TOYS!

At the end of this year we bought a vending business.  It's actually a 'rewards system'.  Pediatrician and dental offices and a couple of schools use our vending treasure towers as a reward for good patients and students.  They give the child a token and the child uses the token to get one of eight toy choices from the machine.  We buy the toys, service the machines, and take care of the tokens.  We have spent a lot of time sorting and capsulating the toys and just trying to figure out what we have, what we need, and how we want to do this.  It's been a little bit challenging but a lot of fun!  I think it has been and will continue to be a great opportunity for our children to work and eventually make money.  As is, it's a nice little side business, but we are excited to grow, place a few more machines and make it sustainable for our us and our kids. 
The kids help us count out tokens and get them stacked and ready to be rolled, sort already capsulated toys and capuslate toys as well.  They enjoy it.  They get paid in toys and quarters!  I am so tired of finding toys around the house!  Celeste loves playing with the capulated toys.  She just can't get enough of them.  I finally just put her in a bin of them and let her have at it.  She was in heaven! 

Some of the thousands of toys that we have! 

Calvin trying out one of the toy options.  Two stick on mustaches, one is upside down to be the beard.

To see Celeste playing in the toys (and to hear Lilah singing) go to the YouTube video here

Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we had our annual party.  We were able to have some friends come and enjoyed our evening.  We had some good food, and good conversation, and the kids had a great time playing.  We ended the evening with a reading and acting out of the nativity.  The kids did great!  When the party came to an end the kids were quick to bed and fell right to sleep.  We were pleasantly surprised that they slept in.  We were able to look in our stockings and open 1 present before getting ready for church.  It was so nice to go to church on Christmas.  It makes organizing the day harder, but where else would you rather celebrate the birth of the savior?  We had a very talented family provide the music for the meeting.  My highlight of the day was singing Christmas carols with a large congregation and being accompanied by a piano, organ, and violin with beautiful arrangements.  It was amazing! It really brought the spirit.  After a long meeting, our traditional Christmas breakfast (for lunch) the kids were FINALLY able to open prsents.  It was a fun afternoon of surpises, presents, and playing.   I love Christmas! 

Madeline as Mary and Calvin as Joseph

Alexandra, the Angel

Lilah, our Shephard with a dirty face!

Anna Elise as the Wise 'wo'Man

There they are!

Christmas morning Mike took more video then pictures.  That evening we tried to get a picture of the kids in their new pajamas with their new pet pillows.  Lilah was being a real goof ball, here are about half the pictures we took, trying to get a good one.  Madeline was haming it up too.

Celeste dressed in Madeline's new wings and wand.

Lights, Lights & More Lights

The week before Christmas we were able to go see lots of different Christmas lights!  We did the usual neighborhood tours and saw all the crazy blow ups and lights in people's yards - those are all always interesting to see.  I'm always amazed at how much stuff people can fit in their yards!

For the first time we went to the light show at the botanical gardens.  We had almost free tickets and it was a beautitful display and the kids had a fun time.  There were water displays, tunnels to walk through, glitter lights, lazer lights, a light maze and some pretty displays. 

 This is the light maze and that blur on the right hand side is Calvin running through it!

We also took our annual trip to Washington DC.  This year we added a stop at Mt. Vernon (thank you Groupon).  Anna Elise and Calvin have both learned about George Washington and his home so they enjoyed it.  The younger girls had a harder time.  Lilah was not having a good day and was determined that no one else would either - but we were able to see a lot of fun things, included the camel that was there for the Christmas season.  I would like to go back when the kids are older.

The kids in front of George Washington's mansion.  We were able to go up to the third floor, which is usually closed.  It was a very nice tour.

We then dropped Mike off at the temple and found a park to play at.  Lilah spent a lot of the time in the car, screaming.  We then headed back to the temple and met Mike at the Visitor's Center.  We looked at all the festive Christmas trees, the nativities from around the world and the out door nativity and lights.  We always enjoy going!  We ended the night with dinner and a long drive home! 

 There were lots of cool nativities - this beaded one from South Africa was a lot of fun.  Madeline really liked the flamingo!

Anna Elise and Calvin sharing Mike's coat.

In front of the Christus. 

Celeste was there, we just never bothered getting her into any of the pictures.

It was a long day and Madeline needed a 'ride' for a little while.



Celeste - 7 Months and Counting

Celeste has decided to climb!  Luckily, she hasn't figured out how to get up the stairs yet, but she pulls herself up to or on top of everything else.  Just yesterday we found her standing up in bed.  She figured out how to get down by herself today, which is good, maybe she'll have fewer falls and bonks!

She loves to climb over the first piece and then walk around in there, it drives me crazy because it's not a good place to fall.

