Crazy Hair Day!

Today was Crazy Hair Day at school. My kids love this day. They have been talking about it for days. I have tried to talk them into a few of my ideas, but all they want are Mohawks. So Mohawks it is.

Even with their crazy hair, I think these are two cute little boys.

Happy 6th Birthday Josh

Today is Josh's birthday!

It is hard for me to believe Josh is 6.

When we asked him what he wanted all he said was new DS games.

However Emily had a better suggestion.

For Christmas Joe wanted to be tricky in his wrapping, so he wrapped Josh's gift in an empty Ritz Cracker box. Christmas morning when Josh opened his present, he was so excited when he saw the crackers he started telling us that they were all his. Then he opened the box and pulled out the Angry Birds shirt inside, and was a little disappointed.

Emily thought we should buy him a real box of crackers. So we did,

and he loved them. We did get him a DS game, but I really think that the crackers were his favorite present.

We celebrated josh's birthday at Classic Fun Center.

(Left to right) Sarah, Nate, Camdon, Ryker, Aiden, Joe, Emily, Jackson, Valerie (you cant really see her), Ben, Josh, and Rowan all came to the party.

They had so much fun playing Lazer tag, Bouncing in the bounce houses, Climbing in the jungle gym,

Playing blaster ball, and skating.

Josh even won a few prizes from the birthday wheel and money tube.

It was so fun watching all the kids play. Josh is getting to be such a big kid, and I am so grateful that he is a part of our family. We Love You Josh.

Happy Birthday!

Joseph's Baptism

Joseph was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today by his dad.

He had lots of family come and support him.

All of his grandparents were there, including Great Grandma Atkin. Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenny, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Alisa came. His cousins Violet, Jaxson, and Asher were there, and his cousins Matthew and Davis came from Washington with Grandma and Grandpa Lay.

He also had a few friends there. These are his two good buddies, and they are both named Max.

I am so happy Joseph made this decision to be baptized. I know that the gospel will be a great blessing in his life, and as he comes to know and use the Holey Ghost, the Lord will be able to bless him in so many ways.

We Love You Joe!

Happy New Year!

2012

Christmas Morning

I have to admit that I was really excited for Christmas morning. Emily had asked for a few things like a new trumpet case, and a Dragonology book, and a few other things, but I knew that what she really wanted was a cell phone. She had been hinting for one since school started, but when we would ask her what she wanted for Christmas, it was never on her list. I think because we had convinced her that she would never get one.

In October Ryan and I upgraded our phones and changed carriers. When we did this we also added Emily to our plan. We thought about just giving it to her right away, but after about a minute of thinking that, we decided it would be more fun to torment her a little more with our new phones first. So we did.

We also decided that it would be more fun if we didn't just hand her the phone Christmas morning. So Santa wrote a note and wrapped it up in a pretty box. The note said, "Do you hear what I hear?"

Emily opened the package read the note, and did not really respond to it. I asked her what the note said, and she read it to me just as a Transibirian Christmas tune started playing from somewhere. Emily just sat there and said "That sounds nice." I told her she should go see where it was coming from. She found it pretty quickly tucked in the branches of the tree.

I don't think I have seen Emily that surprised and that excited for a long time. Josh was pretty surprised too.

I am not sure that Emily really knows what happened the rest of the morning, but the rest of the kids all had a good Christmas too.

I was excited for Josh to get his gift, even though I knew he was "planning" on it. I was happy he was getting a DS to replace the pink hand me down DS he had been happily using the last couple of years, and I knew he would be excited.


I was really excited to see Joe open his present. His was the hardest for me not to get out and play with myself prior to Christmas. I am sad I was not in a better place to get a picture of his face when he opened his gift.

This Fall Joe was not sure what he wanted for Christmas and I really didn't have a good idea, so We started looking for ideas together. One day I took him to a toy store near our house (not toys-r-us) and we found the perfect thing. He got a bad guy castle a couple of Christmases ago, and he loves to play with it. But he needed a good guy castle to make the playing even better. The store we went to had a few different castles, and we had fun looking at all of the possibilities.

