When Katie Eats Spaghetti............

Merry Christmas!!

She's a pretty cute little Mary! Christmas Eve was lots of fun starting with some bowling in the morning. The boys loved the bowling....they also loved the arcade where they could win tickets for prizes and their grandparents were very generous with their quarters! Addie kept asking to go to the "arcave." Even I have to admit that the Deal or No Deal game they have in there is fun. We had our traditional pizza for dinner and then tried something new this year by acting out the nativity. Mom whipped up some costumes and we were in business. Everyone had to join in because we just don't have enough grand kids yet to play all the key roles. Missy was Mary, Noah was Joseph, and Addie was the shepherd. Uncle Mike was the angel, Jason the innkeeper, and Aunt Michelle, Uncle Aaron, and Dad the wise men. Mom narrated and we had quite a show. Last stop Christmas bags from grandparents, such fun & cute stuff, and we were home in time to leave out the cookies and milk for Santa.
This Christmas morning was so fun. I'm not sure if it's because the kids all old enough to be truly excited or what but it was great seeing their faces as they opened all their presents and stockings. They loved everything! It was a great Christmas!

White Christmas

We have had so much snow around here this past week!! The kids have been in heaven,and I haven't been able to get out and do the Christmas shopping that I was going to do so Jason is pretty happy too! I don't mind a little snow especially around Christmas but after about one day I am tired of not being able to drive, and it being so cold outside. I always forget how much kids love snow, snow days from school, snowball fights, sledding, snowmen, and hot chocolate. It's hard for me to complain too much when my kids are enjoying it so much. It's pretty cute. This is a picture of Noah and his snow horse. The other picture is a snowball Noah made and will later try to throw at his dad! Happy white Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread Houses

Last Friday we made our gingerbread house. The boys had a great time decorating after Jason's careful construction of the house itself. Katie just loved eating all the candy that was around. Afterward we watched Elf, our favorite Christmas movie.

One week later and all of the candy has been eaten off the house.

My Little Loverboy

At school last week Noah got the write his name in the book of attributes which is something like student of the month at his school. He also brought home his report card yesterday where he earned 5/5 on most all of his subjects and his social skills like cooperation, positive attitude, empathy, and following classroom rules. His teacher wrote such nice comments about him and said he is an excellent student and also a delight to have in class. We are so proud of him, he works really hard at school.
On a side note, Noah has this girl in his class who he likes, Alex P., and he is always talking about her. Today he came home and told me he was pretty nervous, but on the bus he asked her to marry him when they get to college. She said yes, because he is a nice boy. He really is a nice boy.

Cute Things They Say

In Katie's little world dolls are either babies or barbies, depending on what they look like. Any figure that looks like it's over ten is a barbie. For example, Disney princesses, dollhouse figures, or, of course, any barbies. As in "I want to see that barbie" when we are at the store. Or about her princess pajamas, "look barbie." Then any doll that looks like a baby or little girl is a baby. Barbies vs. Babies. Hard to call, she loves them both. She oohs and ahhs over barbies, their hair, their clothes, but she likes being a little momma to her babies.
Tonight she spied the Sleeping Beauty DVD that I am going to give her for Christmas, and on the front cover is a picture of Prince Phillip about to kiss a snoozing Aurora. She said, "ohhh, sleeping barbie."
On a side note, tonight with the boys we watched Prince Caspian and they have centaurs in it. Towards the end Addie was really into it and when the movie was over Addie turned to me and said..."those guys were horses, that was weird..........right???"

Baby Jesus

When I put out my Christmas nativity sets this year I knew Katie was going to like them, but I didn't realize how much. She loves them. Fortunately, a few years ago, Jason's mom got us a little people nativity that is perfect for kids to play with. If you push the angel on top it even plays silent night, a feature Katie loves! She plays with this nativity, and the one I got in Mexico which is not as kid-proof, constantly. I will be in the kitchen and I can hear her having play conversations with the pieces. Jason has already had to super glue Joseph's hand back on his body, but she is so cute I don't want to put them away. Baby Jesus is her favorite little figure and he has been known to be carried away to all areas of the house.













The last picture you see is the way she arranged them last. See how they are all so adoring of Baby Jesus. So sweet.

Uncle Mikey

Whenever my brother Mike comes to visit the kids are so excited. They love Uncle Mikey so much. Noah adores his mad video game skills....he always helps him with the hard parts and is so much fun to play games with. Addie loves to be wild and wrestle with him. Katie just loves how sweet he is with her. She really gets excited when you talk about Mike. I just think he is so funny... a serious crack-up! He always has me laughing so hard. Not to mention he is so great about helping me out with things like babysitting, lugging heavy food storage boxes and other odd jobs. He's back at BYU for now, but he is finished at the end of this semester and then will be home until he starts dental school this fall. He will likely go to school at UW so we are lucky and excited to soon be able to spend a lot more time with him.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving over at Grammy and Papa's house. The food was great and the company was wonderful. We ate all the usual Thanksgiving fare, and had Michelle & Aaron, Mike, Dave Jen & Lizzy, Aunt Dianne, Mom & Dad all there. The boys even talked Grammy, Papa, and Aunt Dianne into playing tag with them out in the cold after dinner. They loved it. Then we went to see Bolt at the theater with some friends and the kids really liked the movie. Special thanks to Mom and Dad for a great Thanksgiving, we really have so much to be thankful for.

Hot Dog!

Katie loves meat. Really her favorite foods are hot dogs and chicken nuggets. She hasn't met any type of meat that she doesn't like. It's downright odd, but still so cute. Well this morning she turned up her nose at bacon. Imagine that.

