Christmas day

 

This year we did 4 gifts for the kids. Something to wear, read, want, and need. Here is what they got, since I didn't get a photo of each of them this year.

Ayla: books, floor pillow, doll bed with bedding that we made her, and an outfit. She also got a fuzzy feely book, a dress, doll stroller, and How to train your Dragon 2 from grandparents.

Gideon: books, underwear, train tracks and a big bucket to store them in, and an outfit. From grandparents he got a tractor book, an outfit, and Planes Fire and Rescue movie.

Zenock: shark books, underwear, toothless the dragon that I made, and an outfit. From grandparents he got some books, an outfit, and Battleship the game.

Ammon: Beyonder's series, underwear, outfit, and an alien sphere remote control thingy. He got Olympians series #5, and outfit, and Apples to Apples Jr from grandparents.

Brady got an early one on Black Friday: a new grill. He also received a book, gift card to Smashburger, can opener, and a shop vac. I got some pampered chef tools, slippers, bluetooth headset thingy for my phone, gift cards to In N Out and Del Taco, and a Joann's gift card. 

For this gifts from/to siblings I decided to have them all get something creative. Ammon and Zenock got some kits to build stuff so they can pass off some things for scouts. Ayla got some wooden puzzles to help her with speech therapy. Gideon got some lacing cards to help with fine motor skills. 

In the kids stockings they got a few treats, a movie, and a small game. We are now proud owners of UNO, a game the older boys have been asking for for a while now. I realized next year we have to redo our stocking hanger and add another one for the baby. Which means I get to make another cute stocking!

 Perhaps the most favorite gift of all this year was the fart gun from my parents. ALL the kids love playing with it...and Ayla's giggles about the farts are my favorite.

I absolutely loved doing Christmas this way for everyone this year. We made piles for each of the kids so it wouldn't be such a madhouse opening presents, and then that way Ammon and Zenock could just open their stuff and not have to take turns with the little kids. 

Christmas eve

I don't have a title for this one. Just read it :)

 We made and sold 4 dozen emergency candles to earn a little extra money for Chistmas. It was pretty fun, and we learned how to do it more efficiently for next time!

 I turn around for one second, and they get into my crafting stuff. They had so much fun too.

 Zenock and his friend from school at their field trip last week. They went to a lion habitat.

 This girl was in the potty training process all last week. For 7 days we only had 3 successes in the toilet and loads of extra laundry. I finally decided to give up for a little while and put her back in diapers because it was just too much. I swore I would never do that to our kids and just give up, but with this girl I did. She would just stand wherever she was and pee and not say a word. Most of the time it was less than 5 minutes after she said she had to pee and we sat on the toilet for a little while. Potty training is high on the list of parental torture.

This was the bliss for a little while Sunday night. They were all happily eating a treat and getting along .... and then I took the picture, sent it to Brady at work, and then they promptly started fighting again.

Jingles the elf

Our elf shenanigans. So far he has been forgotten about at least half of the time, but he has had some fun while we are sleeping. The first day he arrived on the front door wreath that had a note to the kids saying he was back. Gideon has requested he be on the top of the tree, so I made that happen. I also made him bungee jump from the ceiling fan, put him in the Nativity and petting the dog in it, and last night he was in the jar of peanuts in the kitchen.

Ward Christmas party

Ayla was so  excited about seeing the "grandpa" until she got to close.

Ayla really liked seeing her brother up there singing. She was shouting for him to come over to her because I wouldn't let her go by herself.

Birthday Party for Celeste

The day after thanksgiving all of Brady's family went for a ride on the High Roller, the tallest ferris wheel in the world right now. We were celebrating his niece, Celeste, turning 18.

 This is what it looks like from the parking lot.

 The little kids loved watching the monorail driving by down below. Ayla also discovered the fun of hanging her body from things.

 Left is Wyatt, Ammon, Max, and Aunt Cicely

 We tried to take a picture of ourselves and this is the best one we got. Ammon kept jumping up so he could get in the photo too. Thanks Ammon, Sage and Christa for bombing it for us :)

 View on the way down. This is the musical fountains at Bellagio. My very favorite place on the Strip.

Another view from the top.

Shooting Pumpkins

We finally took our Halloween pumpkins out to the desert for some target practice. Ayla stayed at Grammy's house and played. Gideon and I were in the van most of the time, as I can't shoot a firearm since I am past 12 weeks pregnant. Ammon brought his bb gun. Zenock brought his bow. We took Jerry, Brady's stepdad, with us, and a friend from our ward who had never been shooting before. It was a pretty relaxing morning, complete with loads of sunshine.

 Rose trying out shooting for the first time. This one is the .22 rifle

 Ammon with the .22

 Zenock with the bb gun

 Ammon and the .22 again.

 Zenock and the bb gun again.

 Zenock trying his bow for the first time.

 Getting closer to the targets means they might actually hit it!

 Jerry trying out Brady's 9mm

And Mr. Poser with me playing in the van. He discovered the glove box up front and found a box of gum. He was pretty darn pleased for doing it all himself. He is getting quite articulate in his vocabulary now, so we had a great discussion going most of the time...I wish I could remember all the cute things he was talking to me about.

Fun kids

 I love coming home to this cuteness from my volunteer shift at the Red Cross. Gideon has his socks on his hands, Ayla is trying to get the fun things out of Brady's pocket, Brady is reading a book to them...and all three of them are giggling.

 Ammon earned this shirt at school for getting 100 points of AR testing done so far. His goal is to get to 300 points so he can earn a Nook or Kindle. So far, he has the most points in the school.

I gave Ayla her first official haircut on Thanksgiving. She got a bang trim and two inches cut off the back. She didn't appreciate having to sit still at all!! I love that her hair gets a little less tangled now.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!!

This is such a great video! It made me think of all the things I am thankful for...which is probably in the millions. At the moment, I am most thankful for Brady's days off, how much the kids love going to school every day, and for modern medicine. I have thought a lot lately about how it will be when the little dude gets to finally come out in February. I know our family has the strength to get through his medical trials....I just wonder how long it will take for the first surgery to happen so he can begin eating like a normal baby. We are so blessed to live in a time and place when birth defects, like our son's cleft lip and cleft palate, can be detected before the baby even comes out of the womb so the families and medical teams can be more prepared for what needs to happen. Because of my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I know everything will be alright...even at the beginning of the baby's life when there will be so many unknowns. And I just have to point out how cool it is that I have a very good idea what he looks like before he is born!!!

Craft fair

 I made a bunch of stuff for a craft fair last week. Business was really slow, for everyone. However, I have been able to sell more things since then. I love it when people come Christmas shopping at my house!

 18" doll bedding sets

 Twin space quilt

 Baby boy quilt

 Mason jar banks

 18" doll bed

 2x6 set of blocks

 Frozen inspired necklaces

 Pallet wood sign

 16x16 nativity tiles

 Embroidered baby wrap. I made one for me too, and I am so excited to use it when this little nameless dude comes in 11 weeks!

 Above and below are all pillow cases. I also made some sugar body scrubs with essential oils, a Frozen inspired shirt, and some Avengers magnet sets since boys don't wear necklaces. Crafting is such a fun use of my time. I just love it. Thanks, Mom, for sharing your crafting and sewing DNA with me!!