Bring on Christmas

True to our word, he held off until the minute Thanksgiving dinner was over to officially begin Christmas decorating. The moment we got home, we sent the kids (and Papa Nolie!) to naptime and proceeded to tackle the 12 ft evergreen beast.

The girls decorated the big tree

(and not to let Thanksgiving feel left out, we placed the pumpkins under the tree)

The boys decorated the little tree

*IF* this were a competition (it always is in our household), I would definitely declare the girls winners! After gloating, I graciously offered to "re-decorate" the boys tree when they went to bed.

But not to be outdone, the boys then tackled the 100 ft beast - the house!

We love Christmas time and all that comes along with it!

We wish you a joyful season and that you're not currently cursing at your christmas lights.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we had Thanksgiving at Grandma Kathy's house. Again, we were lucky enough to bring Dad, Lynds and Aaron along! I love that we can combine both sides of our family! As usual, the company was great and the food fabulous! On that note, Taylee took the food part to a whole new level. She was 10 lbs heavier when we left. No joke. I was afraid the little thing was going to explode!

Starting with a healthy dose of appetizers

Last minute preps

Anden found his spot

Taylee found her spot

Taylee serving up her own bite of pumpkin pie

Post dinner wrestle

Post dinner nap (doesn't Anden look comfy on Aaron's HEAD?!)

Taylee still searching for food...under the table now

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for! Thank you to our wonderful family for providing us with such a great day! And I'm sure you're thankful we brought our kids along for your entertainment and laughter. And yes....Taylee is still eating as I type this.

Oh Christmas Tree

On Sunday (yes I know we're really ahead of schedule), we decided to put up the Christmas Tree. We bought a huge 12 ft one this year. That massive box has been tempting and taunting us (especially Anden!) every time we pull in or out of the garage. Finally the pressure was too much and we gave in to the temptation. We did, however, have enough restrain to hold off decorating it until after Thanksgiving dinner....when the family would be here to help!

When we started putting it together, we realized how massive it really was. I suddenly had visions of "Christmas Vacation" when the Griswald tree branches shot out the windows. I was afraid that might happen here! But luckily there were no injuries to report....well unless you count almost giving away your little children for being "too helpful".

Taylee's new "camera" pose. Isn't it so flattering? lol

Oh and earlier that day while I was in the holiday mood, I made my first wreath! Let's hope it doesn't fall apart before Christmas!

Taylee was all excited about the new addition that appeared during her nap! And that's not an optical illusion. The door really is that tall. Hence why I had to make the dang wreath because I couldn't find one big enough to buy!

Anthem Tree Lighting

On Saturday night, we went to the much anticipated Anthem Tree Lighting. Prior to the lighting countdown, they had a dueling pianos concert and then Savannah (teenage Disney singing star) performed. Nothing like another free concert surrounded by a sea of tweenage screaming kids. However, I must not be as old as I feel. I did know most of her songs! lol

Taylee's a pro at concerts now!

Our friends Amber & Bailey came too!

Family shot of my adorable daughter and headless son

Take two - same result

Take three - Successful! (well by our standards)

Fun Fact: Anthem has the largest real tree (over 80 ft!) in Arizona! Complete with animated lights/music.

Choo Choo Soul

For those with kids, I'm sure you're familiar with Disney's Choo Choo Soul. Well we saw them up close and personal Friday at a concert our neighborhood put on. It was part of the 3 day extravaganza for the Anthem Tree Lighting Festival. I actually find myself totally jamming out to the Choo Choo Soul songs! Finally a kids music group that doesn't make you want to scratch ears off.

Getting a sneak peak at the sound check..

Waiting for the concert to begin...

Rocking out to Genevieve and DC...

Anden's actually dancing, contrary to his appearance of plugging his ears!

Loving the concert and the fact it's FREE!

Anden busting a move with DC...

And it wouldn't be a real concert if you didn't crash the stage!

Another Game, Another Distraction

Anden's 4th soccer game was on Saturday. And for the 4th time he found something entirely more interesting than soccer.

Today's distraction...

MUD!

Once again, his teammates (and the other team) are actively scoring on the other end of the field while he is at half court admiring his rare Arizona mud discovery. Curse the lawnworkers that over watered the fields last night!

Now I could lie and say this is how aggressively he plays all the time...

But really it's just a game his coach made up to keep Anden's attention. It's called "Super Fast". Luckily we were able to hurry and catch a picture of it. We'll show this to him when he's older and praise him for how awesome he was at soccer!

Phoenix Zoo

On Friday, I took the day off to play with the kiddos. So we met Ashley, Gage and Brigg at the Phoenix Zoo. Let's just say we saw more animal behavior in our strollers than we did in the cages. Therefore we left 2 hours later. I think the adults officially completed 2 full sentences in that time.

Anden & Gage in the Giraffe Tower

Anden & Gage begging to never come down from the Giraffe Tower

Taylee & Brigg wishing they were unrestrained

Good times! We're suckers and will do it again in a heartbeat!

Big Birthdays

On Thursday was Grandma's and Aunt Kristy's big _____ birthday!! I'll let you guess their age. Has something to do with a half century. But I personally think they look like they're 35!

I'll also let you guess which one is which! Our kids are so lucky to have double the love!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Kathy & Aunt Kristy!

Bye Bye Binky

A couple weeks ago, Anden's beloved binky was temporarily misplaced. I figured this was a good time to finally permanently "lose" the dang thing. The kid is in fact 3 now right?! So rather than do the cute helium balloon ideas, give it to the garbage man ideas, etc, I took the easy route and just never "found" it. I figured in a few days he would forget about it.




Well, I now know that my child has super human memory powers. He still asks about it each and every day. I remind him each time that it's "lost" and he's a big kid now and doesn't need it anyway. (All while knowing full well it's smothered with cracker crumbs and receipts in the bottom trenches of my purse. I admittedly feel guilty each time.) My answer satisfies his sucking comfort quench and off he goes on his way until his next vulnerable moment of tiredness and then we repeat the same conversation.

This morning was a new experience. I was getting ready when he came downstairs into my bathroom. First he was thrown off by his horrible discovery that his toy basket was on the stairs filled with laundry instead of toys. He was mortified that I must have thrown away his toys. I quickly assured him that I had bought him a better toy basket and showed him that the precious toys hadn't been sacrificed. I saw the relief overcome him. Then 2 minutes later he turned to me with those big clear blue eyes and whimpered "I want my binky...." I picked him up and hugged him and again explained the lost binky scenario. He wasn't buying it today. So I figured, I'll use this as a "teaching moment". I then proceeded to lovingly tell him "Honey, Heavenly Father came and got your binky because another little baby needed it more than you. We need to share with others that have less than us." He stared blankly at me for half a second and then crumbled, rushed into the closet, threw himself upon a heap of clothes and started sobbing..."Why would Heavenly Father DO that to ME??!!!"

So much for the charitable teaching moment.