Bug Business

We loved having Aunt Marlene for New Years. She was a good helper with these ever so hard insect puzzles.

Honeycombs are good for more than just making Honey.

EEEWWWW!

Nothing like a Chocolate Dipped apple with a few crunchy Meal Worms for extra flavor.

Yumm-O!!

Jared had to have a bite too. I swear that boy will eat anything. :)

No, I won't touch it

Aspen was not about to touch that Katydid. They were kind of soft and cold, she was content to just look.

Sick

I don't know what it is but the weather here has been beautiful for a good part of this week. But it disappeared and I got sick. How does that happen? I'm home most of the day, my kids aren't sick, which says to me they didn't bring it home from school, so where did I get it? But I was very sweet and passed it on to Jared. :( So we're sick together, and trying not to pass it on to the kids.

Free Time

With 4 kids you'd think I don't have any free time. But now that the oldest 2 are back in school (YEAH!) and the youngest 2 take 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon, I'm seriously wondering what to do with all my free time. Exercise, clean, exercise, wash the dog, exercise, iron, exercise, mop, exercise, blog, exercise, defrost the freezer or should I exercise? It's obvious what's on my mind lately. :) So I'm gonna go read a book now. :) j/k I'll do my elliptical first. What do you all do with your "free time?"

I LOVE TO EAT

I just got a belated Christmas Card from a friend and she listed the favorite foods of her twin babies. Let's see if you can guess Sicily's.

LOVE Spaghetti. She gets so excited when you hand her one of those 2 ft long noodles. And man can she slurp! But every now and again the bowl just ends up on her head. I had to pull a "Little Mermaid" and use the fork to get it out. If you grab it it just mashes into her hair, then there's no hope.Every kids favorite, OREO'S! Ever notice how you can give a child a "dum dum" and their entire body ends up sticky? Same goes for Oreos, Popsicles, Ice cream ... etc. I love pictures like this, Pure Pleasure on her face. The only look that can come from an Oreo really.

All those Crazy Kids

We've finally been blessed to live in a neighborhood with about a million children. They literally move in packs, roaming from house to house. Today it was my turn. 4 on the Trampoline and 3 on the Swing Set. I've got it set up so I can watch them while I'm cooking, and keep the window open so I know when someones crying or just "play screaming." I grew up in this kind of neighborhood and I'm so grateful that my kids get to have it too. I just hope it's for a good while, you never know with Jared's job, but we like it here so hopefully we can stay for some time.

New Years Eve!

We hosted a 10:00 New Years Eve Party this year. Too many little kids just can't stay up quite that late. Played some games, ate too much food, and laughed at the dog as he ran to hide from the noisy kids (come 10 pm). Notice Aspen is not in this photo.
We found her in the other room completely zonked. Apparently 3 year olds can make it till 10 but 6 year olds can not. She was none too happy when London blew his horn in her ear. :)K, I know I'm a loon. That's really a water bottle. It was getting late and I was getting tired.

HA HA HA HA

Daddy you're so funny, you tell the best jokes ever!

MARSHMALLOWS!!!

So I thought Ziploc bags were baby proof but apparently they are not.

I have no idea how many Sicily ate before I found her. But she did have that yummy powder all over her face and was very content to keep digging for more.

Flame and Friends

Kids seem to flock to our house because of our zoo of animals. Flame, our Corn Snake, is over 4 ft long now. We bought him Thanksgiving 2006, he was the size of a pencil then. We feed him 2 frozen mice a week and play with him whenever. It amazes me how many people are afraid of snakes. We love our Flame, and the kids love the bragging rights.

What!?!?!?

Honestly...don't ask!

Aspen had been complaining for days that there was something in her nose that hurt. I swear, the things a Mom has to do. :) Ended up being a zit, poor thing.

Pretty Red Cardinals

We get loads of these in our back yard everyday. They feast on the bird feeder, and when that's empty they eat the rabbits food. Plus we have a built in bird bath; Charlie, the dogs, water.

