Gotta Love Having a Winter Birthday

Happy Birthday Christian! 

The Big Five

You've come a long way . . . 

Yesterday (birthday eve) at Pre-K was "Snow Day" - all that was needed were some mittens as it was a beautifully 75 degree warm day - an interesting way to play in the snow. 

Christian brought a platter of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and pencils to share with his class for his birthday.  The kids loved them, and so did he.  He loved his crown his teacher Ms. Pat made and he loved his class singing to him.   That night, mom and dad took him out on a date for dinner then a treat at Treat Sweets.

The birthday fairy came to visit in the stealth of night filling his room with blue and white balloons.  He was so excited!  (as were his siblings).   He requested blintzes for his birthday breakfast, so we had that, waffles, and oranges.

Then . . . he got to find his first present . . . 

A Big Wheel "Motorcycle" is what he calls it.  I think daddy was more excited that Christian wanted a Big Wheel - he couldn't wait to put it together and we laughed at the memories we both shared of riding our Big Wheels when we were kids - even turning them over to play "ice cream."  Too bad they no longer are made with that rear hand brake. 

This is 8:30 in the morning . . . we all got the bikes out and had fun on our cul-de-sac.  I hope none of our neighbors were trying to sleep in.

After our bike-riding fun, we ran up to the park and played for a bit.  Then we came home to this:

 A water slide in our front yard!!!!!   We called his friends Harrison and Sam to come over and join in the fun.  Our neighbor Monroe came, too, then cousins Spencer, Melanie and Chelsea.

Although it was a beautifully warm day, it got pretty frigid in the water.  We hooked the hose up to the water heater so it wasn't freezing water coming out, but by the late afternoon and the cool breeze, it was downright cold.  

Lisa will have to send me her pictures, but John and I actually got on the slide, too.  It was fun until I hit the bottom (and mine) too hard coming down one of the times. 

He opened another present in the afternoon.  This was a basketball from Ashlyn.

We had a total of 10 kids over for an impromptu birthday party enjoying the water slide.  It was so much fun!

Then we went to Lamppost Pizza Parlor for dinner.  Lisa's family joined in for some birthday fun with the cousins.

Afterwards we came back home for dessert and more presents.  I think he had a fun 5-year old birthday!  

I, however, am a wee bit sad that I will never have a little four-year-old boy of my own again.  Christian is such a sweet and fun and smart kid.  He's my little boyfriend.   I joked with him that he wasn't allowed to turn five, because then he'll be 6, and 7, then 16, then on mission and grown and gone!  He looked at me and said, 

"It's OK mommy, I'll always be your baby."  

My little guy.

High School Musical

Madison and Brooke participated in a Kids Acting Out West production of 

High School Musical. 

Madison played Ms. Darbus, and Brooke played a brainiac.

They had a fabulous time and worked really hard practicing for weeks every Tuesday after school. 

Madison had a lot of lines!  

 "Is that even legal?" 

- the cafeteria scene. 

'Ms. Darbus' directing the kids during detention.

"But soft what light through yonder window breaks.  It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Daddy is so proud of his girls!

Her First Class

Ashlyn was so excited to go to her first "school" class. 

I signed her up for a little art class and she loved putting on the paint shirt, 

making a mess painting a wooden box, and making a drum.

And I was glad not to have a mess to clean up!

Just a Friday After School . . .

Friday is play day . . . 

and when it's 80 degrees at the beach, what better thing to do?  

We met friends there and had a glorious time.

However, we were a bit underprepared as I did not think it would be warm enough to actually go in the water, so my kids all had soaking wet 

clothes . . . 

but had much fun none-the-less.  Of course our recently transplanted Rexburg Idaho friends came prepared in bathing suits.  Anything above 30 degrees is warm to them.

We stayed until the gorgeous sunset, then 

we met the dads at Baja Fresh for dinner.  

You just gotta love winters in California . . .

Snow Day!

My poor, neglected blog. I'm so sorry.  You see, we've been kind of busy lately.  With family in town and all, and the holidays, and birthdays, and kids home from school and such.  Honestly, there is probably too much to blog about and I think I kept putting it off as it kept getting more and more overwhelming.  Plus, catching up on others' was much more fun.

Because, dear blog, you are my journal of sorts, and a portal for friends and family, near and far, to get a glimpse into our little life here in Sunny California, I will not neglect you so much anymore, at least for now.

Last week, on Friday, January 2nd to be exact, we decided to take a little day trip to our local mountains (a.k.a. 'the cabin' or Frazier Park) and play with our new Christmas toys (or John's), and have some fun in the sun.  You see, we've been freezing out here and had some pretty good snow - enough to at least make a pretty view out our home's windows with the snow-capped mountains way out in the distance and all.  Many our friends and family won't understand why on earth would we deliberately make the trek to "go to the snow" since they have been blasted with it, but it is such a novelty here.  Sorry!  Bear with me. 

