Got snow?

We probably have gotten 18-24 inches in the last 36 or so hours. It's still coming down steadily and I don't think it's stopped since it started. Welcome Winter!

They're walking on snow Scott packed down. Note the snow on top of the fence behind Audrey.

Notice the snow along my neighbor's driveway. He uses a snowblower, so that's not just piled from shoveling.

Notice the for sale sign across the cul-de-sac.

Our Christmas Card

Merry Christmas! We love this time of year to reflect on the birth of the Savior. He has brought so many blessings to our lives and to our family. We're grateful for the knowledge of the gospel.

We have had a fun year. We joined Lucille’s family for a fabulous trip to Disneyland and the beach. The kids frequently ask when we can go to Disneyland again. We also ventured off into insanity and drove to Houston. We had a great visit with Scott’s parents. We went to NASA, Galveston, an Astros game, and the Children’s Museum. We also spent a lot of time in the pool in the backyard.

Scott enjoys his job as an engineer at Novatek. He has received many opportunities for increased responsibility. He serves as the first counselor in the Young Men's presidency for our ward and has gone on many camping trips this past year.

Lucille takes care of the children and the household responsibilities. She works in the ICU at the local hospital once a week. She serves as the Primary pianist for our ward. 

Richard is now in kindergarten. He reads well and claims he doesn’t learn much while in school. He’s also learning how to play the piano. He’s been involved in soccer and wrestling this fall.

Audrey is taking dance lessons and loves it! She is also in preschool and enjoys getting out of the house to learn and interact with other kids. She’s learning how to read and write and is making great progress.

Marie loves to sing. She’ll often break out into song when we’re in the car. She loves Disney Princesses and watching movies. She enjoys looking at books. She loves “pretty” things.

Peter loves trains and Thomas the Train. He also likes looking at books. He is easy going and a very happy little boy. He loves to play outside.

Wrestling

Richard had his last tournament last night. He's really improved! He tied his first match, won the second match, and won with a pin the third match! We are very pleased with his experience. We're glad he ended the season on a high note as opposed to some of his other tournament performances this year.

Temple Square

We went to Temple Square as a family. We parked close to TRAX and then rode it a few stations to get there. Peter was SO excited! He really loves trains right now and was thrilled to be riding one. He couldn't stop smiling. The other kids enjoyed it to, but he seemed more excited than the rest of them.

The kids were excited to see all the lights and all that you can see at Temple Square. It was very crowded, but I've never gone when it's not. Plus, it was a relatively warm night, which was nice. Yea for successful family outings!

Gingerbread house

We made a gingerbread house again. We bought the Costco version. See, no melting! (refer to LAST year's house). The kids had a fun time.

Audrey's Christmas Program

Audrey's preschool had a program. She did really well. She sang every song and was really cute. 

She was proud of herself for sitting on Santa's lap and not being scared. She told him she didn't care what she gets for Christmas. Great! All the easier for me.

I had a birthday

I am now a year older. It was mostly a normal day. However, we did get take out so I didn't have to cook. I got a couple of movies and cookbooks. My parents gave me a check and my in-laws gave me a check (who doesn't love that?!) 

We've been to a lot of birthday celebrations the past several months. So, Marie and Peter have totally caught on to this birthday concept. They were really cute and kept saying "Happy to you"over and over. 

I made a coconut lime cheesecake. It was most yummy.

Weight Loss

You know a very effective (but not recommended, lest you strike me down with your vengeance) way to lose weight? Don't eat anything but chicken broth for 48 hours because the thought of food is revolting and everything you had prior is trying with every ounce of force it can muster to get OUT of you.

Peter's thumb

After we were done eating at the dinner for my sister's wedding, Peter was running around. I knew he was pretty restless and so I just let him go. They announced for the guests to line the hallway so we could say goodbye to the bride and groom. So, I went with the crowd and hung out in the hall. One of my nephews came to me and said, "You need to go get Peter. He just shut his thumb in the door." So, I went back to the room where we ate.

I found Peter quite hysterical on my sister's lap. According to the stories, Peter was playing with some big double doors. He loves to shut doors, and these were no exception. He didn't get his thumb out of the way and shut it in the door. The people there couldn't get the doors open and adults were banging on the doors in attempts to open them back up. So, his thumb was pinched for 5-10 seconds. 

