New Years Eve Sledding

Mike has to go back to work tomorrow so we had to squeeze in a few activities before he got busy again. And one of them was sledding! :-)

 I about had a heart attack when I seen that Mike let go of Ducati. But I had to control my anxiety since she was having so much fun. Look at her face. :-) She's loving it!

 My proof photo that I was there. :)

 We all enjoyed the sledding today. But when Ducati seen the swings she lost all desire to sled. She just wanted to swing. 

 Which Lily soon followed.

 Mike on the other hand was so funny. He would purposely crash under the girls so they could still get is attention. Ducati is trying to kick Mike with her boot.

When the girls started to cry it was our que to leave. Mason was so kind to pull them to our van. He's such a great big brother.
Hailey during this all was sledding down each side of the hill then after she was done she went jumping in the snow like a dog. Literally on all 4's jumping into snow piles. That girl is so funny I have no idea what gave her that idea. :-)

Indoor sledding

"Mom I want to go sledding again." says Lily

 " We can try to go tomorrow", say mom.

 "I really want to go right now. Can we go sledding inside our room?" says Lily

 "Thanks fine. Have fun" says mom

"OK" followed by Lily and Ducati running into their room with a couch cushion.
These 2 are not only too funny but too smart. :-)

Les Miserable

photo source

One of my Christmas gifts from Mike were 2 tickets to see Les Miserables. I was so excited!
I have loved this play since I was a teenager. I've missed out on seeing it live but that's OK movies and Broadway recordings are just as great.  :-)

I didn't take a picture of Mike and I at the theater. I was too cold for an outside picture and I forgot to take an inside photo due to my excitement.

How was the movie?

Mixed feelings.
Mike says he hated it. Hugh Jackman can't sing so each time he opened his mouth Mike would cringe. And he hated the fact the entire movie was sung. The last one with Uma there was some spoken word so he was able to understand it more.

Me on the other hand- LOVED IT!!!! Yes the entire movie is sung. But it's so beautifully done. The director of this movie did something different with the cast. Instead of the actors going into a studio to sing their parts then lip-syncing it during the movie. The director had the actors singing live into the movie and the orchestra was playing in other room to match the actors tone. It really was able to capture alot more emotion this way. I cried several times during the movie.

Either way if Les Mis is a love/hate relationship it was nice to know that Mike would sit with me during a musical. It was a very sweet gift.

Christmas Morning

 The night before we told everyone that whoever was the first one up had to wake everyone up. So Ducati and Lily were up at 5:45am. So that meant so was everyone else.

 Mike handed out gifts while I took pictures. From time to time I'd catch Mike's eye and we both had a smile on our face. Our kids were enjoying themselves.

 Haily is admiring her Fijit, Mason's reading the box to his new DS game, and Lily is still trying to unwrap her hula hoop. :-)

 Ducati is singing along with her Princess Aurora doll.

 After the tree was empty everyone moved onto stockings. These babies were filled. With all the free stuff I was able to get they had ton of things inside from soaps, watches, jewelry, bubble wands, and of course a few candies that Mike picked up for them.

 My parents came over as well for alittle bit. My kids loved the visit with grandma and papa more than their gifts I think. Our kiddos got some gift cards and craft kits. They loved it! What can I say? Our kids love to craft and create. :-)

 After my parents  left Mike and I hurried to get out kids ready for the rest of the day. Here's Lily being Santa during bath time.

Mason and Hailey were going to their other dad's this afternoon. So after he was done packing he sat and played his new game for a little while. 

And after our littles were bathed and dressed Mike opened up a gift we gave to our family. A drawsome tablet for our Wii.  

You can color, paint or draw onto the tablet according to the video game. So here Cati was drawing a butterfly. She loved it!

After playing around for alittle bit we had to head off to start our part 2 of Christmas. :-)

Christmas Eve Sledding

Christmas Eve sledding has been a tradition that has been in place since Mike and I were first married. So for 4 winters now. And it's one we don't ever skip. A friend of ours recommended a small hill about 5 minutes away that's perfect for our littler ones. 

So intend of explaining everything here's the pictures to show our much fun we had.

