Happy New Year!

We had our traditional prime rib and shrimp dinner/family Christmas party tonight.  We couldn't all get together closer to Christmas so we opted for New Year's instead.  I was sad Wayne's whole family wasn't there.  The kids had fun opening their gifts they got for each other. I always feel bad for them though because we don't let them open them because any gifts that do get open usually end up broken or parts are lost within 5 minutes. It's just hard when you have about 10 rambunctious kids and pile of new toys to play with.  We ate and ate all day played and played all night.  After an intense game of Ticket to Ride we made it to 11:45 so it wasn't hard to stay up until midnight.  I don't think I've done that for over 10 years!  Wow.

Thanks Santa!

Part of Kade's homework for the Christmas break was to write a thank you note to Santa. Clint decided to write one too.
Translations are as follows:
Clint's says, "Thanks for my flying duck and my toy gun. I like to play the xbox."
Kade's says, "Thank you Santa. Just so you know that scribble is a space. Thank you for the guitar and the xbox."
Love these boys!!! I'm sure Santa loves to see your excitement too.

A day with the presents

I love the laid back easy days after Christmas where everyone just plays with their gifts. I got a few pictures of the kids(and Darryl) at play; Cole riding his Bullseye, and Darryl and Kade watching the guide that came with Kade's guitar.

Merry Christmas!

A few pictures of the Christmas morning fun. We didn't take many this year of them opening their gifts. To many things to help with but I did video some of it. The boys came in at 5:30 so excited about the presents under the tree in their bedroom but we told them it wasn't quite morning yet so they headed back to sleep(I think they slept?). At about 6:30 they came in and Darryl and I were already awake so it was fun to get the morning started. Darryl and I looked forward to this morning about as much as the boys do. It's so much fun to see their reactions and see them so excited. Today was especial great to me. I love when Christmas is on Sunday. After some great play time with the new toys we sat them down for a moment while we attended church. The Christmas sacrament meeting program is always so great with the beautiful songs but it was especially great today. I was just so happy to really feel spirit on Christmas day. I always want that and try to remind the kids about the true meaning of Christmas but on Christmas day I feel like we're so caught up in the new items that we don't really feel Christ on Christmas day. After church we just enjoyed playing with the new things together. Great, great day!

Inquiring minds want to know

I took the boys down to visit the grandparents for a few days before Christmas.  On the way back to Heber I stopped to fill up the car with gasoline.  I did the routine and then climbed in the car to start our journey home.  Kade immediately asked, "Mom, is all gas at all the gas stations the same?"  I said, "Yes," thinking you can get 85, 90, 95 octane or diesel at most stations.  I thought he would be satisfied with that, but he replied, "Tell me about it."  :)  I had to smile.  He's always been such an inquirer.  Our conversation about gasoline lasted for the next 60 miles.  He had question after question to which I tried to supply answer after answer.  Love you my Curious George!

Dear Santa:

These were the boys letters they wrote the Santa this year. If you can't tell Clint thought whatever Kade is asking for must be good so he included Kade's wishes as his own. :) They wrote the letters all by themselves with a little spelling help from Dad on a few words.

I'll help myself. :)

Wendy brought us some yummy pumpkin cinnamon rolls today-- which didn't last long. ;) There was one left and when I came upstairs I found Cole had claimed it. :) I love that he used the knife like a fork.

Couch Cusion Beds

The boys were making themselves beds to play on this morning.  They asked me if I'd take a picture of them pretending to sleep.  I'm always so baffled by the things these guys find entertaining.  Cole even enjoyed it but he wasn't so convincing on the sleeping part of it. :)  I got a kick out of Clint's interpretation of sleeping. :D  Kade had his natural sleeping position down.

Welcome Home!!!

When Darryl came home from work today he walked through the door carrying these beauties for me. (I didn't get a picture of them until a few days later so the calla lily looks sad.  I was also impressed when I overheard him telling Kade about the lilys and saying that they were my favorite--he knows me so well {big smile on my face})  Awe. . . I must admit that initially my mind started reeling through what could be special about today or flower worthy. I finally just realized it was just my guy that is special. It's the "just because" things that make my day. I love when people do things not because it's expected, or tradition but because they just wanted to. Thanks for the flowers Love!

The Barber Is In The House!!

