Today

I have been catching up on blogging today... don't forget to scroll down, there are a few posts up now :)

Every morning when Dallas leaves to work I am still in bed... and so are the kids :) That's the way I like it, I love to sleep in! The kids have been good lately by not getting up before eight (knock on wood). If they do get up then they come to bed with me. This morning Dallas came and woke me up to say goodbye. He said that I had to do two things today... one, shovel the walks (he only had time to do the driveway) and two, build a snowman with the kiddos. I could handle that :) We had tons of fun making our snowman!

Then we got to go watch a fun light show in Battle Ground. My brother actually does the same kinda thing at my parents house every year (Is it up this year mom??) It's pretty fun to watch the lights go along to the music. The kids both fell asleep on the way there, but we got them to wake up and they loved it! Evan kept saying that the lights were dancing :)

Too much Chocolate... yes it's possible...

This is what we did yesterday to stay busy... dipping pretzels :) I think this needs to be a yearly tradition for us. We also made these last year and they are yummy! The light in my kitchen is so pretty, I am in love with these photos :)

I know what you are thinking... don't worry, the kids made their own pretzels and I made a separate batch for friends :) After all the double dipping and finger licking I knew I had to make my own!

This all explains my upset tummy yesterday afternoon! I really did eat too much chocolate...

Staying busy...

We've been doing one thing after another these past few weeks. I am trying to stay busy so I don't have much time to think about being homesick. I miss being able to be with family during the holidays. Last weekend I really started missing everybody. Dallas and I were talking about how we could have just gone to visit family this year and it wouldn't have been a big deal.... but now it's too late. Then we started planning for next year's trip (we'll see if it actually happens :)) I wish we could just jump in the car and go... oh well.

My dear sweet mother called me yesterday with great news.... she is coming to visit for Evan's birthday! Wahoo!!! She and my Dad realized that they had just enough flyer miles for my mom to come. I couldn't be happier! Thank you mom, I can't wait for you to get here :)

Here is one of our winter activities to keep us busy....

I forgot to put a picture up of our stockings with the pictures of our tree :) Here they are... aren't they cute? I am so lucky to have a mother in law who is so talented! Thanks to Dallas' mom! We are so grateful to have such nice stockings :)

Ho Ho Ho!

Evan and Makiah have been so very excited for Christmas. Evan is constantly asking if it is Christmas yet and Makiah has been dying to sit on Santa's lap. She is quite insistent on what she wants for Christmas and she couldn't wait to tell Santa. We have been prepping the kids for this moment... we didn't want tears this year and we succeeded! Makiah walked right up to Santa without hesitating. Evan was excited, but he did NOT want to sit on his lap. Which was just fine. (Here are the photo's from last year... and the year before)

We had rehearsed this many times... the kids liked to put on our Santa hat and pretend to be Santa. Evan would ask for a truck, a bear, and a big kitchen (instead of a little one). Kiah would ask for a Dora bike. The girl knows what she wants. Kiah talks about Santa all the time, she even tells me what Evan wants for Christmas. So when it came time to tell Santa what they wanted, they knew exactly what to say.

We've been talking about Santa so much that I've been trying to explain to the kids that Christmas isn't all about Santa and getting gifts. It's also fun to serve and help others as well. Evan had some great lessons at joy school last week about serving and giving. His teacher helped the kids get a treat and note prepared to take home and surprise their parents. When Evan got home he sneaked the treat into my room and surprised me with it on my pillow. Then later we surprised Dallas with it. He had fun sneaking around and serving his parents. I haven't planned anything yet, but I am hoping to help the kids make or shop for gifts to give each other. I think  most of the excitement that comes from Christmas is surprising others with what you picked out for them. 

The kids also have fun with a toy nativity that Dallas' parents gave the kids two years back. They LOVE playing with it and we have enjoyed sharing the story of baby Jesus with the them. Kiah loves to pretend with the nativity and she knows Mary and Jesus' name. This year has been so much fun since the kids are finally old enough to understand and enjoy learning more about Christmas.

The Tree.

