January

 January was cold as usual.  Although we did not get near the snow amounts we usually do.  It was a fairly calm and good month.  Here are some of the highlights.

We got the kids snow shovels because they always want to help.  They were so excited and shoveled the sidewalks and driveway after this storm.  It was cute.

 She found a space she liked to call her own.

 Both these pictures I was instructed to take the picture.

 One day we went to the grocery store and got some Kong Kones.  Various sizes based on the one eating it.

 My husband made me a cheesecake for my birthday.

 We also had a Talent/No Talent night with our Ward (church group).  My daughter decided that she was going to hula hoop with her friend to One Direction's "You Don't Know You're Beautiful".  Wish I had video they were cute.  But my phone was being used for music and we didn't have the camera.  Some wise words from my daughter, being funny the"MC" asked them if they did their own stunts. After looking at him like he was crazy she told him "We have been best friends a long time and we really wanted wanted to do this together. So we imagined we could do it, then we believed we could and we can do anything". When I grow up I want to be like my daughter.  Some people came up and told me they loved what she said.  One Friend said that it made her cry.  She said it is so true.  You just need a friend and you can do anything.

7 years old! SERIOUSLY??????

 This Princess is 7 Years Old.  I still don't know how this happened.  Sure logically you would say well she was born and lived 7 years.  However, it doesn't seem like 7 years ago this beautiful girl was born and placed in my arms.  I still remember holding her and refusing to send her to the nursery.  I just fell in love with her right then and there she was perfect in every way.  I waited 4 years for her.  I had a miscarriage and did infertility treatments and cried each Mother's Day till she came and made me a Mom.  She is the best big sister to her siblings and the best oldest child.  She is smart and talented.  She is kind and loyal.  I am lucky to be her Mom.

 For her birthday this year she wanted to have a party with all her girl friends from school and of coarse her best friend from next door.  She wanted to have a Frozen theme.  Some of the activities we did was make a bracelet with ice colored beads.  We made snow with cornstarch, oil and glitter.  We made Olaf with Graham Crackers, icing, pretzels, and candy.  We planned to play Pin the nose on Olaf.  But we ran out of time.  Funny thing last time she had a party 2 years ago I didn't plan enough and this time I planned too much.  We had white cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and little candy snowflakes on top.  Which we did at the last minute and sent a cupcake home with the girls.  Like I said I planned too much this time.  But it seemed like they had fun.  We decorated with Snowflakes and printed out pictures from Frozen and put them up on the wall.  We took all the Christmas stuff down except the tree and the white lights and anything icicle related.  She woke up to a winter wonderland and loved it.

 Some pictures after the party with her best friend next door.

 

 On her birthday we left the decorations up and had Grandma and Grandpa come for dinner.  She had a chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. She took some pictures with her brother.

 

 Grandma and Grandpa gave her a outfit for her American girl doll they gave her for Christmas.

 At the end of the night they climbed on daddy and he tried to give them piggy back rides.

 This little girl grabbed the babies she got at Christmas and a play cup and pretended to drink from it while also giving her babies a drink from it as well.  I thought it was cute.  One baby was from us and the other was from Grandma and Grandpa.

Christmas 2013

 We had a good Christmas.  We were proud of the fact that we didn't go crazy with presents.  We did get surprised with a few extra gifts this year a couple days before Christmas.  But in general everyone got one present from each family member and one from Santa.  Some may feel that is excessive.  However I think it is good for kids to feel like they have something to give.  I believe it helps with confidence.  Actually the two older kids gave their little sister a toy they no longer needed but still loved.  Other than that they had a small budget to find a gift at the store.  I love taking them as they get older because you can see how they are really thinking about what someone else wants and not getting gifts they hope to play with.  It is good to see how they think of their siblings.

 

Opening his stocking.  I was nice this year and let them open their stockings before breakfast.  However the reast of the gifts have to wait till after breakfast dishes are done.  I had to as a kid and I think it is a good tradition.  My kids may think differently when they grow up.  But it allows them to not get so caught up in what they got.  And gives us a chance to talk to them and teach them about what Christmas is about.  

 Here is a hug after they opened their gifts from each other.  This is why I love letting them give each other a gift.  When they get older we may encourage them to make gifts for each other.  But for now I am glad they get this opportunity.

 Her gift from her brother.  He looked so hard to find a Mermaid for her that was in his budget.  He just knew that was what she "needed" and would love.

 This was his present from his big sister.  She had heard him say that he really wanted this fire helicopter and she knew he would love it.  Originally she wanted to get him a remote controlled Dusty Crop-hopper from the movie Planes but that was way out of her budget.

 The boat was from her big brother.  Which was a big deal for his to give this to her.  He still likes to play with it sometimes.  But he likes that he gave her something that he loved and that he knows she likes.  This is her Pillow pet from Mom and Dad.  She was so cute and laid right down on it and loved it for a moment.

 Mom and Dad gave him these Fireman Sam figures.  They were the cheapest we could find but knew he would love them.  He took them out and tried to wash them with a wet wipe and the paint started to wash off.  That is how cheap they were.  But he liked them and no worries.  Grandma and Grandpa got him nicer Fireman Sam toys that were of better quality.  We were glad because he washed a lot of the paint off before we noticed what he was doing.  The truck in the background was one of the surprise toys that showed up from a secret Santa.  He loves it.

 This was a Santa gift.  She loves her little baby Anna doll.

 This year from Santa the kids got a Fire station and doll house.  Thanks to some amazing friends they made these for us for a 'very' affordable cost.  My oldest uses the top shelf for her dolls and the bottom shelf for her own book collection.  My son stores all her Fire Men and Fire Trucks on his.  The kids love them.

 This part is some gifts they got from Grandma and Grandpa.  They loved the gifts they got and love Grandma and Grandpa even more.

December

 We had a fairly low key December.  Here are some pictures from the month.  This month we did something different and I got little red stockings and numbered them 1-24.  Then I filled them with 2 slips of paper.  One paper had a part of the Christmas story and the other paper had an activity.  The activities could be a Winter or Christmas book or movie to read.  It could be a fun winter or Christmas activity like looking at Christmas lights, decorating the tree, baking cookies.....  Then I added a Rolo candy for everyone and each day the kids had fun pulling one down and seeing what was inside.  We enjoyed this and plan to do it each year.  You can see the stockings on the Christmas tree in the pictures.

 My sons Christmas Program at Preschool  they were really cute.

 Cute note our oldest wrote on her Magnadoodle for us.

 

 Cute pictures of the kids

 After I finished getting dressed I saw my youngest watching TV like this.

 My oldest with her one of her BCFs (Best Cousin Friend) at the Movie Theater after watching Frozen.  Yes that was the term she used a lot during this time to describe a few of her cousins.

November

 November was a good month.  Here are some of our highlights.

My youngest wearing her brothers costume.   The only reason she got away with it was that her brother fell asleep and was taking a nap at this point.  As soon as he woke up he promptly yet gently took it off of her.  And reminded her that it was his fireman costume.

 

She loves the rocking chair in her room and will grab books and look at them while sitting in it.

 She loves to play on slides.

 We went to see Santa come to town and watch the fountain.

 Love this picture.  She looks so sweet here.

 Also this month we went to a Family Reunion.  The kids had fun swinging at the pinata.

  Her face after she decapitated the pinata. Guess they will make sure she wears a blindfold from now on.

 But to make sure more kids had a chance they reattached the head and her cousin got a chance.

 We also enjoyed Thanksgiving with both families this year.  It was nice to spend time with both.  I don't know if we will do both in a day again it is a lot of driving but every once in a while is good.  I don't have pictures though.