First Winter's Snow

Brady's buddy Sam slept over after we went out with his parents, Jon and Charlotte to see Harry Potter.  The kids awoke to about 4 inches of snow and couldn't wait to go outside and play! Unfortunately Chris had to work this morning but Charlotte came over to hang out and then Jon and Alivia came for some fun too!  I thought they'd have a blast making a snowman but it seems that mommy and Charlotte were the only ones interested in that!  Olivia had fun walking around and finding fresh snow to eat, Alivia followed Olivia, Brady and Sam ran around in the field across the street, burried Sam's hat in snow, lost Sam's hat, went on a "missing hat" hunt, found Sam's hat...and then we broke out the sled!!!

 

Four kiddos on a sled having a blast!!!

 

Here's a couple of simple videos- they didn't come out very well (I think my lens was fogged up)

Jon attempting to have a conversation with Olivia

4 chilly kids- time for hot cocoa and cookies! 

After our friends left I played games and read stories to the kids by the fire for a couple of hours.  It was such a PERFECT morning!!!  I really think that this was one of my funnest days of being a mom ever.  Just simple fun with my kids and friends, beautiful snow outside, cozy being inside and feeling the nostalgia of the holiday season.

 

The cutest "midget" snowman ever! Thanks to our expert snowball maker, Charlotte

My Little Pilgrims.

Today we tried to be crafty.  We made pilgrim hats and wore them {briefly} while coloring {briefly}.  Some of us like to color more than others.  Others of us just like to eat the crayons.

Fall & Thanksgiving Decor.

I was so excited to decorate for fall this year!!!  I LOVE fall: all the colors, smells and the change in the season.  Last year we were in the middle of packing our house up to move so I never got to decorate for fall. 

In fact, we moved into our house 1 YEAR AGO!!!! 

Isn't that crazy?!?!  I don't know where this last year has gone, it has gone by so fast!  It has been a very busy but very wonderful year for our family.

My mom got me this set of Thanksgiving figurines a few years ago and this is my first year using them- they are so pretty on the mantle!

 

 

These are some of the pillow I made: 

the rust-colored square pillow, fall leaf pillow and below,

the tree with fall leaves pillow

                 

                    

And last of all, the pretty berry vines that I bought with some of my brithday money to decorate the plant shelves in the living room

Cabin fever already???

One afternoon we just HAD to get out so we walked down the road to a little park in the neighborhood next to us.  Brady and Sam rode bikes and did a great job while Olivia and Alivia rode in the stroller.  It was nice for all of us to get some fresh air and I think I was successful in wearing them down a little by having them do "races" to the fence, playing "Simon Says" and having sliding contests.

Sam - aka "Harry Potter!"

Baby blue eyes

Roadtripping with my Auntie!!!

Meet Rachel, my soon-to-be newest cousin!!!  She is marrying my cousin Ben on December 18th in the Salt Lake Temple and we are so excited for them!!!  My Aunt Donna (Ben's mom) came down from Bozeman, Montana where they live to visit me for a couple of days and then we drove down to Highland, Utah for Rachels' bridal shower.  This was my first time meeting Rachel and I already love her!  She is such a fun, cute girl!  Welcome to the family!!!

Bridal shower:

Donna and I got her this awesome crockpot which hopefully will come in very handy while they are in college!

After the shower we headed out to IKEA to do some shopping (I got some awesome things for the kiddos for Christmas), Rachel and Ben showed us where their reception will be and then we met up with Rachels' mom, brother, uncle and cousin at Tepanyaki in Lehi for some AWESOMELY delicious sushi and japanese food!!!

 The cute couple!!!

DINNER:

Dinner started out with some very delicious spring onion soup (which you drank directly from the bowl) as well as some salad with miso teriyaki dressing (to die for!  I wanted to drink the leftover dressing right from the bowl as well, and probably would have if the waitress hadn't come and whisked it away!)

Then this guy (our very entertaining chef) squirted some oil on the hot grill and lit it on fire! 

The fire died out and he went to work creating a delectable dinner comprised of japanese-style zucchini, mushrooms, onions and choice of meats (I ordered teriyaki sesame beef, while others ordered filet mignon and shrimp, chicken and scallops...all VERY good!)  Dinner also came with noodles or fried rice.