When I saw his thumb, the tip was very swollen with a dark line under the joint and the rest kind of white. After a few minutes, it was all just red and swollen with the indentation. I showed it to my dad. He said it might be broken, but that kids heal quickly and well and that nothing would really be done anyway. So, we don't know for sure if it's broken.

Today it's still really swollen and he seems to be careful with it and protects it. 

Sorry it's out of focus, but the other picture didn't show the two thumbs side by side as well.

Wedding

My younger sister got married! I love seeing families started! She had a beautiful ceremony in the temple. Her husband is a funny and great guy! He adores her and treats her very well. We're excited to have him added to the family. He's the same age as Scott and I, which is fun. 

My immediate family.

The bride and groom with their sisters and brothers. Just the brothers-in-law are missing. We love them, too!

Scott was fabulous and played photographer. So, this is the only picture we have on our camera with him in it.

Rules

I try to be consistent in rules and consequences.
 Tonight Richard informed me he didn't like the consequence of not eating his dinner. He said, "I'm going to keep whining and making annoying noises until you give me dessert." He proceeded to do such. He went into one of the worst tantrums he's had in a while.
Are you feeling motivated to give him dessert, yet? Yea, me neither. Bedtime one hour early!

Wrestling

We signed Richard up for wrestling. That's the only sport the city will let his age group participate in right now. I admit I was not really excited about it, but Scott said he always wanted to do it when he was growing up. I figured I could let Richard try it out and he could decide. He says he has a lot of fun, so at least he's enjoying himself. However, he's not very aggressive and usually is on the defensive. He also seems to have a hard time focusing on learning the technique. When I've watched him at practice, he seems to play around more than he seems to practice. (I mean compared to the other boys. Not just compared to my standards of practicing. Lest you be confused.)

I didn't go to his second meet, because it's too hard to have the other three kids there. I watched some video that Scott took. It's almost comical to see how often Richard would just drop to the floor when the other kid would come toward him.

We'll see if he wants to keep doing it after this year. I personally get nervous seeing him, because he's usually not the dominate one and I worry about his getting hurt.

He's having a great time! At least he's getting out and having some fun experiences.

Singing

Marie loves to sing. She sings "I'm Wishing" from Snow White, "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, the ABC's, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean Ride "Yo, Ho A Pirate's Life for Me," "Old MacDonald had a Farm," "Sing Sweet Nightingale" from Cinderella, and a bunch of other songs that either she makes up or I just can't identify.
So, in sacrament meeting yesterday during one of the hymns, she was singing with all the energy her little soul could muster. She had a hymn book out and everything. However, she was slightly unfamiliar with the hymn we were singing, and so was not quite blending :). Scott and I were laughing. The people behind us were laughing. Scott leaned over and said, "Marie! Shshshshsh!"
She gave him the most dejected look! Poor thing just wanted to sing like everyone else! She's the first one of our children that actually tries to sing in sacrament meeting. Scott said he felt so bad after how sad she looked that he apologized and told her she could sing as much as she wants. We'll see what happens next week.

Expensive book

So, 2 1/2 years ago (laugh if you want. I can take it) I visited my sister and brother. She lent me a book of patterns to make a quiet book for my children for church. I had grand intentions. We had a busy summer. I didn't get to it. I figured I could get to it soon. What happened? I had twins. All plans went down the hole. I have finally started to catch up on projects. My sister has requested the book back. It's her right. It's her book. I thought, I could copy the pages I want. Then, the thought of copying that many pages on my forever slow copy machine was a bit daunting. I saw the price tag on the back. $7.50. Surely my time is worth that much! I'll just buy it! Where do I finally find it? amazon.com. For $97.50! Not a prayer I'm paying that much. Guess I need to start copying pages. That's what I get for taking 2 1/2 years to get to my good intentions!

Halloween

Well, like everyone else, we celebrated Halloween. I'm a clean freak and don't like my kids getting goop and stuff on their clothes. So, they had to take their shirts off for carving pumpkins. They had a great time and had no fear of the slimy inards of a pumpkin.

Looks a bit like a skeleton, eh?

This is Audrey's pumpkin. I made and carved the face.

