Christmas

Christmas was fun this year. I made a play kitchen for the boys. I'll post better pictures later.

Christmas day we went to Grammy and Papa's for dinner. During dessert we sang to Charlie for his birthday. He had a big, sweet smile on his face throughout the whole song and won everyone's hearts. He is the sweetest, dearest boy. We will throw him a big birthday party in a month or two.

Christmas Eve

 We went to the snow on Christmas Eve with some friends in our ward. We had so much fun we decided to make it a tradition. Sledding on Christmas Eve is something I grew up doing, and I love that we were able to do it this year.

 The snow was fresh and the roads through the Sierra's were still covered, so we just pulled off an exit and used a small slope on the side of a parking lot as a hill. It was perfect for our small children and lots of people joined us.

 Edmond was so cute with this little red sled. He went up and down all by himself and enjoyed being so independent. We had borrowed the sled from a friend and when it was time to give it back he was very sad about it, but he didn't cry and he bravely handed it back to them. I was proud. He still talks about his red sled and how he wants go find one that he can keep.

 I couldn't stop taking pictures of Charlie. My birthday boy who turned three the next day. How I love him.

 Daddy pulled Scarlett around on our wood sled and she was happy. She also liked it when I would put her on my lap and take her down the hill on a sled. She'd laugh the whole way.

It was the perfect day.

The mud pit

I strapped Scarlett on the back of my bike and the boys jumped on their bikes and we were on our way to the park when we found a huge puddle blocking our path
The boys rode through it and the water went up past their ankles. They laughed and rode through it again and again. The rest of the journey to the park was forgotten, we had reached our destination.

The boys spent the next twenty minutes getting soaked by the huge puddle...until the inevitable happened.

Charlie biffed it and was covered in thick black mud. It was time to go home and change, but two-year-old Charlie was in no mood to ride his bike and wanted to be carried. Since I had Scarlett on the back of my bike, I wasn't able to carry Charlie and his bike too, so I had to threaten and coax him to ride the whole way home. He screamed and cried and I felt bad for him. But he he powered through and made it home and I was so proud of him.

It's sad when I'm unable to help my small children get places due to the fact that I simply can't carry all of them. But I can see how it's better this way, it helps them grow and become more confident and independent. It's good. It's all good.

Service and Trains

B's parents are always helping us. Watching our kids, helping us move, helping us with projects, finding furniture for us, making us dinners...they are so good. Every now and then we are able to help them, too.

B and I came to help Annette decorate for an Empty Nester's party to be held at her house. B hung some stars and he also made them carnitas for dinner.

Scarlett wandered around and played with Christmas decorations.

There have been many December evenings spent up in Papa's loft playing with the trains. These three have spent hours up here.

Scarlett is only allowed near the trains if she has an adult lap to sit on.

iphone photo dump

 If B is going to cook, he goes all out. The other day he made us some homemade pasta with homemade sauce. It was a nice break from the quesadillas I usually make for dinner.

We went shopping for some supplies to make our candy houses. It was raining so we used the umbrella. Once we got inside the store Edmond insisted he still needed the umbrella, so he carried it around the store and everyone commented on his cuteness.

Homemade candy cane play dough was our gift to our friends this Christmas.

Having a fire in the fireplace is so cozy and homey, it makes me almost wish winter would last all year long. Right now I am loving this season.

I love my kids, and I show it by fighting with them like Jedi knights all day long.