells me compounds and asks me to decode them. I'm useless. Luckily I still have lots I can teach him...like to make sure your shirt isn't tucked into your underwear.
7. Jeff took a job in Utah and I've been a single mom since Halloween. I've been grumpy.
8. Eden took her diaper off yesterday and peed on my bed. And Anna spilled almost a whole bottle of fluoride rinse in the bathroom. So last night I cleaned and did laundry.
9. Elizabeth won the kip, cast, back hip circle contest at gymnastics and got a stuffed animal.
10. If you ask Eden where daddy is, she says, "in the computer."
11. When Eden asked if she could play with Mia today and I told her Mia was in Utah, she panicked.
12. Eden can sing most of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
13. Eden asks me loudly, while pointing at people, "what is that?"
14. I broke my brand new blender, chipped the tile on my counter top and sliced open my hand.

That is all I can think of. Someday I will post pictures.

Piano Recital

Andrew did awesome at his piano recital. He played A Warlike Dance by Kabalevsky. He is playing at Junior Festival in November as well as a Kevin Olson recital. Andrew has a new teacher this year and she means business. He has an hour lessons once a week and an hour theory class once a week with other kids. The next youngest kid is in the 7th grade. He really enjoys it. He tells me regularly how much he enjoys going to lessons.

Hair

Every once in a while I have hair success. I enjoy doing hair, especially when I am not under duress. Elizabeth wants to grow her hair to her butt. Eden, on the other hand, holds her hands on her head and says, "I don't want it."

I love this picture of the kids at the piano. My kids love singing Primary songs and Andrew can accompany perfectly on the piano.

Anna's Violin

Since Andrew has piano, and Elizabeth has gymnastics, I thought I would sign Anna up for violin lessons. She has tried piano and gymnastics and we are still trying to find something that she can be really good at. And I can't have another gymnast and I don't have patience to teach another pianist. I can see why people stop at 2 kids. Eden is going to have nothing.

Anna is doing great. She has had 2 lessons and is enjoying having something all to herself.

Fall Break

We've had over a week off of school. My kids are enjoying each other.

Eden

"I cleaning, mama."

School

I have a love/hate relationship with TCA. 16 kids to a class, uniforms, and half-day Fridays. Driving to/from school, ridiculous rules that stress out my children, and no differentiating in the curriculum. But we stuck with it for another year. Barely.
Anna makes for a very cute Kindergartener. She has a neighborhood friend in her class and she is enjoying school. She is growing up way too fast.

Andrew Playing The Piano

Click here to listen to Andrew playing "Fur Elise".

Click here to listen to Andrew play "I Am A Child of God".

Fox Run

We went to Fox Run Park today for FHE and a picnic after church. The kids were in heaven. Eden was soaked and thought it was hysterical that the dogs were swimming (goggies, wimming). Eden is our water baby. She showers and bathes a couple of times a day and when we go swimming, I have to pull her from the bottom of the pool at least 25 times. No fear. The kids ate Cheetos before the pictures...

Sisters

These girls are lucky to have each other. They are girly and love to wear lip gloss, change their earrings, and wear nail polish. Anna is 5 now and Elizabeth is a few weeks away from 7. This picture shows Elizabeth's "pumpkin teeth," as one of her gymnastics coaches calls it.

Spring Sports

Spring sports in Colorado can be painful. And this year was no exception. We were always cold and shivering. The last games were warm and very windy. The goal blew away during one of the games. Andrew had a great season. He plays soccer every day at recess and loves to play defense. Andrew also did Landsharks and ran an 8:30 mile. Not bad.

Soccer

Anna loves soccer. And she scored lots of goals. She was lucky enough to be on a team with all of her friends.

Gymnastics

This girl has been promoted to a Level 4 in gymnastics. Level 5 is when she gets to start competing. She is a tough little person. She had to pass of a round off double back handspring on the floor, a straight-arm kip, and a handstand dismount off of the balance beam to move up. And she did it. We celebrated with Cold Stone.

Eden

Jeff moved out of the home office in December but today he is trying to work from home. Eden likes that daddy is home and doesn't want him to work. She says, "uh oh, stuck, there you go."

Braces

Andrew got braces on yesterday and is suffering a little today. The expander at the top of his mouth is driving him nuts and he told me he ate only a quarter of a chicken nugget for lunch at school yesterday. He makes a really strange sound after eating anything, including applesauce and other soft foods, to try to clear the food from the expander. Fun. I also get the pleasure of sticking a key into the expander once a night for 24 days. We are grateful for orthodontia, a great orthodontist, and a good tax return.

Stawberry Shortcake

Eden was recently called Strawberry Shortcake with a comment about how cute she is. She really is very cute. Talking non-stop. "Bye-bye, see-ya," she says to everyone as they leave. It makes me laugh. She attracts attention from strangers and demands it from me and her daddy. I like the picture of her on the table eating Sunday dinner. She pulls her high chair over to the table, asks to get in, and then climbs over onto the table and helps herself.

Puppy-Sitting

We are taking care of Friday for 8 days for the Egberts. Last year it was her 4 children, this year it is her puppy. The kids love the dog and have big plans to surprise the Egberts with a trained dog. They find it hysterical that he pees every time Jeff and I walk anywhere near him.

Yogurt

Eden likes to feed herself. She finds lots and lots of pleasure in using a spoon or fork and is adamant that she be allowed to do so.