Winter Wonderland

Things have been so crazy around here lately that I hadn't even thought about my blog in a very long time (I blame my job and if you know what I do, you'll understand too). So allow me to show you a quick recap of our past month for you.

Thanksgiving was spent with my family this year which meant we packed up the car and drove to Mary's house. As per tradition, we got there early on Thursday to help with the cooking and then stayed the night so that we could have a mini-vacation and spend some time with Mary and Chris (and Iris and Jack too, of course). We have always gone to a movie together the day after Thanksgiving but this year we decided to step it up a notch. So we booted everyone up and went ice skating. Even Iris and Gabriel put skates on and got out there on the ice. Gabriel wasn't a big fan. He actually really wanted to be on the ice, but really wanted to be held while out there. I am by no means an ice skating pro, so this definitely did not happen (I have a hard enough time keeping myself upright, no way am I going to try it while holding 30 pounds on one hip!). Frejya, though, absolutely loved it.

After skating, we decided to go to a movie like always. The men stayed home with the little ones and Mary and I took Frejya and Maisy to the movies. We decided to watch Breaking Dawn while Maisy and Frejya watched The Muppets. Great idea in theory, but it meant I spent the entire length of the movie wondering if they actually made it into their theater and were doing ok. Not a very relaxing time at the theater for me.

And in the weeks since Thanksgiving we have been keeping ourselves busy with all sorts of other things. Gabriel thinks it's hilarious to stick his fingers in his ears and then talk really loudly.

He also learned how to get out of his crib and is now sleeping in a toddler bed. The first day there was no napping to be done in the afternoon and so he fell asleep on the couch later in the day. Cute now, but really wasn't cute at the time. And he actually still only really goes to bed for Gabe. For some reason when I walk away from him in his room he follows me out, but if Gabe puts him in there he'll stay put.

Frejya got a dog as an early Christmas present. I've never been a fan of chihuahuas, but so far Hugo has been a fun addition to the family. And Tekota is definitely happy to have a playmate.

And now it's Christmastime already. It's going to be a super busy week, but this is my favorite time of year. Can't wait to spend the weekend with family and friends.

Fishing with Daddy

Is there anything better?

Lessons in life

Frejya has been learning some valuable life lessons as of late. She is fully capable of driving my car which I think is pretty incredible. I still make her sit on my lap so that I can take over if necessary, but she uses the pedals and steers all on her own. And she's really good at not starting or stopping too fast.  She really has a knack for this driving thing already (and obviously we're only driving on private property where this is allowed).

She also learned how to do laundry this weekend. She had a pretty good idea from helping me out over the years, but she now knows exactly what settings to use, how much soap to use, etc. And her learning this chore is really going to help me out a lot I think. Plus she loves that she gets to keep any money she finds as she's doing this. 

And the last very important life lesson we accomplished this weekend was public speaking. She's really no stranger to public speaking but this was her first time being liturgist at church and she did an amazing job. She decided to do most of the readings all by herself and she really nailed it. Everyone at church was very impressed with how well she can read and how well she understood what she was reading. She made the gospel lesson exciting because she actually understood that it was a story, not just a statement to read. She definitely reads with good inflection. I don't know that I've ever been prouder.

 

And just one more thing: Frejya got straight A's on her report card. It's her first report card with real letter grades and she is super excited about it. And we are so proud!

Brownies are yummy

Gabriel discovered this weekend that brownies are awesome. He also learned how to say the word awesome. He doesn't say it when he talks about brownies, though. He says it after he jumps off my bed onto a big pile of pillows. This is probably his very favorite activity these days. And probably the least safe of all the things he does on a daily basis. So I'm not going to post pictures of it, but will instead post some of him enjoying the brownie mix after Frejya made us all brownies Saturday night. And maybe you'll notice that he's up at the sink in these pictures. He also discovered how to push a chair across the kitchen and turn on the water in the sink this weekend.

Another awesome thing that happened this weekend is that we got Iris (again!) for a few hours. Oh how I love me some time with Iris! She and Gabriel are both getting to a bit of a bullying age and don't share toys very well. For the most part Iris ends up as top dog and Gabriel ends up crying. But then there are other times when they play together perfectly well.

And finally I would like to share Frejya's jack-o-lantern with you all. She carved it all by herself this year. Exciting stuff!

Now with better pictures

My friend Kim took much better pictures of my little ones than I did. So now you can see them more clearly. And in case you were wondering, yes I was bothered by how mature the batgirl costume was. Frejya's legs are way too long for her to wear something like that.

To the rescue!!

My kids went as superheroes for Halloween this year. Spiderman and Batgirl. And somehow I didn't end up with a single picture of just the two of them. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am very disappointed.

Gabriel thought trick or treating was the greatest thing ever. He got the concept of it right away and followed all the big kids from house to house. He didn't quite understand that he was only given candy once per house, though. He would just drop the candy into his bag and hold out his hand for more. And of course he was just so cute that people would give him several handfuls. So we have way too much candy at our house now.

 

And this is what he looked like after trick or treating. Can you say candy coma?

There sure are a lot of us!

We got more family pictures taken yesterday. This time with my whole family. It was an awful lot of crazy but I'm excited to see how it all turned out. It's hard to believe there are 19 of us now (20 in a few more months!). Gabe is officially done with family pictures for awhile now. Apparently scheduling picture sessions on 2 Sundays in the same month during football season was not very nice of me.

He's got the moves like Jagger

How overplayed is that song? Frejya loves it so I think I have heard it about 4 billion times. Which is 4 billion times too many. Especially since it's so catchy and I end up singing it to myself all day after hearing it. Awful!

We started off our Saturday morning with some dancing. Because who doesn't love dancing first thing on a Saturday? And Gabriel really got into it. I'm not even sure where he got these moves, but they are fantastic! Check him out.

Awesome, right? That second picture kills me. And never to be outdone, the girls had some pretty sweet moves of their own. Oh Iris, how I love you.

A cousin is a sister you never had

Did you know that there are scrapbooking websites that will give you phrases or quotes relating to certain subjects? I didn't but I certainly do now. I sometimes have issues titling my posts and so today I reached out to good old Google and this title is what I was given. How awesomely ridiculous is that?! So of course I had to use it.

I think I have already made it completely clear that I am obsessed with these cousins. Gabriel and Iris together is just my absolute favorite combination of cuteness.

And these cousins are pretty cute too. We had a huge cousin sleep over last weekend. So much fun.

Dinnertime silliness

The fun never seems to stop at our house during dinnertime. It's probably my favorite part of the day. And the kids definitely enjoy it also. Gabriel entertained us last night by drinking his milk out of a spoon. He seriously thought he was the most clever guy ever.

And then there was this. I don't even know what is going on here. But Gabriel thought it was hilarious.

Fall fesitval

Frejya's school had its annual fall festival on Saturday so the kids and I went to play. I gave Frejya a pocketful of money and didn't see her again until it was time to leave. Gabriel had tons of fun running around and playing with his cousins. We hung out in my mom's classroom for most of the time and it was super fun. Isn't Estevan funny in these pictures? He is the best ego boost you could ask for. This little guy gives me the biggest hugs every time he sees me. He even told me on Saturday that he wants to come live with me. It's nice to know someone thinks I'm awesome. Who cares if he's only 5?

Frejya returned home that afternoon with some crazy face paint and hair color. She also now has 2 new feathers in her hair. She loved her face paint so much that she didn't want to take it off. When I finally made her take it off before bedtime she swore she was going to put the wipe she used in her memory box so that she could keep the face paint forever. I really hope she doesn't have a problem with hoarding someday.