A family from Travis' squadron here invited us over for Christmas dinner. It was fun to get to know them (the Dormers), and another family (with a really hard last name) better. It's amazing how you find really good people wherever you go.

They made these cute little hats that you see on Allana in the background.

My kids always are happy when there is food involved.

Micah is all decked out in new clothes from Grandma Timothy.

Okay I was realizing that I haven't posted pictures from our bathroom. I think it's because it is bordering to big and lavish and I feel guilty. Check out this jetted tub and how small Micah looks in it. We have only even used it once--really. But it was really nice. . .

I left out Micah's Christmas picture before. Does he look like he already really needs a nap?

Micah is the only one who has gotten to try this tub out. It was an emergency, and this was the closest most convenient way to clean him. Now they all want to get in. . .

Why we celebrate Christmas

One last Christmas entry, because I just can't let go of it. I love this time of year--I really hope I can do everything possible to continue the feeling of awareness and gratitude for the Savior and his great gift to us. He has given us everything and loves us so much. Noah was asking me today if we can please play Christmas music throughout the rest of the year, too. Part of me totally says YES, but I also love waiting and then playing it nonstop right after Thanksgiving (or before). And I like to pull it out sometimes when I am in a really bad mood. I don't know why it helps so much with that. Anyway, I love this clip. I could watch it over and over, so I thought I would post it.

More Christmas pictures

My stocking present was the biggest hit of all. Everyone else wants to play with it (and eat it) which means mommy is getting a few back massages. . .

Ammon with his stash

Micah's Santa present was a block that we found in the toy bin the night before and wrapped for him. Is this bad? I personally think it's great because you know at this age the love the paper and boxes the most, they don't know how to count presents, and are over stimulated within the first 10 minutes of Christmas and need to go take their morning nap instead.

Christmas in Virginia

We have been spending money like crazy with this move--I don't even know why. . . so we decided to make it a simple Christmas. We always try to make it simple and it ends up being more than we intended. But we Santa gave the kids one gift and then they got things from Grandparents and other families. But Travis, well, he had a big Christmas. He has never ever had any tools and we went and got a few fun things for him so that he can just build and fix whatever we need him to from now on. He usually doesn't ask for much, so he deserved it and by Christmas he was well started on making a desk for us.

These are the fun faces that we are working for when we fill those stockings . . .Santa gave Ammon a Diego toy, because fell in love with Diego when we were in Florida and had cable.

Kaden's only wish this Christmas was for a sled. But he was also under the impression that he would wake up to a magically white and snowy Christmas. So he got a playing mat to play with cars on, and we did go into our garage and get the sleds that we already had and the kids had forgotten about. They had lots of fun pulling their goodies around on them and putting their pillows and blankets in them and pretending to sleep.

Noah got an explorer kit, so that he can properly explore the woods behind our house. You can see outside the beginnings of a Christmas at 65 degrees. Noah went on and on about how it just didn't FEEL like CHRISTMAS--"No family is with us, it's warm outside, and it just came so fast!"

Travis grew up with the tradition of having Captain crunch on Christmas morning before going in and opening presents. Obviously the kids don't mind too much.

Christmas Eve

Our friends invited us over to do Christmas Eve with them. We have actually never had our kids act out the nativity scene. I guess I don't feel creative and was always embarrassed about stuff like that before, but doing it with them showed me how easy and simple it is, and how great the spirit of it is. I think we will definitely try to do something like that every year. I loved it! And look how cute and sweet they all are. And the kids were the perfect combination to make a good nativity scene, with Kaden's friend Ava, as Mary, and little baby Jack who laid so quietly and helped the rest of the kids feel gentle and reverent.

He's on to me

Now a quote from Noah, as he was taking out the garbage today: " What, do you think you are being sneaky or something, Mom? Throwing away candy canes?!"

I admit it, I did think I was being sneaky--he always catches me at things like that. It's a good thing he was the one that caught me and not his 2 younger brothers. . . he made his own decision the other day to sort through candy he got from school and make 3 piles--to keep, give away, and throw away. What a kid!

Just because

Just because this kid is adorable, I mean. Not to brag or anything--I really had nothing to do with it. Anyway, Micah has taken to squealing and yelling this week. If I knew an easy way to tape it and put it on here, I would. Right now it is just hilarious and cute, but I can see a day when something like that won't be so cute anymore.

I admit he in on the border of needing another haircut, but I just don't want all of his hair gone again! What to do, what to do.

