Christmas Eve and Day

Christmas was great this year. We were so blessed to have Scott home with us on Christmas eve this year. Since we stayed home in Las Vegas, we decided to plan a full day of Christmas fun. 

We started the morning out baking sugar cookies for Santa. The boys loved helping and picking out the cookie cutter shapes. I tried to steer them towards Christmas theme shapes, but they picked letters and dinosaurs and ghosts and bones and whatever else their hearts desired. They turned out perfectly! 

Before we ventured out for a few last minute things, we stayed home and played for a little bit. I had to take some pictures of Cache playing. After watching his brothers, he really gets the concept of pretend play. Its so fun to watch him.

He fell on the side walk the other day and scraped up his little nose. 

  We had planned to buy some snowballs from a local snow cone shack, but when we pulled up they had closed for the day. Luckily, we hadn't told the boys about it yet, so they weren't near as disappointed as Mom and Dad. We'll have to save the snowball fight for later!

After some yummy Teriyaki Madness for dinner, we came back home and decorated cookies. The kids loved it! Beckett was shoving things in his mouth just as fast as he could and Tayden enjoyed taking the time to make them look nice. At the end, I let them pick one to eat. Tayden picked his fish, but ended up putting it back because it was just too beautiful eat! 

Christmas morning couldn't come fast enough. We wrapped the stair case with wrapping paper to prevent them from going downstairs without us knowing.  Tayden came in at 4:12, rather angry about the booby trap, and demanded to go downstairs to see if Santa had come. I told him he had to wait a little longer and pulled him to bed with me. We woke up around 7:00 and headed down to start the day. 

We unwrapped our gifts from Santa, had some breakfast and then started on the rest. We took a little intermission to Skype with Scotts little brother, Matthew, who is serving a mission in South Africa. It was so great to see him for a minute and be able to tell him we love him. We are constantly talking to the boys about Uncle Matt being a missionary and it was really cool for them to see him in the act. 

One perk about living in Las Vegas during the winter is the lack of winter. The boys got new bikes and we took them out for a spin this afternoon. Tayden had a garage sale bike that was pretty hard to ride, so he was happy to have a smooth sailing bike that he could take as fast as he wanted. He was in little boy heaven. This was Becketts first time on a bike and he did surprisingly well. It took him a few minutes, but he got the pedal motion down and loved doing what his big brother was doing. 

Scott also got a fun new toy from Santa. A remote control airplane. He took it out to show the boys how it could fly and immediately got it stuck on our roof. After that, he took it out the the dirt field behind our house and flew it for a little bit while we watched. It was fun and Cache loved it the most. He watched and oooohhhed and aaahhhed the whole time.

We ended the day playing with toys and building with legos. When we were staying at my parents, my dad introduced Tayden to legos and he has wanted them ever since. He played a good portion of the afternoon with his legos and is unbelievable good at building things with them. Actual things like rockets and airplanes. It kind of breaks my heart watching him graduate to big kid toys, but makes me beam with pride all at once. 

 Taking a picture of each other.

 Scott got in on the building too. It's fun watching these two play together.

His finished product was this rocket ship, complete with bunks for his guys too sleep on. Not bad for a first timer. 

It was a great day with my family. I loved being able to spend it together and enjoy each other in our new home. I am grateful for this season and the love and joy it brings into our home. As I ponder the gift of our Savior and the gift of my family I can't help but be overwhelmed with emotion. I am so grateful!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Hope your day was as wonderful as ours.  

Santa Sucess

We loaded up this kids this afternoon to go and see Santa. We haven't made an actual Santa trip before and have always just sat on his lap at our ward Christmas party. Our new ward didn't do a Santa and Tayden was pretty disappointed. So, we set out on an adventure to go find Santa.

Tayden dresses himself. Today he insisted on wearing a tie and his special 'dad shirt' to see Santa.

We hit Bass Pro Shop at about 11:30 this morning and it was crazy busy. We talked the kids coming back in the afternoon to see if it was a little less busy. We arrived again for round two at 4:00 and the line wasn't as long... by about two feet. But I couldn't tell Tayden no again, so we waited. And waited. And waited. two hours, we waited. Luckily, Bass Pro Shop is a pretty fun store. We spent the two hours looking at the fish, boats, toys and entertaining ourselves.

Tayden was just too tired to "go on anymore". 

Waiting in line.

Beckett taking Cache for a ride. 

