Christmas morning

Here are just a few pictures of our Christmas morning. I only remembered to take these because I was reminded too. It was after all only 4 in the morning when the kids woke me up to tell me that Santa found our house:-) Andrea got the Junie B. Jones boxed set and a karaoke machine.

One of Bizzy's favorite things to do is look at the I Spy books so she of course got the Christmas one and a quesadilla maker from Santa.

Alex got his new phone that he wanted. I wrapped it in a big box and hid it behind the tree so it was the last thing he opened. It was fun to see his excitement. He got a new helmet and goggles for snowboarding from Santa. It was a quiet but good Christmas at our house this year.

Winter Showcase

The girls had their winter showcase last week and they did GREAT! The first picture is the dance they do together. It's hip-hop and they danced to "I Don't Dance" from HSM 2.

Andrea did a Chinese Ballet and didn't miss a step. She loves dance and works really hard to remember the routine.

She really enjoys performing. It has been fun to watch my shy-girl come out of her shell.

Bizzy did a jazz routine to Cruella De Ville. This is her second year in dance and she has a lot of fun. I was worried when I found out I was having girls because I am just not a girly-girl but I have also had fun doing their hair and seeing their sparkly costumes.

Bizzy also loves being on stage and she is just so sassy!

The most wonderful time of the year!

I love this time of the year! We don't live close to our family so we aren't able to celebrate with them but we are so blessed to have such amazing friends in our lives!

This year was our fist annual gingerbread house making party. It was so fun for the kids to get together and do this but I think that the parents may have had more fun:-)

Alex and his buddy Josh.....I wonder how many more years they will enjoy this!

All the artists hard at work!

The finished product. Our gingerbread village. From left to right is Santa's house, the barn where the reindeer live and the elves workshop!

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Today I asked Bizzy to hop in the bath and soak while I finished making some treats. A few minutes later she was hollering for me to come in and help her. I just thought she was ready to wash and get out but this is what I found when I came into the bathroom! I asked her what happened and the conversation went like this.....
Me "What happened???"

Bizzy " A bird pooped on my head Mom!"

Me "WOW! that must have been a really big bird!"

Bizzy " he was but it's okay because he is going south"

I thought I was done going to the store but it looks I will need to go get more conditioner for our hair!

Here is a shot of all the crazy kids! We got there Friday night and the kids played for a few hours. Andrea woke-up at 6 on Saturday throwing-up:-( She seemed fine after that but to be sure, while everyone else went to the church Christmas party we went to the mall. Alex and Andrea thought this was the coolest mall ever!

Andrea seemed to be fine. She had eaten breakfast and lunch with no problems so we came home and had a little Christmas party with everyone.

When Alex got his DSI out, he and Logan were new best friends:-)

That night, Andrea threw-up again so our trip to Boise was cut short:-( We are already planning our next trip though:-)

Road Trip

My friend Ashley and I planned a road trip to Boise with all the kids. Jeremy and Gentry four, Alizabeth 6, Andrea 7 and Alex 11. We stopped in Jerome for a much needed play break for the kids.

Alex wanted to get in on the picture taking so here we are being super tough:-)

We thought we should probably feed the kids too so they had a little dinner between playing.

Gingerbread houses

I got to go help Bizzy make gingerbread houses this year and it was a lot of fun! I helped last year with Andreas class so I knew what I was in for.....lots of Kitchen Aid Mixers, powered sugar, candy and kids! It really is a fun and easy way to do the houses. I loaded the pictures backwards so here is Bizzy with her best friend Dykota and their finished products.

Bizzy worked really hard and everything had to be just right. It was funny to watch as some kids just loaded the houses with candy and then there was Bizzy who was very specific about where things went.

The artist at work

Bizzy and her AMAZING teacher Mrs Truman.

This is where it all began.

a new favorite?

My girls love helping me out in the kitchen. They usually help me make dinner. Today Andrea came home from school with this recipe that she insisted we try. She told me that this would be the best food I EVER tasted! If any of you are looking for a new idea for dinner, you should give this a try:-)

Spagety

By Andrea

1. Noodels

2. _________scedls (Skittles)

3. 15 Apples

4. All orange fruits

6. Bubl gum 100

7. Ketchup Lg.

8. Salt

9. 9 pices of cake (my favorite ingredient)

10. Socie (sauce)

11. Fruit 10,0000

We didn't get to try it tonight because I already planned something different but I am sure she will remind me again to try her new favorite food!