Joe was a little disappointed when he saw how much things cost, but he didn't realize that Santa has the internet to shop on and can find deals. I told Joe we would keep looking for things he wanted, and maybe we would find something in our price range.

Christmas morning when he found the Castle he was so excited. I think he will have fun with this for a long time.

Last but not least. Little Miss Pink. All Valerie asked for this Christmas was a pink present. Just after Thanksgiving, Grandma Bolander surprised Valerie with a little pink tree she had found while she was out shopping. Valerie loved it. In the day she had it out in the front room, and at night she took it into her room. When we set up our tree and got out the decorations, every decoration that was handed to Valerie went on the little pink tree. After that it stayed in the front room, because when she tried to move it the ornaments fell off.

Santa brought Valerie a present wrapped in pink, and a new pink stroller for her baby. He put her gifts under her pink tree, so she would know they were for her.


Valerie was the hardest for Santa this year, not because he didn't know waht to giver, but because there were so many things he thought she would like. He decided Valerie would enjoy her own castle to play with when Joe got his out. She loves it, and does like to get it out to play castles with her brothers. They don't seem to mind it either. Secretly I think they like having a princess castle in their game.

I think I had the most fun Christmas morning watching the excitement on the kids faces. I am grateful for all that we have been blessed with this year.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bolander's house. Grandma always sets a beautiful table, and I am sad I did not get a picture of it. Valerie was very happy when she found a pink place setting waiting for her at the table.



The boys were very interested in Grandma's tree and what was underneath it. I caught them pinching a few packages after dinner.


To entertain the kids between activities Grandma had Christmas houses for them to build. The boys had a lot of fun with this.


After dinner it was time for the program. Aunt Tracy and Uncle Gavin were spending Christmas at their home in DC, but thanks to modern technology they joined us for the program.



Emily has been working really hard learning how to play the trumpet in band at school, so for our family's part in the program Emily and Ryan played their trumpets together, and the other kids sang along.

For only playing since September I think Emily played really well.
We always end the program by reading the Christmas story from the scriptures.

Shortly after the program finished the doorbell rang. Once again the Mysterious Stranger had left gifts.



Once everyone was dressed in their new pajamas we got in our cars to look at lights and head home to wait for Santa.

Why Two Year Olds Don't Use Scissors

During all the chaos of getting ready for Christmas, it is normal that a few things you are more careful about during the rest of the year, seem to slip through the cracks a little. Like leaving your wrapping supplies out where your two year old can get them. This was true at our house this year.

On school days the kids are pretty good about getting themselves dressed without too much trouble, but for some reason Sundays are always a little tricky. Maybe it is because there are specific clothes and shoes that need to be worn, but for some reason, that is always the day when someone can't find something, even if we get it all ready the night before. The clothes also have a lot more buttons and things, so while I am getting myself ready I usually have a kid or two asking me to help them with stuff. Ryan is very helpful when he is home, but he is usually already at the church in meetings. So many Sundays I get myself and my family ready not paying too much attention to the little details.

The Sunday before Christmas was no different. I gave Valerie a bath and got her ready for church. When I was blow drying her hair, in between buttoning shirts, and finding socks and shoes, I noticed that the swirly cowlick that she has right in the front of her head was being a little more difficult that morning, but I didn't have time to really mess with it, so I sent her on her way.

I dropped her off at nursery to play and headed to my class. After class I met up with my family in the chapel. I ended up sitting next to my friend Liz, and Valerie came to sit on my lap. When I picked Valerie up Liz asked, "Oh! Did Valerie cut her hair?" I started to say no, but then the morning hair session popped into my head and I then realized why the front was sticking up even more than normal. I turned Valerie so I could really look at her, and it was then that I saw the big chunk of hair that was missing.

I asked her if she cut her hair and she told me that Joe and Josh did it, but when I asked them they had no idea what I was talking about, so I knew it was Valerie. The funny thing is, I have no idea when she did it. I have not found hair anywhere in the house, and because of her cowlick always making her hair a little funny there, It could have been a day or two.

With the cowlick I can comb her hair so it is not too noticeable, but I am glad we have two months before our family picture appointment. I just need to be a little more careful about where we leave the scissors.