Our Family: Week of 12/15-12/21

On Monday these guys were very happily surprised by letters from Santa's elves!

We wrote letters to Santa's station in Santa Claus, Indiana and those kind elves wrote back.  I hope they know what a kind service that is to kiddos.

That evening, Josh went to another swim class.  His last one is on Wednesday, where he will be tested.  I don't think he will pass (it IS his first class), but I think he will come pretty close!

I love these two cute boys together.  Josh is so heartbroken his best bud is leaving (me, too), but I'm so grateful for the time they had together.

***

On Tuesday we packaged up our homemade gifts.  I didn't have time/energy/resources to do neighbor and friend gifts.  But, we made homemade hot fudge for the kids' teachers and Mike's co-workers (they all give each other gifts).  I also gave a bottle of nail polish to my cute Activity Day girls.

***

I am not sure if I ever mentioned this, but months ago Grace auditioned for the school play and was cast as Reporter #1 in "The Santa Claus Chronicles."  She had dress rehearsals today, and is so excited for her play tomorrow!

And... the fact that Grammy and Papa are coming up to watch it!

***

On Thursday Grammy and Papa came up for a Christmas visit.

We were so excited to have them here!

During the school day the kids' all had class parties and handed out their gifts to their teachers.  They all came home with tummies full of cookies, hot cocoa, and candy canes.

That evening we headed out (with my Activity Day girls) to watch Grace's play.

She did soooo awesome!

She worked really hard to learn her lines, enunciate, and learn where she had to stand and move.  We are so proud of her!

After the play we came home to open and enjoy the Christmas gifts they worked so hard to make!

Each year, I give my dad a crazy idea of a gift he can make the kiddos.

And each year he patiently listens to my crazy ideas and creates something even better than I had imagined.

This year they (my dad cut, my mom sanded) made beautiful, big building blocks.  These things have been used to make SO many things so far... the kids LOVE them!

In addition to the blocks, he made a gorgeous see-saw.

It's been Adam's lifelong dream to ride on a see-saw, but they took those out of parks and schools for some reason.

Not only do these guys love that thing and play on it daily (it's also very popular with friends), but I make the kids pile on one end while I go on the other and do squats every day.

Free workouts, people!

And, seriously, you don't KNOW leg soreness until you've tried this thing.

Thanks Grammy and Papa for the AWESOME Christmas gifts!

They are very, very loved.

***

On Friday Mike had to go to work, but we got to stay home and play.

Papa helped Adam learn how to use the electric jig saw he brought up.

And taught Josh how to hit acorns with a tennis racket.

We played in the morning, and then crossed another item off of our Christmas list by making gingerbread houses.

My Dad got in on the fun, too.

Sam's house:

I channeled my inner Cake Boss with the piping to help Sam out on it and felt very cool.

Josh's house:

Grace's house:

Adam's gingerbread Boy Scout tent:

After we made those darling houses, we walked down to the park to wear off all that sugar!

That evening we got to enjoy my favorite food in the world: my Dad's Chinese food.

It's amazing.

I have the best childhood memories of us cooking together making that stuff.  When I remember cooking together, I just remember laughing while we peeled garlic and snitched tastes.

I'm sure there was some fighting, but I don't really remember that.

I remember having fun with my family.

Which makes me hope that my kids will look past the fighting and teasing and remember the fun times that we have together, too.

***

On Saturday my parents left early in the morning.

We had the best time with them, and are so grateful that they came up!

After they left, the C* family kids came over for one last playdate before they left for Washington.

We are going to miss that sweet family so much.

The past few years I've baby-sat them, we've played a lot of homemade holiday games together.  Josh and I made them copies of the games as a Christmas gift.

We wanted them to be able to enjoy them without us (and it helped Josh to feel better about the move).

That evening we went over to Sam's Town for the Christmas laser light show.

It's always awesome, and never disappoints.

 

***

On Sunday evening, after a good day of church and family time, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights.

Mike takes this extremely seriously each year, researching the coolest houses in Vegas, and mapping out a map to see them all.

He does an awesome job finding the best houses.

We had such a fun week finishing up Christmas parties, visiting with family, and doing last minute Christmas prep.  We can't wait for Christmas to get here soon!

Our Family: Week of 12/8-12/14

For Josh's birthday, his best friend, Ethan, gifted him with some swim lessons at our community center for them to take together.  On Monday he had his second class and he is LOVING it.

He is my fearless guy, who has taken to the water like a little fish.

I am hoping to keep him going in lessons next year.

***

On Tuesday after school, Adam had his first basketball practice for the season for the school basketball team.

He loves basketball (just like I did when I was his age) and can't wait for games to start in January.

That evening I left my baby (and the rest of my family) and went to our ward's Relief Society Christmas dinner.  It was a nice evening with good friends, yummy food, and a nice program.  We each received an umbrella to remind of us President Uchtdorf's talk that he gave at the recent General Women's broadcast.  I loved his talk so much, and I loved the umbrella gift... that will probably be good for 2.5 seconds until one of my boys' does battle with it.

;)

***

Wednesday was our catch-up day; Mike was off of work so we got caught up on neglected errands and chores.  He didn't have mutual that evening (it is being held Friday instead), so we had fun that night watching Christmas movies and eating popcorn.

***

On Thursday evening, Adam went to his very first school dance.  I wasn't allowed to attend middle school dances (and for good reason!), and I didn't think I would let Adam attend.  But, seeing as how it was held at the LDS church in the Primary room, with so many good parents and friends in attendance, we felt pretty good about it.