Quotes and Chatter

Phoenix: "On the back of my big pennies dere are a temple and a bird."
Translation: He had one of those new quarters. I think Montana, it's actually a big horn sheep.


Aspen: "Can we watch something else?"
Dad: "No. Football's cool!"
Aspen: "No it's not. It's just people kick'n a ball trying to make a goal."


Big discussion on going to do your job, ended in this:
Dad: "I'm in charge, that's why."
Aspen: "No your not! Mom is."
Though she said this while quickly walking away to go do her jobs.


Phoenix: "Mom, how many minutes is it?"
Translation: "What time is it?"

I love my Jared!

I just have to show you why I love my Jared SOOOOOOO much! He is the bestest hubby ever. And with out a never ending remodel, on our house to do he has plenty of time to help keep the house clean, instead of mess it up with sheet rock and such.

I will admit though, he's only mopping because Phoenix EXPLODED a bottle of Martinelli's while Jared was on kid watch. :)

Milestone #1

Our Sicily is FINALLY crawling!!!! YEAH!! Now I know some of you think I'm crazy to be so happy about this but remember she is 15 months old now, so it's definitely about time. :) Her siblings just love her way to much, they do everything for her, that's mostly why it's taken so long. But we are now on the move. And she did not take very long to find her new toy box either. I am training this one to at least put the Tupperware back after she's done playing with it.
For those of you reading past blogs, you know Sicily had Bellybutton Hernia Surgery the day after Christmas. We got there at 7:00 am and left at 8:30 am. It was really quick, and everything went well. She slept most of that day, thanks to the pain killers. By that evening though she was back to her happy self. She is still favoring her tummy a bit (ex: not leaning against you while you hold her, or lying on her tummy). But she's starting to realize that the pain is going away. The tape covering the stitches is wearing off already, so we should be back to normal in no time.

Christmas Morn

We had a wonderful Christmas Morning. Aspen was up at 5:45 but we made her wait to wake up the boys till 6:30. They quickly emptied their stockings and started munching on some Oreo's. Next came Santa's gifts Roller Blades, Skateboards, Webkinz, Radios, Watches, Rings...etc. Grandmas, Aunts and Uncles and friends all sent the bestest of gifts! Some even arrived on Christmas Eve....just in time. We had an awesome Christmas! I even got some bright red Pots and Pans and a beautiful Opal Ring. Jared got a Router and his favorite Ferrer Rocher.

This is our Sicily with her new tiny wind chime. She got very mad at me in Hobby Lobby when I left the wind chime aisle, so we added this to the cart to keep her happy through the rest of the store.
Jared got the boys a Dart Tag game. Though I think it was more for him than them. I spent the morning dodging darts to the butt and kicking them out of the kitchen (numerous times) so I could cook Christmas Dinner. :)

Twister

Every family HAS to own Twister. And when it's on sale for $10 it's a tough one to pass up. The kids loved it, though playing with socks on is just a bit too tough (I remember that as a kid too). Sicily had to get invoved in the scene. I think she did a slide in dive right here actually.
London and Aspen were hilarious to watch. I think London sat on her head at one point.

This shot was too good not to post. Doesn't my Baby have the cutest backside ever. Kids take the BEST pictures sometimes.

PJ's from the Police Elves

You'll have to watch "The Santa Clause" to know what I'm talking about. But every year the Police Elves bring us our new PJ's on Christmas Eve. They usually come while the kids are in the bath or brushing their teeth. But this year they came while we were ice skating.

One year London saw a little fluffy white hat go by the bathroom window and heard some jingling bells. Last year everyone was on the look out so they Door Bell Ditched us and left the gifts on the front step. This year they borrowed some of Santa's magic and came down the chimney, cause all the doors were locked. Though they left a note to tell us our stairs are pretty steep when you're in a hurry and one of them almost fell down the stairs. ;) But luckily no one was hurt and we all got our new PJ's!

