Busy busy Busy

As always December has been crazy busy and super fun!

 I start with my swooning over this cute guy. I came upstairs and saw Laylah wrapped around him while he was playing the guitar and singing. Sigh.

 Then she climbed down and was staring, so he let her play a bit.

 We got to meet baby Aviana! Leilani and Tyler finally greeted their little girl. Such a cutie, and helped me get a fix before our little one arrives.

 Again, found him doing her hair while she smiled at him in the mirror. Love love him.

Those of you who know Laylah know that her favorite color is PINK! She loves anything pink, to wear, eat on, look at, play with etc. Well, her pink shirts were all dirty so I picked out this super cute shirt. Oh the whining, sad faces etc that were thrown at me :( Quite pathetic, and I'm a mean Mom for not letting her change... but seriously look at how cute she looked!

I finally got her to smile and laugh at me. 

 Maybe she was just tired because she fell right asleep in the car. And she Loved her BLUE shirt by the end of the day. Score 1 for Mom :)

 Normally she is dressed in a princess dress like this, or in various shades of pink. This cracked me up though. She climbed up on the counter to start picking at the sprouts. They are never left alone while they're sprouting. Maybe it's just my kids, but we have always given them healthy options and they really do like healthy food!

 The tree on the right was when my cute kids decorated it. I praised them and when they were busy... did it myself! Hopefully next year we can have 'Mom's' tree and the 'Kids' tree. I always thought my Mom was silly for having her own and using all her pretty ornaments that were placed so specifically.... well I am my Mother's daughter! Things have to be evenly spaced etc or it drives me crazy! :)

 A few projects I was able to fit in were 1- Valances above the two doors in my kitchen, 2- finished some things above my cabinets 3 - Decorated above my entertainment center (surrounding was still a mess as we were switching out for Christmas decor) 4 - My Christmas arrangement. Simple and sparkly.

 This was really funny to watch happen over a few minutes time. Neither of them seemed bothered, they just move around whacking each other until they are comfortable.

 Our ward Christmas party was Fabulous! The Santa was hands down the best I've ever met. He was FUNNY! He teased Kyle for a minute and many others there. He had a great voice and had all the kids gather around to sing and listen to the stories.

 The best part was after he ended the Santa story he talked to everyone about the best gift of Christmas being the love of the Savior. Then when the kids came up he gave them a little hug, candy cane and posed for a picture. Never did he ask what they wanted. Loved him.

 Something that was fun for me to see was how the nativity was moved daily, but each day it was always arranged with Mary and Joseph side by side and everyone else facing baby Jesus.

 I did apples again this year. Kyle thought I was nuts, but doing it with Casey and only doing 2 batches made it super doable. However I was kinda down for the rest of the day.

 This girl is a DANCER. She loves to TWIRL and shake her bum. I love watching it. If she is supposed to be cleaning or eating or doing anything and there is music on, she will always be distracted and start shaking it or spinning. Kalel likes to join her too, but he jumps and slides instead of twirling and shaking.

This was his face when he told me, Gross Mom! There are skunk molecules in my nose! So funny. Smart smart kid.

 Lots of shopping trips were taken this month. The kids decided to relax and enjoy the ride.

 December 8, 32.5 weeks. My belly is so ROUND!

 One of the only things that didn't get taken off my project list this month was this felt nativity I made for the kids.

Not the best picture of it, but you can see the idea. They like it and it was another fun way to keep the focus on Christ. 

My little diva in her pink tights crossing her legs, love it!

 December 14, 33 weeks

 I was very tired and wanted to lay down. Laylah wanted to clean my feet, brilliant. so they each had their water (which I had to instruct be dumped out and replaced with warm water!) and they cleaned my feet and legs. We were all happy. Oh and Kalel kept telling me that Dad would love how clean I was for our date that night :)

 That night we got to go with my parents to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. It was amazing, Loved it. And it was about time I got to see my hubby. By the way, he's a hottie and I love that dimple!

 This kid isn't too bad either ;)

I was brave this year and decided to do an 'activity advent countdown' again. Last year I neglected several days. But it has gone great this year! We have only missed 2 days this month and have been having lots of fun. I made it a bit easier so I wouldn't be overwhelmed. This picture was when we went for a walk with our 'lanterns' aka flashlights. The kids loved it, even if we didn't go far because it was freezing... don't let Kyle's attire fool you... freezing.

Thanksgiving and the rest of November

We were able to enjoy 2 Thanksgiving dinners this year! Kyle spent the morning playing his guts out. Basketball, dodgeball, etc. Then we had a nice dinner and small program. We left during dessert to go to my family's dinner.

