Christmas Haps

Well this doesn't have much to do with Christmas, except that she's sitting in front of a Christmas tree and it's darn cute.

Leah's Christmas Concert. 

Cody's Christmas Concert.

Spencer's preschool class did a little Christmas program at a nursing home.  Fully adorable.

Spencey with his little buddy Will.  You can't really see it in the above class picture, but Will went up and grabbed Spencer's hand.  Cutest. 

Well, ok, I guess THAT'S not the cutest, because THIS actually IS the cutest.  These two little best buds warm my heart all the time. 

We went to see the lights at Scentsy, which was really cool-and SOOOOO COOOOOLD!! 

The kids got their wish for a white Christmas.  Whyyyyyyyyyyy??  I'm sorry but I can't love snow.

I do love girls in pretty Christmas dresses, though. 

Merry Christmas from Santa Baby!

We had a truly excellent Christmas.  I hit the presents just right.  Not too many, not too few, with a nice variety.  The kids were all happy and grateful and then we played games and games and had fun all day.  I love those family times.  I NEED those family times.  Because a lot of times, being a big family is kind of a hassle.  Kind of stressful.  Lots of schedules and programs and practices and people to get places and pick up and someone's sick and someone else has a project and someone else is being too naughty and throwing someone else's stuff in the toilet and someone else is teasing someone else until they cry and it just never ends.  Daddy is gone a lot-at church, at work, at mutual... we don't even always get daddy for Sunday dinner.  I feel like my regular days and weeks are often busy, and often by myself, and sometimes it's hard to find the joy.  Days like Christmas are like a vitamin tonic for my soul.  Days like that, I'm so happy to be a family.  I'm happy to have each one of my children.  Our kids love the traditions we have created.  We are all happy to spend fun time together.   That's what made it a very Merry Christmas for us!

Fall 2017 Bits and Pieces

My boyfriend turned 5.  5!  I weep.  He's the cutest, and I hate him getting all bigger.  But I LOVE him just like he is! 

Speaking of my boyfriend, he asked me out on a dead serious date.  He came up, all casually cool and started saying his ideas for things that we could do.  At the end, he goes, "So, whaddya say?"  I said it sounded fun.  He RAN right off to daddy and said, "Hey Daaaaa-aaaaad.  I'm stealing your love away!"  We went to McDonalds for breakfast, then played at the play place.  It was all very romantic.  I love my little boyfriend.

Ok, I promise this post is about more than just Spencer, but this all happened around the same time frame.  We'll get to other kids in a minute.  Spencer had his preschool pumpkin patch trip.  I love having a preschooler!  Truly one of my favorite times.  They're just happy about life and excited about everything, and starting to learn school stuff, and structure is so exciting to them, and making friends, and just the whole deal.  It's great.

Smug as a bug in a rug.  I feel like I've typed that caption a million times.  Is it possible that I have a whole passel of hyper-smug kids?? 

Weed boys getting a trim.  (geddit?)  I don't know why I think this is so cute.  My little men, all lined up in a row, all so serious, all so stinkin' handsome.

 And they are SO CUTE when they're all fresh cut.

I asked them to try and look "cool."  Cody is the only one who has any idea of what cool looks like.

"No my mama" never looked cuter.

 Hah!  Look at these teeny tiny wispy braids!

This giant thing turned 14 and went to his first stake dance 2 days later.  It was life changing.  For all involved.  Tall girls, you're welcome for sending you this newly minted 14 year old, clocking in at approximately 6'3.

And girls of all sizes, you're welcome that he is soooooooo nice.  So sweet.  How did a rotten gal like myself manage to produce a boy with this level of nicety?  I guess we can only blame his father.

Well, well, well, speak of the devil.  (Who is really not a devil at all, but is actually the best, straightest arrow I could find.)  We took Jesse on our annual Hymns of Thanksgiving outing. 