New Christmas Eve Tradition

A wonderful family in our Ward, the Looses, invited about 1/2 the Ward to go ice skating on Christmas Eve. We wondered if the kids were all big enough, and it turns out they are. We had LOADS of fun!

Though Aspens pants were thoroughly soaked, she loved every minute of it. She even has a few bruises on her hips to show all her good effort. She kept looking around while skating, and every time she'd turn her head her skates would turn too. Plenty of crashes but also plenty of smiles.

One of London's best friends from the Ward was also there with his family, Jacob Strathearn. They skated the whole night through. Though I think they spent a good part of their time in the middle of the rink (with wistful eyes) watching the good skaters spin around. They had fun and didn't crash too many times.

Sicily hung out on the sidelines. When all you can do is crawl there's not much interest in ice skating. So she got bundled up all snug, drank plenty of Hot Chocolate and spent some girly time with some of the Young Women that were there.

You'll notice there are no shots of Phoenix on the ice. Though he did have a good evening, it did NOT have to do with ice skating. We did get some skates on him, and though he stepped onto the ice, while holding my hands (both hands), he screamed bloody murder not 2 steps out. So he also spent the evening on the sidelines drinking Hot Chocolate. But unlike Sicily he played Video Games all evening. Happy Camper.

Joy School Nativity

Phoenix was so excited for HIS Christmas Party, since London and Aspen had one in their classes. It was at our house and these kids were the cutest things ever. We've been practicing this Nativity for all of December. And it turned out beautifully. London helped out and was a Wiseman, while Aspen filled in as the Inn Keeper. We all had such fun dressing up. We bought these costumes in Egypt about 6 years ago, and have used them EVERY Christmas since.

Phoenix was our sweet shepherd. His little lamb even sang some music (it winds up). The little angel had just told Phoenix that Jesus was born, then said the Narrators part, "Then the Angel went away" as she ran off stage. They are all so stinking cute.

In the end we decorated Gingerbread Men, super yummy with 3 inch thick icing + 1 inch pile of sprinkles. :) Sicily got a hold of a icing knife and went to town. Dad tried to take it away, there were many tears, so it was returned with much joy on Sicily's part.

Ward Christmas Party

My amazing London has the most amazing Piano skills. The Program for the Ward Party included the Primary of course, and London got to accompany. Enjoy!

SANTA!!

London loves Santa. Even at 8 I don't think he's questioning yet, and we don't even snoop for presents. I just love my kids.

Aspen was one of the first in line to see the big guy. Notice her new favorite Ug Boots, that go super cute with the little skirt. The weather here is messed up, one day it's 30 the next 75. This was a warm day.

This is as close Phoenix would get to Santa. London finally said, "You HAVE to go up to him." And Phoenix literally went screaming from the room. Too funny.

Sicily kinda liked him, kinda didn't. She was fine as long as she didn't look at him.

Playing Fetch

Sicily is finally getting the hang of getting around on her own. The kids are SOOO pleased to not have me constantly saying, "Get that for Sici." She is in heaven, needless to say, that she can now get into anything. Time to pull out the child locks again. Her infamous army crawl is her lazy man way of motion. She can crawl, it's been slower than the army way but she's starting to trade. YEAH! So by New Years the Army Girl should be out the window. Just keep your fingers crossed that she'll be walking by Valentines. Man, this takes forever with some kids.

Rest Home Recital

I specifically went with the dance studio we're at because the final recital was not on Sunday. But they scheduled a nice little diddy for Christmas at the Rest Home on a Sunday. Since it was for service for the sick we unanimously decided it was just fine. The only problem was it started at 2pm, same time church gets out. Luckily the Rest Home was only a 1/2 mile from the church. So as soon as the bell rung we were out the door, no visiting that day. Aspen changed in the car and we got there just in time.

So you know, I filmed this with Jared's Cell while sitting on the floor as to not block the old folks view. Aspen's in the second row furthest to the right.

