They are so creative and enjoy art so very much.
Fun fun fun fun fun. Or in their words, art art art art art.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Pumpkins
Oh how these girls love a good art project. Not only did they get to pick their pumpkins, they also got to paint them. We carved one too, but I'll save pictures for next year when we are a bit more experienced.
They are so creative and enjoy art so very much.
Fun fun fun fun fun. Or in their words, art art art art art.
They are so creative and enjoy art so very much.
Fun fun fun fun fun. Or in their words, art art art art art.
Halloween
Happy Halloween!! Okay, like last year this is a bit belated. I guess October/November are busy busy busy. We didn't go quite as nuts as last year with the Halloween bashes daily for a week. Instead, we only attended one shin dig. It was pretty wonderful that we had Ekco the night of our trunk-or-treat. The only problem was that we didn't have a costume. Fortunately, my last year's costume fit her perfectly! She was a gypsy... a girl after my own heart. We were also lucky to have Hunter and Hailee go with us. We had a great time with the whole crew...
with or with out props ie: mustache, wings, wand... they got lost a bit.
And no lost cows in this group. 
Typically my mom makes the most spectacular costumes. She made the gypsy costume which I promised to wear for years to come... this is its 3rd Halloween, 12th party. This year, however, she wasn't feeling it. So when we were at Costco and Xiana saw a Tinkerbell costume and begged if she could have it, my mom didn't waste a second exclaiming, "yes." 
Then we spotted this cow. It was too cute to pass up though both Brian and my dad thought it not the best idea to put him in a costume with pink.... he's actually a baby bull (or so I explained to them). Mom asked if I minded if she just bought the costumes this year. What could I say? Of course it was fine... but next year.... Still, I will admit that I was happy to see her visibly relieved that she no longer had to go down that tedious path. 
And Kolton was one cute baby bull... truly delicious. Our ward had a chilli, pie cook off. The food was great, the company was better, and the kids got all kinds of hopped up on candy. Does it get any more successful than that?
The best part of this costume is that it's comfy and warm... very very warm.
One of Xiana's friends was also a fairy and they were nothing short of darling together.
And who could resist a picture as sweet as this little lamb with the baby calf (er, I mean bull)?
The kids made out like bandits. I pretended not to see when they went around the parking lot multiple times. When Brian came out and asked where the kids were I simply shrugged and turned a blind eye.
On Halloween we went to Mark and Tosh's house were they fed us a delicious dinner and then we hit the streets.
A family friend brought his traditional bag of glow sticks, flashlights, and necklaces. The kids devoured them. The streets were a bit darker this year than last...I guess the neighborhood is growing older... or younger... or foreclosed.
My sil had to get in the spirit of teasing the poor baby due to his tights... bull tights mind you, bull tights, and put these wings on him. Brian wildly objected, but I'm kind of partial to him, wings or no.
Our trick-or-treating crew. There is something so fabulously magical about Halloween. This strange concept of knocking on doors, saying a silly phrase, and getting gobs of candy speaks to kids in so many ways. The littles ran from door to door. Rowan's bag was his back pack and Xiana, ever the interpreter/warden, notified each candy giver that he was not, in fact, turning his back to them, but rather enabling them to give him some goods. 
They are a good team... they had such fun. And they repeated what will hopefully always be remembered as Halloween tradition... after all, we've been married now for 2 Halloweens... 2 years of the same equals tradition right? My dad can't resist walking the streets with us. He has to watch his girl. This year mom braved her bad knee and joined us too. There was such delight on her face as she swooned with pride watching her granddaughter. They always say being grandparents is the best job. I daresay they are right.
For breakfast that morning I made Xiana a jack o lantern pancake... you can't tell in the pic, but it is orange. Happy Halloween!!!
with or with out props ie: mustache, wings, wand... they got lost a bit.
And no lost cows in this group. 
Typically my mom makes the most spectacular costumes. She made the gypsy costume which I promised to wear for years to come... this is its 3rd Halloween, 12th party. This year, however, she wasn't feeling it. So when we were at Costco and Xiana saw a Tinkerbell costume and begged if she could have it, my mom didn't waste a second exclaiming, "yes." 
Then we spotted this cow. It was too cute to pass up though both Brian and my dad thought it not the best idea to put him in a costume with pink.... he's actually a baby bull (or so I explained to them). Mom asked if I minded if she just bought the costumes this year. What could I say? Of course it was fine... but next year.... Still, I will admit that I was happy to see her visibly relieved that she no longer had to go down that tedious path. 
And Kolton was one cute baby bull... truly delicious. Our ward had a chilli, pie cook off. The food was great, the company was better, and the kids got all kinds of hopped up on candy. Does it get any more successful than that?
The best part of this costume is that it's comfy and warm... very very warm.
One of Xiana's friends was also a fairy and they were nothing short of darling together.
