Cutie Pies!

Here is a cute picture of TJ riding his first merry-go-round.  He was not sure what to think of it.  I love that whenever he seems nervous or unsure about something all I have to do is smile at him and I can see that he relaxes and realizes everything is ok.  :-)

Here is a picture of Delma shopping at the grocery store.  She wanted to wear her robe.  She is such a cutie and so creative when dressing herself.

Dance Recital

A few months ago Kiara started a dance class.  It is non-competitive and they have two performances a year for family and friends.  She is learning tap and ballet.  She really loves and is doing great. 

She had her first dance recital, she did a really good job and we are very proud of her!  I can't believe how grown up she is getting, she is such a beautiful girl!

Waiting for her turn to go on stage

Excited that she got a little treat from her teacher

Here is a video it is not that great because we had to zoom way in and because of the lighting.  Apparently if you want a seat at events like this you have to arrive WAY early because we were clear in the back and we were 15 minutes early.  At least we know for next time.  :-)

She is the 4th dancer from the left.

Funny Stuff

I was eating lunch with the kids when I had this conversation with Delma

Delma: "Mom...I got Brennen a football for Christmas"  (Brennen was sitting right next to her) .
Me:  "Delma you aren't supposed to tell him what you got him".
Delma: "Moh-hom, I didn't tell Brennen I was telling you!"

LOL!!!!

Temple Square

Last Monday for FHE we decided to take trax to Temple Square to see the lights. We also went to the Church History Museum. That was a lot of fun, the kids loved it. I didn't get any pictures though because they made me check the diaper bag at the front desk and I forgot the camera was in it. The museum had a lot of stuff for the kids and they really enjoyed it. We could have spent a lot more time than we had there so we will definitely be going back again soon.

The kids always love taking the train downtown. I think that is their favorite part.

Here is Tj all bundled up.  It was actually really nice, cold but not freezing.  He really liked looking at the lights.  But he did not like staying in his stroller for very long.  Don't blame him, you can't see as much from down there.

Kiara kept trying to fall into the water.

Can you tell they weren't too thrilled about posing for a picture?

look closely at this picture, Delma is trying to be silly and make her scary face!

Delma was in a really silly mood, she knew I was trying to take a picture of Tj looking at the lights so she was making faces in the background.

handsome guys!

Delma eventually got worn out and climbed in the stroller.

Here is Kiara pouting because she wanted to go back to the Church History Museum so she could play on the escalators with her kitty.  Where do kids get these ideas from?

Since Kiara took the stroller Delma found another ride.  My turn to carry Tj.  It felt like we were shuffling kids around all night.  I guess that happens when the kids out-number the parents 2 to 1!

Brennen had a really good time and he took some really nice pictures with his ipod. 

Here are some of the pictures that Brennen took

If You Give a Baby an Apple

If  this little baby sees you eating an apple he is going to want to eat one too!

If you let him eat an apple then the next day when sees us eating corn on the cob he is going to want to try one of those too!

If you let him eat some corn on the cob then he is going to want to try one of mommy's homemade chocolate chip cookies!

TJ wants to do everything everyone else is doing.  He was actually able to scrape that apple with his two little bottom teeth (it was a pretty soft apple) and get lots of bites.  I was really surprised how well he did with the corn on the cob.  He is at this stage that he won't let me put food in his mouth very often if he feels it is something he can do himself.  :-)

Compromises

This morning I asked Delma to get dressed.  But, she wanted to stay in her jammies.

So...this is what she came up with for a compromise.

 Hair is all done and ready to start the day!

We have a family Christmas party to go to tonight so unless I can talk her into changing her clothes before then we might get some strange looks. :-)

Decorating for Christmas

Thanksgiving weekend we put up our Christmas tree/decorations and decorated some gingerbread cookies. It was a lot of fun. Tj is fascinated by the tree, so this year it is downstairs so he can't destroy it. He loves it when I take him down there to show it to him. He is so funny he likes to point and whisper at things he is curious about. 

sneaking a bite of sprinkles!

Can't believe it is another Christmas already!

Elf on the Shelf

We started a really fun tradition last year on the day after Thanksgiving.  We adopted a little elf.  He is one of Santa's elves.  We read a book about him that introduced him to our family and we gave him a name "Dobby Twinklestar".  Every morning when the kids get up he is in a new place somewhere in the house, he then keeps an eye on the kids and reports back to Santa that evening.  The kids love reading the book about the elf every night and finding him in a new spot each morning.  The rule is they aren't allowed to touch the elf or he can't come back.  The elf stays around until Christmas Eve and then we don't see him again until the day after Thanksgiving the following year.  

Here is a link to info about how we adopted our elf.
Elf on the Shelf

Here are a few pictures of some of his hiding places.

We had a hole in our ceiling where Jason had fixed a leak the week bfore.  The elf decided to make his grand entrance this year coming into the house through the hole.  The kids thought this was hilarious!

Look closely!

Hanging out in the pantry

giddy-up!

Growing up

Tj had his 9 month apt a couple weeks ago.  The Dr. said he is doing great!  He is 18 lbs. 12 oz. and 27 inches long.  He is in the 25th percentile for height and weight.  I can hardly beleive it has been 9 months.  He is such a fun little guy, we love him so much!  He is really close on walking.  He walks along furniture and can now let go and stand in place for quite a while. 

He loves to play the various little toy pianos we have. Also whenever he hears singing he stops and listens and starts trying to sing along.

Tj has recently discovered the dog door, heat vents, cupboards and draweres and the dog dish. He loves to play and explore and really keeps us on our toes!

(update:  He actually crawled out the dog door and we found him crying on the back porch, he was only out there for a few seconds but now we have to keep the dog door closed when he is playing.  First one of the four kids to attempt this trick this young!  12/5/2011)

A few nights ago the girls decided they wanted to sleep in the same bed.  When I looked in on them before going to bed myself I noticed that "fat oinky" had joined them.  Silly kids!

Brennen has been playing the violin for the last few months.  He is doing really well!  They had a little mini concert in the hall for parent-teacher conference.  They will be having a Christmas concert soon.  After the concert his orchestra teacher came up to me and told me that she thought he was doing really well and was a natural at the violin.  So proud of you Brennen!

Playing in the Snow

The kids were really excited for the first snow storm of the season.  Luckily it was on a Saturday so they got to go out and play instead of going to school.  After breakfast I got them all bundled up and they went out to play.  They cam in every now and then to get warmed up or ask for hot chocolate but they spent the majority of the day playing and had a great time.

They like to pile snow on the slide then slide into it on the way down. 

Making snow angels!  Maggie thought they were laying down to play with her.

Here is Tj looking out at the snow for the first time.  He wasn't sure what to think!

Silly girls decided to sit at the little table and eat snow for a snack.

After playing in the backyard for a while the kids decided to go into the front yard to make a snowman.  Tj was sick with a sore throat so him and I watched them from the front window.  He really got a kick out of watching them play in the snow.

We didn't have a ton of snow so it was a little snowman but they did it all by themselves and had a great time!