first half of December

I can't believe how fast December has gone this year.  Seriously flew by.  It has been a busy, fun month.  I now can see what my mom meant when she'd say "it is so much work", because it is!  But totally worth it to make it fun for the kids.  I love their ages and that they get it and are excited about traditions we are starting. 

The first Monday in December for FHE we read the story of the nativity and acted it out with our little people set.  The kids like having their own set and makes it nice for me to tell them they can't touch my different nativities.

We also set up our Christmas tree.  John put it together and Brooklyn, Jake, and I put the ornaments on.  

Started the tradition of reading a Christmas book every night.  I wrapped 25 of them and each night they take turns opening it.  It has been one of my favorites this year.

sweet girl played happily on John while he fell asleep.  She was so cute just sitting there.

Remmy had her 6 month check-up and shots.  She is 19 lbs!  Such a chunk and I love it.  I play with her chub all day.  She is so happy and easy going.

not so happy about the shots.

massive tiger at a furniture store we went to.  The kids wanted to buy it, only $399!

I love the bumbo and Remmy sits in it on the kitchen counter and watches me cook dinner every night.  I also hate the bumbo because any time any of my kids have pooped when sitting in it, it is an automatic blow out.  I threw those pants away - not worth it to me to scrub that out.

B and J playing dress up - they usually strip down each night after dinner and get dressed up and then have a dance party.  So cute to watch them play together.

The kids sat on Santa's lap at our ward party.  Brooklyn was really excited and happily went up to him and asked for "all the Disney princesses'.  Jake was more hesitant and wouldn't sit on his lap, but asked for a Captain America mask.  No tears this year!  I'm sure Remmy will have some next year.

Brooklyn and her friend Madison dancing to the music at the ward party.

One of my favorite sights is turning the corner to our house and seeing these two waiting in our front yard for me after a run.  They are excited and all ready to go when they see me.  I take them around the block a couple times for our "run".  

Another Monday night for FHE we decorated gingerbread houses.  I was lazy and bought a pre-made kit at Walmart, then hot glued them together :)  I swear the frosting never holds them together unless you make them way ahead of time and let them sit.

Brooklyn did this all by herself - she took her time and added all the details.

This boy is potty trained!  I am shocked, excited, and so happy!  I was not planning on potty training him yet, but I bought a big Buzz at the Disney store that Jake really wanted.  I told him he could have it when he learned to pee in the potty and wore big boy underwear.  He got his underwear out when we got home and asked to put them on.  And there was no turning back!  He had accidents the first and second day and has been amazing since!  He tells me when he has to go (he always says he has to poop) and runs as fast as he can to the bathroom.  I was dreading potty training a boy, but am shocked at how easy he was and SO proud of him.  He is also trained through the night.  He peed the bed for a week straight every night, but has been dry waking up since for the last week.  He seems so much more grown up to me now and could not look ANY cuter in underwear.  I can't stop pinching his little bum any chance I get.  

Brooklyn loves doing my hair, but is currently on probation after this incident.  She was combing it and told me the comb was stuck.  I tried to get it out and could NOT.  It wouldn't budge.  I asked what she did and she said she had tried to curl it, meaning she wrapped my hair around the comb over and over.  Ugh!!  I went to the bathroom and tried again to get it out and it was completely knotted.  I literally had to rip the it out and a huge chunk of my hair came with it.  Maddening.  

Remmy is crawling (well it's more of a worm) and is getting fast!  John and I left her in the living room the other night to put the older two to bed and came back and couldn't find her, ha ha!  It was a weird feeling...I knew she hadn't just walked away :)  We finally found her in the bathroom corner by the garbage can.  I can tell she is going to be a busy one trying to keep up with her siblings.

These two love puzzles, especially Jake.  I love when they aren't fighting and work together to put them together.

My friend Morgan had the cutest idea to have a Christmas movie night for a few families.  We went in our pajamas and her front room was covered with blankets and pillows for us to watch a Christmas movie on.  She also made popcorn and treats for everyone.  It was so fun and all the kids looked so cute.

I got our family picture printed at Costco and have put up half of them so far like this.  It turned out really cute I thought.  They look like they're on canvas, but it's actually really cheaply made.  I made 11x11 squares out of styrofoam and glue-dotted the pictures on.  The pictures as a family and group of the kids will go in our other living room.  

 Jensen, Parker, Brooklyn, Madden, Reese, Jake, and Hendrix

Mesa Temple lights with friends - we met at Cafe Rio first and then went and saw the lights.  Brooklyn fell asleep on the way and woke up super grumpy, so that was fun.  Jake was upset I wouldn't carry him and Remmy had a bad diaper rash.  So we literally lasted for 15 minutes at the temple before John and I looked at each other with a "we need to leave" look.  But we still got a few cute pictures before we left.  

 I'm in a coat and flip flops - that is Arizona for you.

Our ward's playgroup one week was Christmas sugar cookie decorating at the park.  I made all the frosting and the kids had fun.  I love this time of year in Arizona.  

Jake earned his Buzz!  I also let him pick out underwear and he chose the spider-man pack.  John showed him how to stand up the other night and I literally could have died with how cute it was - in the non creepiest way possible :)   

I thought this was funny.  We were eating dinner and Brooklyn said "Mom, look!  Jasmine's shoe."  It was her garlic bread and I thought it looked like it too.