Giggles and Grins

Don’t you love it when you are busy doing something, like cleaning after lunch, and a child is talking to you and you are only half-way listening—enough to say uh-huh, that’s nice, etc. Kaden was doing that a few minutes ago and somewhere in my belated hearing I heard him say (I was slicing him a piece of bread) “Mommy, I really like that kind of knife—if you rub it softly on your hand, it tickles”. . . “Uh-huh, that’s nice” Wait a minute. “Did you just say. . .” I need to listen to my kids a little better.

He and Ammon have been having quite the conversations lately. Kaden pointing out the world the way he sees it, and Ammon agreeing and learning from him then putting in his own 2 cents. “Hey, I just saw a picture of you and Daddy and you kissed when you got married”—Has he never noticed that since?

These two hooligans have been saying things lately that are just very funny, and I keep thinking I need to write them down and then forget. So I am sure I have much funnier ones to share but for now these will have to do.

Ammon: "Daddy is working with his toodles" (tools)

"Mommy, can we please ride the alligator?" (elevator)

There are a lot from Kaden lately that are cracking me up. So bear with me. Maybe I should take some kind of action instead of laughing.

Kaden:

#1: Trav was having a heart to heart talk with him earlier this week, asking his favorite color, favorite number, then asked his favorite thing to do. The answer was "My favorite thing to do is. . . eat".

#2: The next day I had a couple pf friends over playing and was being nosy trying to get new ideas for dinner so we don't eat the same 3 meals our whole lives. Anderson's favorite dinner was mashed potatoes and gravy, Ava's was stuffing, Noah's was sweet and sour chicken, and then I asked Kaden. He said "ohhh, there is too many--I think I love every dinner".

#3: Yesterday I was in the talking to the kids and said, "guess what we need to do tonight?" Noah said "b-a-t-h?" and I said "yep!". Then Kaden piped in in a slightly panicked voice. "AND we need to eat more food today still!"

#4: Lately when we are doing the "highs and lows" by the Christmas tree, Kaden's low is that we didn't go to eat at any restaurants that day. Oh yeah, I just thought of a couple more. . .

#5: We were in the grocery store and he saw something that looked good to him, and I said off-handedly, "well it's sure not very healthy--it has a lot of sugar in it. And he said. "I really like things that are bad for me sometimes!--and I really like sugar".

#6: Oh, and when he was in Pre-K in Florida--Every day I would ask him how school was and what he did, and all he could remember is what was for snack (it was always very bad, by the way--why do they do that?) and that based his whole opinion of his day.

He also makes sure that if someone else doesn't finish their dinner (as long as it's the right dinner), that it doesn't go to waste "okay, I guess I'll just finish Ammon's."

Hmmm. Is there a trend to all of these funny things he is saying? And should I worry about him? Anyone who knows Kaden is not surprised by this. He was born wanting to nurse ALL the time--seriously. It didn't just seem like it. My friend Marian would take him from me and try to hold him off. Our first goal was to go 2 1/2 hours, but in the end we settled for an hour and a half between feedings, and that was with having to make him really mad first. When he started solids, I 6 months but gave in before that because he wanted it so badly, and he was a pro from the start. He did try to tell me the other day that he likes the healthy food just as much or more than the others, though. I think he just wanted my approval at the moment. . .

Speaking of worrying about Kaden, he also tells me he really like the bad guys and fighting in movies. I tried to get them to watch "The Miracle on 34th street" yesterday with me, and he complained the whole time and asked if their were any bad guys in this movie. I said the psychiatrist sure wasn't very nice, and apparently the guy was not bad enough for him. I think the only part that he like was when Kris Kringle hit the psychiatrist on the head with his cane. Noah wasn't really like this, so it does worry me a little sometimes. But it could all be normal little boy things, right?

Picture Perfect--Not!

So how's this for a picture perfect day? The day after we get all of our boxes, and Noah's birthday. We were up to the ceiling in boxes, and I had made waffles for Noah that morning and was trying to make a cake that I didn't have all of the ingredients for and unpack. Trav had told me that they were doing family pictures by in front of a raptor, and we were a little bummed because it was all going to be done before Noah got out of school (inside I was a tad bit relieved--I wouldn't have to shower!). So just before it's time to go and get Noah from school, Travis calls and tells me that we are getting pictures after all. We will just pick up Noah and go straight from there. Great--except I haven't even brushed my own unshowered hair, let alone thought of what to dress everyone in. And the kitchen disposal is clogged from trying to put carrot peels down it, and the plumber is on his way. But it worked out. Then the normal great family moments while we are getting pictures taken--Noah making faces, Ammon crying, and Micah trying with all his might to grab Kaden's hair (you can't tell but I am trying with all my might to hold him up and back as he throws himself on Kaden) and thinking it was the funniest thing on earth. So I didn't really expect a perfect one. Trav thinks they are great pictures, however, because when he looks he sees a sleek cool jet (hey, this is a stealth aircraft, I thought you weren't supposed to be able to see it, anyway). So his favorites have nothing to do with which kid's belly is showing, and everything to do with getting more jet with the family close up. =)