 Blurry but look at her face. All smiles:)

After our sledding we went home and drank about 2 cups each of hot chocolate. Nothing satisfies frozen cheeks like a cup of Swiss Miss. :-)

And I didn't get any photos of me sledding since my camera died. So next time I'll get one :-)

Kids Gifts

Each year we've had our kids pull names so they only had to make 1 person a gift. However this year they didn't like that idea. Each person wanted to make everybody a gift. After talking with Mike about what the kids wanted we agreed on a small budget for all 4 kids- $10! May not seem like much but with homemade gifts it doesn't take much. 

Everyone made their gifts and wrapped them. However they were sitting under the tree for about a week when our kids started getting the "gift itch". The shaking, poking, smelling, etc just won't stop so after church we allowed them to open the gifts they got for everyone. 

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

 Lily's hugging the snowglobe Cati made her. She's been wanting me to buy her one every time she's seen them at the store. So when she seen this she screamed alittle.

 Lily gave Ducati a box of pink balloons. She loved it! I mean LOVED IT!!!!

 The photo shows it all :)

Hailey and Mason were busy playing with their gifts so I only captured blurry photos. :(
However Mason loved the dino terrarium that Lily made him. He also got himself a snake laser pointer and a dino pencil holder.

Hailey- she loved her jewelry box that Lily painted her. She put her earring it in ASAP. She also liked the Hello Kitty candy Ducati gave her. And she enjoyed eating the chocolate Mason gave her.

Lily- besides the snow globe her siblings gave her a purple hot wheels car and backpack with wheels on it. She's been admiring the neighbor kids from carpool each time we pick her up. So now she has her own :)

Ducati she loved her balloons so much that she forgot about her other kid gifts. When she got around to them she loved that Mason gave her a huge lollipop and Hailey gave her a new crown.

 But my silly mind forgot that I wrapped Mike's gift the night before since it was his last night working until after Christmas. And with the excitement of our kids opening their gifts they handed Mike his gift from ME! So he was really happy when he seen his new car stereo. He was slightly giggling. :-)

But I think our kids gave it to him due to the fact Hailey and I collaborated on this gift. I got the stereo and she made him a CD with tons of free music from Amazon. So her CD was the first thing played on his new system.

And I just want to take a moment to pat myself on my back. Mike and I gave eachother a budget of $20 eachother. We usually make alot of our gifts so this gets stretched pretty far. But I wanted to get him something he really wanted. So I was searching Amazon like a hound dog and then I seen it. A $280 stereo was on a lightening deal for $35! (*gasp) And I had saved for weeks all my Amazon credits which paid off. I had $15 in Amazon credits and my $20 I was able to get him a super nice stereo with all those gadgets and hook ups. He loves it!

And for me- my kids gave me paper plates! Most people laughed when I told them what I wanted for Christmas. :-) But I didn't want to do dishes during Christmas break. I wanted a break from something so I could catch up on my cleaning and organizing. And I was a happy camper! I haven't done dishes in 10 days! Besides my pans and blender I've been loving it! 

Our family loved this whimsical gift opening night. It might be something we do next year. We'll see if I remember....hahaha :-)

Ward Christmas Party

This ward has amazing people. Over the year we've been in this ward we've met so many kind, caring, and friendly people that Mike and I feel so blessed to know them. 

So when this years Christmas party was coming up we were all excited. 

I even put it on the calendar as our activity for the day. However the party was on a scale of 1-10 was a 3. 

My kids enjoyed themselves. 

A couple from our ward dressed as Santa and Mrs. Clause and passed out treats to all the kids. 

This is why I give it 3. 

This opened a very confusing door for our kids. If Santa wasn't real why is he in the stake gym. GRRRR!!!!! We've avoided him all month and here he is right in the gym.

 Here's my kids trying to break into their bags of candy. Not the best timing to try to take their pictures.Oh well.....I tried :-)

 I'm don't recall what Ducati is doing but her laugh is so cute so I wanted to post this photo.

 And all the Primary kids were in the party program. It was another reason why I gave it a 3. I love to hear kids singing. Between their innocent spirits and their sweet voices I break into tears in about 4 seconds. However they learned a new song the week before so most had no idea what to sing so all you could hear was the adults and the piano playing.

Mike and I agree at least the company was great. That gives it an 8 of 10. 