Kade, Kade, Kade, Kade. . . What do we do with you????? So I'll start this post off with a little background. About 2 weeks ago Kade came home from school and I noticed his eyebrow looked a little funny. I just figured the hair was pushed up or something so I tried to smooth it straight with my finger. It still looked funny so after a closer inspection I asked, "Kade did you cut your eyebrow?" To which he nonchalantly replied, "Yes." "WHY?" "I didn't know my scissors were right there and I just closed them and it cut it." It sounded like a simple accident but we had a little chat about scissor safety and such anyway. We back to today. I picked Kade up from school and as I approached him I thought, 'Why does it look like he has got a part right in the middle of his forehead?' When he got in the car I got my answer. NO hair made the crack! He told me he cut his hair and said he was just sitting listening to Mrs. Mecham and the scissors were on his head and he closed them. AGAIN?! I asked him if he needed Mrs. Mecham to keep his scissors for him. :) He said he'll be more careful now. Well it was a good laugh anyway. If you look at the right eyebrow you can still see that it hasn't grown back yet. After the photo we buzzed his hair off so it was all about the same length so he didn't look so silly. Kids.

Just some cute pics.

Cole wanted some camera time too after I'd taken pictures of Kade and his "hair cut."

COLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This kid is going to kill me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is Mr. Destruction. If it can be broke, ruined or misused Cole is your man! I really don't know how he comes up with most of what he does but this is one of his specialities that we've yet to get him to refrain from doing. If he locates any writing utensil you can bet there is a drawing on a wall somewhere. Here is one that I captured--it's hard to get the true size of this masterpiece but the dimensions are about 3' X 6'. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

Way to Go Mr. Hayter!

Mr. Hayter the P.E. teacher has been teaching Clint some exercises.  He's made a training athlete out of Clint(at least for this week :)).   At random moments Clint would stop whatever he was doing and say, "I need to do some exercise."  I love all the old-school moves he was busting out.  :)  I should have played the theme from Rocky in the background.  I really love the little kicks the boys get on.  I'm so glad they have a great dose of personality!

Cute Reaction

I turned my phone around so Cole could see his face while I was taking his picture. He got so excited and kept saying, "It's you!" (in his little alien-like voice) Love these pictures!

Breakfast In Bed

So I woke up this morning and could hear the boys rustling around in the kitchen/family room.  I didn't think much of it and just enjoyed lying in bed for as long as it would last.  If they were happy playing I didn't see any need to get up.  Darryl was awake too and "looking at his phone"(He could have been e-mailing, reading the news, researching something, playing scrabble. I just say he's looking at his phone now.)  A few minutes later Kade and Clint walked through our door with breakfast on a cookie tray.  I had a suspicion that they were making breakfast in bed because I could hear them getting out the tray.  They had two bowls with corn chex (not our favorite but we'll eat mostly anything those boys will make us) all ready to go for Darryl and I.  They are such thoughtful little guys.  Kade loved doing it so much he's talking about what he's going to bring in tomorrow.  :)  Side note:  It's been over a month and it never happened again.  But the one time it did was the greatest--that's all I needed was to see my sweet boys being thoughtful.

Chillaxin' (nice word)

A picture is worth a thousand words. How you know when Cole is relaxed and chill: He crosses his ankle over his shin and has a face of pure peace. I found him like this today. I had to just take the picture quickly with my phone before he moved. Notice he had found a little something to play with too. He doesn't really play the I-pods he just pushes the button and then is easily able to delete the apps. Thanks for your help buddy! :/

Hard Workin' Early

Darryl was doing some work at the dinner table on his laptop today. Cole came marching in with his Barney laptop and plopped it on the table. He was having a hard time getting all situated and up on the chair but after he whined he got my attention and so I helped the cute boy out. So funny the things they come up with. He sat next to Darryl working for quite a while. He'd look over at Darryl and smile and then "type" on his toy.

Putting Up the Tree

Kade, Clint, and Anthony we all ready to help Grandpa and Grandma put up their Christmas tree. Grandpa was getting it out of the shed and before he knew it the boys were clumsily trying to carry it across the yard. Grandpa rushed to help and so Clint let him take over with Kade and Anthony.

Family Pics.

We were way overdue for a new family picture-- we haven't had one since way before Cole was born. These were nice but they weren't as crisp as we hoped. One day we'll get how to use the camera right. I'm just happy we have one that is decent and Cole is in it. He hasn't been in our family picture on our wall for the first 2 years of his life. Poor kid. :( I didn't take a picture of our Christmas cards before I'd sent them all but I used a couple of these pictures for them. The printing company took forever(over 3 weeks) so I didn't get them until after Christmas-- I thought I'd be on the ball this year but I guess not.