Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone
we hope to wish you a merry christmas this time of year. We are thankful for all that we have and have been given this year. It's been great to catch up with all of you this year and learn new things about your lives. We are thankful for the knowledge we have of the Gospel and Jesus Christ. I am thankful that we have this time of year to celebrate, but I hope to always celebrate his life in the new year.
I had to put this picture in because we took so many pictures (thanks Cindy W)that I quess Sophia got bored.

Lily is 5 months old

My little lily is 5 months old now. She is getting bigger everyday. Her new thing to do is scoot around. She loves to play on the floor on a blanket looking for toys. She will stay there for an hour or so just playing.(it's great)she now can get up on her hands and kick her legs to scoot around. it's really cute. every once and a while she ends up on her knees so i think she will be crawling in the next month. She is such a happy girl, she smiles all the time and loves to hear herself talk really loud. Especially on Sunday when her voice echoes in the chapel. It is also really fun to see her when i do singing time in primary and she sees me, she lights up and starts to talk. She also started rice cereal this week and i wasn't expecting that she would eat it, but man did she love it. i had to make more. she was pulling the spoon out of my hand to get some more. Well, that's our little Lila, now 5 months old.

crazy week

This week has been crazy. First off my van was hit last Monday by a lady that wanted to make a U-turn ... into my car. Then today i found out that my wallet was stolen from my car. but hey they left my ID, weird huh? I thought that with all this craziness that James would be upset. I mean even though they were "accidents" some is still my fault. I was dreading even calling James because I thought for sure that he would not be happy with me, but on both occasions he just said that he would take care of it. I was so relieved. It had already been crazy with James new wrestling schedule, and him being away for the weekend. It just makes me feel better that he was calm and just took everything over. I love him for that, making sure that we are safe and happy.
And isn't this picture cute of him with naked baby Lily? I just had to share. Everyone be safe this holiday season, because some people could not be so jolly this time of year.

Pies are good to eat.

Most People know that Thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday. A day of all cooking and eating, what could be better. This year our family went to the Ferrari's in Pleasanton, CA. Man was it a good year, we even were on time with our meal which is amazing. In our family we go all out but this year it was over the top. Diane planned the meal (ofcourse) and we had a whole day of shopping with Lily and Alexander. Do you see him in the basket because he's in there. We had appetizers before dinner like baked bree, a cheese plate with 5 different cheese, marinated olives, shrimp, the works.Now don't even get us started on pies. That is the best part everyone (except some) should make a pie, one that will win the pie contest at the end. So we always have about 8 pies. I made 2 this year. I came up with one 2 days before, and it turned out pretty well. Olivia made banana cream, Maddie: junior mint, James: reese's pie (very famous), Diane: Chocolate Raspberry, and pumpkin squares, and pumpkin pie, Me Chocolate pumpkin cheesecake pie, and cherry.This is a picture of our pies after they were finished, isn't Diane's Beautiful I think she won for best apperance, and man was it good with a layer of raspberry chocolates with a berry syrup in the center. I don't like raspberries and chocolate together but i had to try it and it was good. The kids had their own table that they decorated themselves. I don't think any of them really ate much though they were just playing and pouring juice on eachother's head. (sophia to alexander) the turkey was great, jason cooked it on the grill and it freed up the oven all day to make what ever we wanted. But I have to say I did miss the smell of Turkey roasting in the kitchen this year, but a very juicy bird. even Jason's coworker from Germany that had never had turkey thought it was good. Overall it was totally great.

Sophia is 3

Sophia had a princess party for her 3rd birthday. I don't know if I suggested it and went with it or she asked for it, anyways that's what it was going to be. So everyone was asked to dress up (if they would like) as a prince, knight, or princess, whatever. This is Aubree Buck with Sophia. They are so cute together giving hugs goodbye. They are the same height but not the same age. Aubree is only 2 but has definate height advantage from her father. Anyways the party was fun.

We started by making magic wards or crowns that everyone could decorate, then dinner which consisted of Dragon Nuggets, Carrot wands, and Snow White Apples. Next game was find the matching princess shoe, pin the princess on the castle, pinata and cake. this is Sophia with her Crown cake. She was so excited to blow out the candles. 3 is when they really get the concept of Birthdays.

I wanted to show this picture to see all the boys that were at her party. Sophia has alot of boy friends, more than girls. There were 2 princesses there (not counting the babies) and all the rest princes(or pirates, whatever) When she opened her presents she was surrounded by her admirers, You'll have your chance later boys.

I don't know what the boys are doing to make themselves smile but it's still cute. Parker, (sophia's bestest friend), Aubree, and Nathan (as the pirate) They were so crazy but that's normal when there are so many swords around.
This was Sophia's cake. I am always sad to cut a cake that I've made just because it took so much work. Food I don't get sad about but cake I do. Maybe because it always takes me a long time and it's so much more stressful. I wanted to make a castle cake but Sophia wanted a crown. I'm glad she did because it turned out super cute. One of my bests, I think. I got the idea from Family fun, but mine is definately more pink. Happy birthday to my princess Sophia.

Lily's 4 months old.

