I know, I know....

It is probably very naughty to let your kids jump off furniture, and even worse that I take pictures condoning such behavior. It's winter and this girl is an energetic gymnast. I think we'd be in for a lot more danger if we forced her to keep this energy cooped up.

I did move the coffee table, just to be safe.

No, they aren't upside down!!!

Crazy hair!!!!!!!!

We just got our new couches, and boy do they cause some static!!!! Sarah had her friend over and as they were playing in the living room I noticed that their hair was going CRAZY!!

How could you tell this was the kids tree?

Every year we put a little tree up in the play room that we let the kids have total control of the decorating. Hannah is at the age where she can totally get involved, but apparently she just puts ornaments at her level. I LOVE it!

(PS. I do also let the kids decorate our downstairs family tree, of course!!! I'm not a total scrooge. Just in case you were wondering)

He's back!!!!!

It looks like Mr. Peeps liked our family enough last year to come again. He arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving. He even brought Christmas pajamas! I was of course relieved because I have not yet finished sewing the ones I started a few months ago. Always so thoughtful, that Mr. Peeps!

We were busy cleaning up dinner and toys when Caden noticed him in the computer room. The kids were so delighted that he came back this year. Even Hannah remembered him.

Caden reads Mr. Peeps letter. It seems one of the things he enjoyed last year was watching our tradition of reading a new Christmas story every night of December, so he brought new pajamas for the kids to cuddle up in. He reminds them to be kind to each other because he will be watching.

The kids made Mr. Peeps a bed time snack to thank him for the PJ's. You will often find Hannah next to Mr. Peeps telling him how much she loves him, being very careful not to touch him.

He seems to find new and creative places to move to every night! Thanks Mr. Peeps. The lids are trying really hard to be good so that you can give Santa a good report.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner At Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house.

No, they don't usually serve such a feast in mess kits. Caden is just in constant training for the military, so he insisted on bringing his mess kit. Grandma didn't seem to mind.

Grandma made crafts with the kids.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! We had a lot of fun.

GO Broncos!!

Caden was assigned to decorate a gingerbread man for school. His teacher asked only that they be very creative, and that they could do/use whatever they wanted.

I was positive that Caden would choose to turn his little cookie into some kind of military man. He surprised me though. His first idea was to make him a basket ball player because he is in basketball. After a few days to think about it, he settled on this BSU foot ball player. It is actually #41, Ian Johnson, his favorite player.

It is made up of frosting, candy, and blue sprinkles. I think he turned out pretty cute!

School Celebrations

Sarah had her Thanksgiving feast at preschool. She had a lot of fun and Hannah really liked joining in.

Caden had his first grade Thanksgiving day program. It was so cute! Caden is not normally one for singing, but he really liked these songs because he even sang them all for us the night before.

Here are the rest of the family pictures.

Sneak peak......

Here are a couple of my favorite poses from our family pics!

Weekend Project!!!!!

I bought this shelf the other day because I have really been wanting a change in my entry. I have always had this huge flower picture hanging up just to fill the space. I've never liked it, especially because it is the first thing you see. My ever so patient husband got right to work and hung up the new shelf on Saturday, along with a mirror I have had stashed upstairs. As soon as he had everything hung up, I said,

"oh, it looks boring still. Maybe we need to paint the wall."

That being said, Scott took everything down, taped off the wall, and dug up some paint left behind when we bought this house. A kind friend let me borrow some paint supplies and Scott took the kids 4 wheeling so I could get to my project.

First coat of paint.

Finished project!!! It's amazing how much one evening and a little paint can do.

(and of course a cool husband. Thank you Scott)

Pilgrims and Indians

It was my turn to host Hannah's little Co-op of cute girls(Indians) and Karin's turn to host Sarah's preschool co-op of cute Pilgrims. We decided to join forces for a fun Thanksgiving feast. I loaded up my 5 little Indians, some corn, and muffins, (did the Indians take muffins????) and we met up with 6 of the cutest little Pilgrims for a delicious meal. It was perfect!!

Thanks Karin!!!

When you're helping you're happy!

I was cleaning out the car the other day and Sarah asked if she could help. As she was washing the windows I heard her singing a song about how proud she was to be a helper and be a part of a family so that she could learn. So cute!!!!