Christmas Begins!

The day after Thanksgiving we took a trip out to go see Santa.  We picked up a few extra kids for more fun.

Behind Brizzy is Santa's workshop.  Teya spent a little bit trying to rip the fake oversized candy canes off of the house.

We played at the playground and met some random angels floating around.  

We then rode the Polar Express.  We sang Christmas songs and yelled Merry Christmas at everyone walking by.  Bri and I sat in the back laughing at all of our goofy kids.

Wembley met Santa and was quite calm.  As it goes, she is pretty happy anytime anyone holds her, so I wasn't too surprised.  But Santa wasn't very interested in holding her.  He also really struggled figuring out her name.

Perhaps my favorite thing was the kids doing some cool dancing to the jazzy Christmas music.  I laughed a lot this afternoon.  Laughing at my kids is one of the best things about being a parent.

Hosting Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving our cousins came into town from Seattle and it was so much fun!

Bri and I spent a lot of time cooking, while the kids played.  Everything they did, they had a blast.  I love seeing them play (and sometimes fight).

We made a Costco run a couple days before Thanksgiving.  We took all four girls and it was mayhem.  Of course the girls all insisted that we buy them elsa dolls.

They got to take the bubbliest bath ever.  It was a lot of giggles and a lot of water!

Wembley got a lot of love and attention from all of the big kids.  Portia is a pro at being the caretaker.

Thanksgiving morning, Nick, Ronell, and Palmer played in the turkey bowl.  I took all of the other kids to cheer them on.  Thatcher of course just dribbled the ball the whole time.

While Teya looked for worms.

Teya was thrilled when Brizzy decided to hold her hand after she got sad.  Teya was so proud of herself for cheering up her cousin.

They also worked as the cleanup crew.

It was my first time hosting.  I am so glad that Bri was there to spearhead the cooking.  It was a lot of work but a lot of fun.  

At the kids table, we put out little coloring/activity kids with craft paper, so they would be occupied for a little while.

I loved being able to use my China and new dining room.  I needed to borrow a lot of stuff from my mom to make it look complete and nice.

While boiling potatoes, the lid to the pot randomly shattered. We had to pick through the potatoes to find pieces of glass.  

We were joined by the Papworths.  The kids all love each other and had a blast.

Here is their finished artwork.

They ended the evening by watching Charlie Brown's thanksgiving,

And taking turns holding Wembley.

These are the times I am so glad that the Hughs live only a few hours away and that we have friends that live close.

Warm Winter

We got back from Hawaii and I was trying to prepare myself for some cold wintery weather.  But lucky me, I got to keep wearing my flip flops.  In the 60's!!!  Woohoo.  As much as I get sick of the gray here, there are moments that I love the weather.  Briz still rides her bike outside most days, and I still wear my flips flops outside (I have a hard time transitioning into socks and shoes).

Creation Station

One of my favorite afternoons of the month is when I get to volunteer in Brizzy's kindergarten classroom.  I would love to volunteer more, but babies aren't allowed, so I I try to enjoy my one time a month.  I get to supervise the kids in the Activity Center, where they paint, play with playdough, play pretend, and create random stuff in the Creation Station.  No shocker, Briz spends all of her time painting and at the Creation Station.  She is only allowed to paint one painting per visit, so she puts ridiculous amounts of paint on one paper, as to extend her painting time.

I love seeing how the kids interact in the classroom, and starting up random conversations.  And probably most of all, I love how much Briz loves me being there.  She treats me like I'm a celebrity, wanting to show me off to her friends.  I'm trying to enjoy that while I can cause I know it won't last long.

This little roller is a big 6 month old.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 14 lbs. 10 oz. - 20th percentile

Height: 26.5 inches - 75th percentile

Head - Don't remember the exact number, but 40th percentile

She is a little slow in the rolling process, but about two days after her appointment she started rolling like a maniac.  It can be a problem because she pukes so much that I will often catch her rolling into her puke.   She can sit up on her own for a little bit, but often just bends in half, trying to eat her feet.  She loves her toys and can be pretty much distracted no matter how sad she is by waving a toy in front of her face.  She is a great sleeper; consistently sleeping for 12 hours and three naps during the day.  She has a hard time sleeping when visitors are over though.  She is very social and likes anyone that pays attention to her.  She smiles all day long and still makes squeal sounds.  Sometimes she fake cries because she thinks its fun to experiment with her voice.  She is very impatient with her food.  When she is hungry, she demands food immediately.  She has started eating veges.  It took her a while to get used to green beans but she has learned to love them.  She gets very excited when I put her bib on cause she know food is coming.  She loves to be outside, no matter how cold or wet, she loves to be in the bath.  She also loves to give french kisses.  She will sit there and forcefully lick my face for a really really long time.  And she will often give me sporadic kisses.  She gets this very excited, proud look anytime her mom or dad give her praise.  She loves her big sister, but mostly from a distance.  Whenever Brizzy gets close to her, she winces and starts to whine.  

