Blogging while the kids fall into a deep winter's sleep

I have five things to quickly add and store away in our Christmas memories of 2014.

1. I found these pictures on my phone from Kami's Christmas orchestra concert:

2. Christmas season arrived, and some of my youngsters, who had been as good as gold all year long suddenly became...well...quite the opposite! Sunday I subbed in our church nursery singing time, and I brought along this little prop:

And I got ideas about it, and it has been sitting in our front room right beside the Christmas tree every since.  I told the kids that each time they noticed someone being kind they could add a piece of  "straw" to the manger and get it ready for baby Jesus.  They are noticing kind things that others are doing for them and being extra kind themselves so that someone will notice and add more straw!

I still can't report that they're perfect, but it's a lot better!  I've decided that Christmas season is pretty hard on little kids - all the parties, treats and candy, late nights, no schedules and ON TOP OF ALL THAT the anxiety that "elves are watching them" every second of the day, as my older kids are sure to remind them of FREQUENTLY;)

I may have to build a sturdier manger next year...perhaps a good (first) building project for Nolan.

3. We spent a good part of one day filling bags with "reindeer noses" for the younger kid's friends and classmates:

Cute idea - thanks pintrest!

4. Isabelle decided this year that we needed "nice" Christmas stockings, and she wanted to make one for herself. Then she decided she wanted to make one for the whole family as her Christmas gift to them. Sounded like fun to me!  We drew out a pattern and made some that I really like - they're fully lined and everything! We got busy and cranked them out yesterday. Isabelle sewed while I cut them out, and then we both sewed and I was impressed with how well she did!:

Caden took these pictures today and I thought they were ALL cute, so I have to add them all:)

Below is the stocking she chose for herself.  Before we even went to get fabric, she told me that she wanted chevron on the bottom and polka-dots on the top.  She found just what she was looking for!

5. My little boys have been quite the kitchen helps lately:)  I found them washing dishes a few evenings ago.  After I took this picture, I noticed that they were using hand soap AND dish soap because they were impressed with how silky the soap felt with the two combined.

I got them all set up with some sugar cookie dough yesterday, and they got down to business:

They decorated them just the way they like them:

Then we brought them along to the extended Gee family Christmas caroling get-together that we have every Christmas Eve, and they were a big hit with all like-minded sugar-seeking children:)
mmmmm, mmmmm, MMMMMM!;)

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

acrobatics

We've been having scripture time a little later in the morning with the kids home for vacation= Pace is awake and rather distractingly cute!

We have been reading all of the accounts and prophesies of Christ's birth this week leading up to Christmas.  I have a sneaking suspicion that no one heard much of Helaman Chapter 14....

Pace loves his "Bubba" as he calls Caden:)

He did this over and over again, much to everyone's amusement:

Every now and then he would come down from Caden's shoulders to "read" with him:

'Tis the season...

For recitals and concerts:

Kami with her friends Emily and Elisa:

The season for pictures with Santa:

(These pictures were taken at school - Santa is the school principal.  Abram flatly refused to go anywhere near this Santa Claus:)

The season for bundling up in so many layers that you can scarcely walk...

And being in serious need of help getting all of those layers off (Shawn had to use some pliers):

Tis the season for the neighborhood live nativity:

Tis the season to reach out more to others and have them reach out to us.  My Lutheran friend and neighbor invited our Relief Society to their Christmas Cantata. It was great!  Wonderful music, followed by a delicious luncheon that they fixed for us:

And now, as of last night, it looks like it is finally the season to get to enjoy some snow!  I hope that it just keeps coming!!

For mothers who wonder

Isabelle just finished a science fair:

She was figuring out which diaper had the best absorbency.  Interestingly enough, Huggies held the least water, and looked like it would leak the easiest because of its short side-flaps.

Currently Pace is making his way through the rest of the pack of Huggies that we bought for the experiment, and he is showing that the results of her experiment were correct.  He wakes up drenched every morning because the diaper has leaked, which was a rare occurrence before, plus he currently has the worst, (and first) diaper rash that he has ever had.  I suspect it is from this brand of diaper?

The cheapest diaper, which we got from Wal-mart was ALMOST as good as Pampers, which was the best.

 Isabelle summed it up this way "If you are looking for the diaper that holds the most, AND the diaper that is the cheapest, I would recommend Parent's Choice.  If you aren't worried about the cost and really want to give your baby a treat, you can get Pampers." (She thought that Pampers felt the softest to the touch:)

So now we know. Thanks Isabelle!!

Some days are like that

...especially when you are cutting four molars AT ONCE. Yikes!!

This is how it went:  We were all up at Shawn's shop, and Caden had brought his camera along, as usual.  He and Kami were getting a kick out of Pace's crying faces.    I heard, "It's okay, Pace! (click, click, click)  Do you want me to hold you?"  (click, click, click, - many giggles from Kami and Caden)

Don't worry - Pace quickly got the attention that he needed:)

The things HE says volume 8

Abe turned five yesterday!  I love this sweet, loving, entertaining, very cheerful little boy:

We all do.  His birthday was simple, as it was Sunday and all, but he was delighted with it!.  He has a grateful, generous little heart.

For months now, he has been fascinated by some cars at the grocery store, and has to play with them for awhile every time we go.  I have been telling him that I would let him pick one out on his birthday, so Saturday I told him we'd better go pick one out early!  He asked, "Mom, can I get two?"  I said that I supposed so.  He said, "Good, because I wanted Nolan to get to pick one out, too!"  He never backed out of that, and he and Nolan have had a great time with their cars together.