Bugger the Cold

Phoenix and London have horrid children's asthma. So every time the temperature drops and they catch even the slightest cold it goes straight to their chest and they're on the nebulizer every 4+ hours. Those of you with kids that don't have this problem, be grateful, cause it stinks. They can't breathe, constant coughing and everyone around us is just sure they're gonna catch something. So, I promise, if you hear one of my boys hacking away don't worry, it's just asthma.

Bill Cosby

When I was a kid we listened to Bill Cosby 8 Tracks on the drives to and fro from my Grandma Kenisons house. I discovered last night how true it all was. I was trying to get Aspen to come over to me so I could help her put on a costume by saying, "Come here, Come here, Come here, Come here, Come here!" Much to my amusement Jared quoted Bill Cosby saying the exact same thing. It's was so true and so funny I just busted up laughing. My kids totally didn't get it.

Mom is great she steals Dads chocolate cake

I just have to say we have the BEST Home Teachers Wife in the world. Our Home Teacher brought over the yummiest, moistest, chocolate chip filled cake in the WORLD!! And it stayed moist the entire 3 days it survived in our house. :) But the best part of all.... I got the last slice! Jared tried to follow me around the kitchen with his glass of milk in hand, pretending to come in for a kiss, when in reality he was trying to sneak a bite. But after 9 years of marriage and all the chocolate he's gone through, I could spot that plot a mile away. SO....I ran for the laundry room and locked the door. You just gotta love that last slice. :)

Supergirl!!!

I remember as a kid my big brothers throwing me around like I was a doll. We'd swoop, spin, dance and play all day. And when they got older they'd use me as their weights instead of a bench press. Big Brothers Rock!
So I am so excited to see my Little London doing with his little sister what my brothers did with me. That bond starts so young, and I can only hope it endures when they're older and have kids of their own.

Phoenix's Latest

Me in my early health kick bought a Resistance Band. As of now my kids use it more than me. BUT.....
They are no longer allowed to touch it. Phoenix decided it was a lasso and as it swooshed around he clonked himself in the forehead. Huge goose egg, immediate bruise and it was bleeding. All of this happened, by the way, while I was putting Sicily down for a nap. My poor kids, you'd think I didn't look after their well being. But much to Phoenix's joy, he now has an AWESOME Batman band aid on his forehead. You can't go wrong with Batman!

Christmas Shopping

These poor little 2. I love them so much and they are such troopers to do Christmas Shopping with me. When we got home, after 3 hours of shopping, they promptly plopped on the floor with their juices, and were down for naps about 5 mins later.

Christmas Poem

'Twas the Night Before Christmas' Mom Style!

Twas the night before Christmas,when all through the abode, Only one creature was stirring,she was cleaning the commode.

The children were sleeping, all snug in their beds, While visions of X-box 360and IPODS flipped through their heads.

Dad was snoring in front of the family TV With a half-constructed bike propped up on his knee.

So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter, Which made her sigh, 'Now what's the matter?

'With toilet brush still clutched in her hand, She descended the stairs and saw an old man All covered with soot, which fell with a shrug ''Oh great,' muttered Mom, 'now I have to clean up the rug.

''Ho! Ho! Ho!' cried Santa, 'I'm glad you're awake---My gift to you was especially difficult to make. ''Thanks Santa, but all I want is time alone. ''Exactly!' he chuckled, 'so I've made you a clone.

''A clone?' she muttered. 'What good is that? 'Now run along Santa, I've no time to chat.

'Then out walked the clone, the dear mother's twin, Same hair and same eyes, the same double chin.

'She'll cook and she'll dust, she'll mop every mess, You'll relax, take it easy, watch the Young and Restless.

''Fantastic!' mom cheered, 'My dream has come true!'' I'll shop and I'll read and I'll sleep the night through!

'From the room up above, the youngest did fret. 'Mommy come quickly----I'm scared and I'm wet!

'The clone replied, 'I'm coming sweetheart. ''WOW!' the mom smiled. 'She sure knows her part.

'The clone changed the small one and sung him a tune As she bundled him up in a blanket cocoon. 'You're the best mommy ever---I really love you! 'The clone smiled and said, 'I love you too!

