For some reason I can't add more, but here are some shots we did of the kids around Christmas.  It was quite entertaining. :)

 

Happy 55 Birthday Mom! Love ya. :)

This is how I left the children this morning to work on stuff for theYW 2013 main events/activities/calendars/lists/gifts/budgets/ goals/callings/ etc etc etc... on the computer.  Aren't they cute!  They had just put their babies to sleep (as seen behind Joseph), and sat down in the kitchen to play "hot chocolate".  I even gave them REAL crackers to snack on!  So sweet.

Then, I came back from the bedroom a bit later...after Kaylena brought me a snack.  Mashed crackers crumbled and stirred in water.  I posted on Facebook that it both melted my heart and turned my stomach.  It really was super super super cute and sweet!  Especially how excited she was!  But for some reason the sight of soggy crumbled cracker partcles swirling around in this water was SOO nauseating!  I told her how kind and thoughtful that was and she asked if I wanted a bigger bowl.  I declined, but agreed to come out and help her make something for all of us...and this is what I found.  Wooooow right?

 

On the other hand, remember our kitchen plans??  Yep, just a few more finishing touches and we'll be done with our KITCHEN!! Under budget (thanks to mom and dad for paying a chunk of labor for the backsplash and trim adjustments for our birthday/christmas gifts) AND right on time- right? we said by Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving at Grandma Maynard's!

 

A bit late, but I'm going through pictures.  Our computer crashed over a month ago, I can't find the flash drive that had the backup photos on and I coudn't get into the Waglreens photo account. :(

 

Luckily though, I got that reset and there are most of the photos from Joseph's first year on there already, AND they're having a 4x6 print sale, so I got those ordered.  My plan is to scrapbook the first year of kids and photo book everything else.

 

Happy December 6th!

We've all been busy growing up around here!

One afternoon Kaylena was riding her tricycle in the unseasonably warm days of November and we realized that she was way too big for it, and that she's 4! It's time for a serious bike! So we found someone selling this purple one and snagged it up, complete with training wheels!

Joseph has been growing taller and bigger and more observant. He does much better sitting with arms folded for prayer with a plate of food in front of him (he's always been fine for family prayers, it's those meals that took a lot longer. Heheh). He signs a lot, says s handful of words, and makes noises. :)

Baby boy is also growing along with my energy. As long as its cool (or cold for non pregnant people) I seem to do fine. As mentioned earlier though, we've had some 80* days this November, and if its too warm at night, I'm guaranteed a head in the toilet morning. Overall though, I've gained all the weight back that I lost that first month..... And my dr told me to 'cool it' this past checkup. I'm guessing 10 lbs in one month was too much to gain, but she seemed much more upset this time than when I had lost it! Oh well. I'm exactly where I was with Joseph, so I'm not too worried. :)

And Jason is growing in his handyman abilities and finished grouting our kitchen tile!!!! I'd say we're right on target for having the summer dream kitchen done by Christmas!

Thank you for a great birthday!! I'm exhausted and gonna use this extra hour!

Cute 4 year olds still fall asleep at the table on a quiet afternoon after a rough morning of shots.

Then, today we made salt dough skulls, baked them and painted them!! It was actually really exciting. Kaylena is totally into the painting stuff now. Joseph is totally into the eating the paint, and kept thinking the baked salt dough was a cookie or something... Lol

All in all a fun day though!

Happy birthday Kaylena!! She's 4!

Today was just a fun day. The kids had happy birthday cereal (normal cereal, just presented with a lot more excitement lol), watched Sesame Street on tv, went to big lots to pick out a rug, picked up 50 cent corndogs for lunch, played outside while I rearranged and moved Kaylena's bed onto Joseph's room and renamed it the quiet sleeping room.

I think it should work out pretty well. During Joseph's nap, Kaylena and I rearranged the new play and school room. There's just a few more things I need to do in there, but I think it should be a good system. Kaylena has frequently asked to sleep in Joseph's room and will sleep in the floor in there. We presented the moving idea to her a few weeks ago and age liked the idea. When she saw her bed in there this afternoon, she liked it but  of course she fell asleep on the couch tonight.  I'm not too worried about the transition though.

This evening, we had our neighbor, Thyrene, come over and my parents and sister joined us for dinner here at the house. It really was a LOT of fun, and I'm exhausted after all the preparations, then eating, trick or treat handing outing, birthday singing and present opening.

Happy birthday to our eldest daughter! Who loves to match clothes and everything else, who will not get into the car until everyone is out the door, and who loves loves her brother, daddy and momma. Love you my Lil pumpkin!!!

Such fun kids. Today was probably the most effective I've been in a while! The living room looked messy as usual when Jason gets home, but I got through a huge blue Tupperware full of random junk that's been there since June, the office/ Joseph's/ craft closet got a good dent knocked out of it by cleaning, and got nearly all our makeshift kitchen in our dining room integrated back in. AND... Kaylena enjoyed playing with her invisible friend "monster".

Joseph stuck a plate that had cheese on it, on his head awesomely cute.

More indoor fun!

The crash after visiting grandma and grandpa 'goat' on Sunday afternoon. :)

Making cookies for breakfast. Don't worry, when I came out and asked what was going on, kaylena explained what they were doing then how she was going to put the cookies on the cupcake pan, then come get me to put it in the oven cause its HOT! Made me feel a bit better!

It's just so cute to see them play together and help each other. Kaylena is making sure Joseph's lookin his best with glitter Chapstick. Hehehe

Tonight and tomorrow Jason has parent teacher conferences till 8 at a school that is 35/40 minutes away. So seeing that the kids and I were reasonably productive today, we took our FHE on the road to go visit. :) surprise!!

Our first date in like 4 months!! Wahoo for free tickets to a movie premier: here comes the boom! (Thursday)

Random nap and snuggle time. :)

I've been feeling so blah lately so today we went to the park. It was perfect weather, there was absolutely no one else there, the kids played and came home asleep so I could pay bills. It really was a good day!

Introducing..... Our happy screamer, and fashion designer. :)