All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!

Bria lost another tooth today. Just in time, too. She heard the song "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" and has been desperate to have that happen to her. So, I guess tonight we are having a visit from not only Santa, but the tooth fairy as well. Bria said "Maybe the tooth fairy and Santa will get to meet each other!"

 

The kids are beyond excited for Christmas! It's been snowing today and the kids have spent tons of time looking out the window with anticipation. I love having kids at Christmastime!

A Homemade Christmas

Every year, I like to do at least one homemade Christmas gift for everyone in our family. I don't know if it is just something I got from growing up, but I really love doing it. This year I have several for the kids. I suppose it's because I feel so much better than I felt all year, being pregnant most of the year and recovering for a lot of the remainder. But, I finally feel like I'm supposed to feel!

So, here are a few of the homemade gifts for this year:

These are little magnet boards that the kids can use to hang their art projects. We will eventually hang on them fridge (they have magnets on the back so they'll stick to the fridge). I originally wanted to put them in frames to be hung on the wall, but the idea changed a bit. I put a little picture on Max's to show how the kids can hang their art projects.

Obviously, these are ornaments. But, I think they're cute!

This is a little felt pizza. I made two - one for Max and one for Logan. This came from our super saturday. I would have posted it sooner, but I just barely finished them today!

This is also from Super Saturday. They are felt hair clips for Bria.

My very creative and crafty neighbor taught me how to make little stationary kits. I made very simplified versions for the kids to use as spy kits. They each have a little notebook and wallet that they can keep all their clues in. They are very easy to make and you just use card stock, so they are fairly inexpensive too!

I also made new artbooks for the kids. I forgot to take pictures before I wrapped them (oops!). They are similar to these that I made earlier in the year, but they have a new cover and are probably twice as thick as the original ones. Our kids love having their own artbook and have been begging for new ones for a good month.

Finally, (I hope Dave doesn't check our blog in the next 36 hours!) a calendar for Dave. This one was probably the easiest to make. Last year, I made a full on calendar from scratch for him. It probably took me 40 hours. There was no way I was going to do that again! But, I found a completely finished except for the pictures template for $1 on Black Friday. So, I just inserted the pictures and printed them off. They are made to fit an 8x10 frame so all the months are inside. I also printed one off for me to hang in the kitchen.

Well, that 's all of our little projects this year! I hope I'm not jinxing anything by posting early, But, I think we're close enough now that it probably won't matter!

Logan and the Christmas Tree

Logan loves to lay under the Christmas tree and look at all the lights. Today, while he was underneath, he found an ornament that was just in his reach. He was fascinated that he could hold it and swing it.

Webster Family Christmas Party

The Webster family had their Christmas party tonight. When I say the Webster family, I mean the WHOLE Webster family - cousins and all. It is a huge group. I had no idea when I married Dave what a large family he came from. It's fun that everyone gets together for family events. Dave had to work late, so we actually missed out on the caroling, but we did get there just in time to see Santa! So, in case our kids forgot to tell him at the Ward Christmas party the other night, they got the chance here.

Bria is quite sure she wants Littlest Petshops. She told Santa again. So, hopefully she's been good enough to get her wish!

Max was totally different this time than last. He we very apprehensive about even walking up to Santa. I'm not really sure why. He was embarrassed that everyone was trying to get him to visit Santa, so he said it was because he didn't know what kind of toy to ask for. I reminded him that he asked for cars and a "shooter thing".  After he realized that Santa had candy, he decided it was probably worth going up to him for that. But, he didn't want to sit on his lap.

We didn't put Logan through the Santa drama again. But, he did sit on Grandma's lap for quite a while. He was very interested in her hands, which doesn't surprise me since he is so fascinated by his own hands at the moment. I'm sad the picture turned out blurry!

After visiting Santa and having a yummy soup dinner, the kids played games. During the first game, the kids had to walk to a cup blindfolded and spoon in as many marshmallows as possible. The team with the most marshmallows won.

