January

January is always a bit sad. Even though my tree is so crusty and such a fire-hazard, it is still sad to see all the Christmas decorations come down. It is nice to have things return to normal, but I love Christmas. Not only was the tree hard and crusty, but the gingerbread house and train were getting crusty, and honestly I was tired of having them sitting on my counter (I hate having too much stuff on my counter...it drives me crazy). So, I told the boys that they had one more day to snack on them, and then they were going in the garbage. I came into the kitchen and I saw them gnawing on them like little beavers.

We had people over one night, and so we brought the office chair upstairs. I told the boys to get ready for bed, and when I came to check on how the teeth brushing was going, this is what I found...


This winter has been horrible. Cold. Snow. The works. It has even been too cold for the boys to go play outside. On one of the actual nice days that we had, I sent them all outside to play.


We have a gigantic drift on our deck, and Drew and Davis dug a cave into it.

Winter feels like it will never end, but I really hope that we at least get some more good play outside days.

Mummies

It really is amazing how much fun you can have with a roll of toilet paper.

Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE

It is always a bit tricky to balance out Christmas, and where we are going to be. We figured that since we are still living in the Party House, that we would host Christmas Eve again. It was filled with the usual craziness: pizza, eating lots and lots of treats, white-elephant gift exchange, eating lots of treats, opening pajamas, and eating lots of treats. Somehow this year we missed doing the Nativity. I think it is because Aunt Karen ditched out on us.

CHRISTMAS DAY

We were lucky to have Karen and Martin stay with us during Christmas again this year. It is so nice that they can drive to see us this year instead of fly to see us. Drew and I are kind of mean parents, we make our kids have breakfast before all the present opening, so we started out the morning with over-night French Toast. It was sure good. Then after we got started on the gifts, both sets of Grandparents came over to add more.

This year, Davis' favorite gift was a DS. Marcus' favorite was his Pillow Pet. Drew's favorite was his car starter, and I got too many good things to pick a favorite. Phoenix liked his Dyson the best. He spent the whole morning vacuuming the floor. He still runs and gets it whenever I vacuum the house. And, even though it was a present for all the boys, he gets upset when someone tries to use it. If he keeps this up, he is going to have one lucky wife.

I made Karen a cute apron this year. It had to be purple to match her purple LeCreuset. I guess I need to make myself a red apron...

December (excluding Christmas)

December was filled with the usual Pre-Christmas craziness. Going to Christmas party's (ask Drew about his in-appropriate, but very funny, office party white-elephant gift sometime), decorating the tree, making chocolates, baking, shopping, wrapping presents...
Also, Drew wrote his second-to-last test...Ya-Freaking-Hoo!!

Marcus had a very cute Christmas concert and party with his pre-school class.

We decorated our usual gingerbread kits. This year Marcus decorated the train, and Davis decorated the house.

And, I made my family wear matching ties for Christmas Sunday. I thought it was pretty cute.

November

In our house it is actually "Movember" not "November"

This is Drew's magnificent 'stache at the beginning of the month. Drew is always doing crazy things with his facial hair, and I think it is mostly to bug me. This year, he did it in a way that I couldn't get too annoyed. He grew his mustache to raise money for prostate cancer. His Grandpa Doug had prostate cancer, so he felt it was his duty to help raise money for the cause. He even got his brothers-in-law, and the college involved, and encouraged his students to grow them.

This is how the mustaches looked at the end of the month. Drew was able to raise $690 dollars. And, he has even bigger plans for next year. I can't wait...

Marcus got some money for his Birthday and this is what he picked out. A Darth Vader helmet that quotes Darth Vader and has a setting to change your voice into a Darth Vader voice. In the past when he wanted to be Darth Vader, he would wear Drew's motorcycle helmet.


The boys like to help do the dishes.


I found Phoenix one day hiding in the bench in our entryway where we keep all the mittens and toques. It looks like it would be pretty cozy. I might try hiding in there one day.

Phoenix turned 2!! We celebrated by having family over for Skor cake.

I often refer to Phoenix as my monster. He has such a funny little personality, and lots of it. He can be incredibly sweet, but then he seems like he is always into some sort of mischief. He is funny. He is independent. He is stubborn. He loves his brothers, especially Davis. He loves to mimic what his brothers do. He gets really excited whenever anyone comes home, and he runs to the door to greet them. He is a junk food addict. He is not allowed to use markers. When he was first born I was amazed how he seemed to fit so seamlessly into our family. He made the transition to 3 so easy. I love my little blond boy so much, and I am so grateful that he is a part of my family.

October

This month Drew and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. We celebrated by going to the temple. Drew's cousin Cassie got married, and she took out her endowments that day. So, I skipped Young Womens and we went. We even decided to get a baby sitter that night, so that we didn't have to rush home. It was so nice to spend some time with my sweetheart in the very place where our lives together started. We have been through some ups and downs since our last anniversary. And, there was a time when I wasn't sure if we would see our next anniversary together. I can say with certainty that I love him more than I did 10 years ago. I love how great of a Dad he his. I love how hard he works to provide for us and to better himself. I love his crazy sense of humor. I love how he leaves me notes, and e-mails. I love what a great teacher he is. I love that he loves the gospel. I love that he loves me complete with my many flaws.

PS. Drew, sorry for posting this sappy kissy picture. When we took it, he said, "this isn't going to go up in our house is it?"



For Family Home Evening before Halloween we always carve pumpkins. The kids are starting to get more into it, and where it doesn't gross them out too much.

We told the boys to make a scary pumpkin face.


My kids love Halloween. They love dressing up, they love Trick or Treating, and they love decorating for it. I have a few Halloween decorations, but Davis insisted that we get some more to make our house "Spookier." After everything we put up he'd say "Oh, Mom that looks good. It looks so Spooky."

The boys are obsessed with Star Wars. So of course that is what they picked to be for Halloween. Davis was a Jedi, Marcus was Darth Vader and Phoenix was Yoda. Marcus loves Darth Vader. He goes around and says "I'm choking you!!", in a deep, raspy voice, and imitates the hand gesture that Darth Vader does. A commercial just came out, and when my sister sent me the link, she asked "How did Marcus get on TV!?!"


For Marcus' 4th Birthday this year, we had a Halloween Costume Party. He still talks about it. I tried to think of food that was creepy looking, so we had spaghetti and I made breadsticks in the shape of bones. I also put dry ice in the punch to make it look like some sort of potion.

We told people to dress up, and most people were such good sports about it. We all agree that my Dad's costume was the best. I love my Dad!!

Because Halloween was on a Sunday, the wards in our building had a Trunk or Treat. It was such a great idea. We only spent 30 minutes collecting candy, and they got a ton. Plus, it was really fun to see all the kids and all their cute costumes.

My Star Wars Crew

The kids got so much candy!! As soon as we got home, they sorted it into categories, and then Drew and I let them pick out a few to eat. Our living room was covered with their piles of candy. We still have Halloween Candy left. I haven't gotten around to throwing the rest of it out.

Family Pictures

In the summer my friend Erin entered a contest where you had to nominate a family that deserved to win a photo shoot with a very talented photographer, Tammy Thomsen, and she won!! I was excited because we had never had professional pictures done. They turned out so great. Tammy was fantastic. She had such a great way with kids.