Elfie

We got our own Elf on the Shelf this year. The kids have absolutely LOVED him! I didn't take many pictures of all the fun things he did in our house, but the kids would wake up every morning and run to find him. Elfie was great at helping the kids be extra good this year while we got ready for Christmas. Thanks Elfie for so much fun!

Brooklyn's First Dance Performance

Brooklyn danced at the Festival of Trees on Saturday. Of course it was the same day as Brayden's b-day party so it was a pretty hectic day. She was SO SO SO adorable! I actually teared up I was so proud of her. Here she is with her class (she is the 3rd from the left.)

 She was on cloud 9 afterwards. Here she is trying to strike a pose:

 So pretty!

 My mom couldn't make it but my aunt and grandma came to support her. Josh's parents also were able to come.

 Brayden's favorite tree:

 She is such a doll! I love her to pieces. You did a great job Brooklyn!

 And this is what happens when you try to take a picture with all 3 kids and there are a bunch of people waiting to take a picture in the same spot. Awesome.

We went to Joanna's kitchen afterwards for dinner and scones. It was a pleasant evening and a slight glimpse of our future with 3 girls!!!

Brayden's Angry Bird Birthday Party

What a week! There were SO many conflicts with Brayden's b-day party. Half of the boys all had sporting games during his party. So we decided to move it to the morning...9-11. Ouch. Josh and I had his work party Friday night and didn't get home until 1, which meant we were up until 3:30 getting ready for the party. It turned out to be awesome! It was SO much work. It was our first home birthday party so I didn't know what I was getting myself into (I don't count Brooklyn's water party in our backyard a home party...although it was a lot of work, once the water was turned on I didn't have to entertain the kids one bit...they did that on their own.) N-e way, I spent all week cutting out hundreds of angry birds. Here are the decorations:

Rachelle and Sean made this awesome cake:

The little angry bird boxes on the left had their own angry bird game in them...pics are further down.

All the boys except Jaxon who had to leave early:

The games. We started with the boys split into 2 groups of 5. In one room we played angry bird twister and hit the pig:

 

 

In the other room the kids played stick the angry bird on the pig as well asbuilding their own towers and knocking them down.

After these games we all came together and played angry bird Bingo while I got the egg hunt ready. Then we sent them all outside to hunt for eggs (apparently there are golden eggs in the angry bird game...hence the egg hunt.)

Next we gave them all their own angry bird games to take home. They loved building the towers and knocking them down. This is where I cut and glued on 100 angry bird faces onto the little fuzzies:

 Last but not least was the cake and presents.  Brayden had such a fun time, as did we. It was worth all the work to see him enjoy the morning with his friends. Thanks to all that came and enjoyed it with us!

 

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner 3 times. It was the year to be with my family, but my dad accidentally planned their Hawaii trip over Thanksgiving (they thought Thanksgiving was the last Thursday of the month.) So we ended up having turkey dinner with my family the Saturday before. We went to my parents church and it was a blast. I brought 4 scooters, 3 wiggle cars, and some bikes and the kids had SO much fun. I forgot my camera so all the pic are still on my dad's camera. On Thanksgiving, we went to the Ericson's to enjoy the evening with them. Friday night we went to Josh's uncle's house and had another turkey dinner to celebrate his grandpa's birthday. So much turkey! We were in charge of pies for 2 of the dinners, so we have had a ton of pie leftovers all week. Yum!!!

 After we got home from the Ericson's a little surprise showed up! Our own personal elf, Elfie, showed up to keep an eye on us. He reports back to Santa whether the kids are naughty or nice. He comes to life when we are asleep as moves around the house. The kids absolutely LOVE him! Especially Brooklyn...she wakes up every morning and runs downstairs to find him. I should have taken a pic of him...I'll do that one of these days.

Brayden's Birthday

The only thing Brayden wanted to do on his birthday was to go to Nickelcade. So we invited Josh's family and met everyone there. The kids had a blast and Brayden loved every minute of it.

 Brayden picked out the cake and it really was one of the best cakes I've ever had.

We love you so much buddy! I hope you had a great day!

Thirsty?!

First of all, Brynlee's newest thing lately is to find either her Halloween costume or this dance tutu, bring it to me while I am still in bed, and ask me to dress her. It's cute...but gets old while I'm still trying to sleep. She was SO funny when she decided to share her drink with the dog.

More Snowmen

The kids really have been loving arts and crafts lately. This time we made snowmen out of marshmallows.