The next game was Do You Love Your Neighbor. I didn't think Max would understand, but he did fabulous. It was so fun to watch Bria and Max take their turn in the middle. They are both growing up so much!!!

I think Logan made a new best friend. His cousin Lucas decided he really loves Logan. So cute!

It was a really fun night! Thank you Merlin and Catherine for such a great party!!!

4 Months

Our little guy is just growing up too fast! He is just over 15 lbs now. His personality is growing more and more every day. He loves to play with Bria and Max and really can't get enough of the attention they dole out. He has the most beautiful laugh. He's really getting good at laughing and sometimes will just laugh for the fun of it. He is by far the most friendly baby we've had. He loves people and smiles and talks to just about everyone. He also loves toys. He'll bat his hands and try to figure things out for hours. It's fun to watch. He is facinated with his hands and most of his time is spent either looking at them or sucking on them. He learned how to roll over both from front to back and from back to front. He loves laying under the Christmas tree and staring at all the lights and colors. I think his favorite thing, though, is being carried all around the house. It seems like he is the most happy when he can explore. It'll be fun to see what he does when he can move himself around.

The only thing that disappoints me at this point is that he has all but outgrown his bassinet. But, he still wakes up 3 or 4 times a night. So, in my absolute laziness, he's been sleeping next to me for half the night. I need to find a way to get him to sleep for longer stretches, but I honestly don't have any solutions right now. I'm also sad that he's actually old enough to be separated from me at night. I've been trying to hang on to his baby-ness so tight, but he's just growing and growing.

What a cutie! I just can't get enough of this adorable face!!!

Bountiful Baskets

There is a new produce co-op in our area. It's been SO FUN to be a part of. Basically, you donate $15 to the pool, they purchase produce in bulk and then split it up between everyone.  It's such a great deal - you end up getting somewhere around $50 worth of produce in the end. It runs twice a month in our area. Today was pick-up day. I actually got a few extra things this week. I split an extra "Hostess" pack with my sister-in-law, so the final cost was $20. This is what I got:

It included:
a head of Romaine lettuce
a huge bag of salad
broccoli
cauliflower
2 avacados
21 red potatoes
1 onion
a bag of green beans
4 carrots
half a box of grape tomatoes
4 yams
a butternut squash
6 oranges
6 chestnuts
9 corn on the cob
3 mangoes
9 apples
1 catalope
6 bananas
8 kiwis

YUM!!! My fridge is so full right now! I'm excited to use everything. If you're interested in more info, you can go to their website HERE. You can't order or see anything until the Tuesday and Wednesday before pick-up day. The next pick up is on January 2. I highly recommend it. The produce is excellent quality - the exact same stuff that you can buy in a store. And, I love having all the nutritious food for snacks.

Ward Christmas Party

We had our Ward Christmas party tonight. It was fun! Dave got our good friend Jeff to come and take family pictures for everyone in the ward. (Jeff is the one who took our wedding pictures). I was so excited because the only family picture we have had so far is the one at the hospital when Logan was born. I think it is high time we got another!

Bria is getting so grown up! She really wanted to sit with two of her best friends during the program, so we let her. I snuck a picture while they were watching.

The other highlight of the evening was, of course, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids were excited all night for this!

I'm not exactly sure what Max is describing to Santa, but my guess is it is pretty big!

Bria asked for some Littlest Petshop toys.

Logan was so cute. When he first got handed to Mrs. Claus, he saw Santa's beard and wanted to grab it. Then, when he realized that Santa was a person, he couldn't stop crying. I love how Bria and Max are both smiling at his reaction! After Logan got handed back to me, he talked and talked for almost 10 minutes about his traumatic experience. It was really funny.