 And after two hours, we got this awesome picture and it was all totally worth it. Santa was great and talked to each kid asking what they wanted and telling them to go to sleep tomorrow so he could come. I was so proud of Beckett who was determined to only give Santa a high five, but climbed right up on his lap the moment he saw Santa and grinned ear to ear the whole time. Tayden marched up to tell him what he wanted and Cache actually seemed to enjoy the whole experience. (Notice Taydens tie is missing. He didn't want anyone to think he was going to church.)

It was a success Santa trip, indeed. 

3 Shorts

3 Short stories:

Tayden made a monster spider snowman this morning.

4 eyes, 8 arms, a beard and 100 lbs of scary.

He was proud.

...

Beckett went to give Scott a kiss on the cheek the other night. 

Instead he kissed him right under the eye.

Scott laughed and asked why he kissed him there. 

Beckett, pointing to Scotts beard said, "Me no like that thing. It pokes me. This spot no poke me"

...

 After two nights of sleep training, this boy finally slept through the night. 

 Only took 14 months! 

Christmas-ing

Its the middle of December and we are in full blown Christmas mode. With the lack of winter weather in Las Vegas its easy to forget what time of year it is, so we kind of go overboard with Christmas stuff so we can experience our own Las Vegas Christmas magic. 

We put up the tree the night of Thanksgiving. I have a strict 'no touching the Christmas tree or presents' policy in my house. Even Cache abides. This year the boys wanted to help decorate so in the spirit of Christmas, I let them. We made a huge disaster and I was on the brink of a over obsessive break down, but it was fun and I fixed everything as soon as they went to bed. 

Since I am crazy about my tree I let the boys participate in everything else Christmas. This is the advent calender they helped create and put up on the wall. Everyday there is a new activity to do as a family. Some days it's a fun activity like building a fort and reading Christmas books or watch a favorite Christmas movie and drink hot chocolate. Other days it is a spiritual experience to help remember the reason for the season like writing out our gifts to Jesus this year or brainstorming ideas to bring peace into our home. As gifts to Christ, Dad decided to be nice. Mom worked on patience. Tayden was going to try harder to listen to Mom and Dad. Beckett was practicing using his nice voice (really we just wanted to help him speak in general). And Cache was going to try to sleep at night. 

We've been Christmasing quite a bit so far this December. Here are a few things we've done.

Our ward Christmas party was a blast this year. Scott had to work so braved it alone with the boys. There was a fun photo booth with Christmas props and an outdoor train ride that the kids loved. I love our new ward!

 Santa also sent the boys personalized videos. This was the first time the boys watched their message from Santa. They were pretty enamored. 

We ventured out for our traditional Christmas outing with the Turneys. The night includes the conservatory at the Bellagio, dinner and McDonalds and then the lights at the Cactus gardens. We've done it for the past three Christmases and it always proves to be one of my favorite nights. I love the picture of Scott and the kids on the stroller. This is the most legit stroller you will every come across. Four kids, one awesome stroller. Doesn't get better. 

I love seeing the progression of my family. 

Below is baby Caches WOW face. Isn't it the sweetest? He was impressed with the awesome decorations of the Bellagio. They really were something else this year, complete with flying reindeer, walk through snow globe and the biggest Christmas tree.

And of course, on of my favorite things is wrapping presents and putting them under the tree. I have a slight infatuation with wrapping and displaying. Scott laughs at me, but I just love wrapping things. 

And lastly, but certainly most important. We've been talking about the birth of our Savior. Everything else is so fun and easy to get wrapped up in, but it is about a babe in swaddling clothes born in the lowliest of mangers, who gave us the perfect example to follow and died so we can live. Its the sweet truth of Christmas and I pray that I can convey that to my children and help them gain a testimony of Savior. 

  

 

This really is the best time of the year. 

CPK

I love being surrounded by fun moms who plan fun things for the kids. Yesterday morning we toured California Pizza Kitchen. It was so fun. 

The kids were provided with coloring pages and crayons as we waited for everyone to show up. We had a great group with 13 of our friends. 

Beckett loved the tour guide, Ms. Rachel. She did a great job with the kids and B thought she was so cool. She was explaining the rules and half the other kids were paying attention else where, but B was stuck on her every word. It was cute. 

After coloring the kids got to make their own pizzas. They had sauce, cheese, pepperoni, ham and pineapples and the kids went to town. Beckett of course had about 20 pineapples and a few slices of meat. Tayden opted for cheese and cheese and more cheese. While the pizzas cooked in the fire oven, we took a tour of the rest of the restaurant. 