 Me and Auntie having a GREAT TIME!!!!

We also ordered some sushi, which Donna tried for the first time and liked!  YAY!!!

One of my favorite sushies:  Philadelphia- comprised of cream cheese, smoked salmon, avocado  and cucumber sticks.  YUM YUM!!!

After we STUFFED ourselved we headed back to Rachel's house where she finally had Ben whack open her pinata that her step-sisters had given to her as a bridal gift.  It was filled with some "questionable" items (aka honeymoon "gear") so she hadn't wanted to open it in front of all of her bridal shower guests. 

We then kicked up our feet, relaxed, watched "The Proposal," ate too much popcorn and soda and then went to bed to enjoy an extra hour of sleeping in the next morning!!  It was a fun day!!!

The next morning Donna and I headed back home (Chris picked my up in Pocatello).  Donna and I enjoyed great conversation, breakfast at Cracker Barrel and we hope to do it all again sometime!  Thanks Aunt Donna (Rachel, Ben and everyone else for such a fun weekend get away!!!)



Silly girl

This is my silly girl!  Recently she was playing with cars and said:

"You are a naughty car!  You go to time out!"

She then proceeded to "march" the car over to our "time-out" bench!  It was so funny, Chris and I couldn't stop chuckling!

Sleepovers have been officially declared AWESOME!

A few weeks back we had Brady's buddy Sam over for his first sleepover at a friends' house.  The boys did awesome...played until they dropped, went to bed when asked and didn't argue once.  The next morning both boys told me "sleepovers are AWESOME!!!  Can we do it again tonight?!?!"

Maybe not that night boys, but sometime soon!!!

Trunk-or-treat...Scared Shrekless!!!

Part III...Introducing the whole SHREK GANG!!!

Puss in Boots, Gingy, Fiona and SHREK himself!!!!

I was very proud of how all of our costumes came out this year!!!  We've been planning on being characters for Shrek since last fall when I got the fiona wig on clearance after Halloween for only $3.00!!!  It took some convincing for Brady at first- I had originally wanted him to be donkey and he didn't want anything to do with that!  He said, "Mom!  I am NOT going to be donkey!  He never stops talking and is annoying!!!"  I was thinking, (well, if the shoe fits!!!)  Seriously though, I am glad that he protested because Puss in Boots came out SO MUCH cuter and it was the perfect costume for him!!!

Olivia wanted to be "gingy bead" (aka "Gingy" the gingerbread man) right from the beginning.  Then she would start telling me SHE wanted to be donkey!  I couldn't figure out how to make the hood so last minute i nixed it and I thought her costume came out very cute!

Chris, was of course, the PERFECT Shrek, whether he likes to believe/admit it or not!  We didn't paint his face because we couldn't find the right shade of green...but he still looked very ogre-ish and all the kids at church the next day kept pointing and saying, "Hey Shrek!"

I was Fiona (or "Fioba," as Livy called me)  and I thought I was pretty darn cute!!!

Breakdown of all outfits:

Shrek:  ears (borrowed from friend), sweater bought at D.I. and cut short, sewed on shoe-lace that I had lying around, pants, white shirt and shoes found in closet!!!  Total cost = $2.00!!!!

Fiona:  ears/crown and wig all on clearance, dress free (mother-in-laws formal from "back in the day!!!")  Total cost = $3.00

Puss in Boots: hat at Kmart $7, boots at D.I. $5, cape- made with fabric remnant at Joann's $0.60 and some binding $1.99, cat suit made with fleece blanket from D.I. $2 and scrap felt I already had, make-up $1, sword $1.99, belt- one of Chris' old ones that we cut to fit Brady.  Total cost = $19.58 (This was more than I anticipated- the most expensive pieces being the hat and boots; however we can reuse these for numerous other costumes in the future and this costume was WAY cuter than any Puss in Boots costumes I could find on the internet for $35+!)

Gingy:  brown fleece at Joann's $5, rickrack $1, buttons already had, brown boots in closet.  Total cost = $6.00

TOTAL for ALL 4 COSTUMES = $30.58!!!  (I think that is pretty good!!!)