Hallie's year in review

Hallie had a good year. She started preschool and loves it. She definitely still needs a nap though. She loves her thumb and her blankie still, which probably means an overbite and braces just like her oldest sister. She loves to watch Dora, but for some reason her favorite is Tinker Bell. All that she wanted for Christmas was a Tinkerbell Bike Helmet and Tinkerbell sunglasses. She loves to cuddle and says the cutest things. I look forward to this year and the growing up she will do.

Happy Birthday Karlee!

Five years old and ready for kindergarten. My sweet Karlee is growing up. She is still hardly on the percentile scale for height and weight for kids her age, but she can hold her own. She has four boyfriends right now, Josh A, Braxton, Caleb N., and her uncle Darin. Her preschool teacher has had to give the no kissing each other talk because of her. Lexi and Hunter cry if you say they have a boyfriend or girlfriend, but not Karlee she only grins and tells you she has four not one. She can be a bit of a drama queen and doesn't quite know what it would be like if she didn't get her way, but we love her to death. She unloads the dishwasher like a pro. She loves to play games and do puzzles just like me when I was her age. She understands the time and knows that when it is 1:00 that is nap time and she lets me know it. Nap time is her time with me and only her. She picks the game or scrap booking whatever she wants and then the next two hours are hers. I love her cuddles and her sweet little voice. For a family Christmas party we had a talent show. My kids sang The First Noel and then played bells. Karlee sang the first verse by herself (Hallie was having a moment) and it was about the most precious thing you have ever seen. Happy Birthday Karlee, we love you!

A year of Hunter

Hunter had a pretty good year this past year. We didn't have any ER trips and for the first time in three years he didn't have stitches or staples (I guess Diesel took over that). He lost a lot of teeth. He is definitely starting to look and act a little older thank goodness. Hunter loves to make a drum out of anything. He loves instruments of any sorts and plays them all the time. He is becoming a really good reader. He loves school, but his love of the hot lunch is slowly going away (maybe his taste buds are developing finally). He can sure give his sisters a hard time, but can be so sweet to them every once in a while. He is the most ticklish person that I know. He hates to lose, so he usually quits before it can happen (we are working on this). It is hard to get a good picture of Hunter, he is usually cross-eyed, sticking his tongue out, or doing something crazy. The picture of Darin and Hunter is from when we went to Birch Bay and they were both beating each other up and so they are protecting their jewels (Darin can bring the best out in Hunter sometimes). The thing I love about Hunter is that he is very thoughtful. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings.

From My family To Yours

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful day.

Finally...

I looked at the calendar and for the first time in two weeks there is nothing going on today. hooray. We have been so busy that I can 't even remember what exactly we have been doing. Last week was crazy! Work parties, preschool parties, school parties, jazz rehearsal, jazz recital, homecomings for friends, birthdays, shopping :), basketball practice, and family Christmas parties. I look forward to the next few days with just one party lined up we are ready for some relaxation.

Interesting side notes: Diesel cut himself shaving for the first time (Wynden left it out). Hallie informed me that she just might kiss Santa on the lips and when I questioned her about it she denied everything. I have reinforced the stars and checks chart with the reward being a webkinz. The first day our railing was cleaned, all couches wiped down, dishwasher unloaded, laundry folded, all toys put away, clothes hung up, bedrooms cleaned with no complaining. Amazing to say the least. For the first time in my life, everything is wrapped and ready to go for Christmas. Are you done shopping not that I'm bragging or anything.

Happy Birthday Lexi

Another year already. My Lexi is 9 years old. She is so sweet. She is my greatest helper of course. She will make a great wife someday. She is good at vacuuming and loves to bake and cook. She likes to watch TV a little too much and is a total loss if it is on. She took jazz this fall and will be doing basketball for winter. She has come so far from the girl who used to cry the whole time when I signed her up for any activities. One year left as a single digit. Time goes too fast. Love you Lex!

Want to make my kids cry?

Just tell them we are going to clean. Works every time :)

This break we are going to get rid of a ton of things. I can't wait. We are getting a little too cluttered here and I am going crossed eyed because of it. Here's to bags and bags of ARC donations.

The form wasn't great, but I can still do it!

Karlee and Hallie are in gymnastics. They are learning all about handstands, splits, and cartwheels. Today Karlee asked me if I knew how to do a cartwheel. I said yes and she said then show me. So I thought why not. I made sure nothing could possibly get in my way (mostly Diesel) because let's face it if something took me out while attempting this I am just not as young as I used to be as far as recovery goes. So I gave it a try and sure enough I still have it, not as much as I used to where I could do three or four in a row. I was a little worried about hurting myself. Karlee said do it again, so I did. Then she said one more time and I said better stop before it's too late. Right now I feel fine. Of course sometimes it's a different story in the middle of the night when you get up for a potty break and for some reason you can't get out of bed because your back or neck hurts so bad you feel like you might die. I promise not to attempt any back handsprings, flips, or splits.

What happened to just saying "excuse me"

I was in Costco the other day when I overheard this lady telling her friend, who she had just met up with, that she was trying to get through two different people with carts who were blocking the way, so she said out loud to them "who's going to move first?" At this point I thought wow that was something to say. Then she proceeded to tell her friend that when neither moved she just rammed into both of them to get through and by the way was very proud of herself. I wish I had the courage to say something smart to her, but as I get older things don't come very quickly. Now my sister would have been able to come up with something witty right away.

This is when I started thinking when did Americans stop saying "excuse me". Hopefully she was Canadian right. I have actually noticed it ever since I've had kids that people don't care what you're carrying whether it's a car seat with a very heavy 20 lb child in it or two kids in your arms one on each side, which is quite a workout, they expect you to move out of their way. Sometimes I will be pushing my old school jogging stroller without a swivel wheel and they will just kind of give you the look like it is you moving not me as I awkwardly maneuver around them. I just love it when they sit there and stare at my kids with a move it or lose it look while my kids oblivious to what that person wants, all the while I'm thinking just say excuse me and they will move they do not understand why you are just standing there glaring at them. So I move my kids, giving a little attitude by saying "oh excuse us" much too sweetly while I hope they get the hint that they were the ones trying to get by so it was up to them to use their manners and politely ask us to move. How's that for a Thursday rant.