Ice Skating

We went ice skating for family home evening tonight.  The kids have been begging for a long time, but Shawn needed a little coaxing.  After getting everyone's skates tied just right we successfully cruised on the ice, without any major incidences for over an hour.  Cole did have one doozy of a fall right at the end and smacked his head and face.  He was done after that.  But overall it was a fun night!

Snow Day

Today church was cancelled.  We had a big snow storm this morning with about 9-10 inches of snow.  We stayed inside and watched Christmas movies most of the day.

Then we decided to drive up to the new house and see how things were progressing.  

The first floor is almost all framed.

Masterpiece Gallery

I spent the morning with Liv in her class attending the "Masterpiece Gallery".  All of the artwork over the past few months is displayed throughout the classroom and hallways and they kids get to take us around showing and explaining their work.  The class also decorated cookies to share with their family.

Christmas Concert 2013

I've attached a short video of the kids Christmas concert.  I just chose one song from each class so the video wouldn't be too long.  Ethan had his first experience playing an instrument (xylophone) during the concert, and Cole and Liv had fun with the choreography.

Here is a closer video of Ethan's xylophone playing

Lately...

The boys have perfected their nighttime armpit serenading

Liv's has perfected her tumbling on all furniture

Shawn got a new car

The boys tested and advanced to high brown belts in Tae Kwon Do

Liv was asked to advance to the Team level in gymnastics.  This means she will compete in the Fall

Framed the new house, and chose toilettes, bath/showers, sinks, fixtures, hardware, all electrical and lighting for the house.

Had a fun Cub Scout Party

Had fun Christmas Parties and Celebrations in the kids classes and a fun Ward Fiesta Party

Got all our Christmas shopping done and mailed out Christmas Cards

Ate lots of junk and are ready to celebrate with Family over the Holidays

Holiday Weekend

We spent the holiday weekend getting our tree up, listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, and burning a Christmas scented candle.  We also braved the "black friday" crowds and did a little shopping, including getting our annual ornaments.  Here are this years picks:

Shawn chose Papa Smurf because he is cute and he is the Papa.
Jenn chose Rainbow Brite, because seriously who doesn't want her on your tree.
Ethan chose the Feliz Navidad Snowman, because he liked the song the snowman sang.
Cole chose Hogwarts Castle, because every tree needs Hogwarts castle on it.
Liv chose the Wizard of Oz, because they sing a cute song and skip down the yellow brick road.

Digging

Yesterday we woke up to a cold and snowy morning.

After walking the kids to school I headed up to our lot.  After all the delays, we finally are able to dig for the new house.  They finished digging this afternoon and tomorrow they will pour the footers and foundation.  We should be able to start framing before Christmas.

Practice

Shawn and Cole enjoy rocking out with their guitars!

Weekly Update

The kids continue to progress in school.  They spent the past two weeks taking the standard WKCE tests.  It made for a long week, but they survived.  I can't believe how much kids have to test these days.  It's getting cold and our walks to and from school are becoming less enjoyable.

I help in Liv's class every Friday with spelling and Cole's class every Wednesday with math.
I don't help weekly in Ethan's class (because he thinks he is too old for that), but I sign up to help with everything else that I can in his class.  This week I got to bring Pizza for the class for lunch (as a reward for completing homework) and Ethan asked me to stay and watch a movie with him in his class.

My boys struggle keeping their desks at school clean.  We often have competitions to keep them clean.  Ethan's is on the left, Cole's is on the right.  I think Cole lost this round.

Liv has two weeks off from Gymnastics, but I took the kids to Open Gym this past weekend.  They had a blast running around and playing.

Shawn and I took Liv dress shopping for a fun fancy holiday dress.  We have never really bought our kids new Christmas clothes and Liv has been begging for a fancy dress.  I thought this would be a fun occasion.  After trying on what seemed like 20 dresses, we finally settled on one.  Throw in a new pair of shoes and tights and Liv was one happy 6 year old.

Cole started guitar this week.  He LOVES it.
His teacher said that he is a quick learner and seems to be a natural.

The boys have been asked by their TaeKwon Do Instructors to try out for the Demo Team.  This means they get to attend performances/half time shows, etc. and be part of the performing team.
They are trying out this Saturday.

Liv was mad at me the other day (I can't remember why) and she gave me these notes.

Despite Liv being made at me, she is alway eager to help in the kitchen.

Lately...

The boys had a big week a pack meeting for scouts last week.  Cole earned his Wolf badge and Ethan earned four activity badges and one belt loop towards his Webelos badge.  They also participated in the space derby.  Both the boys did well in their races, despite several broken parts.

We also celebrated Shawn's birthday this weekend.  We enjoyed a family dinner out at the Cheesecake factory and brought home 5 pieces of cheesecake for breakfast the next day.  Shawn got a  Spain soccer jersey from Ethan, a Greenbay Packers sweatshirt from Cole, and a new scarf and hat from Liv.  He also got a new, nice leather workbag from me (although he picked it out).  

We also checked in on our house, but so far no progress.  We are held up in delays with permits and stupid stuff like that.  There is a big black fence around the property ready to begin and a sign up front that has our name on the top.  It makes it feel official, but hopefully we can start digging soon.

Today we had our first snow of the season.  Not sure we are excited about that.

Tournament

The boys spent the weekend at a Tae Kwon Do Tournament.  They both competed in forms, breaking, and sparring.  It was a LONG day and poor Liv was bored out of her mind (not to mention Shawn).

Cole did well and got trophies in all events.  Ethan did well also (nailed his back swing kick break), but ended up forgetting some of his form.  He was able to get several medals.