Christmas and beyond

We have had a wonderful past few weeks.  When I have talked to friends I can't really tell them what we've been doing, but it's been good.  We saw a few movies at the new discount theatre, went tubing with the other Phillips clan and we've been playing lots of games.  Christmas has come and gone and we're back into our routine, which has been nice.  Here are just a few pics. of part of our Xmas.  B was thrilled to get new Spider man jammies on Xmas eve.

 Ellie was just as excited to get a new Tinkerbell nightgown.  Yes, it is ginormous, but I wanted to make sure this one covered her bum.  Her old one is a tad short.  (Dani also got a new nightgown, but preferred to wear her old holey footy jammies.)

 Christmas morning!  The girls got boxes for all of their jewels.

 Grandma Wagener made them quilts that they absolutely LOVE and use all the time!

 We went to Target the day after Xmas and they used their gift cards from Auntie Kalin.  Hello Kitty shirts and a binder.  B plans to put all of his art and papers in his binder.  :)

Then yesterday we hit the slopes (well just B did).   Brayden was so excited for his first day of skiing that he got up at 5:40 am!  I walked out to the the living room and he was all dressed and ready at 6am.  We (all 5 of us) left the house at 6:30 am to get to Lookout pass to sign up for their FREE ski school.  When I called, the guy told me to be there by 8 to register when the lodge opens.  He made it sound like the 500  people that they cap it at would be there waiting.  Yeah, we were the first ones in line, then we had to to wait for 2 hours until the lesson started at 10.  By 9:00 the whole lunch that I had packed was eaten and we had played five games of Uno spin.  Brayden was so anxious to ski, I thought he was going to burst.  We had all the gear on and we were ready by 9:40, which gave him time to get a feel for the skis and practice getting up after he fell.  :)

 Overall, it was a good experience, totally packed out, but the instructors were great.  Next weekend I am going to take him up and try to teach him on my own....will let you know how that goes.  They taught him the basics, then they got in line for the rope tow.  Yeah, the worst contraption ever, you would think there would be something better by now.  He waited in line for 10+ minutes, then his instructor had to go teach another class.  She bailed, but he still wanted to do it.  When it was his turn, the poor guy had no instruction.  The crabby old lady running it just told him to grab on.  FAILURE!  That thing yanked him so hard, his ski popped off and he went face first into the snow.  I have it on video, it will be fun to watch.  :)  BUT this put him over the edge.  Tears were rolling, he was mad, embarrassed and not to mention overtired.  We packed everything and everyone up and headed home.  The girls were great troopers and seemed to enjoy watching all the chaos on the mountain.  Ellie really wants a turn, (you have to be at least 6 for the lesson) but Dani said, "I NEVER want to do that!"

B also said he was never going to do it again.  Maybe he'll be ready by next weekend.

Holiday Happenings

My beautiful, sweet cousin Sarah came for Thanksgiving.  It is a tradition that we look forward to every year now!  The kids get lots of snuggle/reading/special time with her, and each year we get to strengthen our bond/friendship that we have been building as adults.  We were never around each other when we were growing up, so I feel very lucky to have someone who knows me (besides my hubby) and accepts all of my baggage.  Love you Cousin Sarah!

We decorated the tree....and had a visitor

Auntie Kalin, cousin Leila and Grandma Wagener came to visit us last weekend.  My kids just love their baby cousin, poor Leila didn't stand a chance to have breathing room.  They surrounded her at all times.

We went to a Toys for Tots charity event at the Gymnastics center.  ALL the kids loved it!  Leila felt like such a cool, big kid.  She ran and ran as long as she could, then Grandma and Auntie got tired and she had to go home.

                                                                           

 Apparently it's impossible to get a normal pic of all three children at once.  THEIR gingerbread house.  They had a blast, I was completely hands off, it was too painful to help/watch.  They LOVE it!

 Sad to say, but happy to see a screaming child in Santa's lap.  I Have to say I was a wee disappointed when we had a normal Santa pic this year.  So glad Leila could visit and liven things up a bit at our special Santa breakfast.

Dance recital.  Pajama party. 10 three and four year olds.  Major good time had by all!  I videoed the entire show, now I just have to figure out how to get it on my computer.....

 "Come on Ring Those Bells"  I was quite proud of my girls at their school performance.  They sang loud and proud.  I didn't know what would happen this year.  Last year Dani stood silently and GLARED at everyone.  She is my child who enjoys music the most and may have the most talent in this area.  It was nice to see her participating and enjoying the songs that they have been singing/yelling for the last few weeks!

My beautiful girls after their school performance.

We are officially on Christmas vacation. For the first time I am taking the same two weeks off from work.  I am looking forward to catching up with friends, lazy days, movies, reading, cookies and lots of snuggle time with my babies that won't stop growing.  Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Frank

Frank has been back in our lives for almost three weeks.  He has been wreaking havoc like crazy!  We have been loving it!  Frank is our elf that came into our lives 2 or 3 years ago.  We had him before The Elf on the Shelf got so crazy popular.   Back in the day (who am I kidding, I still am)  I was too cheap to spend the $30 for the book and elf.  I went to Target and bought an elf ornament, and he became Frank.  He is glass, so he is a little limited on what antics he can perform, but he has been pretty busy so far this year.  Last night he did this:

 He was found one morning drinking our syrup.

