Another Year Older...

Today was a really fun but super busy Birthday. This morning we had Andrew's Christmas Party at Joy School. (See other post about it.) After a quick lunch with Andrew he went to his other Preschool. (And the best part is he stayed dressed up nicely for it. He was so handsome!) Then Rick & I went out to lunch. It was funny, we ran into one of the members of our Stake Presidency & member of the High Council having lunch there. They were so nice to offer to keep Eliza so we could go shopping, see a movie alone. But we had other errands to run as well so we'll have to take them up next time. It was a really nice offer. We went down & met my sister at Costco & then ran to Target to get a few things we were supposed to pick up for Eliza. She loves this cat piano. We didn't show it to her while we were shopping (but she saw it a few days back & enjoyed playing with it). But once I put it up at the register & she saw it she started begging for it. It was hilarious. So we let her play with it the whole way home & it cracked us up!

For my birthday, Lexie got me these pretty flowers & she also played "O Come All Ye Faithful" on the piano for me! It was great!

The kids (& Rick) made lots of fun presents & got me some fun ones, too.

And then we had yummy cake!

It's been a fun year & looking forward to another fun one.

Joy School Christmas Party

This morning was Andrew's Joy School party & it's always a delight. It's been fun watching the kids practice this program everyday for the last month & how excited they get about perfroming it.
Our handsome boy who dressed himself. I love how he still loves that bowtie!

The Nativity. He got to be one of the Wisemen this time.

Singing songs.

The Perfect Present:

Jingle Bells:

We love Joy School & love that Andrew has lots of fun there!

Candy Thief

This litte munchkin loves candy! It is the funniest thing to watch her sneak kisses, crouch down in a corner & open them up. You always know where she's been because there is this nice trail of wrappers.

Old Chicago Field Trip

Andrew got to take Rick to Old Chicago for his field trip with his Preschool! Andrew loved it! He got to make his own pizza to eat, tour the kitchen, go in the big refrigerator, drink rootbeer & do it all with his dad! What could be better?

Pizza is ready!

Mmm mmm, good!

And he even got a coupon for a free pizza again sometime! He was super excited!

We love Andrew's preschool & his great teachers there & more importantly, Andrew adores them! This is his favorite field trip of the year & we're glad he got to go.

"Nuttin' For Christmas"

Yesterday at the Santa breakfast, there was an orchestra playing Christmas songs. "We Three Kings" was played & I couldn't remember one of the lines & so I told Joseph I would look it up when we got home & sing it correctly for him. I remembered to do it today. I pulled out the Reader's Digest Christmas Songbook & found it. After we sang that one, I decided it would be fun to continue on through the book & sing the songs we recognized. I came to "Nuttin' for Christmas" & then said, "Yep Kids, you'd better be good or you may not get anything."

Andrew replied, "If we are not good we will get Coke in our stocking! And we so do not want that!"

Wouldn't that be a bummer?

Oh how I love that sweet little boy & the silly things that he hears!

In other news of the day, the kids love group hugs!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Rick's work had their annual "Breakfast With Santa" this morning. The kids always love this! And this year they even had some cookies with breakfast which Andrew truly loved!

Eliza wasn't that thrilled to see him.

But the other kids enjoyed telling him what they would like for Christmas.

Once were were done there, we went over to one of our friend's Dentist Office to see Santa as well! The kids were super excited with the prospect of seeing 2 Santa's in 1 day! Here are the older 3 who happily stood to see him.

And then there was Eliza who was traumatized with the idea.

But it makes for great memories! We all really had a great morning together!

Bookmark Contest

Each year the school has a contest where the kids get to design a bookmark. Joseph's won for the first graders! When the librarian called me on Wednesday to let me know I thought, "Bummer, I have no idea what it looks like." I called Rick & told him about it & he started laughing! (Never a good sign.) When Joseph showed it to him, Rick asked him, "Are you sure you want to turn that in?"(In all fairness to Rick, he only saw it when it was half done, but he didn't know that at the time.) But, Joseph did a great job & he was super excited that he won & got to wear a ribbon all day at school!

Here he is walking up to get his pile of bookmarks to hand out at Barnes & Noble.

With our awesome Art Teacher & Librarian.

It was fun watching Joseph be super shy about handing bookmarks out to lots of the people there & then see him start to open up a bit & really have a fun time.

Our Little Stinker

We should find our gate, although it doesn't work that well on our stairs. So, we've used baskets, stools, boxes, tubs & the like to keep our little ones from climbing up whenever they so desire.

But this little one is quite the thinker. She has gotten over every obstacle we have put in front of her with such ease, it's amazing. For instance, our latest. Each box is full of heavy items. Not the easiest boxes to move. And yet she's trying to figure it out.

Peeking inside to see why they are so heavy.

Starting to squeeze through...

And bummer I missed the greatest look of success when she was on the first step, but here she is, happy as can be.

It's a good thing she's learned to go down really well, but still...

Cookie Night

Well, we don't have much documentation of our fun evening. Poor Rick thought he had turned on record only to find he turned it on for the applause (when he was wanting to stop the recording). So we missed his "I wish I were a pickle pizza" song, but that's alright. Everyone (his family at least) is still in love with him.

Rick did get this shot of him though. Poor Rick was doing double duty on the camera tonight while I wrestled with Eliza.

But the real proof of us being there: the cookies! And oh so many cookies! Before going I told the kids they could try 4 different kinds if they acted appropriately. They were so excited. But then the teachers announced that they were handing out bags for the kids to fill so they could try lots of different kinds. So, Lexie & Joseph worked on filling one "for the family to try" of course. There are a few for us to try, but they each ate between 5 & 7 cookies each. The kids say they were all delicious!

We love Cookie Night but love watching Andrew perform even more. He is so charismatic lately, especially with performing. He was sure to tell me that he had to sing loudly & that crying wasn't allowed or else the parents wouldn't be able to hear the song clearly. And had very strict instructions about how tonight was going to go for us. It was cute & fun to see how much ownership he felt in the evening for us. And it's awesome to see how much he loves his teachers, Miss Krista, Miss Alysse, & Miss Ahn. He adores them & they adore him, too, and that just makes us all happy!

On the way to the school this evening, Andrew said, "This is the best day ever!" And he just declared, "I love Cookie Night!" I think that says it all.

"I wish I were a pepperoni pizza. That is what I truly long to be. For if I were a pepperoni pizza, everyone would be in love with me!" Yep, the song is stuck in our head!

Happy St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas came to our house last night. The kids were up at 5 this morning checking their shoes for goodies.

Luckily, St. Nicholas did not disappoint. And as our tradition goes, he brought them a new ornament as well.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

A Beach Party

The kiddos put on a fun little Beach Party for us this afternoon. Boy were they stylin'!

Here is our director!

Joseph as our resident scuba diver!

Our entertainment!

We got to feed ocean animals in this feeding pool. There was an octopus, baby shark, clown fish, starfish, baby sting ray, & a seahorse. It was awesome!

Here's Andrew holding the baby sting ray he made.

Here's Lexie with the things she made.

We had a moment of strength contest. Andrew won!

We jumped around

and went surfing!

And looked at seashells & the neat banner the kids made. Yeah, we had an awesome time!

Afterwards, we came upstairs & made Christmas Tree brownies. The kids had a great time decorating & eating these.

Happy Days!

Big Sister is the BEST

And she wears herself out being the best!

Ahh, the love!