A Boy Waiting for the Post!

Andrew saw the mail truck in our neighborhood on his way home from preschool, so he hung up his backpack (oh, wait...that might be Mom's wishful thinking!) and headed right back out to wait for the mail truck to arrive. He danced and hopped and bounced while he waited. It was fun to watch him!

The Gangster Suit

Peter, chillin' in his gangster suit while he waits for the waitress (Mom) to serve the food and considers joining the Mob. :)

New Chef in Town!

Gabe developed his cooking skills by manning the griddle last night! He cooked tortillas (for burritos) and quesadillas for our dining pleasure, and he was so very pleased with his efforts!

Loving on Spikes

For Christmas, Naomi received adoption papers for Spikes, the Bearded Dragon! This little guy is getting all kinds of love at our house!! A few pictures from today:

Naomi's braid

About a year ago, I asked Naomi if she wanted a braid in her hair. She'd been asking for some fancier hairdos, so I told this one would be simple because I hadn't had time to figure out anything more exciting. Her response: "Sure! Braids are so rare around here. I'll take whatever I can get!". HA!

After I stopped laughing at her response, I asked a friend who knows some intricate braids to show me how to do them. That didn't pan out, and it took me a whole year to ask another friend. (I did look up some braids on Pinterest in the meantime, but that's as far as it got!) I mentioned it to a friend last night, and she pulled her daughter over and showed me a slew of braids. So here is our first quick attempt at something fun! 

This picture isn't really included to document my journey with braiding. :) Naomi is so excited about the braids, and I love these pictures of her. So it's really about the girl, and her giddiness about having a braid in her hair!

A few nights ago...

The kids got the Minecraft video game for Christmas. Here they are, enjoying some playing time with Naomi's friend Lauren. Even Peter thinks he's in on the fun. (He decided to tackle Andrew before too long, though!)

The Building of the Lego Sets Fun Shall Be!

Gabe and Andrew both received Star Wars Lego sets for Christmas. The anticipation during construction time is always fun to watch!

New Year's Eve Celebration, 2014

Root beer floats and Zathura (our children have recently fallen in love with the movie Jumanji, so they were thrilled to watch a space version).

The Eating of the Blackberries

They must have been a bit tart (the blackberries, not the children!), because the kids were contorting their faces quite a bit. When I pulled out the camera, though, these are the poses they allowed me to capture:

Our Naomi-Girl

I started calling Naomi "The Naomi-Girl" when she was little - that's a throwback to Anne of Green Gables. :)  I still do call her that occasionally. 

Our Naomi-Girl is one of a kind! Can you imagine...

...a girl thrilled to have baked beans (her VERY OWN CAN!!) in her Christmas stocking! The girl clearly loves her beans (mostly refried and baked, but we're talking obsession-level love here).

Christmas Don't Eat Pete with Uncle Edward!

Exposing Uncle Edward to a whole new level of excitement!

Lego Christmas Creations

Well, one anyway! (with the BYU bowl game on in the background!)

The Weekend

The boys, just as we were pulling into the Costco parking lot...

Naomi's idea of a thrilling Friday night!

What Peter THINKS he gets to do during Abby's piano lesson...

Abby loved it, so I allowed it for about 30 seconds before I sent him off to a different part of the house.

The joys of teaching in a home studio...

Piles of white!

This morning, our furniture was covered with piles of white! I was sewing 15 angel costumes for Andrew's preschool. Matt was a fantastic co-costume fabricator - he ironed, pinned, and cut for hours so I could keep sewing. We had an enforced bedtime last night when my sewing machine broke, but I picked up a friend's machine at 6:15 AM and we kept going!

I breathed a sigh of relief when I delivered the costumes mid-day today. And then the director liked them so much that she commissioned another set of 15 by Friday morning for the preschool Christmas program! Awesome, but it would have been nice for a breather before plunging back into the cutting, pinning, ironing. (Wait, what am I saying? That's Matt's job. Sucker!)

Peter sorting Gabe's piggy bank money!

Christmas "I Spy" Pages

The advent activity off choice when you're busy making dinner!

Sick baby!

Peter was not well last week (croupy cough, fever, runny nose). At one point we needed our arms free to get something done, so we put on a short movie, hemmed Peter in on the couch with the boys' bodies, and charged the boys with not letting him escape. They all had fun and it actually worked for about 5 minutes!

A Fun December Day!

Christmas puzzles!

Darth Andrew rockin' out!

Peter, the Star Wars ship mechanic (as captured by Andrew, over the couch)

Wednesday's Post

All 4 kids playing with the Nativity. Peacefully. I soaked it in. And documented it just in case it doesn't happen again.

Andrew's beloved monkey socks. He received them at a bounce house birthday party, and his life has never been full of such excitement. He truly loves these socks and asks for them daily!

2 Recent Advent Activities

Finger painting Christmas shapes, and building marshmallow snowmen!

Lego Marble Mazes!

When it's ridiculously cold outside and you've had too much free play time, Mom breaks out the big guns: Lego Marble Mazes! Quadruple the fun:

1. Build - excitement bubbling over!
2. Test it out - giggles galore!
3. Watch siblings test them out - jumping and cheering!
4. Wait for Daddy to get home and try them out - oh, the anticipation!