Wrong and Right

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
Ok, the bad news it is.  We didn't have a perfect Christmas (but when is it ever perfect, really?)

What went wrong:
- We were very sick with bad colds, which was no fun. The baby and I were the worst on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Baby still looked adorable even when he was sick:

- Baby cried the entire 45 minutes back home from Grammie's on Christmas night.  The crying made it so that Lulu couldn't hear her movie the entire time, which in turn made her cry.  All that crying made Hammer cry too.  It was not fun, especially since I had a horrible headache. 
- Hammer doesn't like his gift from Santa, which was blocks.  I mean, he doesn't hate it, but he doesn't want to really play with it either.
- No snow

What went right:
- We didn't have to drive in the snow (I know, picky picky)
- Perfect Santa visit (see previous Santa post)
- The kids were so excited to open their new pj's on Christmas Eve and they looked so cute

- Lulu loves her Santa gift
- Fun times on Christmas with Ollie's family:
The kids LOVED it when Uncle John pulled them around on a table cloth. Highlight of the party for them:

Playing games.  Look how awesome it is to win a round: 

- Yummy food
Ham on Christmas at Granmmie's, and Turkey for Christmas Eve dinner:

- We got spoiled, yet again
 - 1 hour of church on Christmas morning was really nice.  It was perfect to have a break from all the rush and presents and focus on Jesus.  I wish we could do that every year. I even enjoyed getting the kids dressed up all nice in their new outfits. They looked so cute.  Would you believe that I didn't get any pictures of the 3 of them in their new outfits though?  I had to be at the church at 8:30 to practice with the choir and everyone else joined me there a little before 9.  Baby was still in bed when I left.  But here are these two cuties checking out their stockings, all dressed in their Sunday best:

- I played my choir accompaniments as well as I could, which is saying a lot because they were hard!
- Lulu is getting really excited about Santa.  She got up from bed on Christmas Eve because we had forgotten to leave carrots for the reindeer. Then she got up a second time and was trying to think of something important to say.  It was obvious she was having a hard time getting to sleep because she was so excited, and that's the first time that's happened.
That was my favorite part: Watching the magic of Christmas through my kids' eyes.  I remember when I was a teenager every year on Christmas night I would say to my mom "It just doesn't feel like Christmas." It just doesn't feel the same as when you are little, you know? But watching Lulu the past two years has made Christmas seem like Christmas again!  I did not anticipate that so it has been wonderful.  I love making traditions and memories and magic for them.  It's awesome!

So, I would after seeing the two previous lists, a lot more things when right than went wrong.  That means we had another successful Christmas!  It's my favorite time of the year.

The Christmas Jar

Because we were getting a little stir-crazy in the house and it wasn't even officially winter yet, plus I love Christmas, this year we started The Christmas Jar.
Each day the kids would pull one paper out of the jar and it told us what Christmas activity we would do that day:

Here are a few of the fun things we did this year from our Jar O' Fun.

Ice Cream Cone Trees:

Make Christmas Cards

Make Poinsettia Cupcakes

Christmas Picnic Breakfast

Glue and Glitter Snowflakes

Candy Santa Races

Tortilla Snowflakes

Graham Cracker House centerpieces

See the "Lights Before Christmas"

We also did a few other things, like make muddy buddies and a Christmas Photo Scavenger Hunt.  All in all, it was a ton of fun.  The kids loved it.

Our Card

Merry Christmas to all of our friends!
Thanks for reading this little blog that details the small and seemingly insignificant pieces of our life. Although trivial to some, these every-day happenings are what make our family unique. They are what make us happy. Blogging about it is what keeps me grounded and focused on what really matters in life.
We feel very blessed. Just look at our wonderful family (extended too), our home, our health, and our faith in Jesus Christ.
Remember He is the reason for the most wonderful season of the year!

New This Year

Christmas is everywhere around here. A few things are new this year, which is always exciting.
Lulu wrote her first letter to Santa:

and put it in the mail:

Daddy got the Grinch last year in his stocking, but then he was boxed up for Christmas season play only.  So this year, here he is!  We have really enjoyed playing with him:

Nobody loves him as much as Baby. It's pretty hilarious actually how much he loves the Grinch. He talks to him in the sweetest little voice. Sometimes he screams at him. And there's usually a lot of giggling and trying to eat the Grinch's face off:

Oh, and Baby is new this Christmas too.  :)  Here are my 3 kiddos trying to pose for a Christmas card picture.  I took about 30 and this one, believe it or not, was the best.  (I didn't use it though.  I decided to try a different approach):

Umm, this isn't really new, but I just thought the shadow of the Christmas tree on the wall looked kinda cool:

The stockings for Lulu and Hammer aren't new, but Baby's is.  So is the way I strung them up on the wall instead of just laying them on the couch.  I do wish we had a fireplace.  Maybe some day:

Lulu made me a Christmas keepsake in preschool.  Love it:

I bought some words from the dollar area of Target for our ladder by the front door:

I made these tissue trees that I saw on Pinterest, but made them in a mini size.  I made them for our Ward Relief Society dinner, and they turned out super cute, so they are now being displayed by some of Ollie's nutcrackers:

I made my Grandparents gifts this year. I found this idea on Pinterest too. I made some coasters. My Grandma's are made with old family pictures, and my Nana's are made with an old map that I had around the house. Both turned out cute. They are being delivered tomorrow!