And who could resist a picture as sweet as this little lamb with the baby calf (er, I mean bull)?
The kids made out like bandits. I pretended not to see when they went around the parking lot multiple times. When Brian came out and asked where the kids were I simply shrugged and turned a blind eye.
On Halloween we went to Mark and Tosh's house were they fed us a delicious dinner and then we hit the streets.
A family friend brought his traditional bag of glow sticks, flashlights, and necklaces. The kids devoured them. The streets were a bit darker this year than last...I guess the neighborhood is growing older... or younger... or foreclosed.
My sil had to get in the spirit of teasing the poor baby due to his tights... bull tights mind you, bull tights, and put these wings on him. Brian wildly objected, but I'm kind of partial to him, wings or no.
Our trick-or-treating crew. There is something so fabulously magical about Halloween. This strange concept of knocking on doors, saying a silly phrase, and getting gobs of candy speaks to kids in so many ways. The littles ran from door to door. Rowan's bag was his back pack and Xiana, ever the interpreter/warden, notified each candy giver that he was not, in fact, turning his back to them, but rather enabling them to give him some goods. 
They are a good team... they had such fun. And they repeated what will hopefully always be remembered as Halloween tradition... after all, we've been married now for 2 Halloweens... 2 years of the same equals tradition right? My dad can't resist walking the streets with us. He has to watch his girl. This year mom braved her bad knee and joined us too. There was such delight on her face as she swooned with pride watching her granddaughter. They always say being grandparents is the best job. I daresay they are right.
For breakfast that morning I made Xiana a jack o lantern pancake... you can't tell in the pic, but it is orange. Happy Halloween!!!
Birth day
On Xiana's actual birth day birthday, I began the morning by telling her about the day of her birth. She loves to hear the story. I explain how she was breached and she was so very stubborn that after the doctor cut me open, he tried to get to her head and simply could not get her turned around. So he grabbed her by the feet and pulled her out. I always grab her feet and hang her upside down at this part in the story. I must admit, this is getting harder to do despite her tiny stature. Still, she loves it. This little outfit was a gift from grandma and grandpa Andersen and she, of course, had to model it for us.
I can't believe how much older she is. I was just looking at pictures of her last year's birthday and it's staggering how much she has grown.
For breakfast she requested donuts so I loaded up the diaper bag, and stuck a candle in the pocket and we went to her favorite bistro. Once there, she picked out her donut and I stuck the candle in it and sang my very own happy birthday to her. Then she made a wish and we dined.
For lunch she wanted McDonald's playland so we went to meet up with some of her very best friends that didn't get to make it to the party. We played there for almost three hours. It was very fun (and quite dirty, but I choose to overlook that detail).
In the afternoon she opened some of her awesome presents and began a day of art. She painted, colored, cut and glued for hours enabling me to get her birthday feast underway.
Then all of the family that lives here (mine and Brian's) came over for dinner, cake, and more presents!!
My little girl is four. Will I ever feel any less nostalgic on her birthdays? I think not.
Kolton really loves one (okay lots) of her gifts. This bean bag chair is as successful as gifts come!
I can't believe how much older she is. I was just looking at pictures of her last year's birthday and it's staggering how much she has grown.
For breakfast she requested donuts so I loaded up the diaper bag, and stuck a candle in the pocket and we went to her favorite bistro. Once there, she picked out her donut and I stuck the candle in it and sang my very own happy birthday to her. Then she made a wish and we dined.
For lunch she wanted McDonald's playland so we went to meet up with some of her very best friends that didn't get to make it to the party. We played there for almost three hours. It was very fun (and quite dirty, but I choose to overlook that detail).
In the afternoon she opened some of her awesome presents and began a day of art. She painted, colored, cut and glued for hours enabling me to get her birthday feast underway.
Then all of the family that lives here (mine and Brian's) came over for dinner, cake, and more presents!!
My little girl is four. Will I ever feel any less nostalgic on her birthdays? I think not.
Kolton really loves one (okay lots) of her gifts. This bean bag chair is as successful as gifts come!
Bath time
It's so fun that these two can take a bath together. Paints might be my new favorite bath toy! The bumbo floats so Kolton just bobbles around, happily eating mermaid's heads and the like. This is the best way for mommy to get ready for the day.
Birthday party!
We decided that from here on out, we are only having friend parties on even years... family parties on odd. Xiana seemed pretty okay with it. Of course, we brought this to her on an even year. Still, I explained to her that on the odd years we'll get her a nice gift and celebrate together. This year was reminiscent of her first birthday party. The same theme... or not theme I guess. There was a bit of a pre-party. The girls had a blast playing around before all the craziness ensued.
Kolton enjoyed a low noise zone for a few minutes... the calm before the storm.
And the girls played with balloons to their little hearts' contents! 
