A Little Calm Before the Present Opening Begins

Click on words below for a video......

Shepherds learn of Jesus' birth.

Tate's 1st Day in Snow

Silliness in November 2011

Elise doesn't like tears on her face which is an issue since she cries A LOT. So when she cries, she needs to wipe her face with toilet paper. The problems is she sometimes forgets that she has something else in her hand when she goes to throw the toilet paper away - in the toilet. I always know when it happens. She has just finished crying and is in the restroom when suddenly she starts bawling again. It makes her very sad to drop things in the toilet. First it was a Polly Pocket and today it was her sock. Something about her being so devastated makes it less annoying for me to fish it out.

 There wasn't much snow for the first snowfall but the kids HAD to go out.

Cailtyn wore a tiara made of flowers and one pony tail for crazy hair day at school.

I found another note Jaden wrote himself before going to bed. They really amuse me.
"To Jaden From Jaden  Remind mom to get Legos for Elise for Christmas."

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a combined Thanksgiving this year with my parents, siblings, sister-in-law along with Rob's parents and aunt. The food was great, dessert was delicious and the games were fun!

 The next day Caitlyn and Jaden went skiing for the first time! I am glad the stomach flu hit after Thanksgiving and skiing!
 

Halloween 2011

 2 superheroes, 2 Egyptians, one princess and a monkey. The perfect family.

Jaden always has his nemesis. Aunt K had a rough time with her make up. We had to free a moth from her eyelid!

Tate's 1st Haircut

Spider-Man Cake

Jaden celebrated his birthday with a super hero theme. I was too tired to create more than one super hero so we just went with Spider-Man. Now that the parties are over, we are hoping that the excitement has died down enough that he will fall asleep before 11 at night!

Tate and his Cuz

Elise's Birthday

I  guess she was pleased with her cake because she wants to do it again......right now.

First Rejection

My friend's little girl was playing in the basement when Jaden brought her a flower. I thought it was really sweet and hung my head down the stairs to see her reaction. Jaden ran up to her with the flower behind his back and exclaimed, "I have a surprise for you!" He showed it to her. She said with disgust, "This is a dandelion. It's a weed!" Awww, it is the thought that counts!!! It broke my heart.

Elevator - Alligator

We were sitting in the foyer of an office and Elise was walking from door to door. She wanted to know through which door her aunt would be coming. She came to an elevator door and asked what it was. I said elevator and her face instantly changed to fear. She quickly walked away. She said she didn't like it. It took me a second to realize what she was thinking. I said, "No, not an alligator. It is an elevator." Her facial expression did not change. I asked her if she new what an elevator was. She replied, "Yes, it eat animals."

Who's the Boss?

We were sitting at dinner and Elise said she wanted to say the prayer. Rob told her no that she needed to let someone else say it since she did it at last night's dinner. She said, "Mom said I could do it!" Rob replied, "Okay, mom's the boss." Elise's answer back, "No, I'm the boss!" We both laughed. I am afraid she often has the last say.

Rob's Family Reunion 2011

Weekend Hike

The hike was almost 4 miles to the waterfall and back. It was tough to hike with little ones in the heat of the day but Caitlyn said it was worth it!

Salad Girl

Elise is my companion when it comes to salads. She will sit and eat almost any salad with me. Knowing this, I guess I should not have been surprised at what she did the other day. We went out to lunch and I bought her mac-n-cheese. It was pushed to the side because all she wanted was red onions dipped in ranch. Gross!

Rock Diggers

Caitlyn wanted to dig in the dirt for rocks so they put on their sun hats and gloves and went to work. They were back in the house in 5 minutes because it was too hot. Another day, perhaps.

Reminders

As Jaden is getting into bed, he sometimes remembers important things that he wants to do. He asks us to write them on a sticky note so he won't forget. Here is what he asked Rob to note the other night.

"Jaden - Play with Mr. Potato Head."

Aunt K B-day

Before we took Aunt K out for her b-day lunch, Caitlyn made her hair took pretty.


For some reason, Aunt K took it out before we went to eat.

Zoo Day

I promised I would take the kids swimming if they did their chores. As soon as chores were done, it became cloudy and cool so we did the next best thing- the zoo. As luck would have it, it became sunny and hot again. The animals were not moving much so the highlight of the day was watching baby elephant cool off in the mud.

And the carousel.

Interior Decorators

My kids have taken the initiative to cover some bare walls.
Caitlyn put her artwork up in the corner of the living room. (It is her classroom.)

Jaden taped random items to his wall. I asked him why he did that and he said so he could find them when he wanted them. Maybe I should start doing that!

Shh I am sleeping

On the way home from vacation, we heard Elise say to Jaden, "Be quiet, Jaden, I am sleeping." I laughed because Jaden was only crunching on chips. Rob laughed as he looked back because Elise was eating popcorn as she said it. Sure enough a few minutes later: head in popcorn bag.

Summer Vacation 2011

Jaden and Caitlyn "diving"


Elise loved driving the boat


Jaden and Caitlyn tried kneeboarding

Rob

Still trying to jump as high as Rob