Piano recital

Last night the kids had their piano recital. Our good friends Larry and Garecia came to support them. It was fun to hear the kids play their songs. Bizzy has been in piano for about 4 months so she got to go first. She LOVES to perform and couldn't wait to get up there. Andrea went second and Alex last. I wasn't able to get a picture of Andrea but her and Bizzy have the same dress. I got them last year at a Dillard's clearance for like $6.

Alex....getting ready to go. He played We Three Kings of Orient Are.

Bizzy right after she finished playing Santa's Workshop. She even had her song memorized. Andrea did a great job too playing O Come Little Children.

FINALLY!

We are finally starting to get snow! I love snow and lots of it. Today we finally got enough snow to be able to break out the snow clothes!!! It snowed most of the day today and the kids got to go sledding. They had a ton of fun and can't wait to go again!

Christmas cookies and a concert

Tis the season for sugar cookies and frosting. Tonight the kids and I started our Christmas treat making. We like to make treats and take them to our friends.

Alex has gotten really good at decorating the cookies. It is fun to watch him create.

Andrea has fun and each year gets better and better at getting the frosting on the cookies:-)

and last but not least....Bizzy. She loves decorating the cookies with as much frosting and sprinkle things as she can fit on there.

This is the only picture that I got of my kids the night of the Christmas concert.

I think there is something in the water.....

Every time I put one of my kids in the bath, they would turn into mice. I went to help Bizzy in wash her hair and instead, I found Minnie Mouse!

Then the SAME thing happened with Andrea. Instead of my daughter, I found Mickey Mouse!

just something cute

Last night after her dance performance, Bizzy kept asking me if I wanted her autograph and of course I did but I just didn't have any paper handy. When I went to bed last night, I found this on my pillow. It says, " Rose, sind your star!" Bizzy loves to write in cursive and she has learned how to write her middle really well. This is the autograph she was dying to give me all night. I just thought it was really cute so I decided to post about it.

Dance to the music!

The girls have been taking dance and they got to perform their routines at the Novemberfest today. Bizzy is in the front on the left and Andrea is 3rd row back on the right with her arms crossed. I apologize for the poor quality but I couldn't get the flash working. They both did such a great job! This is a picture of their hip-hop routine. They danced to HSM "I Can't Dance" It was very cute!

Here are the girls at home after their performance hitting their favorite poses.

Here they are before we left. Bizzy did a jazz dance to Cruella DeVille and Andrea did a Chinese ballet. They really enjoy dancing and I enjoy watching them:-)

Bizzy getting ready before the show began. I think she was the cutest dancer on the floor.

Andrea with one of her dance buddies getting ready to perform. This was just a "warm-up" for them. They will have their actual recital in December. I can't wait to watch them again!

Halloween

Andrea was a vampire witch this year for Halloween. This "scary face" is one of her favorite new tricks. She call it her "Storm eyes"

I was only able to get two pictures before the batteries on my camera died but here are my three goblins. We had a great Halloween this year starting out at the chili feed and trunk-or-treat and then we headed out with some friends to collect more loot.

Meet Turbo

Say hello to Turbo. This is one of the two guinea pigs that we adopted from the Humane Society a few weeks ago. The other one, the kids named squeaky, died two weeks after we brought her home. It was really sad for the kids especially since they were holding her when she died. We held a little funeral for her and buried her under an apple tree. Now, Turbo gets all kinds of love from the kids.

Last night Bizzy fell asleep while holding her and when I came into the bedroom, this is what I found. Turbo sitting on Bizzy's face watching TV. It was pretty cute!

Yahooo...I think

I just registered for the last time as an undergrad at Utah State University. I am not sure how I feel.......kind of bittersweet I guess. I am excited to be done and proud of myself for doing it and doing it well. I am sad to see my friends go though. I am applying to grad school here so I don't have to relocate my kids and most of my friends are applying to schools far, far away. I am grateful for the experiences that I have had and the opportunity to meet some really amazing people. As I look back over the last three years, I feel blessed to have had the chance to return to school find myself and along the way, make some friendships that will last forever. Oh ya, Thanks Stevi for the picture. I "borrowed" it from your blog:-)