Because I am in the Young Women presidency, I asked if the young women could help at her party (the president did this first showing me that I was not fully utilizing my calling). They were so sweet to offer their help and did an amazing job painting faces, keeping things relatively calm (or not quite so ridiculously crazy) and even cleaned up afterwards which was utterly unprovoked. They are so thoughtful. The kids loved having their faces painted, and we were fortunate that there was a slow progression of guests which meant most kids got to have their faces painted multiple times without having to wait in lines. It's funny the way things work out when you have parties or events. As I lay awake the night before her party I started worrying, what am I going to do with ten 4-year-olds impatiently waiting in line to get their faces painted (this the number I assumed would not be able to fit at the other 2 activities). Suddenly, panic set in and I found myself trying to conjure up another activity... an art table? pin the feather on the turkey? I didn't know. Silly me. As usual, things did not go the way I worried they would. Instead, they were successful, seamless, and chaotic. Little did I know I did not have to micromanage every minute detail of the party. Silly me.
A full jack-o-lantern face that may or may not have taken 3 young women, multiple cleaners, and 30 minutes to remove. 
There was cookie decorating. This was a great indication to me how much less time I have this year than I did the first of her life. I remember making 60 pumpkin shaped sugar cookies for her first birthday party. This year, Walmart saved the day and made the overpriced, not nearly as tasty cookies. Funny how nobody was any the wiser... and not one complaint on the taste quality. I kind of think no child knows what the sugar cookie tastes like underneath all that frosting and sprinkles.
Only about half of the sprinkles landed on the floor.
I also found these fun masks at Target and set up a craft table where everyone got to make their own mask. It was fun, easy, and a great party favor. I didn't feel like I needed to put together gift bags because everyone got to take their mask and cookie home. See, I'm getting much more efficient in Xiana's old age.
Presents are always a hard part of a party of littles. It's too much for them to patiently sit as one person opens all the gifts. So... this year Xiana asked if whomever the gift giver was could sit on the chair with her and help open the present. Genius. Every child got to sit on the chair, help open a gift, and in the background I turned on Tangled. Many kids didn't even notice presents were being opened instead of the usual craze of paper, ribbon and tape flying everywhere amidst pleas and screams to open/play/get out whatever toy has most recently been opened. This was far more successful.
Xiana took her job telling each kid in turn that they got to sit in the chair with her very seriously. More than once I heard her say, "so-and-so, you get to sit in the chair with me now." Her excitement and enthusiasm simply cannot be conveyed in a font.
Two words explain this expression: bath. paint.
Cake cake cake. The sweet young women that helped were willing to do the job for cake and ice cream alone. However, we also had a pizza/movie party for them later.
And make a wish!!! I feel like all of Xiana's wishes in her life have come true. That won't always be the case, but for now... it's beautiful.
the icing on the proverbial cake of this birthday party was the after show. Xiana got some reverence books (a marvelous gift) and she and Emma opened them pretending they were hymn books. I walked out to find them singing the song in Tangled at the top of their lungs, each holding a hymn book in their hands. Truly. Life. is. beautiful.
and Xiana made out like a bandit... we might have to fore go Christmas!
Narcolepsy
I'm convinced we are all born with narcolepsy. It doesn't take anything for babies to suddenly droop their little heads forward and... bamm! out! Still, this takes the cake. Kolton takes a nap in his jumper very very regularly. It's hysterical. He will be jumping, happily cooing, making noise...like loud noise and suddenly, bamm, narcolepsy hits. His head slowly droops and his mouth hits the side. Then... he sleeps.
When he awakens he generally goes right back to jumping. And later... sleeping.
Wouldn't it be nice if every time we were the least bit tired we could just (standing up mind you) rest our cheek on some fabric and snooze?
Halloween tuckered him out so what did he took? Took a little cow nap.
It's funny because I can stick him in his swing and he'll fight sleep like nobody's business. A few minutes later I'll put him in his jumper and he jumps himself off to sweet slumber. My sweet little narcoleptic boy!
When he awakens he generally goes right back to jumping. And later... sleeping.
Wouldn't it be nice if every time we were the least bit tired we could just (standing up mind you) rest our cheek on some fabric and snooze?
Halloween tuckered him out so what did he took? Took a little cow nap.
It's funny because I can stick him in his swing and he'll fight sleep like nobody's business. A few minutes later I'll put him in his jumper and he jumps himself off to sweet slumber. My sweet little narcoleptic boy!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
What makes my world go round
These two handsome fellas make the world a better place...
they bring a sweeter note, a happier step, and a lot more work into my life : )
And these pretty little ladies, challenge me to be better, teach me daily, and make the sun come out on a cloudy day (even if they're also responsible for the clouds).
This... is what makes my world go 'round....
every single day!
they bring a sweeter note, a happier step, and a lot more work into my life : )
And these pretty little ladies, challenge me to be better, teach me daily, and make the sun come out on a cloudy day (even if they're also responsible for the clouds).
This... is what makes my world go 'round....
every single day!
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