**** my opinion only so please don't get offended :)

Craft Gift

My kids wanted to give all their neighbor friends a Christmas gift this year. Very sweet gesture so I had to think of something that didn't cost much. 

So the thought came to me a craft kit. 

 Some popsicle craft sticks, some stickers, and a photo of Jesus in a baggie with a kid written Christmas card makes a great gift. (especially since it's a craft)

We made so many that I was able to give my kids each one and my Primary class each one. Here's  the one that Ducati's made. I think it's cute plus it was super cheap.($4 for 40)

Light Date

With Mike working and me holding up the home front we have neglected the most important things EVER- Date night!

With the help of my friends in the babysitting co-op I was able to arrange a date night around Mike's work schedule. My idea was since he works at Temple Square we'd drive down a few hours before his shift and walk around to see the lights on Temple Square....ALONE!
Best date ever! Mostly since I was in great company :)

 After freezing alittle we decided to take a tour of the conference center. Mike has been to parts in the conference center that I've never had the time or patience to take all my kiddos too. So this was exciting to do this together. He (and the guide) showed me all the artwork, the painting inspired from the Book of Mormon, sculptors, statues, (<--- I loved this all since I'm an art junkie) and the Hall of Prophets and Apostles. That was amazing to see all those painting. However the best part of the tour was the trip up to the roof. Amazing view. I really wish I had a better camera other than my iPod since this photo doesn't to any justice of the breathtaking view we seen.

 We could see all the Christmas lights which were beautiful. But the best view was of the Salt Lake Temple. It was absolutely majestic.

 But nothing beats having this man by my side tonight.

Hailey turned 7

This year Hailey's birthday was alittle tricky.Her birthday is on a Friday so that means she'd be going to her other dad's house. Plus she didn't want to play hookie (plus she couldn't...not in the same week as Ducati) so all we would have is the morning to celebrate. So we did a 1/2 and 1/2 birthday for her.

Thursday night we started the celebration.

All she wanted for her birthday was a matching outfit for her and her doll. (Thanks to those American Girl catalogs that come in the mail) However those outfits cost around $60 for the girl and doll dresses. Way too much for me! So I called upon a friend to help me. She's the best seamstress I know so I figured if she could help me out it might save me some money if I made the outfits myself. Thankfully she helped me out ALOT! 

( I finally semi-learned how to read a pattern)

Anyways Hailey loved her matching nightgowns. They were actually dresses but since the length was so long she thought they were nightgowns. I'm not one to argue with the birthday girl. :)

 And for her meal she wanted a feast. She's been telling me recipes for months now of what she wants for her birthday feast. So I whipped up a few quick meals that everyone enjoyed.

 After everyone was stuffed we had to make room for one treat. Cheesecake birthday bites. Yummo!

 I love these moments where they blow out their candles. It just makes the added year come to life since it's official. 7 candles! I know.... I'll get back on track :)

 Hailey was so happy for these cheesecake bites. This is one thing she really wanted for her birthday.

 Earlier in the day I took her to Redbox to pick out a movie for her activity per her request.

 After movie every and all went to bed. Mike went to work. And I put up decorations for her real day. In the morning the girls gave her the gifts they picked out for her. As you can see they wrapped her gifts up in newspaper. I love it! It adds a sense of character to it.

And for Hailey's birthday gift she took in pixie sticks for her class. But the real thing she wanted was for me to come eat lunch with her at school. So a friend of mine took my 2 littler ones for an hour.

But to add alittle more celebration for her big day Lily, Cati, and I put her lunch in a box and wrapped it up so it looked like a present. So fun to watch her unwrap her birthday lunch :)

 While eating lunch I was able to meet alot of her sweet friends. Most I already knew from church but it's always nice to see them out of their church clothes and more kid-like.

After lunch we went outside for recess where she showed me some of her awesome playground tricks.

After this I picked up our girls. Waited for school to let out and dropped her off at her other dad's where I'm sure she was spoiled even more.

Some fun facts about Hailey:

Love
sunny side eggs with toast, date night, tumbling, reading, painting her nails, hiking, writing in her journal, the color pink, and she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up.

Dislikes
tomatoes, ponytails, losing things, being sick, not holding the remote

Happy Birthday to my sweet Angel Hailey.