It's Christmas Part 1

Hello! Merry Christmas! We had a fun filled morning. I was so excited to go to church and it started out with me thinking that Christmas should always fall on a Sunday. That thought lasted until 3 of the 4 kids had a meltdown in Sacrament meeting at the same time. To allow others to enjoy the message, we left. I was bummed.
It was a nice morning despite that minor set back. Levi woke up at 5am and wanted to get his stocking. I made him wait until 5:30, and then we woke everyone else up at 6am. Levi says he caught Santa last night and had a conversation with him. Santa apparently only said, "Ho Ho Ho".
After stockings we got ready for church. Hannah was looking lovely in her Christmas dress (from Michelle Parker... thank you!). Did you notice all the boys' shirts? My good friend owns an embroidery shop. I trade hair bows with her for shirts and occasionally buy one or two at a discounted Shannon price. I made the boys pajama pants (which take approximately 20 minutes to make.... easy peesy).
Do you like the Belle doll that Hannah and I got? She's lovely. Also, did you see my awesome, gaudy fox ring?? Oh, be jealous! It's so over-the-top that I love it!
The boys were all pretty much thrilled with their gifts, which is fantastic. It was a fabulous Christmas. :-)

Dylan and Daddy's date

Daddy accompanied Dylan to his preschool party. They made graham cracker houses with lots of candy. How fun!

Decorating....finally.

Much to everyone's delight we got a tree tonight! Here was the background soundtrack for our decorating.... "crash! Oops. Be careful! No! Stop, Riley. Dylan! Don't pull the tree. Crash. Oops. Stop. Wait! Crash (that time it was hot chocolate being dumped out courtesy of Riley)....Nice job spelling out 'Merry Christmas' Levi. Crash! His head broke off!" You get the idea. I wish it was all warm and fuzzy niceness of putting ornaments on the tree. We will no longer have any breakable ornaments. Plus, all the boys wanted to race to see who could put the most on the tree, leading to a frenzy of jumbles, pushing, etc. All the crashing was because our tree is in our dining room on hard wood floors. Merry Christmas!

Happy Anniversary (again)!

Hooray! We no longer have a fireplace hole. My fabulous husband got us this great cover for the fireplace. It looks so very nice! I feel so classy. It's so pretty and clean in my dining room. Our stockings are going to look quite lovely above it.
Thanks for the anniversary present for us, Matt.

We had a nice little date for our anniversary. I just love my husband!

Hi.

Hello and happy day to you. I really don't have much to say. I'm busy. The kids are busy. The husband is busy. I really like this time change. That's about it. Bye.

This was all Dylan, NOT me.

Dylan said, "Mommy, take my picture! See, I'm just like you!" He has on a hat, he's holding my phone, purse, keys, and is sporting a couple tutus. Lovely, Dylan.

Just trying to resemble my daughter

Peter Pan Halloween Costumes

Our fabulous costumes are courtesy of Mom. Thanks Mom!!! We were a hit at the photo studio and everyone in our family loved their costume!

A story.

There was a girl. There was a boy. They got married.

The girl shouted from the roof tops, "I adore my husband!"

The end.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

This makes me bust up laughing. It's horrible, I know. I had to do it though... I mean, I have that dress in 3 sizes and have the kids to fit them... so come on!!! Okay, I'm done now, really.

The Jennifers

When I sneaked away to Arizona for a day I met up with "The Jennifers". These two lovely ladies (last picture) are who Hannah is named after (in a round about middle name way). If you know these ladies you will agree that they are wonderful.
The above pictures are when I surprised JW by showing up in AZ (she's from Georgia). It was the best reaction EVER!!!! I'm so glad Castro (the other Jennifer) and I could arrange that.

Playing together!

I love it when my children play nicely together.
P.S. I put Hannah in the green striped polo (pictured) and Dylan told me she looked like a boy (even with the flower). So we won't wear that again. :-)

Who Knew???.....

Who Knew....
--having a girl would be as wonderful as it is?
--that a bunch of 4 year olds could be so much fun?
--Levi would visit the principal's office twice a month so far?
--Dylan should have "Sorry" tattooed on his forehead since he's constantly causing havoc?
--Matt could still be super fabulous after 5 years of marriage? (Woot Wooo!)
--I could have a midlife (tri life?) crisis at the age of 32?
--running could be so thrilling?
--it's nearly impossible to lose baby weight with my genetics?
--I'd abandon traditional scrapbooking for the digital kind?
--ribbon could be so addicting?
--Sleep is a necessary requirement for functioning???
--cruises are expensive? Therefore, that potential anniversary trip has been cancelled.
--Riley would be so darn cute with all his talking?
--that my kids actually listen to what I say even when they act like they don't?
--that expensive dark chocolate could SO be worth the money?? Yum!

I'm learning a lot as a Mom. How about you??

Shared photo book from Matthew

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

Happy Birthday Matt!

An undisclosed number of years ago Matthew was born on this day! Hooray!! I'm so glad he was. I'm also glad that he turned out so well. He's a great man and we sure do love him! Happy Birthday Matt!

I have odd kids

This evening as I was putting the boys to bed, Riley started singing this song:
"Happy Birthday to Daddy. No biting. Happy Birthday to Daddy. No biting. Happy Birthday blah blah me, Happy birthday and no biting."

