Sledding With The Family

After Christmas, we spent a day sledding with Jake's family at his parent's house. There aren't many houses out there, so lots of open area. There was a big hill to sled down in their backyard and then we brought the Rhino and 4wheeler to ride and pull the kids on the sleds. It was a lot of fun. Carson was outside for hours and was not happy when he had to come inside. Marcus finally walked in the snow, big step for him! And Shalise was just as happy as could be outside, she had a permagrin. It was a really fun day!!

Merry Christmas!

We are having such a fun holiday season. We started out the wee with this gingerbread house that my cute babysitter made for the kids. I think the boys played with it for like 2 hours the first day! It was so nice of her to make it for them.

Then we had our fun Christmas Eve at Heather's house (Jake's sister). We had a yummy dinner of Prime Rib, a fun talent show for the kids, fun games and of course opening new Pajamas. Here are some pictures:

Carson sang "Jingle Bells" for his talent in the little talent show and I wasn't sure if he would be nervous or even do it, but let me tell you, the boy is not a bit shy! Marcus also was not shy and while he didn't really sing, he sure ran around the room and loved being the center of attention! Here are short video clips of the boys singing:

Jake and I then spent late into the evening putting things together for Christmas morning. Jake also made this awesome table with bins for Carson's new Geo Trax that he got. He spent a lot of time making it and it turned out great! The kids made out like bandits and loved their new toys! Here are some pictures of their loot:

Thanks to Nana and Gramps for the fun presents they gave the kids, they love them!!! And to all our family and friends for making this such a fun Christmas. We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas as well!!!

Let It Snow

Carson and Marcus were SO excited that it was snowing this morning! We went out to play and were outside for literally hours. Marcus decided he didn't like the snow so much and pretty much just wanted to sit in the wagon with Shalise. Carson on the other hand could not get enough! There is a little hill at the park in front of our house that Carson loved to sled down. We also took some little Rhino rides with the neighbor kids. It was a fun morning out in the snow!

Happy Birthday Shalise!

We celebrated Shalise's first birthday over the weekend with my family. I can't believe my little baby is already a year old! Where does the time go... Since her birthday is on Christmas Day, we decided to celebrate a little early. She loved opening her presents, mostly loved the paper and she loved licking icing off her cake. She sat there forever eating it. She thought it was pretty good!!

Shalise is such a wonderful addition to our family. Here are some of the things I love about Shalise:

--Her smile, she is always smiling and you can't help but smile back.

--The way she laughs and giggles at her brothers, they love her!

--I love how she rolls all over the floor and can go pretty quick!

--She loves to watch people and I love to watch her take everyone in and just stare at everyone.

--I love her cute curly hair, it is so much fun to do.

--I couldn't ask for an easier, happier baby. She rarely cries and will let anyone hold her.

Happy (early) Birthday Shalise!!

A Mission!

I was in the car with the kids the other day and Carson saw the temple. He remembered going there and was telling me how he played with toys. Then he asked if we were going to go another time and I said yes. I told him when he gets older he will go before he goes on a mission and I told him how his dad went on a mission. He then says to me, "I go on a mission?!" and then he got super excited and said, "I go on a mission like Little Einsteins?!!" Okay, maybe not that kind of a mission... It was pretty funny. He was so cute.

I See Santa!

I took the kids to the mall the other day to see Santa. If anyone in the mall had any doubt that Santa was there, they didn't after my kids arrived. Every 10 seconds Marcus would yell, Mommy, I see Santa!!! I was worried about standing in line with them, but there was a lot to look at and the 20 minutes went by pretty fast. They did really well. After the picture was taken, Santa asked Carson what he wanted for Christmas. He thought for a minute and then said, I want that truck... the one at Walmart... the one with the cars! I thought it was funny how specific he was. You wouldn't think a 3 year old knows what he wants, but let me tell you, he certainly does! Now I really hope he is a good boy so Santa can bring it for him, and I hope Santa can afford it, the boy has expensive taste... :)

Locked out, twice...

So last night the kids were all tucked in bed, Jake and I were cleaning up and watching TV when we heard the boys crying. So Jake went in the room, pulled Carson out of Marcus's playpen (this is Carson's new favorite thing to do and Marcus REALLY doesn't like it) and puts Carson back to bed. Then I walk in to come tell the boys good night and shut the door behind me so they won't wake up Shalise. Well wouldn't you know it, the door was locked from the outside (this is necessary for bedtime and time outs...) when I walked in so now we are all locked in the boys bedroom. And my attempt to not wake up Shalise doesn't work so we can hear her crying in the bedroom next to us as well. So Jake decides we're going out the window and by "we" he means "me". So he pulls out the screen and I shimmy out the window, run barefoot through the freezing cold and let myself into the garage. At this point I realize that we had locked our door to the house so now I'm locked out of the house. The good news is that we keep a key hidden in our garage, the bad news is that of course the light in our garage doesn't work. So there I am stumbing around in the dark trying to find a flashlight and then finally find the key and let myself in the house to go unlock the other door so Jake can get out. I'm sure glad no one was outside witnessing this because I'm sure it looked like a burglary in progress! And the even better news about this whole thing is that now we have given our 2 and 3 year olds a step by step lesson at a very early age how to sneak out your bedroom window... I think I'm going to have to start checking at night to make sure Carson hasn't tried to pop out the screen or anything!!

Christmas Is Coming!

My kids are getting so excited for Christmas. Halloween was a pretty big deal for months, but that has quickly been replaced with the anticipation of Christmas. We've had decorations up for almost 2 weeks already. Carson was asking me every day to put them up for weeks before and I finally caved. They get so excited when the lights come on every night (they are on timers). I hear Carson saying The lights are here!! And Marcus yelling, I see Christmas! It certainly is the highlight of their day! And yes, this is our almost decorationless tree since the kids won't leave them alone. They are only on about the top 1/3 of the tree... :)