We Love our Ducks

It's been an extremely fun to be a Ducks fan this season.  Briz gets excited anytime anyone mentions the Ducks football team.   Now on to the National Championship!!!

Fun New Friends and Birthday Parties

Briz has made some new friends in her kindergarten class.  I get a chance to visit the class about twice a month and I love talking and listening to all of these cute kids.  Briz has been invited to some birthday parties of these new friends.

The first one was a real live tea party for Savannah.  The girls arrived, got to choose costumes, got their hair and makeup done.  They then did a fashion show in which Brizzy didn't want to participate.  They then had a tea party, complete with their own individualized tea set filled with "tea" (aka apple juice), grilled cheese and chicken nuggets.  

 Briz then attended another fun birthday party at an indoor playhouse for Lila.  It was frozen theme and Briz thoroughly enjoyed eating some frozen cupcakes.

Hawaii III

More Hawaii!  But its the last one I promise.

I bought a few things to keep at my parents condo: floaties, tennis rackets, and this horrible football.  We all wanted to play catch but it was a sponge football that collected water and was so heavy you could hardly throw it.

This was how Wembley slept a lot on this trip.  Either during walks/runs, or by the pool.  She loved sleeping outside. 

Brizzy went on a couple runs with me.  But it's tough in Hawaii because you really have to go running by 8 am before it gets too hot.  It was tough for us to get out the door too early so Briz was a little hot on our runs.

I got so spoiled hanging with these two without having to work much.  They enjoyed some cuddle time.  That is, until Wembley puked a ton and Briz then, of course wanted nothing to do with her.

Early one morning, Briz and I went down to the beach and I took Briz snorkeling for the first time.  She loved it.  She kept squealing with delight.  Her favorite thing was finding the sea anemone.   She loved seeing the fish but got a little nervous when they got too close. 

We found the best ice cream on Maui just down the block from my parents place.  As you can tell, Briz enjoyed it.

One day, we followed Nick up closer to Lahaina to try to find bigger boogie boarding waves.  It ended up being a really rainy day at a pretty lame beach, but Wembley could not get enough salt.  We also made a local friend, a 4 year old boy, roaming around without any guardian.  He was a temporary part of our family that afternoon.

Brizzy and Milian (our Hawaiian friend) played volleyball for a while.  

A few days before we left, Papa and Nona arrived.  Briz was so excited to have them there; she was pretty sad after aunt Brittany left.

We went on a long walk/jog where Briz found some sea turtles.  She got a little tired towards the end and conned Papa into giving her a piggy back ride.

Watching daddy surf once again, waiting for her turn.

Getting ready to go for the second time.

It was a beautiful evening, watching my family surf.

Wembley was in the Phil and Ted giving me some funny looks.

Wembley loved playing with her Papa in Hawaii.

The night that Dad left (he left two days before us), we all went out to eat.  Briz was not pleased with me taking a picture of her.

We had some more pool time after Dad left.  Wembley is all giggles.

She just couldn't get enough water.

We had a red eye flight home.  People were giving me all kinds of looks like I was a crazy person for taking my two littles on a red eye.  Other than me not sleeping much, it ended up being a great flight.  Both girls slept most of the time, and I even got some compliments again :)  I can always use a little ego boost.

Wembley misses her naked time.

Briz wanted to take all of these flowers home and I had to explain to her about 5 times that they would wilt.

The day before we left, Grandpa Ainge and Grandpa Pam came.  Briz loved seeing them.  And I loved seeing them.  It's been a few years, and these two are both such wonderful people.  My grandpa is the most friendly, optimist person I know.  It's contagious.

"Unko Landon" also got in the day before we left, and it was fun hanging with him.  The girls love their uncle.