Warm Chocolate Fuzzies

Lest I ever complain about my children too much or lead anyone to believe that one of them might be very negative and driving my crazy with the "half-empty" cup, we had a breakthrough tonight. I remember a couple of conferences ago, Elder Ballard talked about the joy motherhood. He said "Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." This was a moment for me. The first night we set up and decorated our Christmas tree, before bed we turned out all the lights in the house and turned the lights on the tree and all sat together on the couch to look at them. Noah got so excited and wanted to go around the room and have "good family conversation--you know, like we all can tell our highs and lows for the day"(that's when we tell about something sad and something happy. The lows usually are easier to think of for some, but on this night he actually said 3 highs and said he had no lows for the day)--so we did that and sang a few Christmas songs and read a scripture story before bed. I had such a good time. Since then it is what the kids expect every night. On Sunday as we sang Christmas hymns in church, Noah was finding the songs ahead of time and reading them and made sure to sing, and he fell in love with the hymn "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". He begs to sing it every night and wants to get the hymn book out and sing all of the verses. It is so nice to see him happy and excited and positive about something, that I will sing all he wants to sing. (And our kids have never been ones to go around humming and singing like some other kids do, so I love that he will actually sing). Anyway, tonight Trav came home late (or I should say is coming home late, since he's still not home), and we went through and sang all of the Christmas hymns, and as I put the boys to bed. He kept saying how he just loved the music and the words.

NOAH:"Mom, you know how when you drink hot chocolate, and your chest feels warm as it goes down? That's how those songs make me feel."

What a great description of the spirit and the way it works! So tonight I go to bed with hope and warm fuzzies myself. On a side note, the first night we were singing by the tree, Kaden plugged his ears every song, and cried a little. I don't know if we were singing really bad or he just wasn't feeling that same spirit. But even he has gotten better, and tonight said Noah taught him to love "Hark the herald angels sing". And he has stopped plugging his ears.

And still more--

Lovely garage with most of the boxes we haven't gotten to yet.

This would be our stashing room right now for boxes and things we don't want to deal with yet.

Same room as above.

This our our Christmas room =). Future piano room? That would be oh so nice. For now we finally have space enough to display Marian's huge nativity (why do I have someone else's really nice nativity, you may ask--we ask ourselves the same thing, but for now we'll just enjoy it)

The funny plastic wall decorations were from our Christmas part last year and I just figured while we have empty walls I should get our money's worth from them. . .

More and More

Our family wall

Okay it's really still a mess in here, but not getting better very fast. Look at all the cupboards and counter space. The only thing is that the cupboard are built for someone much much taller than me, so we had to buy a little ladder, and the entire top shelf has just food storage and stuff I don't have to read very often.

This is right by the kitchen, but is it's own room. Yeah! --a real laundry room!

Ooops, did I already post this one--It's from the front door.

This is standing by the couch looking towards the front door.

Furnished pics

Okay I wish I could just wait until everything is unpacked and perfect, but face it. . . my house will never be all perfectly nice and clean at once. So we haven't hung everything, and I haven't organized all the rooms, or even unpacked a lot of boxes, butI had to post more house pictures anyway. Otherwise it may be years. . . this is just as you come up the stairs.

This is as you come in the front door and pass the front rooms, one on each side.
Okay so they are all the same room, but this is from the kitchen table.
Taken from half way up the stairs. . .

From the landing at the top of the stairs. . .

Killer eyes

I sure hope Micah keeps these eyes. I was relieved that when he lost his dark beautiful hair, his eyes still were bright blue, so I could kind of still recognize him. I was just being weird putting this outfit on him this morning (I don't think daddy approves of it). It's actually super cute and comfy, but after putting it on him, maybe yellow is more or a girl color, I don't know. . . Anyway, I was taking a few pics of the house and can't just not add this one. Noah adores Micah--he is such a good helper with him.

Exploding Diapers. . .

