Pre-Christmas Happenings

We were so thrilled that my parents decided to brave the roads and trek down to Texas from Utah. All of us, that is, except this one:Ha! No, actually she went to Grandpa and Grandma all week without a problem except this one time when everyone was around so I grabbed the camera and said, "Ok, all the kids sit with Grandma and Grandpa so we can get a picture!" Brooke was less than thrilled. Not sure what was wrong. Maybe she was really tired. The week was a bit of a whirlwind and I can't believe it's already over.We had one other child who was not happy about the picture taking moment. Actually, she was just fine until we asked her to move to a different spot so everyone would be seen. The result was a sulking Kate who then tried to sabotage the picture I did take with the rest of the kids. Her hand makes a nice touch, no?Here they are together minus Kate and her hand. Yes, Brooke was very tired.We finally got Kate into the picture and here is the end product. Carli, Brandon, and Grandpa are perfect specimens for a photographer. :) Megan is squinting, Brooke is crying, and my mom is trying to help Kate feel better by squeezing in close to her. Too bad they are not taller. Ha. We always say that Kate got the "grandma genes" which is nothing bad in any way, shape or form--her grandma and nana are 2 of the most special people in this world--they are just a little on the short side. ;)We passed some of the time on this day-before-Christmas-Eve by doing puzzles. Kate and Carli jumped right in with Grandma.

Dinner was pizza-making. Our kids love this and have some mad pizza making skills by now. We make a mean deep dish pizza for the adults with all the good stuff in it. It is killer and we have been making it a lot lately. :)

Up next is Christmas Eve!

Polar Express and Class Parties

This was our 3rd year creating a train car for the Polar Express parade for the 2nd grade at our school. The kids love to do it and the parents...don't. Megan's wasn't too bad, though. It was very simple and cute. Here's Megan sporting her train car (notice the forgotten train wheels). She was so happy with the way it turned out. I thought it turned out well, too.The next day were the winter parties in the classroom. I was in charge of Megan's class party this year. It was very simple and fun (I guess simple is my motto as of late). :) We had some activity and coloring pages for the kids to do while we set up the food and then they ate.

Here are Carli, Brooke, and Megan at the party.

After eating all the yummy snacks their teacher read a fun story while they passed their book gifts "left" or "right." They loved it.It's hit or miss with the book exchange, but Megan was thrilled with her book this year. She loves the new Tinkerbell books and movies!Then it was on to Kate's party. The 4th grade always makes graham cracker gingerbread houses. Kate's was really cute, but ended up falling apart by the time we got home even though it was super glued to the plate. Oh well.

Kate and her buds during the party.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get over the Brandon's school to hang out during his party time, but he said he had a great time. I'll have to try to get extra pictures of him this week!

We are having a good time with Grandpa and Grandma here. My mom and I took the girls to see "The Princess and the Frog" this afternoon. Everyone enjoyed it! We'll have to see what tomorrow brings. :) We are excited for Christmas! Brooke especially likes to crawl over to the tree and play with the brightly packaged gifts. I can't wait until Friday when we can let her rip them open!

Time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Brett

My parents and youngest brother made the trek down her from Utah after Christmas. We had so much fun with them! I am sad they had to go home already, but am so happy that they took the time to come visit us. The kids were all so thrilled to have someone to dote on them so much for a few days.

Monday was such a beautiful day that we couldn't stay indoors. We went to the park to enjoy the warm weather (when you've got more than a foot of snow at home in Utah you would love to enjoy the 75 degree weather, too!). Brett, my brother, was having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to the warm. He thought it was warm to be so warm in December. lol! :)

As soon as we got to the park the ice cream truck pulled up and, of course, Grandma couldn't resist the cries of "I want ice cream!" from the grandkids and they got their treat. Here are Brett, Carli, and Kate enjoying their treats.

Grandpa with MeganAfter the treats they headed off to play. Brandon and Brett had some races on the scooter and on foot.
Grandma helped Carli on the monkey bars. She really is a monkey when it comes to climbing and swinging.

Brandon enjoying the monkey bars as well.

Kate took off on her roller blades.

Megan waited for so long to have a turn on the tire swing. She was so patient. She and Carli and their little friend they met there had an absolute blast with Grandpa pushing them.

It was a really fun afternoon at the park. Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma in the next post!