I have so many childhood memories that I love. Especially the ones from Christmas time. Setting up the tree was always a big deal. My mom has so many Christmas decorations that we would set up at the same time. I remember especially having to wait for Mom to put the lights on the tree. Now I know why it always took so long ;) At least my mom could get them up in one night... I on the other hand I took awhile longer :)

All of my siblings and myself have an ornament that my Grandma Fowler gave to each of us on our first Christmas. My Mom continued this tradition by giving all of her grandchildren an ornament of their own. My kids ADORE their ornaments :) Evan's is a reindeer and Makiah's is a Precious Moments girl holding a lamb (which is fitting, Makiah loves animals). Makiah kept saying that her "baby" (ornament) was sad, probably because of the shape of the eyes that Precious Moments have. She kept hanging it up and then holding it again, she really loves it. 

My Mom would take a photo of each of her kids hanging up their ornaments and stockings each year. Since I am photo crazy I am trying to do the same. We still need to figure out the stockings though... we just have candlesticks holding them up so it is hard for the kids to hang them themselves. Dallas' Mom made our stockings and I LOVE them so much! 

I know I look like I just woke up and maybe went running or something.... but at least we got a picture of Dallas and I, right? Evan took this photo, he even told us where to sit and everything. He gets it from me :)

Ahhh, we finally got the tree decorated. It is so nice to be able to sit and listen to Christmas music and look at the lights. I love this time of year!!

Finally some snow for the kids...

We finally got some snow on Wednesday. But that day was so crazy and cold that we didn't even get the chance to play in it. The kids were sad when it melted away, but no worries... we woke up this morning to some beautiful snow! The kids have been talking about building a snowman ALL week so that's what we tried to do. To bad the snow here isn't what it is in Utah. It just wasn't working and this was just about as good as it got...

While Kiah was building her snowman she started to sing. I finally figured out what she was trying to sing... "Once there was a snowman." So we all joined in and sang it. She loves to sing.

I thought these photos were cute... Evan trying not to get hit by a snowball from Daddy and Kiah trying to hit Daddy with a snowball...

I was telling Dallas just last night that we needed to let the kids play outside the next time it snowed... I was assuming it would be during the week when I would be the one that would have to go out in the cold. Well lucky for me it snowed on a Saturday and so the kids were able to play out in the snow with Daddy. I got to hide behind my camera and take pictures :) 

I've decided (though, I am still trying to have a good attitude about snow...) that snow is so much fun when you are young, but when you get older it gets to be more of a pain. I love summertime when you don't have to worry about boots, coats, gloves and packing the kids into the car when it is wet outside. It's so much easier and faster to get out the door when all you need are a pair of flip-flops (ahhh, filp-flops :)) You don't have to worry about icy roads and driving in a snowstorm during the summer. When I saw the snow this morning I canceled all my plans for the day and we stayed home- it was kinda nice! 

On Wednesday I drove Evan to Joy School just after we got some snow. The roads were soooo icy. I should have not even left the house (but I am usually not one to worry). As I was slowly moving into a left turn lane my car started to slide. I had no control at all. The car turned completely around and landed in the median. I sat there not knowing what to do and Evan said "we need someone to help us!" Luckily we were able to drive right on out of the median with no help. It kinda scared me though. About two minutes later when trying to turn right my car just kept sliding straight forward. Luckily it stopped before I hit someone. It was a little adventure, though not a big deal... we are safe and our car is fine... that's what matters. Though I will be a lot more cautious out on the roads for now on :)

One of those things that is just bound to happen {Part 2}

I posted three blog posts today :) Feel free to scroll on down to read more...

I took these pictures of Kiah's hair on Monday and I am so glad I did. Her hair finally got long enough to fit into these adorable piggy tails. Aww, they are so cute!

The cute piggy tails did NOT last long enough for me. On Wednesday afternoon Evan and Kiah decided to play hairdresser and Evan took it upon himself to cut Kiah's hair... again. This time since I wasn't around to stop it, it got a little out of control. I had so much going on around the house that day that I didn't even notice. I noticed the scissors and all the cut up paper on the floor. I put the scissors up and went on with my day. An hour or two later Kiah pulled out her piggies and I realized what happened. There was a big chunk cut right in the middle back and off to her left side of her head. I cried a lot that day. I was already emotional as it was...

Friday morning I took Kiah to get her haircut. This time a friend cut her hair for me and she did a great job! Last time we went to Cookie Cutters and I really wasn't too impressed ($16 for a 5 minute haircut is not my thing). My friend took her time, called a friend for advice, and blended the bad spots very well. Now Kiah has a cute little bob cut again. If you look closely on her left side there are some short spots... but they blend in pretty well.

And because he is cute, and because he asked me to take his picture... 

Mmm... donuts are good.