Lily and Grandma at Grandma great's house (sorry not a good picture of my mom)

Lily is 4 months old and man does time fly. she is so cute and hugable, i love the little rolls in her legs and her cute giggle. Her new favorite thing is rolling on the floor. She loves tummy time, which alot of babies don't she just loves rolling on the floor trying to reach for toys. Another new favorite is her pink soft blankie that she sleeps with. She could be crying wanting to sleep in the car and once i put that blankie next to her face she goes to sleep. It's starting to lose it's charm though. she still loves to swing too. she sleeps alot better if the house is warm so we turned up the heat and she sleeps until 5 then again until 8. not every night but enough not to drive me batty. I also taught her to wave when I was away so that I could show james that I could teach her new tricks like he did. (He taught her how to spit with her tongue, you know.) But when I came home she wouldn't do it much so we have to keep practicing. that's my cute little girl Lily this month.

halloween

The Ferrari's came to visit for halloween, so that the cousins could trick or treat together. We all went TnT around our neighborhood for a little. The weather was amazingly good. then ended up at our ward party where james and the YM made the haunted hall. Cullen: Darth Vader, Sophia: Purple Butterfly, Olivia: Flower, Maddie: Ahsoka (clone wars), and Alexander: cowboy.
We had to get a picture with Lily in here. She was Little Mermaid. Her red wig was bothing her so I took it off. It was super cute. I got the costume at Build a Bear because she could fit in it, and it's alot cheaper than a baby costume was. We had fun but it was a crazy day.

Ofcourse we had to have our own food network gingerbread haunted house decorating contest. the teams were Me, Maddie, and Cullen VS Diane, Jessie and Olivia. You can judge for yourself which one you like. This is team 1. The cute little haunted cottage.


This is team 2. The spooky ghost filled spike covered house. The rules bytheway were that the adults could not plan or "suggest" things to do only ask what they wanted and help with it. one team (ahem) did not really follow those rules. anyways. I hope that you enjoy them.

Disneyland

We went to disneyland, for Lily's second time but the first time was so crazy I wasn't able to take any pictures. I told the kids that they could dress up because it is so close to Halloween. Sophia wanted to be Snow White which is from when Diane's Maddie was 2, so it's been around the block a few times. And Cullen was in a power ranger mood, so he changed half way through the day, into the red ranger.

We went to Disneyland because Sophia had filled up her whole Potty Chart, and this was her reward. She wanted to go on Dumbo 2 times, but we only managed to go on once. So here is us (me holding up Lily in the back) after the ride.

This is my smilie Girl Lily. She is always so smilie but when ever I put a camera to her she stops. But I guess she had a good time at the Big D because I was able to get this cute picture of her.

My Sleeping Beauties. By 7 the kids were tired so the girls fell asleep in the stroller just in time for Cullen to get some other rides in before it closed at 8. So ofcourse we went on Star Tours then Grandma took him on Buzz. But they were good to go right when it was 8.

Field Trippin'

Cullen had his first field trip to a pumpkin patch in Rosamond. It's wasn't that nice looking but it had all that you would want for a kindergarden trip. Lily, Sophia and I got to follow the bus there. I had to pay 5 dollars for Sophia so she could do all the activities (so worth it) Cullen was such a good big brother he stayed with Feya the whole time.

They got to jump in 2 bounce houses (1 with a slide), see the farm animals (stinky), learn about the parts of a pumpkin, roll in the balls, play in a corn field, have a snack and pick out a pumpkin. There were about 25-30 parents there with there kids (about 60 kids) but it was good to have that many because alot of the workers there were crabby and didn't know how to work well with kids.

Cullen got to ride on the school bus for the first time. He loved it. At preschool the got to see and sit on a bus but this was his first ride. he said it was bumpy and it was so noisy on the way home that he couldn't take a nap. But I bet it was fun. there was a line of about 12 cars following the bus on the freeway to get to rosamond, I bet it looked really weird to the other cars on the road.

Lily was so good the whole time. I brought the bjourn for her but she was asleep when we got there and I didn't want to wake her up so she stayed in her carseat. The whole time. Everyone loved to look at her. Who wouldn't she is so cute with that pumpkin hat on. we all had such a fun day with West Wind Elementary. Cullen said it was "the best day ever".

Lily is 3 mo. old

Lily is three months old and I can't believe how fast she is growing. she smiles all the time and can even roll over from front to back. She is such a good baby, I couldn't ask for better. She loves to laugh at her brother and sister especially in the bath tub. She loves to watch everything around her. And she still likes her swing, I was worried that she might grow out of that. But it's so crazy how much you can love a baby. She is just so great I love her more and more everyday. she coos and squeaks all the time. She is just getting bigger too fast for me.

giggle

I don't mean to post two times in one day but i had to share. Lily was full on giggling yesterday. Not the little he-he during her sleep or when cullen makes a crazy face at here a full giggle. the kids were in the bath and i just held lily in the water for a quick rinse. I was swirling her in the water and she giggled. so i did it three times and called james in. Everytime she laughed, it was so cute. anyways i had to put it in.