Seriously--why are people so in love with huggies. I remember using huggies with Noah until he was probably 12-18 months, and they suddenly started leaving those gooey crystals on his batooty and we tried Luvs and have never used anything else (except for when I am convinced we can save money and buy the generic brands and then Trav and I vow to never do that again). But Luvs are great and hold everything in and are way less expensive than Huggies or Pamper (I really like Pampers. . . ). Any, we just got a Costco membership (whoohoo, we have never lived close enough to a Costco at a time we thought it would be worth it)--I decided take a couple of long trips there by myself and not buy anything, but just price everything so I could compare it to Walmart and the Commissary and from here on out I can know what to buy where. I remember some people telling me diapers are cheaper at Costco, and the price per diaper is cheaper (they have Huggies) than Luvs. I like the way Huggies fit to snuggly and stretchy, and I did the math and it was less than one cent more per diaper for the Huggies (so I guess it would be less with a coupon). I decided what the heck, I'll buy a huge box. Everyone rants and raves about Huggies, so they must be the best.

So that night before bedtime, I put Micah's first Huggies diaper on him. The next morning (Sunday morning, just before church), I started to change him to get him dressed, and opened up his PJs to find Huggies diaper crystals exploded everywhere. And to add to the mess, he had done his morning load and that was all mixed in to. I didn't even know where to start and had to lug him into the bathroom and clean him up in the tub. All the while I wondered what I had been thinking--did I not remember this was actually why I switched to Luvs? I guess I thought I had done it for the price. . . So I am wondering if Costco lets you return diapers--we have used a couple of them since, but I just make sure to change him often and put the Luvs on him at night. Does no one else have this problem? Is it something in my kids' urine that just doesn't like huggies? Aaaargh.

Sharptooth

I don't remember any of my kids being like this. In fact, Micah hasn't done it until just recently and it may be just a fluke--but he is biting and pulling on me and hurting me, and it makes me impatient with everyone around me who is making noise and distracting him, and even impatient with the innocent babe who looks at me blankly or laughs if I act upset with him. I'm not sure what to do. Even when he is not biting, it feels uncomfortable and sore to nurse lately. And he has no idea what to do with a sippy cup or bottle. You put it in his mouth and he thinks you are playing a funny joke and bites a little and just starts laughing. Is something wrong with him? He also is not really taking to solids anything like his brothers all did. We've been trying for about a month, and sometimes he will surprise me and down an entire jar, but usually it's 2 or 3 bites before we give up. It'll be interesting to see if he doesn't ask for food all the time like his brothers. Unlikely--he does want to nurse all the time, and he is still a Passey boy. . .

Traumatizing your children

Our kids are so confused. That has become apparent these past couple of weeks with comments from Kaden that I will tell in a minute. As he started to make all of these comments we reflected back on the past few months of our lives and tried to see it from the poor kids' perspective. We drive to Florida, spending each night in a different place. We get to Florida, and move into their temporary housing which is like a bigger hotel, and Kaden tries to ask "so we are staying here for a long time?" and we answer "well, kind of, for a few months anyway, only not really because we are staying for 10 days and then moving across the street into a 4 bedroom. . . " So we are there for just over 3 months and then start the drive to VA where we stay in a hotel and then in the TLF in VA for about 9 days. The first whole day we are in VA, we start taking the kids around to look at houses so we can find one to rent. We find the one we want and are pretty sure we will rent, but keep looking at other houses, too, just to make sure. Then we sign a lease. Every day we come to this house to do things and tell the kids this is where we are going to live for a long time. . . but not yet. . . we are going back to the TLF for a few more nights until the movers bring our stuff. The first day we were in Virginia, and we had dragged the kids around all day and they were ready to go "home" (but where was that?), Kaden said something like "I wish we could move somewhere for forever". That made me feel kind of sad. And then every day while we were waiting for our household goods, he was so confused and would say when we got to the house "so is this the one we are staying at for 3-5 more nights?". Noah is old enough to really understand and comprehend, but how traumatic and confusing for Kaden and Ammon, especially Kaden because he is on the verge of understanding and is trying, while Ammon is still young and just going with the flow. And Micah seemed unaffected by everything, but since we have moved in, he must sense this is home because he is suddenly sleeping much better. We are so glad to be here and moving in and having more of a sense of permanence!

Happy Birthday Noah

Noah's waffle breakfast

Okay, luckily Noah felt very privileged to have his birthday during the most chaotic week ever. We had our things delivered on Tuesday, his birthday was on Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday. So on his birthday we were very much still in boxes, but had at least unpacked the kitchen and beds and had furniture to sit on. We tried to make it a fun birthday, and despite running out of ingredients with making the cake, and clogging the garbage disposal with carrot peels, and other fun things, it turned out to be a fun day for him. He had a half day of school, then we went to a squadron Thanksgiving dinner and had our picture taken in front of a raptor, and then Travis took Noah to a movie while we tried to finish the cake again, and then we had dinner and had our friends over for cake and ice cream. That was fun for everyone. I can't believe my Noah is SEVEN years old!