A Few Quick Thoughts

I had to post about a couple funny things the boys have said. During family home evening we always have someone bear their testimony after the lesson is given. Lately, the boys have been saying things like:
Bradley- "I know that Santa is real and that he'll bring me lots of presents, even though no one has seen him because he lives at the North Pole."
Connor- "I know that Santa is true, and I know that Baby Jesus is cute."
I guess I am not focusing enough of the true meaning of Christmas. Ha ha ha . . .
They have been asking me the whole holiday season about how Santa will get in our house. We have no chimney! They also want to know how the reindeer fly and how it all works. I just give this standard answer, "No one really knows because no one has ever seen him."
Here is a link to a cute story about teaching kids some of the symbols of Christmas. We did it for family home evening on Monday night. It was very productive because we had each item for the boys to look at and possibly eat.
Although, Bradley's answer to pretty much every question was, "Eternal families!" My sister was saying he's just getting prepared to give good Sunday School answers.
We are so excited that Wes is going to be home in just a couple days! Yahoo!
Oh, and here's one more reminder- if you want a Christmas card, send me a message with your address! Thanks!

Halley Trying to Wink!

I think this was another, "Ya had to be there," moments, but the boys and I were laughing really hard. Halley was trying so hard to wink. I love that she is using her mouth to do it!

Not to be Taken Literally!

The other day we were out playing in the snow. We came inside and were taking all our snow attire off when the phone rang. I answered it and in my distracted mom voice told Connor to take everything off so he could get some warm, dry clothes on. He took me very literally and took EVERYTHING off. Ha ha ha . . . except the hat. I think he forgot he had it on. I was laughing so hard. Here he is in front of our front door with everything taken off. Isn't he an obedient child???

SNOW!

We've had a few snow storms this winter, but yesterday I finally got some pictures of the kids playing in it! They had a lot of fun. It is weird for me to have to shovel the driveway and stuff because I never really had to do that very much when I was a kid. I enjoy it though. It's a good workout!
Here is Halley in her cute snowsuit. My sister-in-law is letting me borrow a bunch of her twins clothes from when they were little. This actually worked out great for Halley because she didn't get snow down her pants or front or anything. Isn't she a cutie??
I told the kids to say, "SNOW!" He he he . .



Here are yet some more of my attempts to get a cute picture of all 3 of the kiddos smiling AND looking at the camera. It never works out, but it's cool to see their personalities in each pose!
Hooray for winter and please let there be a white Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!

I am going to do a post with no pictures! Gasp! First of all I wanted to let everyone know we are actually going to do a Christmas card this year so if you want one, leave me a message through e-mail, facebook or some other means with your address! Then I can send you a lovely family picture and some fun family updates.
And now, on to my ramblings!
I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!
For one thing, I got to have Wes here with us for a few days last weekend for Thanksgiving. (I didn't take one picture!! Seriously, what is wrong with me? I kept forgetting my camera. Oh well, who wants pictures of everyone sitting around eating too much. He he he . . . ) Having him here was wonderful! I really appreciate all the little things he does to make our lives easier. He is such an amazing man, and we all miss him sooooo much when he's gone. And another reason I love the holidays - he gets to come home again in 2 1/2 weeks! Yahoo!!! And this time, he gets to spend more than 3 days with us! Hooray!
Ok, now, besides having my wonderful husband home, the holidays just seem to bring out this wonderful feeling inside me. The great thing is the feeling seems to be everywhere. It's wonderful to be able to see and visit with family and friends. I absolutely LOVE all the yummy treats and meals we get to eat. (My waist, however, does not!)
It is so nice to drive around at night and see all the Christmas lights. I love talking to people about all the gifts they are planning to give to friends and family. Our house seems so warm and cozy with the tree and decorations up all over. That is an exceptionally great feeling since the high today was 30!
All in all, everything just seems so much more, what's the word - JOYOUS! He he he . .
Anyway, I just want to send a great big thank you out to all the people in my life who make my life so wonderful! Family and friends are by far the best part of the holidays! Thank you for loving and supporting my family and me, whether near or far, we can feel it!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Fall Fun!

I just love these pictures. Between all the attitude changes and raking the leaves that day, we had a lot of fun.The boys are having fun here!
Halley: "What kind of tree do these leaves fall from?"
My first try to get a cute picture of the kids:
Me: "K, everyone, SMILE!" Bradley: "I want to play with my light saber!"






Third or fourth attempt:
Me: "C'mon, please just smile and throw the leaves." Bradley: "Yah right!" Halley: "Seriously?" Connor: "Yippee!!"

Maybe the 7th try:
Bradley: "Fine, I"ll just cover my face." Connor: Still just livin' it up and throwing leaves all over. Halley: "Is this really supposed to be fun?"






Probably like the tenth try:
I'm pretty sure I used some form of bribery at this point. Bradley: "Ok, Mom, if I get a prize!" He is such a funny kid!
Last, but not least, the leaves stuck in Halley's hair and a cute picture of her by one of the trees.

One Crazy Girl!

