Valentine's Day

For those that were just dying to hear what we did for Valentine's Day, here you go!
The kids awoke to a trail of paper hearts leading them to the kitchen where their little gifts were. Brady saw the hearts and exclaimed, "What the heck?"
Jackson received a very cool LEGO space guy that he didn't let go of all day and Brady got a space shuttle because he is all into rockets lately. Nothing says I love you like space stuff.

We made some jello jiggler hearts that were supposed to be a family home evening treat, but they didn't last that long! We also made valentines for Jackson's school party tomorrow.

We heart-attacked Grandma's house while she was at work.

That's right. A heart-shaped pizza for dinner :)

Here is my girl. I love her, even if she was incredibly fussy the whole day! This is her best impression of a deer in the headlights.

This is horribly awkward for me to include, but I might as well. A while back, Spencer and I read a talk by Elder Holland that said every man should have a picture of his spouse next to his computer to keep him out of trouble. So, as incredibly painful as it was for me to do, I enlisted my talented neighbor to take a couple shots of me while Spencer was at bishopric meeting. Then I gave Spencer a framed copy of one for his office. He better hold on to it for the rest of his life because I'm pretty sure I am never doing another photo shoot again! (Bear in mind this was at the end of a VERY long, exhausting day with my kids)

Spencer surprised me with getting my carpets cleaned (I know, how romantic!). It was a lot of work to get everything moved, vacuumed and then keep my kids off the carpet for SIX hours while it dried, but I'm very glad to have it done! So I'm thankful. Then we spent the evening cleaning the church bathrooms (we really know how to set the mood, huh?) At the end of the day, I indulged the inner girl in me and resisted watching a great basketball game in order to watch Casablanca. Love that movie. Spencer joined me toward the end, but old movies aren't really his thing. I'll definitely give him credit for keeping his mouth shut through it (unlike a certain time when I made the mistake of having him watch the end of Pride and Prejudice. He didn't last 5 minutes.)

A few of my favorite things...

Here are a few of my favorites from the holiday season:
- My favorite face- what more do I have to say?
- My favorite picture of Brady- look how old he looks!

- My favorite picture of Jackson- he just loves being outside. Here he is in his snow fort. He is getting so big.

- My favorite chauffeur: Brady driving us around (don't worry- it was just around the Thanksgiving Point Christmas lights which, btw, was a really fun experience!)

- My favorite toy- the Magformers table at the Discovery Gateway museum. Those things are so fun to play with. Spencer could have spent hours at that table. We went to the museum with both of our families within a week of each other.

My favorite photographer- I usually look through my memory card and find some Brady original photography I wasn't expecting. I think he's got some talent...

My favorite visitor over the holidays- I loved having my brother and his family here for Christmas but I think my boys loved it even more!
My favorite dinner- We spent Christmas with my family this year which was really different from our usual big Christmas celebration with Spencer's large family. (Spencer asked me if we can have more kids if only to avoid such quiet Christmases!) But we did get to enjoy an awesome Thanksgiving-like dinner by Grandma- yum!

My favorite picture of ALL time! Here are my beautiful kids waiting to take down our traditional white sheet that is covering the Christmas tree/present area on Christmas morning

My favorite accessory- this cute hat my sister-in-law got for Emma. She looks so cute in it!

NOT my favorite picture of me- ewww!!!

My favorite steal-of-a-deal from the Christmas season- in the background is our new piano that we scored for $50!

- My favorite part of Christmas morning- showing Jackson the full-size castle/fort Spencer built for the boys to go with the knight costume Jackson asked for from Santa. It was such a Spencer thing to do. Too bad Brady is scared of it because it is too dark and Jackson wouldn't play by himself. Oh well.

My favorite Christmas present- I can't decide which one I am going to read on the beach when we go to San Diego later this year :)

My Not-So-Favorite moment from the holidays-
- having everyone contract a nasty stomach virus on Christmas leading to me spending the rest of Christmas day disinfecting everything.

