Lovin' Me Some Legs

If you want a real giggle...tickle these babies! Oh Violet, how we love you!

Christmas 2010

We had a fabulous Christmas this year! The best part was that we did NOT have to travel! I told our parents that they were all welcome for our Christmas Eve feast and Christmas morning breakfast! And they came! For the first time since Christmas 2007--we got to sleep in our own beds. Oh was it nice! :)

Anyways, Christmas Eve was so much fun. Ben's parents, my parents, my brother Jake and my cousins, the Greenalls all joined together to eat. We had prime rib, sweet potatoes, rolls, blue cheese crostini's and plum apple dumplings. It was SO delicious! During dinner the doorbell rang and their was a package for the kids that read: I thought you might like these to keep your warm tonight. Keep being good for your parents! From Santa Claus. We've never done anything like that before but here's the story: a couple weeks ago I found pj's (princess pj's and How to Train Your Dragon pj's) on sale at Walmart for $4! I had to buy them. Well, I brought them home and the kids saw them and were just SO rotten that day. I was so frustrated that I hid the pj's. They freaked out! So I told them that Santa must have seen that they were not being good and so he must have taken them to the North Pole for safe keeping. You should have seen their faces when they opened the pj's--they exclaimed, "He really did take them!" It was hilarious. The kids did their Take it to Heart gift for everyone (see Take it to Heart post) and then put some food out for the reindeer and headed to bed.Christmas morning--THEY SLEPT IN! My brother arrived first and we chatted for awhile before even Violet woke up. CRAZY! LOVE IT! Once everyone was up we checked out the stockings while we waited for my folks to arrive. Then we went crazy into the presents. Except for the Spanish & French games we got, everything was second hand that we gave the kids this year. And seeing how much they love these gifts, I'm thinking that this is the way to go. Who needs brand new anyways? Anyways, I made a delicious new breakfast--Eggs Benedict Casserole that we all enjoyed and then we headed home to get ready for dinner at Uncle Earls.

We decided that Violet did not really need anything this year--she was happy enough with the wrapping paper & boxes. But she got a couple of books and this Kiwi bird that sings from her Grandparents. (Brought all the way from New Zealand!)

Eliza got a ballet mat & bar with a DVD to teach her ballet from Santa. Her Grandma got her a leotard & tights. Guess what we watch EVERY day? Bella Dancer-ella! Oh boy! :) Some other favorites: a Dora CD player, a baby doll crib and a jewelery box.


I am especially proud of Xander's find: he got MarbleWorks. I got 3 boxes from Discovery Toys for the price of one from a seller on Craigslist. Xander had asked for a weather predictor--luckily he is happy checking out the doppler radar on the computer because there was no way we could get one of those. But we have had so much fun building. I think he's happy. Some other favorites: a zither, a dinosaur marionette and lots of games.

Dinner at Uncle Earls was fabulous as usual. I was in charge of dessert and made Chocolate Peppermint Ganache Cupcakes. They were MMMM-MMMM Good! And I even tried to make them pretty:
I hope everyone had a Merry Merry Christmas. We'll send out our letters soon. It's just been a crazy winter so far!

Take it to Heart 2010

This is the 3rd year in a row that we have learned something meaningful by heart and recited it to the Websters instead of buying them a gift. I am so grateful that the Websters asked us to do this! Instead of finding a silly present that none of us need we get to learn something, to work together as a couple/family and grow as a couple/family. The last few years Ben & I have done separate memorization s, starting in November. :) We started a lot earlier this year --we started in January. We decided that as a family, we could learn the Articles of Faith-13 statements of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outlining basic beliefs and teachings of the church. Ben & I had memorized them as children but we thought it would be good for us to re-learn them now that we can understand them. We started the year making journals of what these statements really meant to us--the kids drew pictures and we thought that that would be enough. But what an amazing year it was as we did this! With all the craziness of moving and adding Violet and looking for a house, it was nice to have something consistent that we could work on. And somehow, the kids started picking up on them. Eliza (almost 3) picked up 2.5 and Xander (barely 5)--all 13! We recorded them (below) saying them for their grandparents. What amazing minds they have! We were so proud of them--they did this without much help--no cue cards or anything.

Since some of the big words are hard to understand, I've written them out for you below:

1.We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2.We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

3.We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4.We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5.We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6.We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7.We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8.We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9.We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10.We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11.We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12.We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13.We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Xander-ism

"Dad, I've got brain freeze...my brain stopped telling me things."

Mom, "Xander , you are just getting so old. What am I going to do with you?"
Xander, "Well, you could sell me to the pet store."

At a recent wedding open house, I couldn't find Xander. I found him sitting at a table with food: a califlower, a carrot, cucumber and a roll. He ate it all and then asked for dessert. :) I said sure. After that dessert he asked for another one. I said, "Sure, but you have to eat another carrot first." He always says carrots help him see in the dark so he said, "Yah then I'll be able to see in the dark." And I said, "You know, it is going to be really dark tonight...maybe you should eat two." He said, "Ok" Went and ate 2 carrots and a dessert. I love when my kids act like this--and all the other parents gawk! Xander is such a goof!

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Ben won tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes! We took the older two kids (Thanks Laura for watching Violet) and had an excellent time! The show was everything we could have hoped for and more. We had an almost emergency right before leaving (Eliza fell and ripped a hole in her left cheek--we took her in the next day and they said it was stitches worthy except that it was in the mouth and not visible from the outside) but ended up having a relaxing and enjoyable time. If you ever get a chance to see this show--do it. So Fun!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We're finally decorating...I just love this time of year!

Leaves are Falling

The trees took their time shedding this year...but Xander & Eliza haven't minded...they've had LOTS of fun!

PS Xander is wearing a helmet b/c he had been simultaneously riding his bike. :) We aren't that paranoid around here!