My Christmas Advent

I love the holiday season. It is such a magical month! Its the season of giving, caring, sharing, loving, and believing. To help my family remember the reason for the season I've put together an advent calendar to help us celebrate everyday.

My idea is each morning or evening they can take turns opening that days "to do" advent. I also have put a piece of candy in each day.

Here is our list of mini adventures for this special month:

Bake and decorate cookies
Paint an ornament

Drink hot cocoa and read Polar Express

Play secret Santa, and do something nice for someone

Read the story of baby Jesus in Luke, and act out Nativity

Watch the movie, The Nativity

Play a Christmas game

Watch your favorite Christmas movie

Decorate the Christmas tree

Go look at lights in the neighborhood

Go to the temple to see the lights and the nativity

Sing Christmas songs

Make tags to go on presents

Wrap presents

Have breakfast for dinner

Have a picnic dinner

Play in the snow

Christmas church party

Make someone a gift (sibling, grandparent, teacher...)

Christmas shopping

Deliver goodies to neighbors

Sleep under the Christmas tree

Put out cookies and a carrot for Rudolf

What is your favorite thing to do this month?

Back Seat Talk

Yesterday while driving I heard Ethan whispering to Libby. He said softly "You are my very best friend... You know where it says that? It says it right here on my heart."

Talk about pulling on my heart strings. I literally got a tear in my eye. There are small moments like these when it makes my whole life seem worthwhile.

So I said to Ethan, "oh Ethan that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. It says that on my heart too."

Ethan then pauses. "Mom," in that tone that only a true tweener has, "they say that on Zach and Cody." (which if you don't know is a really stupid show they like to watch, and that I now hate even more!) Then he laughs. At. Me.

Oh. Dang. Of course it is. Silly me.

It was really funny. I laugh about it every time I think of it.

Grandma's Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday Candy!

My beautiful nieces!

Jamie and Chalon...I love you guys!

The boys waiting (patiently) for their cup cakes and ice cream! And may I say that the cake was so Delicious, cake + frosting from scratch= to die for! I might have had like three, and maybe one for breakfast too!

Terry told Candy that no one could come celebrate her birthday, so she was surprised that we had a full house. Shawn's two brothers, and kids, and Uncle came. It was a very nice party. It was fun to see everyone.

On Friday Candy and Terry came to watch Hayden get his game on!

Ethan, Noah, Kayla, and Libby

Thanks for coming! We love you!

Hayden's Baseball Game

Sorry I know these are terrible pictures. But you can kind of make out Hayden in the green shirt on third base.

Hayden on 1st base!

Fall Ball is so fun. I love spreading out the blanket and watching the kids play. But its freezing! Shawn and I take turns holding the heater, I mean Libby! Both Ethan and Hayden are loving it. This is Hayden's first time playing for this league. It is so fun to watch him get out there and play hard. He loves to bat, catch, and throw! Ethan is doing awesome too. He has a couple friends on his team from previuos seasons, and a few from church too. Ethan's favorite part is the chewing gum and sunflower seeds!
I will try to take better pictures at their next game.

Hide and Seek

We go to church at 2 in the afternoon on Sundays. So we have a lot of down time. Whats there to do? Besides the obvious: sleeping in, french toast (made by Shawnee), a lazy walk? We love those things but we like to mix it up a bit too, so we, which really means "the boys", have started "Sunday fight night", which is definitely my favorite thing (or really farthest from it), but this last Sunday they played a good old fashioned game of hide and seek. It was really cute Hayden wanted to find the best hiding spot ever, so Ethan said he would count to 200 to give him plenty of time to find the perfect spot. But he said if he was done hiding before he got to 200 to yell out ready! So as you can imagine every time Hayden would yell out "Ready!" Ethan would know exactly where to look, because he could hear where he was coming from. It was really funny, and Hayden just didn't get it! So then he just hid Elizabeth instead!

Oh these kids crack me up!

Veteran's Day Parade

Here is our YM/YW float

This year is the Cub Scouts 80th Birthday, and Boy Scouts 100th Birthday! So the cubs made a big cake on their float! It looks awesome doesn't it? Good work cubs!

Ethan wanted to walk in the parade this year. He is so sweet, when he saw me he came and gave me a big hug. He is such a sweetheart! I totally got all choked up!

Hayden got a little sidetracked when he found these lizards in a big pipe in the ground. I guess there was a scorpion down there too. But maybe he got eaten? Do lizards eat scorpions?

Hayden was my little camera man this year at the parade. He took a ton of pictures! He had a good time. I always love the veteran's parade, its kind of embarrassing I always get a frog in my throat, I just love seeing all the kids waving their flags, and all the veterans. It is so cool. I love when the community comes together and celebrates life.

Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for. I feel so blessed, and so lucky! Do you ever have those moments when everything just feels perfect? Like it couldn't get any better than this?

I am so thankful for my beautiful children. I am so thankful that they still like me, and want to play with me! I am so thankful for Shawn, and that he still loves me. I am so thankful for my home, that its warm and comfortable, and that it truly is where the heart is. I am so thankful for every new day that I get a new chance to be better, and try again.

I am so thankful for my friends...to start off the giving season I had a few friends over to make these banners. It was so fun! I love any excuse for a party! Check out some of the pics, courtesy of Jamie, here.

beautiful girl

This is one of my most favorite times of the day. Libby loves bath time.

Is she the most beautiful baby you have ever seen? I think she might be!

Pajamas

I was feeling a little crafty last week . I set up my sewing machine and went to town!
...Since I made Ethan green pjs for his costume, Hayden wanted some too, then I made some for Libby too. I didn't want her to feel left out! But I added ric rac to hers, they needed something a little girly!
Then I also made some Halloween pjs for the boys, sorry no pictures.

Halloween

Ethan has been begging me to make him a gecko costume forever. So finally I did. It was super silly easy. I just made green pajama pants and matching green gloves and tail, and cut a ping pong ball in half for his eyes. He loved it! He slept in it for two nights! I was worried he was going to wear it under his church clothes!

The boys handed out candy to the "trick or treaters". They enjoyed seeing all of their friends dressed up. And were really good sports about not "trick or treating" themselves.

On Saturday night we went to our wards "trunk or treat". Hayden was Skeletor, Libby was a cheerleader. Libby's costume was vintage. I actually wore that when I was her age!

This was my first attempt at sewing a skirt for lil' Libbs. I should have used a pattern put what the heck, I winged it. I was happy with the way it turned out considering it was my first. There is a little ruffle around the bottom with ric rac trim peeking through at the hem. (Notice this picture is not a close up!) Her whole outfit was under five dollars!