Breakthrough

Today was a breakthrough for Cullen. He's be doing super good at going to school and doesn't even ask for his presents when he gets home. So i've been pretty happy. So today we all walked Cullen up to the school and i gave him my hugs and kisses. He always wants to talk before he goes in. He usually says... "Mom, I still hate school but i'm doing better, Right?" and I give him a high Five and say. "yeah you're doing good." But TODAY he said. "Mom, I love School." I was so happy I could have jumped up and down. I even turned to the lady in the office and told her. and she gave me one of those "aahuh" nods like i was crazy. Anyways it was a breakthrough. Now the only problem is that Cullen is on year round school so he has all of November off. I hope it doesn't start up again. please no.

Tagged

This was fun thanks Andrea. This is a picture of all my fam when Cullen was blessed almost 5 years ago. man am i big. but atleast it's not one of James "science pictures of deformities" that would have been bad.

Cullen's Pool Party

For Cullen's Fifth Birthday party he told me that he wanted a swim party at Grandma's house. Because he learned to swim this summer from being in the pool everyday I thought it was a great idea. Because then we wouldn't have to have any games. He picked out how he wanted the cake to be. He told me he wanted a big wave with him on a surf board on top. When it was all done I think he liked it, because when I showed it to him he had a big smile and said "That's Awesome"

It was so funny that all the kids decided to swim in the spa instead of the pool. I guess it was a little cold, but come on, you'll warm up. But I think the kids all had a good time. The weather was perfect for an outdoor party.

Before Cullens party we had told him that all his presents were ours until he behaved before school. (no tantrums) so when it came to present time he opened a couple and was acting grumpy. So Daddy let all the kids open his present and actually he was fine with it. He just left and went back into the pool. He has earned almost all his present back since then.

Ahhhh.....Motherhood!

after a week of cullen crying before school, having the principal drag him to school and him holding on to the car handle screaming and crying he has finally calmed down. after alot of contemplating about what to do James and I decided to go through with his birthday party but... all his presents were ours. We told Cullen that he couldn't play with his new toys until he started to go to school without crying and everyday he does that he gets 2 presents to play with. I know it seem kinda extreme but actually he loved it. I still worried about it and prayed about how I could help. And thought that I could go up early and walk him up, stand in line and say goodbye at the door. And that's what I did. And it worked! I was so happy! Its so amazing sometimes that God really does care about the things you do. Even if its just getting your kids off to school. it's cool. Now if i could only get Sophia to go number 2 again on the potty. ahhh... Motherhood

no school for Darth!

Cullen is in Kindergarden. He goes to school at 7:38 am. (man that's early) anyways for the last two days he has decided he hates school and he doesn't want to go anymore. I went to drop him off. he gave me hugs and lots of kisses. then he cries. and pretty much says that he's not going to get out of the car and go to school. I have to park the car and talk to him. first it started nice. don't you want to see your friends and learn new things. No it's boring I don't want to see my friend (all of this said while crying crazy)Then i tried threatening: Cullen if you don't go to school we can't do anything fun, play the Wii or have friends over. I don't want to play, I just want to go home. I like preschool not kindergarden it's not fun. Anyways this went on for 15 minutes until i was mad and had to walk cullen with sophia and lily in tow (in my PJs ofcourse) to the front of the school. Today was pretty much the same thing (except the PJs part because i was more prepared). I don't know what to do, he's only in kindergarden most of there day is play, paint, letters, and snack. anyways i thought this picture of darth vader was kinda like how i feel about the whole thing. He has always been super social and loved preschool. crazy! we'll try again tomorrow.

cullen's birthday

For cullen's actual birthday we invited the cindys and davids(fletchers/williams)over to play the wii. Cullen loves mario kart, he plays it everyday after homework. he has opened every level, car and person all by himself. so i made him a mario kart cake. The wheel is made of fondant, it was fun to make and I added a border later.


So, yeah i couldn't find any candles so he only has one. He kept saying that "it's my birthday so i can do anything i want" so he kept putting his finger into the cake and eating all the frosting. Everyone liked the cake the only one that didn't have a peice was Cullen, because he says he's allergic (he only likes the frosting)


Cullen really smoked the competition! He's really funny when he plays he jumps when they jump and asks us to cheer him on if he's not doing so well. Here he's playing with Haley who lives nextdoor and wanted to join the party. Cullen has opened his Mii charater for the game and loves playing himself. He was the boss though and told eveyone what they were playing and who they should be.


That night we opened presents from Grandma and a couple from the fam. He got a dress up Star Wars kit where he could be a Jedi or Darth, it was pretty cool. He kept asking people all day "did you get me any presents". I kept telling him that he will get enough at his party. He also recieved a really cool Lego Fireman Boat that really goes in the water. James and Him stayed up and put it together.

First Time Blogging

is blogging even a word? anyways thought i would get on the wagon and go blog like the rest of you. so this is a start. I thought that if I blogged about my kids and what they are doing then I wouldn't forget. Lily is almost 2 months old and so big i can't believe it so i thought i would have to document some of the cute things she does, because there are soooo many of them. And of course my two other crazy children and all that they do, or break, or say. You just never know what they are going to do next. so here it is my first post. hope you like it.