This is Richard's pumpkin. He drew the face and I carved what he drew.

Right before trick-or-treating.

We went trick-or-treating the night before Halloween. Right as we were about to go out, it started to hail! So, we waited a few more minutes until it calmed down. I had no idea when the weather would let up, so we went out even though it was still raining. We bundled up with coats and an umbrella and Marie and Peter were in the covered stroller. We didn't go very far before Audrey started asking to go home (I did make her put on pants before we left.) About another block later, Peter started whining. He was full on wailing a few houses later. I was lucky enough to be with the dad of Richard's and Audrey's friends, and so Richard went off with them and I brought my kids and Audrey's friend to my house. They were glad to warm up. 

We didn't get as many trick-or-treaters as I expected, and so we have TONS of candy left! I guess it's because the weather was so poor.

Happy Halloween!

bunk beds

We got bunk beds for Richard and Audrey a few weeks ago. It's been nice to have more floor space. The trundle only takes up extra space when they're sleeping. We really liked this style, because it wasn't so high. Plus, it has stairs instead of a ladder. So, I'm not as worried about kids falling/jumping from high places. The drawers are an added bonus. I know it's not the best style for everyone. However, it works for us right now.

Audrey's patience

I give my children marbles for various good behaviors such as being obedient the first time I ask them to do something, being cooperative with chores, being extra nice, etc. After they fill their jar, they get to exchange their full jar for a prize worth $2-3. 

Well, Audrey wanted this tiara, and it was $5+. I informed her we could get it, but she would have to wait to get another jar of marbles before she could play with it. She agreed. She never complained. She never tried to get it sooner. She knew perfectly well when she would get it. This isn't the first time she's had to use two jars of marbles either. I'm impressed her ability to delay gratification.

So, what are you?

A morning person?
A night person?
We are having differing opinions in the house. Any guesses as to who is what?

Marie's and Peter's birthday

Success! I uploaded pictures! What did I do? I went to Scott's account on the computer instead of mine. Why does that matter? No idea. I think he's rigged it...

I was born on my brother's birthday. So, while I was growing up, we always had two cakes. Maybe when Marie and Peter are older and want different cakes, then I'll do that. For now, we barely made it through half a cake that night. We certainly didn't need two.

Anyway, they had a birthday! When I told Peter happy birthday he said, "Cake!" He's figured that much out. I made a delicious chocolate cake. We gave them presents. I had a hard time knowing what to get them since they don't need anything and I hate to buy something just for the sake of giving them something. They were pretty happy with the Oreos. They also got squirt guns, books, a couple of clothing items, and some wooden toys. They also got a new Wii remote. Good enough for me!

So, Happy Birthday my babies!

Cabin

We went to my parent's cabin last weekend. This is the first time were were able to go this year. The times my parent's have had the cabin (they share it with 4 other families) we haven't been able to go. Poor Audrey worried we wouldn't be able to go at all. 

We went down by a reservoir. It was pretty muddy, but the kids had fun. Clean-freak mommy wouldn't let them play for too long. Plus, the sun had set and it was getting cold.

Rocks were too far away. However, mud was very easy to find!

We had a joint birthday party for all the kids so all my side of the family could be to at least one party. Marie and Peter were a little unsure of what was going on, but they did try to blow out the candles.

 The kids rode bikes like they were playing Mario Kart! It was nice to have them outside enjoying the beauty and riding bikes so we could listen to the messages of conference. I LOVED conference and am glad for what I was able to hear. I anxiously wait for the November Ensign to be mailed out.

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Audrey's birthday

We celebrated Audrey's birthday last weekend. Her birthday falls on conference weekend any time her birthday is on a weekend. We usually go to my parent's cabin to watch General Conference in October, and so we were there for her birthday. She was really excited as she's wanted to go to the cabin all summer. We gave her presents.

She had a lot of fun with this wooden pizza kit.

She finally decided on an Oreo cheesecake. She had originally told me she wanted the tiered cake from Sleeping Beauty. You know the one that Fauna makes with her wand for Aurora's birthday? Yea, I'm glad she changed her mind. I know how to make cakes--not decorate them.

My parent's gave her a Lego set which she was really excited about. We made her wait until we got home to open it so she didn't spill pieces everywhere and lose them.