She has also figured out how to do the 'real' crawl,  but it's usually if she is on carpet.  When she is on the hardwood floors, she still prefers her hybrid crawl/scoot/slide.

She is doing much better with her solids - she eats them regularly with a spoon now - once we figured it out it was applesauce that didn't agree with her, it's been much better.

Unfortunately, she is the fifth (and hopefully final) casualty of pink eye.  It's so sad to look at her!  She doesn't listen when I tell her not to rub her eyes so they are very red and swollen, but I hope they won't bother her so much tomorrow after the antibiotic drops have had time to help her.

Christmas Happenings

It's Christmas time!  Our Christmas acitivites are in full force.  A couple weeks ago we built a gingerbread house for FHE.  That isn't Mike's favorite activity, so while I glued things with the kids Mike gave us a lesson on the wise man and the foolish man and what makes a strong foundation. 

We also went to the ward Christmas party last week.  For the first time in a long time, everyone sat on Santa's lap and nobody cried or screamed.  Lilah was a bit hesitant, but did great.  Celeste was entranced.  We had a yummy dinner and a short program.  It was very nice. 

I was able to go to the Relief Society party just last night and had a great time.

We've been making lots of yummy christmas treats and still have a list of more to make!

Unfortunately a stomach bug and now some pink eye has slowed us down, but anything we can't do this week we will just cram into next week! 

Yesterday we started our tradition of 12 days of Christmas with a scripture, a story, a song and a service. 

I love this time of year for the magic it brings and the opportunities that come to remember our Savior and to serve others. 

Gratitude

Sometimes life is hard.  Everything seems to go wrong (for years at a time, sometimes).  I gave a talk at church on Sunday on gratitude, here is a quote from Elder Holland that I used "No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." So instead of whining I'm going to take Vaughn  Worthen's suggestion and make a gratitude catalogue.  It's a complete listing of EVERYTHING you are grateful for, big and small.  I thought I'd share a small portion of mine here. These are things that I am particularly grateful for this week.

novels
my friends at church, even though they aren't my age, they like me and they care about me
being able to work from home
internet
pureed bananas
Yatzee Jr.
prayer
perscription eye drops for pink eye
chocolate
heat
camera
Christmas presents (I can not wait for my kids to open their presents - it's killng me)
Betsy helping me out (even if it took a couple trys =) )
Christmas music
my husband
General Conference talks
the ugly police
Anne
hope
family
fuzzy house slippers
ibuprophen
the new hair gel I'm using (I love it and it was free)
my bed
Celeste getting herself stuck while trying to climb ridiculous things (it's really funny)
little arms that give big hugs
my savior
...

Shiner

Calvin bumped heads with a girl in his class during gym class on Friday.  Unfortunately is was his cheek bone, right under his eye that got hit by her forehead.  He was ok, just an interesting color!  He hasn't really enjoyed all the attention he is getting from this! 

I took this picture on Friday evening, it was worse on Saturday and Sunday, right under his eye, on his right side, it's looks like he put on some thick purple eyeliner.  I think it might look a little bit better today.


It was this time last year (the first Friday in December) that he had an accident at school and we ended up in the ER!  So it could've been worse.  What will he do next December?

We could be in Trouble!

Although Celeste can't technically crawl yet (she is so close, but still drops down on her stomach and scoots after starting to crawl) she certainly gets around the house just fine.  She is exploring every room, getting into things, she loves to look at the Christmas tree, and is now venturing towards the stairs. 

I figure I have about a week before she figures out how to get up on that first stair and then we WILL be in trouble!

Happy Thanksgiving

We did Thanksgiving with just our family this year.  It is a great time for us to just spend time as a family.  We were busier then we expected this year.  On Wednesday we went to a movie and out to dinner.  It's become a tradition and there are always great movies to see this time of year.  We saw Arthur Christmas and it was so cute.  It was also great that when we asked Anna Elise and Calvin about the movie that they 'got' the message and understood the point to the movie. 
On Thursday we watched part of the parade on TV and then Mike and I got busy in the kitchen.  The only problem with doing Thanksgiving by ourselves is that I have to cook EVERYTHING!  I made the pumpkin pie and rolls on Wednesday morning so that just left the Turkey breast (yes we cheat), stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, jello, and cranberry sauce for Thursday.  Later that afternoon we all went to the park so the kids could ride their bikes and enjoy the beautiful weather. 
On Friday we were able to go see an IMAX movie about building the railway across Canada and see the model train exhibits at the Science Museum (membership has it's *free* benefits)!  I also did some Black Friday shopping - going to CVS at midnight on Wednesday night (well Thursday morning) and to Target at midnight on Friday morning.  We also hit several other sales and did some online shopping.  The kids were able to get presents for each other and it feels good to be done with my Christmas shopping! 
On Saturday we decorated for Christmas.  The kids don't think they can wait another 4 weeks for Christmas to come!

