My Bellybutton Rubber

Some kids play with their hair.  Some kids play with a blankie.  Mine rubs her bellybutton.  Oh yes.  And the last few nights, we have found her with her footie pajamas unzipped so she can rub her bellybutton all night with one hand and suck her thumb with the other.

Christmas Morning

Gabby showing off her new desk.

Hyrum's new remote control car.  The elves were sloppy this year because it broke within three days.  He now has a much cooler car.

LaurieAnn's teepee.  I love how girly this turned out.

Eloise opening her book that would become her favorite and insist on reading every naptime, bed time and in between time.  "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"

I love practical gifts, because they keep giving.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Program

The kids had so much fun celebrating Christmas Eve with their cousins.  

Gabby got to be Mary this year in the Nativity.

One angel, one wiseman, and one baby sheep

Kitties

Our kids have been asking for a pet they can cuddle for about 4 years now.  We finally gave in when we had to say goodbye to the chickens until spring.  We got two kitties from the pound as a part of our Christmas this year.  Jinx and Comet.  I have never owned cats, but they are growing on me.  And are by far easier to care for than a dog.  Although, I think we will get one of those someday...just not this Sunday.

New Carpet

We got new carpet from Santa this year!  I will post a picture of what the new stuff looks like.  But I am in heaven.  So soft you may end up sleeping on it!  I always think it is amazing to see a house when you get down below the cosmetics.  Only one hiccup after we ripped out the old rug.  Doug ended up having to replace a piece of subflooring last minute.  Thank goodness for a flexible schedule (sometimes) and Home Depot within a few miles.

We had to move everything into the kitchen and dining room.  This is most of our stuff.  Doug is the master organizer.  He made it so everything was tucked away under tables while still being able to access all of our necessities.

Gingerbread House

My mom has a tradition of coming over and decorating a house with candy for Christmas.  This year she got a mold and made the house out of CAKE.  Novel....It was awesome because we weren't left with candy-less remnants of a house.  They ate every last bite!  The kids loved it!  Thanks again Grandma!

Christmas Tree

Hyrum loves to help his dad and do projects.  Using the power drill is his absolute favorite, but a handsaw will do in this case.  

I love this picture of the girls.  My oldest and youngest babies with blue eyes.  Gabby is a wonderful sister.  She is always helpful and compassionate.  

Sharing wishes and dreams with Santa.

LaurieAnn is my sweet and sassy girl.

Hard to believe everyone is smiling without photoshop!  Just proves my kids are growing up.

Mayflower Ships

 The kids LOVE doing crafts during any free time they have.  We got the art supplies out and painted Mayflower ships to celebrate Thanksgiving-and keep them busy during the break. They painted the ocean with several colors of blue, white and gray.  They each painted the sky a different "time of day"  Then we added the handprints and sails. 

It is fun to watch them grow up and understand the beginnings of Thanksgiving more. Hyrum was very curious about Squanto and the Indians.  The girls are always thankful-especially Gabby.  She filled the Thanksgiving tree with leaves this year doing about 4x as many as everyone else.

Flyfishing Getup

Doug went fly fishing for the first time.  He turned to the pro with all the getup needed for the adventure-who else?  My dad.  

Muscle Man

Halloween and Pumpkin Carving

Halloween is was fun for the kids this year.  They loved shoveling the goop from their pumpkins and estimating how many seeds each pumpkin had inside.  (We never confirmed.)  

Gabby dressed up like a witch, Hyrum was a ghost, LaurieAnn was a princess-of course! 

And Eloise was a ladybug.

LaurieAnn is 4!

It was all princess at our house!  LaurieAnn turned four and was thrilled to have a celebration for herself.  She wanted a rainbow cake, so I made cupcakes with 6 different colors of batter and used skittles to make rainbows on the top.  They turned out cute.

She was thrilled with her new booster seat, so she can be a big girl and sit in the "way back" of the suburban.  She also loves her new fleece blanket to snuggle with at night that she got from Grandma.