Blackness

We had a blackout tonight. It was funny because I was talking to Dave on the phone at the time. He was in Rexburg. Suddenly the power went out and it obviously ended our phone call. The next thing I knew, Bria and Max (who had been playing in the kitchen) were screaming. It was SO dark, what with the new moon and all. Thank goodness I was already holding Logan. But, I had to try and find my way out of the bedroom and over to Bria and Max and then somehow find a flashlight, all while trying not to trip and fall or accidentally bump Logan into something. Meanwhile, my cell phone rang (adding yet another thing that I had to try to find in complete blackness). It was Dave. "Is the power out at our house?" "Yes - it's totally dark!" "The whole city of Rexburg just lost power! It was crazy to see everything just get DARK!" He was on his way home and watched the power failure from the car.

 As I found the flashlights, the kids (who were already almost 1 hour past bedtime) got less scared and more excited! Knowing that it was a pretty large blackout, I figured we wouldn't have power for a while. So, what do you do with a couple of small kids in the middle of a blackout? I have NO IDEA!!!

First, we started by trying to read stories. But, the kids were just too darn excited for that. So, I suggested that this would be a good time to play Dark to Dark. Dark to Dark is a made-up game that originated sometime while playing with some neighbor kids. It is our kids very favorite made-up game ever! Basically, you turn off all the lights in the basement and explore with (or without) flashlights. The kids will normally spend hours laughing and giggling while playing this game. But, tonight - absolutely no interest! Hmmmm. Okay. I needed to get Logan to sleep, so I figured that since my suggestions weren't very interesting, they could come up with their own ideas while I rocked Logan to sleep. Bria was finally getting tired, so she came and layed down on the couch. Max on the other hand became a little detective. He carefully examined anything and everything up close with his little flashlight. It was really funny to watch how curious and excited he was to see common things in a new light. Bria asked me how flashlights can work but the regular lights don't. I explained about batteries. Just then it dawned on me! The laptop has batteries and it was fully charged and it could PLAY A MOVIE!! Yay! We were about to be saved by ELECTRONICS!!!!

I told the kids to go get a blanket and a pillow - we were WATCHING A MOVIE! They hurriedly got everything that would make them comfortable, including all the extras (stuffed animals, books, etc.). We booted up the computer, picked the movie and got it started.  Just as the computer started playing the movie - yep, you guessed it! We were saved by the devoted employees at Rocky Mountain Power! No more blackout.

I said "Yay! The power is back on! TIME FOR BED! Go brush your teeth." Instead of the disappointment that I expected, Max said "Okay, mom. YAY for POWER!!!!"

While I tucked Bria in, she said "That was fun! I wish we could lose our power more often!" So, what started as a normal night, turned into a blackout adventure! Who knew?!?

Deck the Halls

We finally got our house decorated for Christmas! I guess it's about time being that Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away! Now it finally feels like Christmastime!

 

Dave always braves the cold every year to decorate the outside. I thought maybe he would skip this year since he's been so busy with school, but he found a little bit of time and got it done! He made the candy canes himself.

On a related note....Bria brought a Santa Claus countdown calendar home from school. First, I am so glad that she is actually doing something Christmas related in this increasingly politically correct world. But, I have to say I think she did a really good job! I especially love the realistically bloodshot eyes that she gave Santa. When I asked her about it, she said "Mom, look at your eyes. There are red lines all over your eyes too!" Hmmmm. Thanks.

Plowing Snow

As an update to our last post, Bria has been working extremely hard to get on Santa's nice list. I guess the idea of her own decorated lump of coal is not what she really wants for Christmas. So, she has been almost constantly cleaning her room, the bathroom and any other odd and end chore she thinks she can find. Most are very helpful. Some, not so much. She has used half a bottle of Windex in the last week cleaning and re-cleaning any and all glass surfaces in sight. But, all in all, I would much rather have her be helpful than mischevious.

This morning was an example of such kindess from Bria. The day started off snowing. Dave was gone to Church meetings. As I was busy with my own business, I realized I hadn't heard or seen Bria for a while. Usually this means trouble, so I definitely wanted to check it out. To my surprise....she was outside shoveling the driveway. I had to hurry and sneak a few pictures. So cute!

I love the random shovel lines she made all over the driveway. She was outside for a good 45 minues going back and forth - we have a pretty long driveway. She was so cold when she came in - but very proud of herself.