I have a special saying that I tell the boys when they go potty, "Clean it, close it, flush it, and wash your hands." Now I have added, "AND CLOSE THE DOOR!"
This is why:

If we leave the bathroom doors open, Halley finds a way in, and man, she is a climber. And, she also loves to play in the toilet. The boys were NEVER interested in that stuff. It is so funny. I am sure it's because she has big brothers. This picture is of her attempting to get a drink out of the sink.
Oh, and you gotta love that hair! Her hair is always in her face, and I found a hair thing on the floor and just pulled it up really quick for her. The boys were calling her carrot! I fixed it better later, but it was cute, huh?I don't know what we're going to do when she figures out how to open the doors! Time to find those child safety door knob things. Yikes!

Fun Pictures!

We went to a birthday party for my grandma at my parents' house the other night, and my sister took some fun pictures. This first one is of my grandma and most of her great-grandkids. My cousin, Jason, was in there to try to calm them all down and get them to smile. He and his wife will be having the next new great-grandchild any day now!
My kids all call my grandma, Grammy. She is one of the most wonderful women I know. She has always been such a wonderful grandma to all of us kids. I remember going to her house with all the cousins. We'd sleep all over her living room floor and in the morning she'd make us a yummy breakfast complete with her world famous hot cocoa! I think it was just regular hot cocoa, but for some reason it always tasted better at her house! We love Grammy!!
I have been noticing lately that not many people who blog actually post pictures of themselves. It's weird how that happens. Anyway, I am the same way, but my sister took a couple great pictures of me with the kiddos so I thought I'd share.



I love Halley and Connor's faces in this one. They are such sweethearts!







We were also trying to get a good picture of the 3 kids, but sometimes I really think it's a lost cause . . . (For some reason this picture keeps uploading in the wrong direction. I'm not sure what's going on.)
Brother and Sister Love!!


Halley was wearing a super cute outfit so she got some extra attention!

Do You Remember Doing This?

The boys have discovered the joy of sliding down the stairs with their feety jammies on. They have been doing it pretty much non-stop ever since they figured it out. It has been really funny to watch because I remember doing the same thing and feeling like I was FLYING down the stairs.
Halley does it too, but only if the boys are not anywhere in the vicinity. She doesn't want to run into them or have them try to pull her down.
If only I allowed myself such frivolous play each day. I bet I'd feel a lot less stress!!!

Fire!

My sister came out and we took the kiddos to the fire department for a little tour the other day. Bradley's friend from school came too. It was really fun for the kids to see the fire engines up close. One of the guys even put all his gear on. The kids had lots of fun.
My favorite part was listening to how they answered all the questions. The kids also had fun playing in the leaves before we got started!

Connor

Zack (my sister's son)

Bradley

Sick Days!

This was one of THOSE days. All of us were sick - some more than others.
This picture of Connor was taken after he had diahrrea all over our bathroom floor. Yep, for real! I stuck him in the shower for like 20 minutes while I got everything cleaned up. He was as happy as could be. He has such a positive attitude about life. He had no idea I was taking this picture because he had that nasty goober hanging from his nose. It was hilarious!Later that day we HAD to get out of the house. There aren't many places you can go when everyone is sick so, we went to the backyard! The kids had some fun running around and swinging, and I think the sunshine was good for all of us.

Halley absolutely LOVES to swing. I think she'd sit in the swing all day if we let her. I love this picture of Bradley pushing her. He was being so sweet with her.

For some reason she was really sad when I took this one. Maybe it's because she was sick of being sick!!

Halley was laughing really hard in this picture. The boys were not being very gentle and letting her bump into them. It was really funny.
Being sick is no fun, especially because we can't leave the house. We all survived teh few days though.

Halloween Day!

All four of us woke up sick on Halloween day so we just sat around the house all day. We were planning to go to a couple parties, but I decided not to risk spreading our germs.
It was actually pretty fun to carve pumpkins and just be together, but I really wasn't feeling well so I am not sure I enjoyed it as much as I should have. He he he . . . Bradley and Connor were disgusted by the pumpkin guts. They wouldn't even touch them. Halley, on the other hand, LOVED IT!
I kept trying to keep her off the table, but she wanted those guts!! It was very funny! Look at that concentration! She spent the whole time playing in the pumpkin guts - putting them in and out of the bowl and back in the pumpkins and all over her. It was hilarious!
Here the kids are with their finished pumpkins. We only did two. Had I known how much Halley loved it, I might have gotten three. :)
The sun was shining right in the kids faces so I had a hard time getting them to look at me.I finally had the boys sit in the corner of the porch where there was some shade.





Because the kids had been planning to go trick-or-treating for months, I decided we could go out for a bit. Here they are all ready in their costumes.
I thought they would all be exhausted after like 20 minutes, but we stayed out for awhile. Bradley did get tired at the end though. Can you tell?
When we got home I think the boys had as much fun passing out candy as they did getting it. They were giving out huge handfuls. It was really funny.
I was absolutely exhausted and really missing Wes at that point. My parents came over for a bit, and that was nice. They brought us fun treats and leftovers from one of the parties!
I was pretty disappointed that we couldn't go to the parties and show off the kiddos, but it was good to stay home and relax. I think if we had gone out, not only would we have gotten people sick, but all of us would probably have been worse!
Overall, it was a fun Halloween. The kids make it all worth it!