Gift given to Meg tonight (she collects all things Nativity) - It is original artwork by her friend Ashley Flores. I thought it was so neat I had to blog it.

Wizard of Oz Bobbleheads

The coolest gift(s) ever!! Kyle and my mom got these for me and Kyle and Meg sent me on a scavenger hunt all over the house searching for them all. I love them!! And the best part is I have the whole set!

Before

After
The kids are in euphoria - Maiya's eyes began to glaze over and she went down for a nap an hour early. The trampoline came in two boxes - one is for the safety enclosure. The first thing out of Benjamin's mouth "Wow he got us two trampolines!!"
Thanks for all of the gifts Nana and Grandma!

Merry Christmas!!

We miss you all.

We hope you and yours have an awesome time celebrating the birth of our Savior tomorrow.

Nutcracker

Aunt Meg, Aunt Beth and Ella went to see Nutcracker. I opted out and Benjamin and I went to the arcade. Daddy got Maiya duty! But I think he enjoyed the peace for a little. We are in full Christmas mode - We had our turkey dinner yesterday and have stayed up late two nights playing cards and board games. Aunt Beth leaves Christmas day so we are doing some celebrating a little early. The kids are dying to open gifts but that we are saving!!

Rudolph Day

LOL

We "heart" our fireplace!

I can watch a fire in the fireplace (and the Christmas tree for that matter) as if it were the TV. The kids have caught on to this and seem to enjoy it as much as me.

Just trying out sound on the video, let me know how it works.

the kids

the kids playing ring-a-round the rosie for the blog

Trying something new!

I am so excited I can add video to the blog. The last post was my first attempt. I know its old - I was just practicing. Let me know if any of you have trouble viewing it. I'll try one with sound next! YEAHHHH

Mother's day

Benjamin's video card

Pictures are working again - finally!!!

Party Girls

The girls making suncatchers

The house is decorated

My First Thanksgiving spread! It was yummy!!

Happy Birthday Ella!!!

Ella has had a great Birthday - we went to Build a Bear workshop (thanks Grandma), out to dinner with the family, and she had a 'craft' party yesterday. I have not been able to load pictures since Thanksgiving. I try everyday and it just doesn't work. I am beyond frustrated. I even tried to switch to the new blog format and I am no longer "invited" so I can't even do that. rrrrrrrrrr! So stay tuned.

Our Cabin Vacation

Going Fishing...

mmmm...fajitas...mmmm
mmmm...roasted corn...mmmm
Egg toss
I got egged!
Never seen them fall asleep so fast!!

Sock Hop kiddos

Fellow Bloggers...

are any of you switching to the new format - or have you already? And if any of you do tell me how it went.

Spelling Test

So last week started official spelling tests at school for Benjamin. They had a practice test early in the week and Benjamin scored 100!! I was so excited for him. Now the "prize" for getting an A is that you get 5 'bonus' words for the real test on Friday. The regular spelling words were ones like "with" "you" "and" "snap" - the bonus words were "pilgrim" "indian" "thanksgiving" - I mean come on!!! Can we take smaller steps here? After practicing for the longest time and both me and Benjamin getting frustrated I decided to officially let it go! We will focus on the regular words and let the bonus be just that - bonus words!!

Update

Well I don't have any organized blogging thoughts, but since it has been a while I will update everyone a little. Sunday was the primary program Benjamin did a great job with his part had almost all of it memorized. While sitting between songs he had a great time picking his nose. In the car Kyle says "So I saw you picking your nose" to which Benjamin replies truly shocked "How did you know?" It was like he had no idea he was sitting facing 200 people!!! LOL
Ella had a duet for one verse of "Follow The Prophet". She did amazing!! During the practice the microphone came to about her forehead and she sang at a small whisper. In fact I began to think they might get an older kid to do her part. But we practiced all week, and an adult held a mic closer to her mouth and she belted it out. I could have heard her in the hallway - it was adorable!
Maiya has been slightly sick for a few days - not enough to slow her down but enough to make her cranky!
We have rented a cabin for Saturday to Tuesday and I am getting excited - Kyle's crazy work schedule foiled our earlier camping plans so this trip is much anticipated. Its a cabin overlooking a lake with a full kitchen and heat - so not really roughing it but it will be fun!

"Our elections are free - it's in the results where eventually we pay." - Bill Stern

Supporting our local Dentist

Happy Halloween

"Enough with the pictures let's go"
Maiya left the photo shoot
I let Maiya trick or treat a few times - the first house, she went right in their living room. From that point on she kind of got the hang of it. She held out her bucket, got the candy took two paces then reached in and picked up her candy - a few minutes later she is trying to hold six pieces of candy in her little hands and hold the bucket too.
On the loose!

The haul!