November all in one

 Lots of pictures...all in November.  Here's what we did that month:

Lots of time at the park.  The weather here is perfect now.  We deserve it and are outside as much as possible enjoying it.  Remmy loved the swing her first time.  I love that happy gummy smile of hers.

fell asleep on the couch during quiet time.  Why does she always take her clothes off?

 We started Remmy on rice cereal and veggie.  She has taken awhile to like them, but slowly she is.  I just need to stay consistent with it.

John hates this picture, but it cracks me up.  Brooklyn is frequently coming out of her bedroom in her swimming suit, and this night they managed one on Jake too.  I couldn't stop laughing. 

My old college basketball team was in Arizona for a tournament one weekend.  We met the team at Castles and Coasters, a mini theme park, and my coach paid for the kids to do a few rides.  Jake wasn't tall enough for these go-carts, but Brooklyn was and LOVED it. 

Jake was however tall enough for the boats.  He was a little unsure about it and I think nervous to do it with my coach.  He didn't move the entire time.

a little mini golfing too

We got to watch them play twice - they won both games.  The kids had fun watching the games and it made me realize how out of shape I am and how in shape I used to be! 

more park time with friends

For FHE we made  a "thankful tree" and wrote what we were thankful for.  The kids had fun coming up with things they were thankful for.  Brooklyn was thankful for preschool and diet coke and Jake was thankful for food. 

John had a 3 week break in November which was awesome.  We took advantage and got out as much as we could.  We went to the outlets to shop and also saw the tallest Christmas tree in the nation.  It was massive and pretty impressive.

I got my wisdom teeth out.  Not fun.  My dentist growing up had told me I wouldn't need them out, so I never did.  The last few months I had noticed one of my back wisdom teeth was coming in and they were starting to ache.  My good friend down here's husband is a dentist and he got me in quickly to get x-rayed.  Sure enough, they were bad and needed out.  One of the bottom ones was coming in horizontally, not vertical, so they had to do a bone graph on that one.  I couldn't have had them out if John hadn't been on break. 

The recovery wasn't too bad.  The worst part was waking up with nasty morning breath and the swelling.  I was able to start eating normal again about after a week.  Thankful that it is over and done with!

cute sisters - Brooklyn loves helping me feed Remmy

We bought a new kitchen table (well new to us!).  We scored and got it for $50 from our friends.  I wanted a bigger table with more chairs now that Remmy can sit in the booster seat.  I love it.

We took B and J to the new Disney movie, Big Hero 6.  We all loved it and thought it was super cute.  It was Jake's first movie in the theater and he did not move the entire time.  We even bought popcorn and he didn't touch it. 

We drove to Utah the second week of John's break and stopped in St. George for a few days to stay and visit with John's parents. We went to the St. George temple and visitors center with Marc, finally tried Swig cookies and a dirty diet coke, went to the park, and just relaxed. 

Remmy is such a good sport and lets her siblings do a lot to her.

We drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake and stayed for another week with my parents.  We visited some of our best friends, Raf and Claudia.  Carmyn and Brooklyn hit it right off and had a blast playing together.  Brooklyn kept calling her Lauren for some reason, but Carmyn didn't seem to mind.

We watched Lindsey's futsol game and spent lots of time playing with the Bowen's.

She was asleep and smiling - so cute!

Naughty  - she got my mascara out and told me she wanted to be a cat.  To her credit, she did a decent job.

My cousin Paul, who is the nicest guy ever, offered us 10 Jazz tickets!  It was so much fun and I hadn't been to a game forever.  We invited John's sister Heather and their whole family.  We had great seats and it was a really good game - the Jazz lost at the very end, but still exciting.  We saw my cousin Aiden on the big screen too.

Story - the Jazz bear was throwing out mini Jazz balls to the crowd.  I told Brooklyn to wave her arms and maybe we'd catch one.  Well when we didn't get one she was really sad.  I quickly text Paul and asked if he could get us one.  He showed up within minutes with a ball for Brooklyn who was so excited.  She even fell asleep that night with it.

The kids and I went with my mom to visit my Grandma.  I hadn't seen her for awhile and didn't recognize her at first.  She is the cutest little lady there ever was.  At one point I was holding her hand and she picked up my hand and moved it and said "your hands are cold."  I love her!  So glad I got to see her. 

dinner with John's sisters and families

Hire's with my mom and dad, Cowden's, Esco's, Bowen's, Graf's, and Bruce and Claudia the night before Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving morning John and Remmy slept in and Brooklyn, Jake, and I ran/walked the turkey trot with Rich and Misty.  Rich ran and pushed his kids in the stroller and I ran/walked with my kids.  Brooklyn was really excited to run and did a really good job.  I let her lead and she can run surprisingly for a long time.  At the end we met back up together and let all the kids out to run.

my cute dad carving the turkey

these two finally woke up

We had a great day - dinner at the Bowen's and then snacks and games that night at my parents.  My gave all the grand kids pj's, a lot of them matching. 

The next morning - love this bunch.

I made Brooklyn and Jake Christmas blankets this year - one of my favorite traditions growing up.  We get them out Thanksgiving night and put them away New Years Day.  This was Brooklyn's - love how it turned out.

Jake's - I love his too...very boyish.

We were able to watch John's nephew Cameron open his mission call, which was really exciting.  Before we did that we stopped at Brideveil Falls - where we had our first kiss - and showed the kids.  They weren't that excited, but it is a really pretty place.