His only real request on his birthday was that he wanted a "Python birthday cake with a fruit roll-up tongue".  I took a cake decorating class when Caden was a baby so that I could create master piece birthday cakes for my children.  Kami and Caden got some pretty cool cakes when they were tots.  HOWEVER, it has become a family tradition, somewhere along the line, for my kids to decorate their cake WITH me.  We haven't had a fancy-looking cake since. I found a really easy-peasy Python-looking cake on-line and Abe was excited to decorate it with me....until he opened his presents first and got too interested in playing with his new toys:)  I stuck with the easy plan and decorated it speedy quick - even added some Hershey's Kisses because I knew his cousins would be excited about that.  Then we headed off to visit grandparents and cousins like we do every Sunday with his "Python" cake:

Isabelle says it looks more like a green worm to her:) I didn't want to ruin anyone's appetite, but I'd say more like a slug!

I have been saving up a lot of things that Abe says so that someday when he is old and mature, I can read about what he was like and the way that he talked when he was four!

Abe: "Mom, I'm into really cool things now.  Like coloring, and transformers, the Book of Mormon, cool fighting, and playing with toy "guys", and cars, and playing the guitar (Ukulele), and playing with Pace, and I'm into Halloween, and Christmas and November." That pretty much sums up his interests right now:)

Abe: "When I'm five I'll be able to get more trophies.  Because I'll be able to wrestle...Do ALL the sports...except Olympics".

Shawn recently downloaded Photoshop onto our computer for his job.  Abe heard us talking about it and confused me by asking about his dad's other new job.  Upon further questioning he said, "No! Dad's other new job.  He's getting the photo shop!"

After telling Abe to keep track of his school library books one day, he said, "I'm the kind of boy that looks everywhere for things that I need!" So I guess there is no need to keep track of them?

I bought some "go-gurts" for school lunches, and Abe sampled one one day.  He then proclaimed, loudly and with great surprise, "This tastes like lion fur!!!" I said, "Gross!  Let's take them back to the store!!" He took another small bite and then said, "Well, the first bite tasted that way, but this one didn't.  I think they should make this yummier!"

I should say so!

Abram likes to comb his hair in exciting ways, every chance he gets.  One day as he was combing it, he said, "I want to get it all lionishy and stuff...there...Now it's all perched up!"

We've had to make many, many things off-limits to Pace, much to his frustration.  As Pace cried one day about not being able to get into a cupboard, I heard Abe say in a conciliatory tone, "Pace, this is just life!!" He claims to have heard this on PBS:)

Abe found Pace sucking on a wet cloth and said, "Pace, you are disqualified from thirst."

At the gym, a little boy pushed Pace down the stairs.  Abram was telling me about it, and said, "Mom, if that kid pushes Pace down the stairs again, I'll chew him up.  Then I'll say, "That's what you get for hurting my baby!!"

Last week when it snowed, Abram was thrilled.   He oohed and ahhhed about the snow in the front yard for quite some time. Then, while I was putting school lunches together, I heard him yell, "YOU GUYS!  IT SNOWED IN THE BACK YARD TOO!!!!!!!"

Abe was singing one of his preschool songs about the mother duck that keeps quacking for her ducklings to come back, but one at a time they keep disappearing...until the daddy duck quacks.  Then ALL of them come back.  Hoping for some insight on how to get kids to immediately obey, I asked Abe why he thought they obeyed the daddy duck?  He said, "Because he was a wilder quacker!!" I'll have to try that...

Caden's giant camera obscura - (whatever that is)

Caden always has some sort of interesting project going on, or something interesting that he is learning about.  This was something that he did for a few days in his room this summer:

He covered everything that was putting any light into the room, and then he cut a little hole about an inch in diameter - but he says the size of the hole depends on the size of the room- (you can see the hole in the black paper to the right above).

Then, because everything has light reflecting off of it outside, part of the light will all funnel into the hole. Somehow the hole lets all of the light through, but turns it backwards and flips it upside down and the image was projected onto the other side of his room:

This was pretty cool - see the upside-down tree on his wall?  That is the tree at the end of our driveway, on the opposite side of the wall than it should be, and upside-down!

The picture on his wall changed as the day went by:

Happy 17th!

Today our oldest is 17!!!!! I can hardly believe it.

I love her.

She has been super busy with her school play the last couple of weeks, and we haven't seen much of her around here.  We miss her. Today she has to leave at  4:00 to get ready for the play, so we are having as much fun as we can early on.  THEN we are all going to go watch her play!

She is an extra in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and, although she thinks the play would have been more fun had she had a bigger part, she has made some new friends in her spare time there at the play practices.  She sent me these pictures yesterday of her with her friend Ruth:

I'm not really sure who the middle girl is...

Kami is such a great child to have at the beginning of our family.  One of my favorite qualities about her is that she is such a patient person.  She is patient with situations, and time frames and patient with people; their inadequacies and short-comings and even their rudeness.  She never has anything mean to say about anyone, and just seems to figure that everyone is doing the best that they can, and accepts them for where they are in their development in life.  That's been an especially great gift to me, as her mother, in all my imperfections.  Maybe, because of her good example, I will learn to be as patient as she is eventually!

Shawn and I enjoy her so much, and she is one of my best friends.  She is also so good to her younger siblings - a great friend to the older ones, and a fun big sister to the younger ones.

Happy birthday dear Kami!!!