Merry Christmas 2013!

We were the mean parents that wouldn't let our kids get up until 7:30 this morning. We still had to wake Wesley up, so we figured it was a good compromise.
The kids started out by opening up their stockings. Wesley was so very excited about his new toothbrushes. Really.
After breaking in to those we had a family prayer and everyone told us the gift that they planned to give to Christ in 2014. (We do this instead of new year's resolutions.)
Wesley- Be a good big brother
Brady- Help out with the new baby and do a better job listening to and obeying mom and dad
Sadie- More sincere prayers and better scripture study
Bethanie- Be more positive
Mom- Enjoy more "moments"
Dad- Read the book "Jesus the Christ" again.
Family- Continue with more scripture study as a family

Then it was time to open presents!! Wesley was very nervous about ripping in to the paper. It seemed like something he shouldn't be doing, I guess. By the end he was a little more excited to try on his own.
We were so very blessed and the kids are all extremely happy with their loot. Lots of clothes and toys.
The kids did do something this year that made Sean and I drop our jaws a bit. Half way through they decided they wanted to take a break to eat cinnamon rolls and look at what they had already opened. Really? Great! We finished up opening presents around 9:30 am, due to the thirty minute break. What a fun and relaxing morning!

New Traditions?

It's Christmas Eve and we tried a couple of new things today!

It has been a tradition for a while to go out to breakfast on Christmas Eve. Our numbers have grown over the years, and it is getting increasingly harder to enjoy a trip to a restaurant, as well as more expensive. We decided to make a big breakfast at home. I don't think anyone regretted it! It was a fantastic way to start our week of over eating.

Sean found a fabulous and easy hollandaise sauce recipe and we had eggs benedict, as well as cinnamon bread french toast. It was all so very good!

This year Sean and I had everything done ahead of time, with no last minute details to finish up. We decided to let each child pick an activity that the entire family would spend doing for 30 minutes. Wesley LOVES listening to books, so we read stories for a half hour. Brady chose 30 minutes of the card game "War". Sadie chose charades, and Bethanie chose the game "Apples to Apples".

It was a fun couple of hours.

After we finished up with all of that, we broke out the appetizers and watched "A Muppets Christmas Carol" as a family. That is a yearly tradition.

Appetizers included; A variety of veggies, spinach & artichoke dip, clementines, summer sausage, pepperoni, a variety of crackers, brie cheese, sharp cheddar, pepper jack cheese cubes, cream cheese and salsa dip, some chips, and brownies with salted caramel frosting that Bethanie made for us. SO GOOD!

We finished off our day reading the nativity from Luke and watching the nativity videos on the Mormon Channel on youtube. Everyone had a great day and we were very ready for Santa's arrival!

Pregnant Selfie

I do not profess to have the selfie taking skills that some of the younger generations have. My mom requested that I take a picture of my pregnant self. Here I am, 31 weeks along, with my 6th pregnancy. (Never thought I would ever be saying that.)
This is one of the 5 days in the last 7 months that I have dressed in something other than sweats.

5 o'clock (10am) Shadow

Wesley has been going through his "Modern Art" phase of life. All of my kids have done that. We usually end up with random works of art on our walls in our house. Brady and Bethanie both did murals.
The other day he decided to use his face as his canvas. He came walking in to the kitchen looking like he was shaving with a marker. I chased him around the room a few times while he giggled before I was able to get the marker out of his hand.
The result was a Homer Simpson impersonation.

Cold and Flu Season

It hit. It hit hard. In the last two weeks there have been 3 school days that all three of the older kids actually went to school. Even with them at school, Wesley was home and sick. When the kids all got better, Sean and I got it.
Bethanie and Wesley both ended up with ear infections and both had eye infections. Brady and Sadie had coughs and headaches. Fevers all around. Good times.

Someone pass the Lysol wipes, I used all of mine.

(Wesley decided it was a snuggle day on one of his sick days. He doesn't usually get his paci outside of naptime.)

Halloween?

Wesley is obsessed with Halloween. At least three times a day he says to me, "How-ween? Treat??".
We were trying to talk him in to moving on to Christmas. When you would ask him what Santa says he would say. "Ho, ho, ho!", but still, he preferred Halloween.
The other day we had our church Christmas party. Brady really wanted to share his list with Santa, so he pushed through the nerves and talked to the scary, hairy man in the red suit.
Wes, on the other hand, was a different story. Now if you ask him what Santa says he just gets a terrified look on his face and starts crying a little.
How did Christmas become scarier than Halloween??

Happy Thank You Day!

We couldn't get Wesley to say "Thanksgiving", so we finally settled for "Thank You Day". We had a nice, quiet day with just our little family. We enjoyed A LOT of good food. Our menu consisted of a very moist and flavorful turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, sweet potato crunch, acorn squash, green beans, a pear and pomegranate green salad, rolls, cranberries, and some egg nog and sparkling cider.
We topped off our tummies with a dutch apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan and chocolate pie. MMmmmm.

We are very grateful for our friends and family. We are also thankful for the little one that will be joining us in a couple of months so we can complete our family.

Winter Milk

Brady: "Oh good! You guys, mom and dad bought winter milk again! It's time for winter milk again!"
Sean and Me: "Winter milk?"
Brady: "The smaller milk in the fridge."
Me: "Oh! Egg Nog?"

I guess we need to watch and make sure he isn't putting it on his cereal. :)

Showing Humility

A humorous exchange between Sadie and Brady;

Sadie: "Thanks, Brady. You are awesome!"
Brady: "Hmm... I am trying to decide if I am a genius or if I am awesome.... Ok, I'm awesome."

A More Refined Palate

Bethanie turned 11 this last week. We had to stretch her birthday celebration over the week, due to all of the activities going on at our house. She had choir practice on the night of her birthday.
Wesley and I were able to meet her on the day of her birthday for lunch at her school.

She opened her presents that evening and got some new slippers, a Hogwarts shirt, and a new bike! 

(Yes, I noticed Brady playing dead in the background)

On Friday she was able to go trick or treating with friends for the first time in her life. Big girl!

We had her special birthday dinner and cake on Saturday. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was choosing macaroni and cheese with hot dogs for her birthday dinner. Times have definitely changed! Bethanie requested grilled salmon, homemade applesauce, wild rice pilaf, and peas for dinner. It was delicious. 

For her cake she asked for a chocolate cake with a mint oreo ice cream filling, and iced in buttercream frosting.

We are very proud of this girl. She works hard at school, really enjoyed doing cross country, loves choir, and is now wearing size 7 shoes. (a.k.a. stealing mom's shoes)

Happy Hallo... I mean- November!

Due to some big time thunderstorms and wind, Halloween was "postponed" in our community. The kids did their trick or treating on November 1st!
We have a firefighter, fire chief, Dorothy, and a ninja princess here.

Wesley was totally in love with the whole idea of getting treats. He came home and was in heaven when he ate about 6 or 7 treats all in one sitting. It was his happy place.

Candy, Candy, Candy

Sean and the kids taught Wesley how to say "Halloween". They tried to get him to say "Trick or Treat", but he just wouldn't do it. Sean settled for the next best thing. He figured they would go with what Wesley already knows.
If Wesley comes to your door on Halloween, you will hear him say, "Two please!"

Cookies and Carving

We spent family night carving pumpkins. Our kids won't stop reminding us that they didn't get to carve pumpkins last year. I guess we were busy?

 Sadie's Pumpkin

 Brady's Pumpkin

Bethanie's Pumpkin

Fall Break

We spent our short fall break in Upstate NY with Sean's family.