The Holidays 2012

Ta-Da!!! Can you believe it....I'm back!!!

It's been 6 months since I blogged, and while I have many, MANY great and amazing excuses I won't bore you with all of them (at least not right now!!). There have been sick kids, and adults, then kids again...car problems like nothing else and now here we stand - the beginning of a New Year and I am going to attempt to be better at lots of things, including blogging!!

We have been putting lots of vlogs up on YouTube though, so if you're really interested in seeing what we've been up to, hop on over to our YouTube Channel and check out our videos there.

So, here's how the Christmas Season went down at our house!! For Christmas Eve we had a Who Feast with all the trimmings.

The Feast included the Rare Who Beast...

Along with Grinch Milk, Who Hash and Who Pudding!!

Then Christmas Morning came and things went a little crazy!!

Santa left the kids notes and his reindeer make quick work of the carrots the kids left for them!!

Then of course the kids tore into the presents faster than I could take a picture...this was what was left when I got around to grabbing the camera!!

Then we headed down to Orange County to celebrate with Greg's Family 

Nicole figured out that there was good stuff inside those wrapped packages!!

And since Freddie was an old pro, he was unwrapping and leaving a trail of wrapping paper destruction... 

He was pretty bummed when he got to the end and kept saying "I want more presents to unwrap!"
Then he started offering to help everyone else with their presents....

After the kids grudgingly went to bed for the night we all woke up semi-ready for the day after Christmas and the kids didn't waste any time playing with all their new toys.

Nicole was never seen with less than 2 Little People in her  hands the entire day...even when she was trying to sneak up the stairs!!

Seriously, what is it with kids and stairs??? Poor Freddie doesn't like loud noises, and the trash truck was making enough noise he had to come run inside!

See...here he is running for the house when he saw the trash truck coming!! 

Karyl on the other hand has no problems with loud noises and even went up and gave the garbage guy a little Christmas Present!!

Then Daddy and Nicole just took a few minutes to be cute for the camera...sorry for the multiple Nicole pictures, but when you're child #3 your parents don't take nearly as many pictures of you as they did the children before you. It's not that we don't care about you as much as the kids who came before, it's just that we have less and less time.....

Ahhhh....

What Mom?? 

Yeah, I'm cute...I know it...
And yes, that IS a Little People Riddler from Batman...I know, best toy ever, right?!?!

 And then there's Freddie...

Oh Freddie....how you haven't been the cause of a late night visit to the ER yet is beyond me. This picture was taken second before he said "Mom, watch me jump..." and he jumped of a decent sized patio, purposefully landing on his knees.

And the oldest....our little mommy...Dear Karyl 

Every night before bed she HAS to get Martha dressed in her pajamas...and  some nights she insists that they match. Yep, they have matching PJs...down to the matching slippers.

It's just too much stinking cute for one picture...so I give you another one, closer up...

JANUARY 6, 2013

New year, new Primary Classes!!!

Freddie is now OFFICIALLY out of Nursery and is a Sunbeam. Thankfully we got him potty trained a few weeks ago. I have a fear that one of these days we will send a child to Sunbeams with a diaper. You laugh, but it's a possibility - both kids were potty trained RIGHT before they graduated Nursery. Karyl was just barely 3 years old and Freddie is almost 4. 

They insisted on a brother-sister picture. Of course, Karyl wouldn't let me do her hair that morning for church - at least she brushed it, right??

Freddie was a little apprehensive about Primary when I took him in because it sank in that the toys were gone and there wouldn't be any snacks - but some of his friends from Nursery thankfully graduated with him so he recognized Conner in his class and his friend Lila was sitting behind him, and once he realized that, everything was fine.

Nicole also had her 2nd time in Nursery. Even though it's in the middle of her nap time she did great and only managed to remove her shoes and have us on our hands and knees searching for them at the end. Things could be worse, right?? She just looks so tiny in there, but thankfully all the older and much larger kids (like Freddie) are gone and the little ones can have more room!

2012 was an interesting year...did I mention that The day after Christmas as we were getting ready to head home our starter died on the van?? Yep, that thing just refused to end 2012 on a high note. Who knows how many transmissions and weeks in the shop later we are starting out 2013 with a new starter, no transmission problems in a while and a hope that this will be our year of the van. I can only hope that this van gets us from point A to B with no troubles...in return I will promise to keep it filled with yummy gasoline and even wash it every now and then so she feels pretty.

Happy New Year and here's to a year of fun, new experiences and adventures!!