After the tour ended the staff handed out the pizzas and the kiddies chowed down on their creations. Never mind that it was 10:00 in the morning, the boys finished almost every last bite. And what they took home they finished for lunch an hour later. 

Tayden and Hannah. I'm saving this for their wedding video. :)

And of course Cache needed some pizza too.

Best pizza faced friends. These boys make my world go round.

It was such a fun morning.

I love having the chance to do so many fun things in Las Vegas! 

Pup Problems

Besides being cold.

Super cold.

Cold enough for coats and hats.

Still sunny though and super bright. They could hardly keep their eyes open let alone look at me. 

And being the cutest spider man ever.

And working on Mom's projects.

This week has been pretty quiet. Not a lot happening. Boys have had school, we've played with friends, had a Christmas dance party every night. Just the usual. 

One mentionable story though. I decided to sell our sweet Tanner.

I've said it 1000 times before and I'll say it again. He is my dog. He tolerates the kids, but nothing more. He is my shadow and follows me around all day. When the kids aren't in my lap, he is. I love him, but had asked myself what was the point of having a dog if the whole family is lacking benefit. And on top of that he has started to get growly with Cache if his dog food is on the floor or if the baby goes near his kennel. I will not have a dog in my house that I can not trust with my kids. So I put an ad up for him and with in the day I had found a home for him. It was great. No kids, another small dog and a lady that worked from home. The perfect arrangement. 

Well almost perfect, the kids were torn up. Begging all day to keep the dog and telling us that he belonged in our home. Crying to keep him and holding on the kennel with every ounce of their being as we loaded up the car with Tanners belongings. And don't even get me started about me. I was a basket case. Every time I looked at the pup, tears over flowed and I bawled a good 90% of the day. Yet, I stood strong that this was the right choice.

I took Tayden in with me to the new house. As I told them about Tanner I cried and cried. He looked so out of place in that house. For the full 30 minutes we were in the home Tayden told me over and over that Tanner hated it there or he wanted to come home with us. He promised me multiple times that he'd be good and he'd never tease the dog every again.  He told the nice couple, "This is my dog and he doesn't want to live with you. He wants to live with me." I thought it would give him peace seeing that Tanner was going to be in a good home and happy, but it was the exact opposite. Which broke my heart more.

In the end, I ended up backing out. There was no way I could give up my dog without trying a few new things. Don't get me wrong...I love my dog, but I love my kids more. If he ever bites them, he's gone. No question. But Scott and I decided to change his feeding schedule and move his kennel. So there is no longer food down during the day and its helped immensely. In fact, he hasn't really growled at all since we've made the change. And then miraculously over night Cache lost all interest in the kennel. He doesn't even go near it and that makes for a less stressed dog. I'm so glad we decided to work on a few things that would allow us to keep him. We've had him for seven years and he is part of the family. A grumpy part...but a part non the less.

In the mean time, we've had some talks with the boys about the dog. They've expressed how they want a dog to run and play with. They want a dog they can pet and take on walks and let sleep in their room. Mostly, they want Bentley back. And since that can't happen...we caved and decided to get them a dog of their own. Well, mostly Scott caved. I've wanted a big dog for well over a year, but Scott has never been on board. But, he is now. We are always going to be that house that has pets. I was resistant to that fact at first, but now I have embraced it and glad that my kids will grow up around animals and learn the responsibility of taking care of them. Tayden currently has 3 goldfish and he does a great job feeding them every morning and helping clean the tank. Both boys are also in charge of helping clean up after Tanner. Not saying you can't teach kids responsibility without animals, I am just grateful we have the chance to teach it to them with animals. 

Dogs are expensive and since it will mostly be the boys dog--they are working for it. We are saving as a family. The boys can do chores to help put in money and mom and dad will contribute as we can. We probably won't have enough for about a year and I am desperately hoping the boys don't run out of steam. But I am assuming they will. 

They help with anything I can think of. This particular morning they were cleaning my bath tub. And of course Cache had to get in o the fun. 

The trusty applesauce jar containing $5.41. 

We'll get there! 

In the meantime, I love seeing them work for something they want.

And I love that I got to keep my pup.

Redemption

Ah, sweet redemption!

We made scones the other night for FHE. 

They didn't rise.

Do you realize what that means?

How great of news that is?!

It means I didn't kill the Thanksgiving rolls after all.

We got some bad yeast.

It was to blame, not me.

Ah, the simple satisfactions! 

Now if only I can find something to blame the turkey on too.