Dylan was blowing bubbles in his water with a straw. When I asked him to stop he said, "If I keep doing it, the water will turn into chocolate milk." Huh?

Dylan's profession

Tonight for dinner we had chicken on the bone. This is a picture of Archaeologist Dylan with all the bones from his part of the chicken. He was really quite fascinated by them.

Thinking out loud

These socks that Mom gave Hannah are super cute. They look like shoes attached, but they aren't. She's so stylish. I love, love, love having a daughter. Just in case you think I neglect my boys, I assure you, I don't. I love them also (and Matt, too).

It's taken 5 weeks of running (70 miles accumulated in those 5 weeks). I finally went down a pant size! Hooray!! So, since my mileage increases from here on out then quite possibly I should lose more weight faster. Then, if I start eating better (like when I hit a plateau), then I should be able to get down to a smaller size. All it takes is a psycho amount of running and self restraint... easy as pie... Pie... yum...

Oh, that second picture is of my fabulous Nathan brand intensity hydration vest. I used preschool money to buy this wonderful thing! It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!!!! I absolutely love it. And that is the truth.

Hannah's cute outfit

Seven years ago when I went to New York I bought this outfit for my future daughter. Finally, I have a girl to wear it and she looks absolutely adorable!

Running with friends

Two of my favorite memories are with my brothers... When Isaac was just off his mission I had just decided to run a marathon. I needed a running buddy and for a while there Isaac would run 3 miles with me. Those were happy times.

I still laugh at the memory of Nathan coming in to town to visit months later when I had to run 10 miles one morning. I asked him the night before if he'd run with those miles with me, and he did. In JEANS. I don't doubt that Seth would have ran with me also, had he been around. It has always amazed me that both Nathan and Isaac didn't even have running training going into those long runs. Thanks guys. I appreciate you.

So now, after 7 years, I am planning on running the CIM (California International Marathon... 26.2 miles) on December 4th. I swore after running my first marathon that I was "One and Done". Well, it's sort of addicting. I ran a half marathon after having Dylan, and that helped me to return to my pre-baby body. That was sort of the goal with this time around, although it's not quite as successful thus far. I think that having more kids is more stressful, and therefore my need for chocolate increases... but I digress...

I ran 9 miles on Saturday (please note that when I say "ran", that means that I jogged at a reasonable pace that allowed me to talk the whole way) with my friends. I have two lovely ladies that wake up before the sun so that we can have an hour or two to ourselves and start the day out in a nice way. It's pretty thrilling to know that by 6:30am my exercise for the day is done! I have also been enjoying this time running with my friends and getting to know them better. Yesterday's run was so pretty. I saw numerous deer, cute little bunnies, and when I was slowing down, quickly picked up my pace when I heard some unknown animal in a bush by me (it was still dark out... you'd run too).

I also have an addiction to running clothes and accessories. I am quite pleased with my $9.00 pair of socks. Who'd have thought that such comfort could be found in a pair of synthetic, seamless socks with arch support?!!!?? Oh man! Happiness, I tell you.

But more than anything, running has strengthened my testimony. If you've ever tried to do something that you didn't think you could, I hope you relied on the Lord to help you through it. Without a doubt, that is my favorite part about running. Some days it's simply a struggle to get out of bed.... much less get up and run. So I pray for the strength to do it, the desire, and then do the best I can. He always makes up the difference.

Happy Day!

Hello world.
Levi went to see his other family and learned how to snorkel. Annie sent over super cute pictures of their trip!
Soccer started officially yesterday with their first game. Hannah sported matching league colors. Matt is a referee and forgot to reapply sunscreen. He's a lobster.

Dylan is holding a picture he made that is my absolute favorite. I love it!! He drew a picture that he put on the fridge. See all the magnets??? He wanted to be very sure that it wouldn't fall off. Such cute kids.

I had a fabulous MWF preschool session and look forward to next week! Whoo hoo!

Preschool

Look at my fun room!! I love that my husband supports my crazy ideas 100%. My walls are just beautiful!!! I can now teach my children. (I just needed the proper environment and motivation).

Princess Hannah

In person she was much cuter than this photo. Trust me when I say that she is ADORABLE!! She worked extra hard on her neck muscles holding up this bow! (It says "Little Sister" on the ribbon, and "Hannah" on the bottlecap center.

From Riley to G-Pa & G-ma W.

Dear Grandpa and Grandma,
I love Batman and monster trucks. Check this out!!!! See my super cool Batman Monster Truck? Thanks for the birthday present via a gift card! Love, Riley

Adventures for Levi!

Levi went on a plane yesterday to Texas. His father, Kyle, was driving down from Oklahoma to pick him up. (Unaccompanied minors have to take direct flights only... there is no direct flight to Oklahoma from our house). Today Levi and his other family are flying to South Carolina to spend a week at a beach house. I hope he has fun!!!

Dylan really missed Levi yesterday and needed to call him. It was so cute! It's nice to know my boys like each other.

She just loves her Daddy!

He always gets the biggest smiles from Hannah! I think she's working on wrapping him around her finger.

Our hippo outfits

My sweet Mama made Hannah this adorable outfit with super cute bloomers, and a fabulous skirt that is flattering and fits me well. I just loved matching with my daughter today at church! Everyone thought it was so sweet that we matched. :-) Lime green is my favorite color. If you can't tell those are hippos on the fabric, and we all know how I feel about hippos!