It's the Holiday Season

I warn you that there are lots of pictures ahead!
Thanksgiving 2010- A traditional Wangsgard Thanksgiving- lots of people and SUCH good food. There is a reason Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Here is Emma with Grandma Wangsgard
Look at these cute girls! Emma and her cousin Kaycie

Waiting for their Thanksgiving meal

The group enjoying their meal. Yes, in the garage- my in-laws have an awesome garage that provides us with a place where we can all fit.

Jackson loved the whole weekend- he discovered video games and wrestled with his older cousins the ENTIRE time!

Emma with her great-grandpa

To take our minds off a certain football game, we went to Temple Square to enjoy the lights. The boys loved it, but Spencer and I were still too bummed to enjoy it. Ridiculous, I know.

After seeing the statue of Christ, Brady asked me why Jesus was naked- with a big smile on his face. I guess he thought the monotone color of the marble meant Jesus didn't have clothes.

Gingerbread houses- always a fun and messy adventure. I decided to not worry about making it look nice and instead just let the boys have fun. I'm very proud of their work! Besides, there is no way on this Earth that you can make those houses look like the picture of the box- it's a conspiracy man!

The finished product:

Family Pictures 2010

I knew we were overdue for family pictures but I selfishly refused to do it until I lost my pregnancy weight. But then one night I had the overwhelming feeling that we should do it soon. So I called my beautiful and talented sister-in-law and she took on the enormous challenge that is taking pictures of my family. Though I probably should have waited until I did lose that weight (new cameras add 30 pounds, right?), I'm so glad we did it. Thanks Chels!

This one may not be the best, but it certainly shows what a pain it is to take family pictures. Notice how none of my children is looking at the camera.

My favorite picture of them all! I love having Wangsgard kids- just look at those eyes!

Disney on Ice

My mom called Spencer and asked if she could take us to Disney on Ice. Spencer said "Sure, let's all go" without actually asking me. Then, convienently, he had to go to a church meeting at that time, leaving me to take them and him getting to watch the BYU football game without interruptions after his meeting. It's like he planned it...
My boys were so excited so my bad attitude just melted away.

Let's not even go into how much these snowcones cost...

The boys' absolute favorite part. They haven't stopped talking about this giant crocodile.

Halloween 2010

Believe it or not, this was our first time actually carving pumpkins!!!

Jackson chose this costume of his own free will and choice, I promise. That being said, Spencer and I could not have been more proud :)

Brady of course had to follow his brother's example. However, he would not wear the helmet or shoulder pads so we just got him a BYU jersey and called it good. We did not anticipate it becoming his favorite shirt and his need to wear it everyday and literally sleep with it under his pillow at night. Here the boys are getting ready to go trick-or-treating. Unfortunately the weather was terrible that night so jackets were definitely needed.

Think they got enough candy? We're headed to the dentist tomorrow to determine the damage!

We were such party-poopers this year with Halloween. We didn't have any real Halloween parties to attend and we knew the weather would be too cold for our little Emma so we didn't waste money on a costume for her. Lame, I know...

Jackson and Brady at Vineyard Gardens in Orem for Jackson's preschool field trip. What a cute place and such a better deal than Cornbelly's!

My three kids

I used to have interesting things to say on this blog. But let's face it, my kids are my life now. I don't get to have interesting thoughts anymore :) So with that in mind, here are a few catch-up posts about, you guessed it, my kids!

Brady actually got Emma to laugh for the first time here in her crib. The boys just love their sister.

Poor neglected Emma was left to cry on the couch by her terrible mother but Brady came to the rescue with his treasured Mickey Mouse blanket and Bunko the bear- yes the same bear that he won't share with ANYONE, not even Daddy! I about cried.

Emma found her thumb a few weeks ago and life has been great ever since. She soothes herself at night and doesn't even make a peep in the morning until we pick her up. Love it!

I'm not sure what these crazy boys are doing here- gang signs perhaps?

Emma discovering the mirror for the first time- she thought this was postively hilarious!