O Christmas Tree

Last Saturday we decorated the Christmas tree. It couldn't have been soon enough for the kids. They wanted it up the second Thanksgiving was over. It's fun now that they can actually help now. We have a fake tree and it is very kid-friendly.
Kamree had lots of fun. She was too young to really help last year. What a difference a year makes.
It was hard to get a good shot of the tree so I just went for a shot of the kiddos. They were fighting earlier but this is proof that they do get along and love each other.
Parker's favorite part is setting up the train under the tree. He LOVES trains and it's so fun having this one under the tree.
Of course you have to end the night with hot chocolate. They are really into it right now. We had a fun night decorating and love the Christmas season. Easton slept through all of this but will hopefully be awake for the fun times next year!

Nutcracker

On Monday night, Kamree and I went to the Nutcracker with my sis-in-law Ashlee and niece Ellie. We started the night off with dinner and then off the the ballet. It was a local dance company that put it on and some of the dancers are in our ward. They did a great job and the dancers from our ward were amazing. Kamree liked it better than I thought she would. When the SugarPlum Fairy came on stage, Kamree said "Mom I want to be her when I grow up". She loved all of the different costumes and of course the ballet dancers. We will be adding this to the top of the list of holiday traditions.
Thanks for the fun night, Ashlee and Ellie!

Parker is 5!!!

Parker turned 5 on November 26th! I cannot believe it. Whenever one of my kids has a birthday, I always like to think about the day they were born and what I was thinking and feeling. It is so crazy to reflect and realize it has been 5 years ago. That was the day that I became a mother and I didn't realize at the time how my life would change. I am so glad that Parker is my son. He has brought so much joy and happiness to our life. He is like a little man now with his own opinions and thoughts. He is so considerate of others, especially Kamree. He is also learning a lot about the Gospel and his prayers are very cute to listen to. He is very into sports of all kinds and will sit and watch a whole Jazz game and not stop cheering. It's pretty cute to hear him say "Defense, Jazz or get the rebound!" He picked out the decorations for his cake and helped Brandon decorate it.
Parker had a small party with a few friends. Of course it was a sports theme so they played all sorts of games. His favorite game was when they had to shoot the basketball from different spots. We also had a party on Sunday with my family and he loves having them around. He always wants to get together with them.
Can you tell he is excited about opening his presents? That one was a Transformer and he absolutely loves it!
One tradition we have on birthdays is lunch at Applebee's with Aunt Jill. He especially loves when they sing and bring dessert.
The night before every birthday we blow up tons of balloons and put them all over their bedroom floor. They love it! Before Parker went to bed he even asked if we doing balloons and even though he knew we were he was still so excited when he woke and they were there. Parker also got to choose his favorite breakfast. I gave him tons of choices but he wanted a blueberry (Eggo) waffle with sprinkles and of course there had to be 5 candles in it. We had lunch with Aunt Jill and dinner at Panda Express, Parker's choice of course. Here are some of Parker's favorite things at age 5:
Favorite food: Mac and Cheese and anything chocolate
Favorite color: Blue and green
Favorite book: Fred the Firefighter and The Polar Express
Favorite t.v shows: Curious George and Sid the Science Kid
Favorite Movie: Cars, Polar Express and Peter Pan
Favorite Animal: Tiger
Favorite Song: Families Can Be Together Forever, Any music by Rascal Flatts
Favorite things to do: Play sports of anykind, especially basketball right now. He loves to play with Kamree and his friends. He also loves to color and draw.
We love you so much Parker and are so happy you are part of our family!

CHRISTMAS HELP WANTED!

With the holidays quickly approaching, I have been thinking a lot about how we do things and our traditions. While my kids are still young, I feel like it's still easy to change or add to the way we do things. I am just wondering if anyone has any fun traditions or things they do? Also, I was talking with a friend about Christmas and what Santa brings. Does Santa bring all your Christmas presents or just one big one and parents do the rest? This is a shout out to my "peeps". I am wanting to hear from you! I would love to know how you do Christmas and what fun traditions you have.

Maybe For Your Birthday

We were at Costco a couple of days ago and I saw a crockpot that I wanted. I told Kamree that I really liked the crockpot and wanted to buy it. Kamree said: "Well, not right now, maybe for your birthday." Hmmm, I think she's heard that line before.

Halloween Fun!

Parker and Kamree had lots going on this Halloween. Here are a few fun pics to re-cap our Halloween fun.Kamree had a Halloween party at her dance class. They danced to "Thriller" and had fun treats!
Parker had a party at his preschool. These are some of his favorite friends. Aren't they cute in their costumes?
We also went to a party with cousin Ellie at Aunt Ashlee's work. We had such a fun time. There was trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples and fun little games. Parker and Kamree also got their faces painted.


Here is a picture on Halloween night, right before trick-or-treating. Kamree was Cinderella of course, Parker was Peter Pan and Easton was a cute little frog. They went trick-or-treating through the neighborhood and had a great time. I stayed home with Easton and handed out candy to the few trick-or-treaters we got. I had way too much candy left over and Brandon suggested we keep it as part of our food storage (cause you can totally survive on skittles and milky way bars). I need to get rid of it soon or it will go to storage on my thighs and hips! One other fun thing Brandon and I did a couple of weeks ago was go to a Halloween party with some friends and had a great time. Good friends, good food, fun games and lots of laughs. We love this time of year and can't wait till it comes again!

Carving Pumpins

The FHE before Halloween we carved pumpkins. This is always a fun, yet messy and time-consuming activity but the kiddos LOVE it! They loved taking out the seeds and the funny feeling of the pumpkin "guts" as Parker likes to call them.



Of course we had to let Easton in on the action too! I didn't get any pictures of the finished product but we ended up with a bat, a ghost and a princess crown.