Christmas Fun

Here's a quick synopsis of all the fun things that we did in the the last couple of weeks before Christmas. Things seems to get busier every year, but this year it was nice that we were "ready" for Christmas so we felt like we had more time to enjoy little outings.

This is at the Durrant Family Christmas Party. The kids went on a jingle bell walk for prizes. It was a really cute idea and the kids all loved it--very festive.

Kelsie came home from school with 3 free tickets to the Flash basketball game. (She got three so that she could go with dad and Emily. She assumed I wouldn't want to go. :) I thought that was pretty funny and telling--but we managed to get another one from a neighbor and had a great time at the game.) Carter loved it! His eyes were glued to the game the whole time and he was smiling and clapping and cheering. He is all boy. I love watching him enjoy all things boy.

We went to our third annual Gingerbread House contest at my parents. I think we lost our first place standing to Brenton and Traci--but we're still telling ourselves that we won.

Emily had her preschool Christmas program at Ms. Stacie's preschool. She was so excited for it and was just thrilled that mom, dad, and Grandma P. came to see her. We tried to make a big deal out of it since she missed her dance recital earlier in the week due to a relapse of her strep throat--I'm still really upset about it but she's over it. :) She loved being in the spotlight at the Christmas program and knew all the songs perfectly.

We had Polar Express Day at preschool wear we all wore our jammies and boarded a train to the North Pole. I just love reading that story and acting it out with my little preschoolers--their excitement is so contagious as we read it and I always walk away feeling the magic of Christmas.

We went to Kelsie's Christmas sing along at her school. I did not manage to get any pics because I was trying to videotape while hauling Carter and Emily around the gym with me...and then Carter spied his friend Emmi and took off across the gym to hug and kiss her. Good times. Kelsie sang, "All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" which is very appropriate, I thought. She loved it. Later, I went to her class party and helped the kids make candy cane ornaments with beads. It was lots of fun and Kelsie insists that it was the best activity of the party--she is a sweetheart like that. :)

The night before Christmas Eve we went to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point. Carter loved it and it still talking about how Santa waved at him and Santa loves him. They had Santa's live reindeer at the Water tower and we got to feed them and pet them. It was so cool! The girls loved it and wanted to stay with the reindeer all night, despite the subzero temps. This is definently something we want to make a yearly tradition. You could just see the magic and wonder in the girls eyes.

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Handsome Fellow

I think I may have told Carter he's cute a few too many times...

Every time I look at him lately he grins at me and says, "I so cute". It is exactly what I was thinking--I guess he knows me.

The other day while we were driving in the car he was sitting in the back seat saying, "Handsome Fella" over and over to himself and giggling.

Maybe he'll be conceited or maybe he'll have good self esteem...I guess time will tell but I sure am in love with this little guy.

Note: Pictured above is his normal look. Every morning he puts on a "Cougar" hat and one of John's ties while John is getting ready for work. He's got quite the sense of style.

First Snow

This was our first good snow of the season and it was really wet snow. The girls were working together to try to lift a shovel full of snow because it was so heavy. I had to capture Carter's outfit because I thought it was especially photo worthy with the dino jammies stuffed into pink princess boots. Now, whenever he sees Emily wearing the boots he starts crying "my princess boots". I guess he was quite taken with them.

Entertaining Ourselves

I get a kick out of the games the kids come up with to entertain themselves. It makes me wonder why we buy toys because they spend most of their free time inventing new games...their favorite right now is playing dog. Emily puts Kelsie and Carter on leashes (John's ties) and leads them around, teaches them to fetch, and rewards them with treats. Sometimes the dogs break free and run away and that's when the real fun begins. I really love this game because it keeps all 3 of them entertained and after hearing the kids whimper and bark around the house I remember why I never want a dog.

Another favorite is building castles for the polly pockets to play in. We've had those cardboard blocks for years with no use...and now they are the favorite of my kids and the preschool kids.

Carter thinks his ducky tub is his own personal lazy boy chair. He carries it around with him and hops in it when he wants to watch Baby Einstein (he is obsessed by Baby Einstein).

And here is Carter with his "big trucker" from Grandpa Durrant. He loves it.

Painting

John and I made a deal. I'd keep our room spotless for a month if he'd paint over Thanksgiving. (I needed a little encouraging--our room is the catch all for EVERYTHING). I ended up only making it two weeks (pathetic--I know) but John took pity on me and painted our room anyway and I am so thrilled to say good-bye to our boring white walls. Plus it was so cute watching Carter try to help John paint and climb up and down daddy's cool stairs (AKA ladder).

The kids were telling Grandpa Durrant about our painting deal.

Kelsie: My mom had to have her room clean when my dad got home so he'd paint her room. (The kids were really good at supporting me in this and would check my room before dad got home to make sure it was clean.)

Kelsie: "But I don't think we are ever going to get our room painted." (So true!)

Emily thought for a minute and then piped in: "It's Carter."

"He's REALLY messy."

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was my favorite Thanksgiving ever. John took a couple of days off so it actually felt like a holiday break and we had a great time visiting with lots of family. We spent Thanksgiving with all the Durrant family at a church because there are so many people now...we just don't fit in a house. It was really fun. We had nice time catching up and there was plenty of room for the kids to play (Carter thought walking up and down lines of church chairs was the coolest activity EVER). After dinner we headed to my parents for pie. My Grandma Hansen was in town for the holiday which I think is why it seemed so special this year. I just adore my grandma and it was so fun to have her there. We also had lots of good family time with her on outings to dinner, craft fairs, and hanging out. My mom and Grandma Hansen

The day after Thansgiving we headed to Temple Square to see the lights. It was SO busy (which I guess we should have guess but we didn't) but the kids loved seeing the nativity and lights. They also really enjoyed going in the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall and checking out the buildings. I thought it was a little weird but Emily really gets a kick out of old buildings and old things. :)

We finished off the weekend with a great BYU win over Utah. We got together with lots of John's family to have a fun football/pizza party. The kids were totally true to stereotypes: the boys watched the game and cheered and loved it all; the girls got bored pretty quickly and spent their time coloring upstairs.

New to Us

The Saturn has been barely running for some time...John has to fill it with water every time he drives it, the transmission is going out, and there's no A/C (which is particularly enjoyable in a black car when it's 100 degrees)....at least that's what John tells me. I refuse to drive the thing because I fear for my life...even though John reminded me daily that it is MY car (which is true because I bought it before he came around and he can barely fit inside MY little car).

Anyway, we happened upon a great deal that had just been posted on the Classifieds and are now the proud owners of this 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The great part is that it is in mint condition and only has 16,000 miles on it! We've never owned a car with that low of miles. We got it from a little Grandma that passed away and only drove it to and from church during the last four years. The not so great part is that it has no power windows/locks. I guess Grandma didn't see the need. But, John assures me that he is capable of unlocking his own doors and rolling down his own windows.

Funny Story:

Kelsie and I were riding home from a craft fair with my mom and Grandma Hansen. They were asking about the new car. Kelsie got so excited and told them,

"It has this thing on the bottom of the door. You can turn and it makes the windows go down , and it even works when the car is not on!"

She was so impressed by the manual windows on our new car. My Grandma explained that most all of her life that was the only kind of car you could get. Kelsie was dumbfounded by the thought. :)

My kids think these manual windows are the coolest thing ever. It made me realize how much times have changed, and how spoiled I am to think that I can't drive a car that would require me to actually unlock my own door with a key (key less entry is super convenient when your carrying a baby in your arms or if your terrified of dark parking lots like I am). How times have changed.