 Singing at the Roberts' Thanksgiving party. The one of me on the right... that is me saying seriously Kyle, really? Why are you still pointing the camera at me!!!! ;)

 I couldn't find Kyle anywhere so I decided to go listen to some of the talents by myself, that's when I found this... Creepy. Since when did we do Thanksgiving at the morgue? Kyle and his brothers, Kevin & Todd. 

 Then I looked over and saw Ryan. Ha ha ha, laughed for a long time about this one... How is he staying on that bench??

SURPRISE! I stepped outside the church for a minute to get something and saw Kalel talking to someone at the fence - which is the fence bordering the MTC. Sure enough it was Michael! He was walking by and saw his parents truck and then saw 'Kalel's white hair' so he called his name and then Kalel ran over to see him. I went and grabbed everyone and we had a mini reunion. So much fun to see him, he looks and sounded great.

After that fun surprise we headed to Corinne's for our second dinner.  

 My first cheese ball! Yummy.

I also made the cherry cheesecake and a lemon pie. 

 Good food, good people, good times!

Grandma invited my kids to have a sleepover the night of Thanksgiving. Well some of the cousins got word of it and she was brave enough to take them all. They loved it! Grandpa gave them a ventriloquist act, grandma read to them, played with them, cooked and the girls all slept in one bed and the boys in the other - but same room. So much fun.  

 I just love these two. He offered her a piggy back ride - yes I let her wear her princess dresses to run errands if she wants. My favorite was when he was trying to get a drink and was being choked by his sissy :)

 The day after Thanksgiving we drove back up North to pick up our kids and Kyle helped Craig hang lights on their house. It was a bit scary to watch those two... But they did it without any injuries!

 Here is me at 30 weeks. I tried to take my own picture and laughed when my belly ended up being in the way of the shot. Then Kyle took some that night, all of which are fuzzy. Oh well.

I loved this. Laylah was playing 'this little piggy' with Kalel and they were just giggling away. Also, I can finally curl her hair after waiting almost 3 years!

 Random pictures. A scarf I made my sister, the kids on a big horse at Costco and my aunt Marie sent a quilt for Laylah and my future little one. She loves it as well as the leftover squares which are anything from baby blankets to food.

 I was working and she always seems to find a way to lay on me. Cute little munchkin.

Some November Happenings

~ November 2012 ~

They love Christian, and I think he loved playing with them too :)

 We had a little snow storm. There wasn't too much at first but the kids got bundled up and excited to go check it out. When we had a real storm the kids headed out and did not last long at all. Laylah was crying because her hands were coldy and Kalel didn't like his pants getting wet. So they got a bucket, filled it with snow and played with it inside instead. Genius. Playing with snow in the warm house. It was fine with me as long as they stayed in the kitchen with towels.

 Starting top left: 1: Laylah is so modest... This is how she was sleeping in the car.  2: Kalel had his animals lined up to watch Magic School Bus with him. 3: Sleepin girl again  4: "Mom watch this!" 5: Cute girl posing 6: When I'm working and have things on my lap she just climbs to my shoulders and does my hair. (Loves my lap - kinda not happy about the lack of space currently on it) 7: Just sitting here Mom. (Cute friends)

 More snow. Laylah all bundled up. Laylah running home from the mailbox. We saw a TON of elk while driving in Heber.

 This was our Thanksgiving tree. I made the tree out of felt, I had a hard time getting it to stay on the wall! I made a banner that said, Give Thanks. And then we added leaves to our tree and we can write things we are grateful for on each leaf.

 I finally stepped up and used a pressure canner, all by myself! I had my meals planned for 2 weeks and black beans kept coming up. So I decided to can them. Pressure canners have always scared me. But it was not that bad!

 I bought somewhere around 50 pounds of apples. So I canned applesauce, black beans, and apple pie filling on this day. I still had a ton left over. It took me a couple of weeks of doing it when I had time and energy and I finally finished. They look so pretty :)

 This was the HUGE mess left over when I was done.

 Best.Picture.Ever.  The joys of Mom dropping off the kids at the corner so they can RUN home!

Some serious running here.

 They loved kicking in the snow.

 28 1/2 weeks

 Family night enjoying a 'never on sundae' at the Pizza factory. Anyone never had it? I HIGHLY suggest it. I splurge on the sugar overload every once in awhile and this is a top choice. Undercooked cookie, ice cream, whipped cream, caramel and chocolate sauce. Yum

 I am finally decorating my kids room after wanting to decorate my child's room for 6 years now. First step was to paint this dresser. I went with a bright green, the sides of the drawers are hot pink. When I get more done I'll take pictures. I made a valance which I'm not crazy about, so I'm still deciding how to handle it :(

 Homeschooling is going well. Here we are enjoying the sun coming through the window while Kalel practices his letters and Laylah works on her colors.

The kids still request a piggy back ride to bed regularly.