Sunday, November 22, 2009

All I Want for Christmas....

Yesterday Kayla's mouth and her friend's head collided. It worked one of Kayla's wiggly teeth loose to the point of blood, but not quite ready to come out. Nate told her if she kept at it he'd get it out after church today. Around 5pm she decided it was ready.
At the last second, Kayla decided she didn't want her tooth out after all. Allie tried to save her.
Daddy won and gave it a yank. It was twisted and barely hanging on, but Kayla decided she wanted to keep it.
We had to give her the mirror so she could see how loose it really was.
Another quick yank, and it was out.
Two gaping holes, and two more teeth that are loose. It could be really hard to eat if those teeth don't start growing in soon.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas season. Since we always go to Idaho for the Thanksgiving holiday, we HAVE to put out our decorations the weekend before. If we didn't, we wouldn't be able to do it as a family until a week after Thanksgiving, and that just would not do.

Saturday morning everybody was up before 7:30am and ready to get decorating. I'd put away our Thanksgiving decorations, dusted, vacuumed, and cleaned all day Friday so we'd be all ready. We got a pretty good start with the little things and then Nate was called to help a family in the ward move. I was asked to watch a couple little boys so their Dad could help too. So we put things on hold until about 1 when the Dads were back and lunch was cleaned up

Before we had any more interruptions, it was time to get out the tree. Kayla thought it would be fun for all us girls to be presents. Nate thought it would be especially fun to get pictures.
Allie kept showing us how HIGH she could reach.
Kayla wanted to make sure the top got decorated too.
Look at the pretty ornament.
Oh yeah. I can hold three.
This was the first year Allie got to put the topper on the tree. Our star is the only thing we added to our tree this year.
Then the kids got to decorate the little tree all by themselves. Rudolph had fun hanging ornaments.
Kayla knew she could put the garland on all by herself.
Since Allie got to put the topper on the big tree, Kayla got to add the snowflake to the top of this one.
At this point the kids had had enough and went outside to play. Nate and I kept working. Nate decided since we were putting snowflakes in the lower windows, he would add some up high as well.
I love how all our decorations turned out. We liked things last year, but they were pretty sparse in some areas. With careful planning, we were able to buy a few things at great deals and find other things from around the house to create the look we wanted.
Here's the kids tree all finished.
Our family room.
The entertainment center, count down train, and Christmas book count downs.
Last year I heard about the tradition of letting the kids fall asleep around the tree on the first night it gets decorated. I wanted to try it, but last year we figured Allie was just too young to actually go to sleep out there. This year we let the girls try it. They got to watch a Strawberry Shortcake Christmas movie, and then we turned on the Christmas songs and Nate and I fell asleep on the couch with the kids only minutes behind us.
Of course about 1am Nate and I slipped away to the comfort of our own bed while the kids enjoyed the glow of the tree. I think this is going to be a fun tradition.

Families Can Be Together Forever

I absolutely love this song, but it makes me cry more often then not. At the primary program Families Can Be Together Forever was the last song, and as soon as they started, my tears started pouring down my cheeks. Allie was quite curious why I cried. I told her sometimes mom's cry when they get happy. She thought that was pretty funny, but now she is watching and judging how happy she made me based on whether I'm crying or not.

Kayla was also touched by the thought of music bringing me to tears. The other night we thought she was already asleep when she came out of her room with tears running down her face. We asked what was the matter. She said one of the primary songs on her CD was so beautiful it made her cry just like Mom.

Sharing Beds

The girls decided since they were having a sleepover it would be fun for Makayla and Morgan to share a bed and Allie and Jordyn to share. We told them if they'd go to sleep they could. It took a little prodding, but they did manage to fall asleep. Before going to bed, I went in to check on them. It made me laugh, so I decided to grab the camera. Note: All rooms were completely picked up before girls were put in bed.

This is how I found Makayla's room.
Morgan the bottom inside. As you can see, Morgan may have moved a bit.
Kayla was on the top outside. Her feet were starting to hang off the bed. Fortunately Daddy straightened them out before somebody ended up on the floor.
Allie's room was a little worse for wear.
But Allie was sleeping comfortably,
and so was Jordy.
Early the next morning they were all up and ready to play dress-up.
It was lots of fun for Makayla and Allie to get to spend some extra time with their cousins. They had a great time!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Princess Classics

At the last minute, Nate and I decided to take the girls to Disney On Ice Princess Classics as their reward for filling their good listening jars and instead of the normal dinner out and one small present on their birthdays. We asked if it would be okay, and they were more than happy to agree. We figured it would be more fun if we invited Grandma and Grandpa to come along. Then they decided to surprise Morgan and Jordyn and make it a princess weekend.

The weather refused to cooperate as we hurried into the Energy Solutions Arena. Right after we crossed the street, Allie looked up and saw the Arena. She turned to me, mad, and yelled, "You said we were going to Disneyland." Ooops. Apparently the message got confused a bit. Fortunately she was happy once she saw the princesses inside.
I wish Disneyland was only a 40 minute drive from my house...
Morgan, Kayla, Jordy, and Allie. Four princesses ready to watch the show.
Since I only ordered the tickets Thursday night (during a power outage), our seats were pretty high. But they were more towards the front than when we went before so I think they were actually better. It was also very nice for a quick run to the potty when given no warning. Ariel started the show.
Next we watched Aurora fall in love with Prince Phillip.
I know you...
Everybody really liked it when the genie and all the favorites came out to dance. Abu as the elephant even shook his bum at the audience before leaving the ice.
Allie sang along as Aladdin and Jasmine soared high above exploring A Whole New World.
Next was Snow White and the seven dwarfs.
I was told it was kinda scary when Snow White bit into the apple.
Mulan sang "Reflections" and skated with Mushu and Shang, but we were sad they didn't sing, "I'll Make a Man Out of You"
Erik defeated the giant Ursala.
Enjoying the show.
Belle and the Beast getting to know each other.
My timing couldn't have been better. I just wanted to get a picture of the girls are watching the show and got lucky enough to capture Allie REALLY enjoying the show.
We watched a synopsis of each show up until the climax, and then they would switch to a new princess. Then all the princes rescued/awoke their princess. They skated together.
Intermission. A family photo.
Princess Snow White-Allie trying on the crown Grandpa got with his $10 bag of cotton candy.
Princess Aurora-Makayla
Princess Cinderella-Jordy in the cotton candy crown too.
Princess Aurora-Morgan
After intermission they started into a full version of Cinderella. Grandpa wasn't there, and Allie was getting a little worried. Then he showed up with four Disney bags. Each girl got a cool princess flashlight. They LOVED them. In fact, by the next day pretty much all the batteries were used up from so much love.
The Fairy Godmother getting ready to turn the pumpkin and mice into a carriage and horses for Cinderella.Cinderella in the carriage hurrying off to the ball.
The grand finale! All the couples including Mickey and Minnie dressed in gold and white came out and skated together.
Enjoying the show with their lights.
Then they all climbed onto the castle to wave good-bye.
It was a very magical day. Thanks for sharing it with us Grandma, Grandpa, Morgan, and Jordyn.