Christmas Sunday

Here are the kids all dressed up in their new Christmas outfits. They look so sweet and well behaved, ready to sit still and be reverent!


Oh wait, this is more like it.

A Little Something Under the Tree

Hudson has learned how to squirm and squirmed himself right under the tree. He squirmed himself into his bedroom closet the other day too. The amount of ground he can cover just by squirming is quite impressive, and he can keep himself pretty entertained. All this entertainment has resulted in the need for closer supervision and a bald spot on the back of his noggin.

This is what happens...

When I leave my kids unsupervised in December:

Cameron came down and said "I need some tape...and can we use those green and red party things?" As I was walking upstairs to investigate I overheard this conversation:

Audrey: Did you ask her?

Cameron: yes

Audrey: What did she say?

Cameron: She said "urrrgh."

There I go stifling their creativity again. I did let them leave it up despite my urrrghing.

Jill Whirl the Science Girl

Audrey's class did a little play for parents and a few of the other classes after they finished their unit on weather. They were cute and really got into it, spending their recesses voluntarily practicing for several weeks. This part is from the very beginning but Audrey was also part of a dance number where they sang "Oops I went in the rain" as opposed to the Britney Spears classic "Oops I did it again. "Pretty funny fourth graders. Maybe I will post her dancing too if I can get Dave to cut that part for me. I had to learn how to use the video camera to film the play and I am afraid of going into technology overload if I try to use the software that goes with it.

Just An Observation

The last three babies born in our family, Madsen and Smith combined, have been born on the 11th. Baby Hudson-August 11th, Baby Nathan October 11th and Baby Waverly Dec 11th. I pointed this out to Dave this morning and he said "you should put that on the blog." I am about 99% sure he was making fun of me.

Hudson's New Trick

I know, I know, a little heavy on the Hudson posts lately, but the other kids are gone all day and I've got to take pictures of someone! This is actually more of an experiment to see if I am smart enough to post videos on the blog. The boy is getting more coordinated each day and has figured out how to wiggle out of sticky situations and into some stickier ones. We think it is funny that he squirms out of his seat and gets stuck but doesn't fuss or cry about it, he just sits there, stuck, until we rescue him.

O Christmas Tree

We finally got around to decorating the tree. After I "fluffed" the bows, Braxton had the honor of putting the star on top. It was actually supposed to be Cam's turn but he decided he was "too afraid of heights." David and I made that star out of cardboard, construction paper, glitter and a wire hanger for the tree in his apartment the Christmas right before we got engaged. After 11 years it is definitely showing its age, we may need to invest in a new star soon.

Dad and Hudson checking out the lights. I bet Hudson will be much more interested in the tree next year.

Audrey doing some decorating, trying to each some of the empty spots up high.

I had to try three times to get this picture of Cam because he kept turning around and posing, he didn't understand that I was trying to get an "action" shot.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Like most babies, Hudson loves looking in the mirror. He can be screaming bloody murder one second and then as soon as I step in front of the mirror he is smiling and talking away to himself. I'm not sure he realizes that he is actually the other baby, but for now his little friend in the mirror makes him happy.

Big Shoes to Fill

Cam did this the other day when he was supposed to be putting his shoes on his OWN feet to get ready for school.

Weekend (and Monday) Update

I have been a major blog-slacker lately, either that or life around here has been uneventful and I didn't want to bore everyone with our uneventful-ness. It was nice having the kids home from school for a couple of days last week mostly because I got to sleep in a little bit. We didn't do anything particularly exciting from my perspective, but if you ask the kids, they will tell you sitting around in pajamas playing Mario Kart all day is pretty exciting!

We had a really nice, quiet Thanksgiving with just our little crew. Even though I was just cooking for the six of us which really means the two of us, I still managed to spend pretty much the whole day in the kitchen with a few football breaks squeezed in. Dave took the kids up to the school to play basketball which was fun for them. When he walked in he made a comment about knowing he'd married well when he comes home to find his wife cooking, and watching football by herself because one of her fantasy players is on. Chris Johnson got 24 points by the way, but you already knew that didn't you Matthew? :-)

Every year at Thanksgiving the perfectionist in me comes out and my irrational quest to become Martha Stewart is reborn. It never works out that way of course, some years have been down right failures but I have to say this year was the closest I have come to my idealized image of Thanksgiving. So even though I am still figuring things out I was closer to my hopes than any time in the past so I was feeling pretty good... maybe in another ten years I'll have it mastered and I bet by then Cam will eat more than a few carrots and a roll.

Dave had to get up bright and early Friday morning to get to one of his stores by 5:30 but was able to leave early and pretty much came home and crashed. We did not venture out on Black Friday. There is not a deal in the world good enough to make me want to leave my house with my four kids by myself the day after Thanksgiving. Saturday we did wander around a few stores but managed to "just get ideas." It is pretty much a miracle to get me and Audrey out of Barnes and Noble with just "ideas." I also had a rare few hours of domesticity (is that a word?) and sewed a cute cookie-making apron. I haven't sewn anything for years because frankly I'm not very good at it, but my apron turned out really cute and I was proud of myself and may sew again someday!

Sunday was our "worshipping through music" sacrament meeting where members of the congregation get to share their favorite hymns, say why and then we sing a verse. Braxton wanted to go up which was really quite amazing considering that he pretty much refused to participate in the Primary program two weeks earlier but he did go up and had us sing I am a Child of God. Lots of ward members told him good job throughout the day. He was feeling very brave and proud of himself. Audrey was also brave and went up and had chosen Love At Home. Dave and I were too chicken.

Today I had to take Cam to the Dentist again to get another tooth pulled, hopefully for the last time. I kind of sprung it on him at the last minute that we were going to the dentist today and he was really hoping that all they were going to do was count his teeth. No such luck, but he was brave and hopefully we won't have to do that again.

Alright...I'm done, no more rambling.

Happy New Discovery

Candy Cane Hershey Kisses, YUM!