 Taking a bath in marshmallows

 Playing a game of checkers with Mickey

 And reading a book.

He also dyed Kent's eggnog green, which he wasn't too happy about.  :)  Naughty Frank.  He made a snow, sugar angel on the counter and was in my coffee cup.  The kids are at the perfect age for this and every morning they run in to tell me what Frank is up to......

I would love any new ideas for Frank, we still have 10 more days....!

Sneaky sneak

As I was reading with Ellie today she asked, "What movie did you watch last night?"  We watched "Friends With Benefits"  (which I thought was pleasantly hilarious), but didn't think it was appropriate to tell her the title of the  movie, so I said, "Friends." 

She proceeds to say, "I like that Friends movie.  It's funny when you see their naked bums.  Are you going to watch it again?"  

What the .....!!!!! 

Apparently my four year old snuck out of her room and watched some/part/all of the rated R movie last night.  Feeling like mom of the year.  And yes you can imagine what the movie was about, the title says it all......

Back in Business!

I finally  just bit the bullet and paid the $5.00 for 20GB a year....not sure exactly what that means, but it sounded good to me and I can upload my pics again!  Does anyone have recommendations for sites that can help me make my blog into a book?  After 3 years it is getting out of control, I would like to have it in a hard copy!  Please let me know if you have heard of anything and can steer me in the right direction!

 It seems like lots has been going on since I left the blogging world for a few weeks.....

 Aren't my little angels adorable?  Yes, my girls are now in dance lessons.  This is my parent's Christmas gift to them.  Isn't it a grand idea!?!  I was thrilled, I don't want anymore toys around the house so mom suggested this.  Unfortunately, we had to start a tad early (before Xmas).  The dance "school" starts lessons in September.  We were 8 weeks behind by the time soccer ended....don't worry, they have massive skills and are pretty much caught up already.  I think their lesson is one of the best parts of my week.  All of you who know me, know that I am not a dancer (tho pretended to be throughout college at the bar scene), but holy moly, these girls (3-4 year olds, my girls are the oldest in the class) are freakin' HILARIOUS!  I think it's even more funny than trying to coach soccer.  The first time I took my book to the lesson thinking that I would read, but NO WAY, there was way too much entertainment taking place.  Picture this:

TEN  3-4 year old girls
20 tap shoes rocking the place (most off beat)
10 tutus fluttering every which way
20 slippery ballet shoes being turned all about
at least one girl at any given moment just sitting down and scooting around on her bum (I'm assuming to rest)
THEN tumbling! 

I am so paranoid that someone is going to break their neck.  The teachers have 35+ years of experience, but they just tell the girls, "Do  a somersault."  The girls just stand straight on their heads and try to flip.  What the.....????  I am still holding out hope that they will get better directions for this.  However, Ellie can tumble like nobodies business.  She has been flipping around the living room forever.  She taught herself how to do a cart wheel, and I caught her doing a front flip off the couch the other day.....gymnastics may be more up her alley, this concentrating and graceful business is a little rough (my mini me).  Dani, however, really pays attention and can follow the positions and moves (I don't what they're called...moves??)

                                             Ellie, Cousin Ally and Dani

Dani

                                      Wheel barrow race for part of tumbling.  Ellie is carrying Dani.
Thank you Mom and Dad!  We love it!  There is a recital in May, come and watch if you can!  :)

Brayden will be starting Basketball in January, he is super excited and is thrilled to be taking swimming lessons in the meantime!
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, I will post about ours soon!  It's so nice to be back in the blogging world!

Out of room?

People in the blogging world, I need help!  I just noticed that I am on my 302nd post!  I went to upload the kids' new pics. and I got a message saying that I have run out of room for uploading pics.!  What do I do now?  I am so not a techie, I read the instructions, but they didn't mean much to me.  Can anyone help me please?  Thanks!!

And another one, and another one, and another bites the dust!

My boy lost another tooth at school!  This post is for Dad.  He asked me to put this pic. on my blog so Dad could see the huge hole in his mouth!  I guess I am on tooth fairy duty yet again.  We are running low on the gold dollar coins. Hopefully he will slow down here soon on losing all these teeth!

We just got back from school skate night!  Thank you to our dear Auntie Helen for coming with us!  I wouldn't have been able to help my boy without you there with the girls!  Tonight was an eye opening experience for me.  Last year Kent took B to his skate night and I stayed home with the girls.  I heard how difficult skating was for B, but I didn't realize how hard it really was.

Brayden was determined and gung-ho to go tonight and do it all again.  He didn't care that he was out there by himself clinging to the wall for dear life.  He didn't care that  almost EVERYONE was circling him over and over and over as he clung, walked, stumbled, and fell around the rink.  He DID NOT give up.  He didn't want me to hold him or help him, or touch him.  I am proud to say that he steadily got better and better and smoother and quicker.  He even did the race.  As a mom, I cringed behind my hands covering my face so I didn't have to watch him crash.  I just wanted to run out there and save him, protect him, or carry him to safety.  I was so worried that he would A) hurt himself or B) be made fun of.  He struggled and wobbled through and finished last, but he didn't even care.  I was very proud of him, and even more proud that he was brave enough and confidant enough to go do what he wanted without a second thought.  My boy amazes me and I am a VERY proud Mama!  I love you Brayden Goo!