Big Brother, Little Sister

Addie adores Katie. He always has right from the moment I brought her home from the hospital. No actually before that, from the moment he got to hold her little hand in her NICU isolette. He has been a gentle, loving, attentive, and helpful brother. Now that she is older they have serious fun together. Addie helps her play the games he makes up, when she's throwing a fit over something he tries to help her do things the way she wants, and he even shares his treats and snacks with her. What a big brother!! In the morning the first thing he tells me is "mom, I hear Katie, can I go get her?" He tells her "you're such a pretty baby." He is so sweet with her, aside from the occasional teasing of course.

The feeling is pretty mutual. She loves Addie and looks at him adoringly. She tells me, "silly Addie." She laughs at all his craziness, she loves all his games, and always plays in the forts he makes for her. They make a very good team.

Katie & Me

Katie is good company. We get to spend our mornings together doing errands and hanging out while the boys are at school. She's always been fun but now that she is talking so much it's even more entertaining. Katie herself is very girlie and loves shoes, jewelry, and babies. When we are out and she sees any of these things, or just any old thing that interests her it's always, "I see that. I see that." At the checkout whenever I want to put the things back it's a very loud and tearful parting. When Katie is with me people are so friendly. People love babies. They just love to engage her in conversation, or complement her shoes and eyes. I am always hearing stories about grand kids Katie's age, or grown children and how fast it goes. It's nice to be able to connect with people through something as sweet as a little girl. Katie is grow fast, though her hair is still growing slow. Hee. She is a lovely, agreeable little companion.

My New Niece

This is my new niece Elizabeth Rose! She is just so darn cute and I got to take some cute photographs of her today and loved it. We are so happy to welcome her into the family! Addie wants to know if we can have her, and Katie LOVES her and just wants to feel her soft hair and kiss her lots.

We heart Soccer

Soccer season is officially over. Today the boys had their last games followed by team pizza parties and trophies or medals as the case may be. It was a great season and today they both played really awesome games. These are their soccer pictures for the year. I took Noah's teams pictures this year and though I was kinda stressed, I think they turned out OK. I especially liked this one of Noah....how handsome does he look!!!

After the parties Addie was so excited to have his first medal that he went to bed wearing only his underwear and his medal. He looked like a little Olympic swimmer!! Here's to more Saturday free time, although we will miss excitement of the games. Till next....go Rat pits and Galaxy!!

Something for Everyone

One new thing about each of our kids starting from the littlest up:

Katie has embraced the joy of being two in full scale. She is into and up to everything. She is so particular about everything, so easily frustrated when she can't do something just the way she thinks it should be done, and don't even think about trying to help her. You will get an earful for your trouble. She must use utensils at the table, even for dino chicken, and even though more food is going onto her lap than into her mouth. If you try to "forget" to set her spoon, after the prayer she will politely say, "spoon please." We can't leave her alone much anymore because she is pretty mischievous. After I was done taking a shower last week I can downstairs to find she had unwrapped three ding dongs and taken one bite out of each one. This week after a few too many minutes of quiet from upstairs Jason went to check on her to find she had pulled out about 100 DVD's from our changer. Each time you catch her doing something naughty the second she sees you coming she starts saying, "uh-oh." Sigh. The pictures from this post are a little storyboard of Katie doing her favorite trick, climbing onto the table and drinking everyone's water.

Addie has announced that the only thing he wants for Christmas this year is a new baby or a new puppy. I hope that Santa has the sense to know that I am already busy enough. Bigger Sigh.

Noah just got his own library card and has been in heaven checking out those portable books. You know, the ones you plug your headphones into and they are talking books or music. Loves them. Also loves checking out DVDs to play on his really old little DVD player. It's pretty cute, he's always asking me to take him to the library and is always ready to explain how you have to be really responsible to be able to have your own card. Meanwhile I have like $20 in overdue fines on my own card, I guess I need the lecture. He's telling me for Christmas the number one thing on his list is an ipod so he can listen to his music, he'll undoubtedly want to download the Mario music considering he has it on repeat in his head anyway. Truly it's the soundtrack of his life.

Boo!

Well here they are!! Our own set of Super Mario Brothers. Seriously cute, right? Katie is darling in her fairy costume but due to her current cold, she will be bundled up all day and thus this picture is one I took of her in her costume a little while ago. Still you get the idea, Fairy Katie = adorable. I know you just want to squeeze her!! Noah has his big class Halloween party today complete with school parade at one, which we will try to brave the dark and stormy day for. After school it's going to be dinner then the trunk or treat! Can't wait for the candy sorting after trick or treating, always the funnest part. Hope everyone has a spooky and fun filled Halloween!

With Love

Our wedding was many years ago. The celebration continues to this day. ~Gene Perret

Here's to one and only one & may that one be he,
Who loves but one and only one & may that one be me.

Happy 10th Anniversary Sweetie.

Pumpkins, Kittens, & Hay Rides

We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday after our soccer games and had great weather to be out picking pumpkins! The kids loved doing the hay bale maze, petting the baby animals, and taking a hayride out to the patch. Noah and Katie really loved petting the kittens, they were so cute!!! When we were sitting on the hay ride Katie really wanted to lean out the side and watch everything going by. She has been so independent lately that she had a fit when Jason put his arm around her to keep her in the wagon. Finally she settled for having his hand grab her around her pant's waist. She is such a funny little girl. Everyone picked out great pumpkins and I'm sure we will have a great time carving them next week!

Little Mama

A lot of Katie's birthday presents this year had to do with babies. She got a baby stroller, 2 playpens, a swing, new babies and lots of bottles. She adores them! She has been playing with her baby stuff non-stop. At first she tried to get into the swing and playpen herself and was very mad when I wouldn't let her, but then when I showed her it was for her babies she was thrilled. She puts them to bed, feeds them their bottles of milk, and strolls them around the house. She even has a little diaper bag. It is a really cute sight to see her being the little mama.