 We've done it every year for the last... lots of years.  It's always a bit of a challenge, going anywhere in public with what feels like six kids, one of whom is incredibly slow at crossing streets downtown.  #anxietyattack But we're always happy we did it, and Jesse really epitomizes what it means to be grateful.  One year, as we were trying to get seated, his legs got stuck and he literally couldn't move.  We were trying to get our millions of kids seated, the lights were going down, and it was just one of those moments where you want to scream but it wouldn't be appropriate, so you just start to sweat really hard instead.  In the midst of trying to get his feet unstuck and get him in his seat and not lose the other kids, Jesse starts yelling, "I love my life!"  There he is. Grateful to the point of SHOUTING about his life, which in all honesty, is kind of a hard life.  That's Thanksgiving.

Cute girly girls.

I turned 37.  I guess that's a milestone.  And kids wanted to take a picture to commemorate the occasion.

Coco did a report for challenge on the Indus Valley Peoples.  Ever heard of them?  Neither had anyone else until Cody researched them.

Speaking of the Coco, he received his Arrow of Light.  He earned his Webelo.  He graduated from Cub Scouts and I graduated from having to go to pack meetings for the next 3 years!!!

This is the funniest child in existence.  We were out on a few little errands, and I look back and see that he has devised an on the go snacking system. 

And this one-this is the best big brother in existence. 

No seriously, this isn't posed.  I didn't ask everyone to smile and look lovingly at Nathan.  He's just that nice and they love him that much. 

I believe this technically the first day of winter, but we'll count it as the last day for this Fall recap, but Cody had his birthday too!  He wanted a truly fantastic birthday cake and I think I delivered!  This darling boy is 11!  He's so fun, so cool, frankly so popular, but he keeps his sweetness.  He keeps looking out for the little guy.  He keeps befriending the uncool, the unathletic (which, in a 5th grade boy's world is WORSE than being uncool) and because of that, I think his true coolness quotient is off the charts.  Love this sunshine boy.

Thanksgiving Eve Birds of Prey Adventure

'Twas the day before Thanksgiving and 65 degrees in Boise Idaho!!  It was just SUCH gorgeous weather, that I decided to get wild and take everyone on an outdoor adventure.  We had free passes to the Birds of Prey Center, just burnin' a hole in our pockets, so we went for it.  It was delightful!

That owl was eyeing Gigi for a snack. 

 Look at this gorgeous hiking girl. 

And look at this breathtaking view!  It is really so close to town, but so wide open and fresh smelling.  I kept thinking, "Oh.  THIS is what the first settlers saw when they came to this area."  Just roll after roll of grass and sage and open skies and clean air.  Made me kind of like it here.

Such a pretty picture of my two girlers! Possibly my favorite picture of them to date.

Gigi looks like a sausage, but otherwise, I am quite pleased with this family selfie.  It was so fun to be out all together, exploring Boise in such beautiful fall weather!

Fall 2017 Family Pictures

 Even though my best photographer selfishly insists on remaining in Scotland, we pressed forward and got our family pictures done (though let's don't kid ourselves, of course she helped me with picking clothes and such from afar!)

This was only ONE head swap.  I'll leave you to guess who.  (Of course you know it was Gigi.)  Otherwise, pretty stinkin' good, huh??  I feel like we all pretty much brought our A Game.

Dude, draw a heart around Spencer and Gigi.  Little loves.

My man child, who at the time of this picture was THIRTEEN.  Do you look at that picture and say, "Oh yeah, that's a 13 year old kid?"  No.  I know you don't.  I don't know exactly how old your mind would think that guy is, but I KNOW it's not 13.

CWeed.  Ray of sunshine boy.  He's so effortlessly cool.  He's totally an it guy.  He brings the coolness quotient in our family WAY up.

Missy Missy with her cute little glasses.  She's looking very prim and proper here, which is definitely misleading about her personality.  She's not prim.  Or proper.  But she's a lot of fun!

He's dressed all respectable and handsome, but you can see that impish joy oozing out of him. 

Gigi face!  Almost 2 year olds are SO naughty to photograph, but SOOOOO cute.  Look at her little leggies in her little booties.  Her Scottish sweater with wooden buttons.  Her little piggy tails that, after wrangling her for all the previous pictures are starting to get all messy and crazy.  I mean, come on.  Could this be cuter? 

I don't know why we took this.  I have no specific use for it.  Except to put it here, I guess.

And thus concludes the (approximately) yearly torture I put my family through all in the name of preserving our best images for posterity.