It was a Christmas-themed dance, and they each brought an appetizer to share.  He insisted that he wasn't going to dance, but I made him learn and practice with me before he went anyways.  Which turned out to be a good thing, because his cute crush, Gabby, asked him to dance each time a slow song came on and he knew what to do.

After we picked him up, we went over to Ethel M's to look at their gorgeous lit cactus garden and sample some free chocolate.

And this terrible picture, my friends, is my very first that has ALL of them smiling:

A triumph!

***

Friday was our last day baby-sitting for the C* family.  They are moving to Washington in a week, and we are going to miss them soooo much!  It has been such a blessing having them in our lives.

I decided to go out with a bang (and get a few things knocked off of our Christmas bucket list) and we decorated pinecone Christmas trees:

Along with Christmas cookies:

After they left we went over to Sam's Club.

I've been trying a "new plan" where I stock up on essentials every payday, rotating them through, to save money.  This was a "meat" stock-up.  I got a bunch of ground turkey and chicken breast at really great prices, and then spent hours trimming it, weighing, and bagging it for the freezer.

It's a (slightly huge) pain, but soooo worth it when dinnertime comes around.

That evening was cold and rainy; I stayed home with Sam, while Mike, Adam, Grace and Josh went with the youth and Primary kids on our ward's annual caroling hayride around the neighborhood, complete with Sister Perez's famous Mexican hot chocolate.

They had soooo much fun, and I missed going...

... but cuddling with a too-cute baby is pretty fun, too.

***

On Saturday we went to our ward's Christmas party.

We had a good dinner, a cute Christmas program for the kids, and then went to see Santa.

I think the pictures show how much Sam enjoyed THAT visit.

;)

Adam, Grace, and Josh all enjoyed meeting him and telling him what they wanted for Christmas.

Hopefully they were good enough and will get it!

***

On Sunday we watched the Christmas broadcast that we had missed last week (the missionaries came over for dinner at the same time).  We finished up some gifts and cards we are making for teachers and family, and had fun enjoying the cold evening in our warm little house.

Our Family: Week of 12/1-12/7

On Monday we celebrated Josh's 5th birthday!

I don't understand how my baby is 5.

He wanted to spend it playing with his best friend, Ethan, so we had a long playdate over at our house with him.

They built forts, fought like Ninja Turtles, played games, and built Legos.

That evening after Mike came home from work, we opened gifts.

Josh got a Planes video game, Tinker Toys, Ninja Turtle books, a new Charlie the Ranch Dog book, and money.

We had cheese quesadillas with homemade Cafe Rio dressing for dinner (his favorite).

And, man alive, does this kid get the short end of the stick on birthday cakes.  With it being right after Thanksgiving, and in the midst of getting ready for Christmas, his birthday is always a crazy day.

Luckily, he still adores his cakes.

He wanted a Ninja Turtle cake... but not the cutesy ones I found on Pinterest.

He wanted a plain circle cake with a Ninja Turtle toy on top.

Unfortunately, he also wanted it to be blue.

Not sure how I mixed that up... but he's pretty easy-going so I promised his pre-school cupcakes would be blue, and he was appeased.

I wish everyone could know the Josh that I know.  This kid has a tough, cynical, sarcastic exterior (that he gets from Adam).  If you just spend a little more time with him, though, he is so kind, sensitive, always thinks of others, is incredibly courageous, smart, and has such a great sense of humor.  He is a problem solver; when others are upset or fighting, he goes ahead and fixes the problem.  He is slightly OCD and is the hardest worker.  He is a total Mama's Boy, who tells me repeatedly throughout the day how much he adores and loves me.  I was so worried about bringing Sam home back in January.  Josh is such a Mama's Boy that I was sure that he would hate Sam, because I would have to give him so much attention.  I was completely, utterly wrong.  He has adored and cared for Sam (even better than Grace and Adam sometimes) from day 1.  It's such a joy to watch him love on Sam.  I can't believe he's 5 because I think he will always be my baby... he was my baby for 4 years, and I've had to remind myself over and over that he isn't a baby anymore.  I am so thankful for Josh and the privilege it is to be his Mom.

***

On Tuesday we loaded up some blue frosted cupcakes with sprinkles, and brought them to pre-school to share with his friends.

His teacher gave him a sweet gift and birthday crown (and the card is from the grandparents... he loved it so much).

***

On Wednesday, Josh got to go to the dentist for a check-up and cleaning.

Sam liked the kid-sized chairs in the lobby.

He had no cavities (wahooo!) and only gagged twice in the cleaning, so we grabbed him some chicken nuggets and a slushie from Burger King on the way home.

Yay, Josh!

***

On Thursday I was so excited to finally have a "free afternoon."  We leisurely went to the library and the park after school, and then came home and made dinner together.

Mike came home at 8:00 and asked how Scouts was.

My "leisurely day" wasn't actually free at all... I had totally forgotten (even though it was right there on the calendar).

My brain is going, people!

***

On Friday we received the much-anticipated package from Grandma W* with the Jesse Tree Ornaments from the rest of the family and the Christmas bags, with a special ornament that Grandma makes the kids each year and treats.

They were thrilled!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa W*!

Especially Sam.

Mike has him well-trained to recognize Dum-Dums (the Sunday treat in Young Men's each week).

***

On Saturday we got the house and car cleaned, worked on school projects, played, and Grace and Josh broke the wishbone from our Thanksgiving turkey.

Josh won!

Grace didn't.

(Don't worry... she wasn't really upset.  That is her dramatic actress sad face).

;)

***

On Sunday, Josh received his birthday gift from the Primary: a "Families Are Forever" bracelet and an FHE lesson to give.

He has been soooo excited for his gift!

We can't wait for the FHE lesson this guy is going to give us soon.