There was not much snow at 'the cabin' anymore, but a few patches here and there.  This is Ashlyn's first time in snow, so it was quite the experience.  She loved it! 

We ventured out to the shooting place.  The place I've been to countless times as a child.  The place that has not changed one bit since then.  There are even still remnants of old tin cans and such from decades of shooting fun. 

There were many people that joined in our fun.  My bro-in-law Danny, and several of his friends along with three kids were part of our group.  

We bought air-soft pistols for the kids to play with and also brought along sling shots.  They were behind us, facing the opposite direction.

Safety is a must and we had ground rules that the kids were sure not to forget, along with the important ear protection.  The weather was spectacularly gorgeous.  I even took off my sweater at one point -- it was downright warm. 

One of the friends had me try his German World War I rifle.  I think it was called a Mauser or something to that effect.  Imagine the stories this thing could tell!

All I know is that gun had a kick!

Before

Notice the before and after (along with the smoke).  Even my hair flew back a bit. 

After

After two shots, I was satisfied, or actually more concerned that I'd have a bruised shoulder and whimped out.

All the kids (except Ashlyn I think) had a turn to shoot.  John got a new .22 (from me for Christmas) that we wanted to try out and it was really easy to use.  I took all the kids on a little hike and around 'the cabin' for old-time sake.  They had fun exploring around.  I sure wish the tire swing was still there.  That swing would sail forever it seemed and caused the biggest butterflies to flutter in my stomach.  I know my kids would love it today.  I should post a picture of 'the cabin' (along with its outhouse) and you'll then know why I say 'the cabin' in quotes!  My nephew Spencer was scared to go near it as he thought it was haunted.  I'll let your imaginations run wild.

After about two hours, we packed up and went around to the other side of the mountain and up, and up some more until we found some much better snow at about 8,000 feet.  It was powdery, deep, and fun to play in.  

It was great for making nice snowballs!

Brooke had fun falling in the deep pockets and Christian had fun most of the time.  

There he goes, having fun.

We built a little snowman fun, and packed up a cooler full of snow to take home.

On Saturday morning, the kids had a great time building another snowman in front of the house.  I'm sure the neighborhood got a kick out of seeing him.  

.

By the time we got home from church the next afternoon, he was still there, but since it was Fast Sunday, he was quite skinny.  I should have taken a picture.

Nativity Tour

I love to decorate with nativity scenes . . . they kind of emphasize the whole

point of 'the holidays' anyway, right?

This beautiful set we picked up on our Honeymoon in Cozumel. 

It stays up and out of reach!

This is one of my first homemade numbers from a Super Saturday 

ages ago.  The kids love to play with it and it's pretty sturdy.  It's actually now on the floor in the family room where it can be played with.

I love my front porch set.

I won this set from the table raffle at the California Utah Women's Boutique luncheon

at the Disneyland Hotel

My friend Kim gave us this set - it is darling and another favorite of the kids.  

I'm amazed that nothing has gotten broken on it yet. **update:  spoke too soon . . . poor Joseph's staff got broken yesterday.  Hopefully nothing a dab of glue can't fix**

I made these little guys years ago and they adorn a picture shelf in the entry way.

I love how Fisher-Price made a nativity.  It's so adorable and is in our play room.

Our bishopric gave us this framed picture this year.  I love it and put it in the downstairs bathroom - the one room that was missing a nativity scene!

Another home-made craft that was a gift to me.

Heather made this advent calendar for us years ago.  It is a family favorite and hangs on the closet door in our family room every year.  The kids never need to be asked or reminded to put up the day's item - they just do it every morning and look forward to it.  The details with the sequins and fabrics and stitching are incredible.  It is definitely a treasure!  Thanks Heather!!

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

It's time for the annual Santa party hosted by our good friends, the Hallmarks. 

Everyone thoroughly looks forward to this, and unfortunately, Madison had another party that she committed to, so was unable to attend.  But Santa didn't forget her - he had a gift for her in his giant sack.

Ashlyn couldn't get enough of my friend's baby.  

** All I Want for Christmas are My Two Front Teeth **

Ashlyn was intimidated, but by the time Santa called her name, she was brave enough to go get her gift.  All she has asked for is "pink yiptick"

Christian had a great time and asked for a Star Wars Transformer . . . 

Santa is truly magical and usually comes through perfectly!

Santa tells his story, and also the story of Christmas, sings songs, and takes questions.  He asked Christian to come take a 'sleigh ride' with him . . .