While eating Thanksgiving dinner we went around the table twice and said what we are thankful for.  Here is what everyone said:
Anna Elise - farmers
Calvin - Thanksgiving (so we can eat this food!)
Madeline - watching the parade
Lilah - Mom & Dad, no wait, Anna Elise getting baptized
Mom - Daddy, Anna Elise, Calvin, Madeline, Lilah, and Celeste
(Anna Elise asked: Aren't you thankful for yourself?  I said: I'll let someone else be thankful for me)
Dad - Momma
Anna - wheat because I like bread
Calvin - our house
Madeline - Celeste
Lilah - Celeste too!  and for myself
Mom - for Jesus
Dad - that momma is thankful for Jesus

We are Thankful for our health, our home, our family, and our Savior! 

This and That

Anna Elise goes to Activity Girls now and she loves it!  It's only every other week so the second time she was suppose to go - we forgot!  She was crushed!  They made lip gloss and she was so sad to miss it.  Her awesome leader gave me the recipes and leftovers and we had a lip gloss party at our house with my girls.  We didn't go get the special containers to keep it in, but the girls had fun doing it.  I think I've found my craft for next summer at my mom's house (so somebody please remind me of this next summer when I'm trying to find something to do!)

While the girls were making lip gloss, Mike took Calvin to get a much needed hair cut.  He looks so cute with fresh cut hair!

 Madeline kneading her raspberry lipgloss

 Anna Elise's vanilla lipgloss

This little cutie is now in a real crib.  She has napped in her crib from the begining, but usually sleeps upstairs in my room in her pack n play.  It took three nights, but last night she slept downstairs in her crib all night for the first time!  Anna Elise is excited to have her in her room now.  I'm excited to put the pack n play away!



This is the man that Madeline made the other day.  I though it was so cute!  I'm not sure why he is standing in front of the door, but he gave me a good laugh!

Anna Elise's Baptism

 Anna Elise turned 8 in October.  We waited to have her baptism in November so that her grandparents could come participate.  It was a very special day.  Her Dad was able to baptize her with her grandpa and my Uncle Jim as witnesses.  She was then confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost, with the bishop, her grandpa, my Uncle Jim and our old home teachers Brother McIntosh and Brother Bjorn standing in the circle.  Her grandma and Calvin gave talks and her two primary teachers said the prayers.  There were a lot of friends and ward members that assisted and came to show their support.  Anna's Grammy wasn't there but she passed down Anna Elise's baptism dress from her older cousin and gave her new shoes and a pretty hair bow.  Anna Elise felt special and I felt loved and supported!  Thank you everyone!  We are so proud of Anna Elise's decision to be baptized and of the other good choices she makes. 

Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa Allen came for a visit this past weekend.  We were so excited to see them! They came on Friday night just in time to say Hi to the kids before bedtime.  On Saturday we went to the Science Museum and watched an IMAX film on the Hubble Telescope (very cool) went to McDonalds, and played outside.  Madeline learned to ride Anna Elise's bike with out training wheels, which meant that Madeline's bike (with training wheels) was available for Lilah to ride.  We had some very happy, fast wheeling girls this weekend.  On Sunday we went to stake conference and then had Anna Elise's baptism.  My Uncle Jim and two of my cousins, Merry Brooke and Tara were able to come down to visit my parents and be there for the baptism.  On Monday morning my parents had to leave and we had to return to real life.  It was so fun to have them here, even though it was only a couple of days.  We LOVE family to visit and welcome anyone and everyone!

 Grandpa throwing the football with Calvin.

 

Grandma feeding Celeste.

Grandpa helping Madeline ride her bike.

Lilah riding her new bike.  Notice her new haircut?  Madeline gave it to her.  So much for growing out her bangs! 

Half Way There!

Our little Celeste is half way to 1!  She was six months old last week.  I can't believe how fast they grow up, the more I have the quicker they grow!  She is movin' right along.  When she started scooting at 4 months she was too small to really pick anything up off the floor, now she is finally figuring out how to pick up small objects and get them into her mouth!  We are trying to keep the floor cleaner!  She gets up on her hands and knees, but then drops and scoots.  She follows the kids around and scoots into the kitchen looking for mom.  She can also sit up for a while, but prefers to be moving.
We tried to banish her from the kitchen table, but it made dinner miserable for everyone, so she is now back on the table in her bumbo for dinner but with her tray on (since she can get out of the bumbo) and a carrot stick to keep her happy.  She still steals silverware and knocks over milk, but she is happy!  She loves attention and action.  She is very curious and watches everything.  We are working on solids, she sometimes eat applesauce, cereal, and sweet potatoes, but she does not eat peas!