We also tried a new recipe for Red and Green fruit-flavored popcorn to give to our neighbors. I wish I had taken a picture of it, because it was really pretty! Here's the stock photo from the website I got the idea from, Our Best Bites:

Also new this year, we had a Christmas jar where we had an activity or treat for each day of the month. It has been fun to have something Christmasy to do every day, especially since it's been miserable outside and we've been cooped up inside all day. Every day since like Halloween. We did lots of cute things, but I think that needs to be it's own post because there are quite a few pictures and ideas there.
Lastly, we have a new Christmas card this year too. I will post that in the next few days too. Christmas is almost HERE!
Which reminds me, pray for us that we'll get better so we can get out of the house, especially for Christmas. Not only has the weather been miserable, so have the kids. We have a respiratory virus over here. Yuck!

Visiting Santa

We had our annual visit with Santa at our neighborhood grocery store. Not only do they let you take your own pictures, and videos, but they take pictures and then you pick them up the next week for free! We got like 4 copies of our family and Santa. It's great.
Here's one video of Hammer asking for blocks, not a box:

And the pictures they gave us!

A few thoughts on the experience and resulting pictures:
None of the kids cried.
Lulu's eyes are open!
In fact, none of us are blinking.
Santa doesn't exactly come across as jolly in the pictures, but he was sweet with the kids. 
They were excited to tell him what they want for Christmas and to get a free candy cane at the end.
Man, I have cute kids.
Awesome.

Little Nativity

I had this great idea.
My kids love to play with nativities, but that was not an option this year with Hammer throwing everything he can get his little hands on. All of our nativities, cheap or nice, are breakable. Not to mention the things he throws the hard breakable figurines at would take a beating.
I looked into buying the Little People Nativity Set.  It's really cute, and baby-proof.  But, it's kind of expensive!  
So, I thought, why not use the little drummer boy set we have already? Sure, there's no Mary or Joseph, or baby Jesus. Minor problem. We did have a stable, animals, a palm tree, and a drummer boy of course. Who doesn't want a drummer boy in their nativity?
Then we created our own Mary and Joseph and Jesus. A little imagination, some little hair elastics, some "actors", and some little fabric pieces created this masterpiece:

Yes, Joseph is permanently holding a baseball and an icecream cone. Looks like he's ready to help raise a boy, doesn't it?

It worked great for about.... 5 minutes.
I stopped putting their hoods on. That got old fast.
Then the fabrics were lost.
Then baby was lost.
The animals were thrown all over the house (to be expected) and Lulu complained that Joseph had blonde hair. Picky picky.
At least it was free.
And the kids actually are still playing with the animals and the stable and occasionally Mary or Joseph grace the scene.

Already!

Baby at the Dr

This little man is already 6 months old!   Ever day I'm amazed that he just keeps getting cuter and more fun.  How all of us in our family love him!  There isn't a day that goes by that Lulu doesn't call him The Cutest Baby Ever, or something to that extent.  And the fact that Hammer spares Baby most of his throwing and other crazy-2-year-old-antics shows that he loves him too.  He still doesn't really have a nickname yet, besides Baby.  I think I call him Baby as much as I use his real name, so for now he'll still go by baby on the blog.

He is still growing like crazy.
He's at the 92% for height, and 65% for weight.

He is hungry all the time.  He nurses about every 2 hours.  I really need to get on top of giving him baby food because he loves it and it would probably spare me a few nursings during the day.  I love nursing my babies though, especially when the older two are just quietly playing on their own and not getting into mischief while I'm stuck on the couch.  Besides the fact that it makes me sit down and relax a few minutes every few hours, it's such a great time to feel his soft hair, hold his little hand, and marvel at how fast he's growing up. 

Because he's always hungry, he still wakes up 1 or 2 times during the night.

He has 1 tooth on the bottom and the other on the way!

He loves toys and puts everything in his mouth.

He has the cutest little voice and laugh and my daily goal is to make him giggle as much as possible.

I'm eating up every possible moment of his babyhood (is that a word?)  It goes by so fast.

Exercising

I've started exercising again, after more than a year off!  I run on the treadmill Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays.  And Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do yoga/pilates.  It's hard to get started again.  I started out slow again, with only like 15 minute on the treadmill.  But I did it!  I don't know if anyone else is in that same boat, but if so then I thought I'd share my 3 tips for what helps me keep going.

1. Have a good reason to motivate you to start.  If you are doing it to lose weight, I think it's easy to get discouraged because the pounds come off oh so slowly.  Everyone needs to exercise, even if they don't need to lose weight.  It is an instant mood lifter!  I exercise because it gives me energy, it helps my mood, and it shows that I'm thankful for this amazing body that God has given me.  I want to take care of it. (see Thanksgiving post). What a better way to show your thanks.  Seriously.

2. Have a reward system.  Not food related.  I reward myself with one itunes song (fun, lasting, cheap) if I don't miss one day in the 2 whole weeks.  It works!

3. Be entertained while you are exercising.  Either with music, or movies, or by following a fun instructor.

Also, I really enjoyed this article about how Exercise will make you happy.  It motivated me to start again! She says just put your cute workout clothes on.  If you're prepared you'll be so much more likely to actually follow through.  And do something every day, so you don't have to say "Is today my exercise day or not?"

Happy Exercising everyone!

Life according to my phone - November

Hammer enjoys a snack

A yummy new cookie recipe we tried, try them here

Lulu keeps me company while getting the van's oil changed for the first time

Hammer sports his Elmo glasses, upside down

On a comparatively warm November day, the kids and our neighbor play in the sand at the park

Lulu and Daddy take a rest on the couch

Brrr, it's cold!

That's my happy baby

Daddy reads scriptures before bed with the kids

Baby plays in his big boy toy

Check out my very first pie from scratch... pumpkin as requested by Ollie

Hammer's turkey decoration hangs on our fridge

The kids play by the Christmas tree we just put up! Hammer gives the grinch a ride on his shoulders