Now that I'm 5...

Katie turned five last week! Has it really been five years? She all of a sudden seems so much older! And she must feel a lot older too because she is always saying, "Now that I'm 5, I get to ..." or "Now that I'm 5 I can ..." Pretty soon she'll be going off to school and she can hardly wait. It's a little sad to see her grow up, but it's fun to see her learn and grow and develop. She is such a sweetheart and is so giving and kind to others. She always is smiling and laughing and is a friend to everyone. We're so glad to have her as part of our family!

Her big birthday breakfast of Lucky Charms (her pick)!

We made a butterfly cake (so easy!) and she had a lot of fun decorating the wings with candy.We had a birthday party for her this year with her friends and cousins. It was not nearly as crazy as I thought it would be (thanks to help from family) and everyone had a great time!

Christmas 2009

Christmas was fun this year! I had a Christmas tree in my front window...I have been wishing for that for so long!

We made gingerbread houses at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Katie spent so much time and was so careful as she worked on her house. Jace just ate candy.
We didn't have an entirely white Christmas, but there was some snow on the ground. This was taken a couple of weeks before Christmas when we had a pretty decent snowstorm.

On Christmas Eve we ate dinner with my family and then had the Christmas story at our house. (Sorry, no pictures of that.) The next morning Jace woke up at 7 and asked for breakfast. He had forgotten all about Christmas! We put on some cartoons for him while we waited for Katie, but we finally went and woke her up at 8. I think she would have slept all morning! Katelyn and Jace loved all of their gifts and played with them non stop during the next few days. Gage thought his toys were okay, but loved the wrapping paper and ribbon. So easy to please! Later that day we went and had Christmas dinner with Scott's family and the kids got to play with their cousins. It was such a nice, relaxing day...and now we get to enjoy a whole week with Scott home on vacation. Hooray!

Merry (late) Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Fun

We have had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas the past few days. The kids loved decorating the tree and looking at all of the ornaments. Everything looks so festive! I love Christmas decorations!

We made these cute reindeer hats at an activity the other day. Katie and Jace love to wear theirs and dance around to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It's pretty entertaining! I thought Gage made a pretty cute little reindeer, although he looks like he's not sure what's going on.


I vowed last year that I wouldn't make sugar cookies with the kids again (it was a disaster), but I couldn't resist...and we had a blast! I'm glad I gave it another shot.

A fun weekend!

We had a great Thanksgiving! The kids got to play with their cousins, the adults got to relax and visit, and we all got to eat lots of yummy food!


Today we went up to the mountains with my family to cut down our own Christmas tree. It's been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Katie and Jace loved playing in the snow...luckily there was just enough to sled a little. However, Gage didn't love it and spent most of the time in the car with someone. Oh well...next year he'll have fun. The pickings were slim this year as far as good trees, but we were able to find one we liked (thanks to Scott's hiking and hiking and hiking...). I love mountain trees. They're pretty sparse looking compared to store bought ones, but I just love them! We're looking forward to decorating the house tomorrow!

Let it snow!

We finally had snow that stayed! When the sun came out this afternoon we put on all our snow gear and went outside. The snow wasn't sticky so there was no snowman building, but the kids still had fun throwing it and stomping through the piles.


I came into Gage's room the other day to find this happy face. He had just woken up in the morning and Jace decided to go in and put all of his toys in there with him. What a nice brother!

Projects

I have been busy doing some projects lately. I don't do this often so I'm probably good for at least another five+ years. : )

Family home evening board with frames displaying the kids' artwork.
I used my sisters vinyl machine to do some letter blocks. These ones say 'Give Thanks' on one side and 'Fall' and 'Autumn' on the other side.
I also did blocks for all of the kids to put in their rooms. It's their one and only decoration right now.

Yummmmm!

I have been doing a lot of this lately....

Home made fruit leather and dried fruit are so good! And it's a great snack for the kids...they eat it up!I'm hooked on dehydrating now. I've been using my mom and sister's dehydrators...and now I want one of my own!