Christmas Eve 2011

Here are the boys all ready in their new Christmas jammies. They each got to open on gift along with their new Christmas pjs. They were really sweet with each other each opening a gift from their brother, giving hugs and thanks and playing together so nicely. I love nights like this! They're all so excited for Santa to come tonight! You can see by the bits of chocolate on their faces that they've been enjoying some Christmas fudge and goodies :)

My Helper in the Kitchen Today

All of my boys love to help me in the kitchen, but it gets a little crowded sometimes so I made a new rule of one helper at a time, and I've loved it. I get a chance to spend one-on-one time with my kids. Today, Connor was my helper. One of the perks of being Mommy's helper in the kitchen is, of course, the free samples :)

Owen 8 Months Old!

Owen will be 8 months old on Thursday! I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by!...sometimes I'm torn between wanting to freeze time because I just don't want this little baby to grow up too fast, to wanting time to go on because it's so exciting to watch all of Owen's new little achievements! He's finally able to roll from his back to his tummy. When he's on his tummy he can get on all fours and actually holds himself up with his hands and his tippy-toes! I think I'll just be surprised one day to see him go from completely immobile to crawling around because he has so much strength in his arms and his legs. His smile makes my heart melt and makes everything okay on those crazy hectic days. It always reminds me what all "this" (the hard work, the tears, the exhaustion some days!) is for. His smiles always make me smile and remind me to laugh and enjoy this wonderful time with my kids while they're young :)

Silly Boy

I asked Aidan to go get dressed...this is what he came up with...underwear (thank goodness) but no pants, a shirt on backwards with a clip-on tie! Love it! I know I'll miss these days (and the laughs!) when the kids are older...

First Snow this Winter

We got our first snow sometime in November and haven't had any more since! We're wondering if we'll even get a white Christmas...

Jason's 1/2 Birthday

We've never celebrated a 1/2 birthday before, but since the kids and I missed Jason's real birthday in May (We were in Idaho because of the flood, while Jason was home alone with all the fans and mess working from home...sad.) I felt really bad that he never really had a birthday this year, so the kids and I had a lot of fun secretly planning a 1/2 birthday party for him. I can hardly believe it, but we actually pulled it off without the kids telling him ahead of time. Jason was surprised and I think appreciated the gesture...and of course the lovely dinner and dessert as well as the excuse to just have a fun night together as a family.
Here we are getting things set up while Jason was at work. One tricky part was trying to get everything set up dairy-free. Connor can't have dairy right now...we're trying to get him on a better diet to "stay regular" and eventually get him off of Miralax which he has to take every day. Anyway, Jason didn't want Connor to have to do that by himself so he offered to go off of dairy with him. I made the cake and frosting dairy-free, went to the health food store to get some soy ice cream (surprisingly good), and got only dark chocolate which has minimal amounts of dairy.


Here's Jason with his boys and his gifts...we didn't get him anything big...it was just meant to be fun, but the kids were really excited about Daddy's gifts. The kids bought a couple of things at the dollar store for him. He also got a lightsaber, some guitar sheet music he'd been wanting, and I donated $10 to a charity off of Brandon Sanderson's website (he's finishing Robert Jordon's Wheel of Time series) to have Jason's name put in a lottery to use his name in the final book...the odds are not that great that his name will end up in the book, but still it's the thought that counts, so I put the receipt in his birthday card to show he's in the drawing :)
As a side-note, Gavin had a retainer put in his mouth that day, so that's why his smile looks a little iffy. lol The orthodontist accidentally left a sharp edge that was cutting into Gavin's tongue, so we had to rush back to the office before they closed...meanwhile Jason came home and found the surprise birthday party, but no family home to celebrate it with him! and dinner 1/2 way done. Jason actually finished the dinner (sweet 'n sour chicken) then the kids and I made it back home and we all ate and celebrated together.
Cake time.

One of Jason's gifts was a light saber that glows in the dark...he had fun playing with Gavin.

Owen

Owen's really good at sitting up, but hates to be on his back (unless he's sleeping) and definitely does not like tummy time, so while he's great at sitting up for his age, he still can't roll over...we're going to need to work with this kid.

Aidan

Aidan got a little attached to the new Woody hat my mom sent him :)

Brothers

Aren't they so cute?!

Snuggle Time with Owen

I just can't get enough of this kid!

Halloween & a Visit from my Mom

My mom flew in for a visit a couple of days before Halloween to spend the holiday with us, and also offered to watch all four kids for us so Jason and I could go out on a date and celebrate our anniversary a few days early. We've been married 10 years now! So crazy. Time has flown by, but I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have Jason for my husband :)
The kids and I picked up Grandma Julie from the airport and went straight to the zoo where they were having trick-or-treating. Here we are in line for the train ride at the zoo.
My mom and Owen on the train.
The big boys ready for their train ride.
Time to carve the pumpkins.

My mom had fun dancing with the kids to the "Just Dance" games. I think they all had fun while Jason and I went out on our date.
Here we are after Jason & I got back from our date...we got back just in time to Trick-or-Treat.
My kids had so much fun with Grandma Julie. My mom and I took the big kids trick-or-treating while Jason stayed home with the baby to pass out the candy.

Pumpkin Patch and Harvest Fun

In October we went on a field-trip with Gavin & Connor's school to a pumpkin patch and farm.
Here we are on the Hay Ride...
I had Connor take a picture of me so the kids would remember I was there! :)
They had a bunch of little tractor toys for the kids to ride on.
My little animals :)
The corn maze...
The petting zoo...
Here's where you could jump off some hay bales onto some more hay. Connor was debating whether or not he really wanted to jump when he got an unexpected nudge off the edge by that kid in the orange! Luckily, Connor landed fine and wasn't upset about it. You can see that Aidan is watching the whole thing from a little farther away from the edge.
Here's where they could go down this slide on potato sacks.
They had big tractors that the kids could sit on and pretend to drive.
My boys and me :)
They had a huge corn box instead of sandbox...I had to finally tear the kids away from this so we could get to some of the other activities...I think they could have spent all day here!
Owen...just along for the ride...
Awww...my sweet, rambunctious boys. Does that make sense to write sweet and rambunctious in the same sentence? Any mom of boys will understand what I mean :)
The pumpkin patch...Aidan looks like he's having trouble holding that heavy thing!

So Cute!