'The real mom frowned and said 'Santa , no deal! That's my baby's love that she's trying to steal.

Smiling wisely Santa said, 'To me it's so clear, Only one loving mother is needed right here.

'The mom kissed her child and tucked him in bed, 'Thank you so much, dear Santa, for clearing my head',

Knowing time goes too fast ,and it won't be too long, That her children will no longer need her cradle nor song,

The clock on the mantle then began to chime; Santa whispered to the clone, 'It works every time.'

And with the clone at his side, Santa said,' Goodnight. Merry Christmas, dear Mom, you will be all right!'

I stole this Poem from a friend, and I'm so thankful for it. Makes life better knowing there are other Moms out there that feel the same. Merry Christmas!!

CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE

Chocolate, Chocolate everywhere! Brooke, Angie, Allison and I spent a few hours yesterday dipping just about anything you can put with chocolate. And really....everything tastes better with chocolate. :) When we were done we split the winnings. So all 4 of us went home with this much. So times this photo by 4 and imagine trying to stay on your diet. :) Hard Work! You gotta love Christmas and all the wonderful food there is to make, create and eat.

Londons Christmas Recital

We are so proud of our London. He's been taking Piano Lessons for about a year. And is now his teachers TOP student! This was his first recital, he was a bit nervous but not until it was his turn. I don't think it sank in till then.

This is London and Miss Brooke. She teaches Piano and Violin, has 2 and 3/4 kids and is the best. London's really progressed with Brooke, she's a wonderful teacher.Now on with the show. London was last on the program and I think did a wonderful job.

This Saturday London is going to play his recital piece again to accompany the Primary at the Ward Christmas Party. He's really excited!

Hot Chocolate

We went out for dinner after the Nutcracker and before Londons Recital and discovered Sicily's love of Hot Chocolate. Surprise, surprise! She is definitely her Daddy's daughter when it comes to chocolate. I think she drank half my cup. Thank goodness for bibs though, it didn't always make it in her mouth.

Sleepy Phoenix

These pictures were taken on 2 different days. This was on the way home from the Nutcracker. He was snoring away. Visions of Sugar Plums probably dancing in his HeadHe zonked out on the floor after church on Sunday, church goes from 11-2, right in the middle of nap time. And he plays so hard in Nursery he tends to crash when we get home. But this is a first.

The Nutcraker

We took the kids to The Nutcracker this weekend. They LOVED it. London and Phoenix were enthralled during the Battle scene. But missed out on pictures because they wanted to go run around outside. There was a little toddler next to us that was absolutely petrified of the Mouse King, too funny! Aspen of course is never afraid.

Aspen apparently needed a Nutcracker so we had her pay half, which she was more than happy to do. When we got home she promptly turned on some Christmas music, pulled out her Nutcracker and danced around the Christmas Tree. She wanted to sleep with him that night, but we convinced her that it was ok for him to sleep under the tree.

We can Share

Sometimes Aspen forgets to feed her bunny, Oreo. But Charlie, our dog, is very sweet and does not mind sharing. I'm not sure if Rabbits should eat dog food. "Big Nasty TEETH!" comes to mind. Really I'm just glad Charlie doesn't eat Oreo, he does give her baths sometimes though.

Poor Baby!

This is my least favorite part of my kids growing up, I know it's good for them but I just hate it. Poor Sicily had to get 2 shots today. The tough little bugger didn't even cry after the 1st shot, and only cried about 30 seconds after the 2nd one. She was even sweet enough to wave goodbye to the "mean old" nurse that gave her the shots. They love Sicily in their office because she forgives them all so quickly.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

They said it in Hobbs, NM and they said it here in Houston, TX, "It never snows!" But to our much joy and slight amazement, it is snowing. Not immensely, mind you, but SNOW is SNOW!!! The kids are hoping for a blizzard to cancel school tomorrow, I told them hope can only go so far, but they can probably count on lots of ice. That should be funny at the bus stop.