Mom's Tradition: Something New

I always love to do something that we've never done at Christmastime. There are so many things to do, one can never do/see them all, so each year, I like to do something that we've never done before. This year, we decided to drive through the "Christmas Lights Farm". It is a huge empty farm that they fill with Christmas lights. The kids get "snowflake glasses" which turn each twinkling light into a snowflake. Everyone enjoyed driving through the various tunnels of lights and seeing all that they've put together. What a night!

 

Bike Riding

Nothing like bike riding in AZ in December!!

 Izzy was our champion of the day, she learned to ride without training wheels in less than 15 minutes! Way to go Izzy!!

Quinten has also FINALLY figured out how to continuously pedal forward on his bike...that took a bit longer than 15 minutes...more like a year or so...

Olivia loves practicing her bike tricks: no feet, no hands, no hands and feet...

Christmas Morning

 I love the magic at the Christmas Tree on Christmas morning. So fun to see the tree full of gifts, and Santa's surprises. Everyone was REALLY happy with everything!!

Izzy got a razor scooter, Bubba got a wooden Thomas set, and Olivia got an iPod..Woot! Woot!

Quinten's Tradition: Sugar Cookies for Santa

This year, Quinten wanted to MAKE SURE Santa got some homemade sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. We rolled, cut out, baked, frosted, and sprinkled the heck out of 3 dozen sugar cookies. Santa better be hungry!!

Christmas Clothes

I love new Christmas clothes on the kids! Everyone always looks so fancy for the Sunday before Christmas. We would have done a family picture, Shayne and I matched, but being 3 weeks from my due date, does not make me conducive to any types of pictures...

Izzy's Daisy Troop Volunteering Activity

Izzy's troop volunteered at the local retirement home. They served the residents root beer floats, sang Happy Birthday to a resident who turned 100, and challenged them to a game of bean bag baseball. We learned that retired persons are VERY serious about their bean bag baseball and beat us 16-2!!

Sleeping all together

Two weeks of sleepovers together result in squished but very happy kids!

Izzy's Tradition: Gingerbread Houses

Izzy chose to have friends over and create gingerbread houses for her Christmas Tradition.

 Izzy invited Allie.

 Bubba invited Jessica.

And Olivia invited Paige.

Loads of fun. Loads of candy. Loads of hyper kids.

School Christmas Parties

The girls were so excited to head off to school for the last time of the year! Izzy had a "Polar Express" day, where they got to wear pajamas to school, eat popcorn, drink Hot Chocolate and watch the movie. Olivia had a Christmas class party all planned, and donned her new leg-warmers (from her Activity Days Christmas Party) and her Tinkerbell Christmas Hat (from a birthday party), all set for a day o' fun!!

Quinten had a blast at his preschool Christmas party where they got to decorate gingerbread houses, did some Christmas crafts, and even each got presents!!

We are ALL ready for school to be out for the rest of the year! Especially MOM!!

Izzy's New-Found Talent

Izzy has discovered hand-sewing, and can't get enough of it. She is making Christmas gifts for everyone in the family: a red silk skirt for Olivia, leg-warmers for Bubba, a new hat for Dad, and a dress for me. Very High Aspirations...keep on sewing!

Olivia's Brownie Christmas Party

 Olivia's Brownie troop also celebrated the end of the year and Christmas at Build-a-Bear creating their 100th Anniversary Girl Scout Bear, complete with matching brownie uniform.

 Olivia has a really fun troop. They've been together for 2 years now, and enjoy each and every activity.

 What a cute brownie bear for my Brownie!!

Izzy's Daisy Christmas Party

Izzy is LOVING her Girl Scout Daisy troop this year. They had a fun Christmas party, made ornaments, exchanged gifts, and ate tons of goodies!

How The El Mirage Grinch Stole Christmas

Our Ward Christmas party had a fantastic play in which Shayne participated. The kids LOVED it!!

Izzy's Story

I love when my kids begin writing stories. I love their creativity, their spelling, and seeing their handwriting. It is one thing, I don't ever want to forget. Here is a story that Izzy recently wrote. I couldn't get it all in the scan, but here's the story's words:

Once upon a time, there was a ghost that said Boo! The Mummy was scared so he ran away. So he decided to never to there again. The End.

Great Story Izzy! Keep on writing!

Not So Comfy

I found the girls asleep last night in LAUNDRY BASKETS! They were seriously upset at me when I moved them back to their beds...

Visiting Santa

We got to visit with Santa and make sure that he knew of any changes since our letters...that we wrote last week...

Kindergarten Winter Concert

 The kindergarten had their Winter Concert where they performed 3 songs. Izzy LOVED singing to the crowd!

Christmas Spirit

Hip Hop Reindeer

Feliz Navidad

Izzy's Daisy Christmas Party

Izzy's Daisy Troop celebrated at Build-a-Bear for Christmas. Since it is the 100 year anniversary of Girl Scouts, they had a special Girl Scout Bear, that came with a matching daisy outfit. Izzy LOVED creating her bear and getting a matching patch for her new friend.

Aunt Steph's Comin' To Town

 Almost as cool as Santa, we got a visit from Aunt Stephanie!! The kids...and Shayne and I were WAY excited to see her! Thanks for taking the trip out!!

Decorating the tree

Each year we each get new ornaments for the tree. These are the ones the kids got this year.

Elf Lovin'

Buddy, our elf on the shelf loves to find random places to hide each day in order to keep a watch on the kiddos all day. Every once in a while if the kids are AMAZINGLY good, he might even bring them a special treat. The girls wanted to give Buddy some gifts, so they both sewed some scarves (because it is super cold at the North Pole, not Phoenix), wrapped them up and set them at his feet. The next day, Buddy was found sporting BOTH scarves, and bringing a little gift in return. He looks like they'll keep him toasty warm all season!

Care Packages for the Troops

Olivia's Brownie Troop made care packages for some of our service men/women overseas. They each picked things out that they knew the military would LOVE from home and we were able to make 3 boxes to send out!

Serious Pals

Whenever Quinten and Jake get together, it is mass chaos! And they LOVE EVERY MINUTE of it! They'll be doing a movie night, and two minutes later are light saber wielding jedi's, only to find the dress up and become wild animals the next moment. I love seeing my kids with such good buddies!