Christmas Break 2014 Pt 1

We always enjoy the good times that come with being out of school! The Christmas break of '14 wasn't fully documented with photos, but here are a few things we did:

Gingerbread Houses

Ellie's sweet preschool teacher sent a lovely gingerbread house kit home with each of her students. I might just be categorized as a "bad mom" for the bare fact that I've never purchased such a product, nor engaged in this specific activity--which is, to many, a necessary winter tradition--with my children. So we did it together. I told myself I'd never do such a project again, especially with kids...but what I tell myself is irrelevant after about a week anyway.

Posing with the Edible Masterpiece...and Isaac by his school-made penguin and birdfeeder.

Six Flags

We finally got Six Flags Passes! Pregnant people can only watch at most amusement parks (I had to hide my belly with my purse on the pedestrian train ride!), so that's what I did. And I snapped a few pictures.

Trains

Planes

Skater-mobiles

Whatever-mobiles

 Shopping

Perhaps it's because I'm blogging over a year after this happened, but I don't remember going shopping on Christmas Eve. Apparently we did. And Ellie really wanted me to get this picture of her with this new, hip, adoptive family she met.

Snow!? In Texas!?

Yep, it's Sea World. You have to wait in line, but it's worth it if you love and miss snow as much as we do. We'll probably be singing a different tune if we ever move out of Texas, but for now...there's Sea World!

My Student

This guy loves homeschooling so much. Can't you tell?? He is a fun kiddo to spend the day with, although he's quite stubborn at times. Never uses a pencil; always a pen. Bathroom breaks are our favorite mandatory activity...not. All of our homeschool activities will be in a separate album, but I thought I'd give a shout out to my Noah. And, of course, Isaac is giving him bunny ears here. I guess that's what he learned in public school. Ha! Joking.

Her First Real Haircut!

It was long overdue, but we are very happy with the results.

Frightening

It's frightening to think that this blog is over a year behind and I don't think I'll ever catch up!


My kids were frightening on Halloween last year.

It was frightening (okay, not really) that we revealed the baby's gender with sprinkles in cookies and codes.

It was frightening to know we were having a GIRL (actually, just exciting...we would've been excited either way)!

It's frightening how fast these kids grow. Isaac's 9th birthday featured a Harry Potter-themed dinner with our good friends, the Souths.

The formal invitation

Potter Party

Birthday morning with a present from Grandma and strawberry crepes

Oh, the Messes We Make and the Things We Create!

Above we have a prime example of what goes on regularly at our house. It's very serious. Here are some more examples:

That's my girl, showing off her preschool creations and hilarious expressions!

Before and after...Ellie's room took so long to finish we never got an "after" picture! Room cleaning is always a source of frustration for everyone involved.

Noah and his tangrams in homeschool one day.

Sometimes you've got to take advantage of September rain...and wrestle on the trampoline!

Yes, this ridiculous tower was built just days after that "clean room" pic.

More dress-up/fight-type play

Even moms can make messes and be creative. These snickerdoodles and the accompanying key revealed that BABY #4 was a girl! Nice Halloween surprise for us all.

-From October & November 2014.

More adventures with Bob & Tiffany

Noah, Malachi, Isaac--cousins!

While the Bob Laney family was here, we had some good times. We even hiked to the dinosaur tracks at Government Canyon.

There were some hilarious times in the back yard, just hanging out and being super silly.

We went to get the giantest pizza you ever saw at Big Lou's. We thought we could take it, but clearly we were mistaken. Even the leftovers' boxes had to be folded to fit into our fridge.

One of the last things we did was get a giant cinnamon roll. Not the best breakfast place, but the size was, again, impressive.

Bob, Tiffany, and Malachi at the Ranch!

We were thrilled to have Bob, Tiffany and Malachi come visit us early in September of 2014. We got to meet Malachi for the first time since his adoption (well, Jared got to visit them for their sealing in July). Lots of fun!

One thing was HAD to do with them was go to Enchanted Springs Ranch.

So there are the usual poses we have to include from the cooky community.

The coffin was especially popular. Malachi is sitting waiting for one of the shows to begin, which has nothing to do with coffins. But I just love his face!

And of course, everybody needs to give some love to Woodrow the Longhorn.

Waiting for the wagon ride, Ellie enjoyed showing off her many expressions.

And then there's the kids' play area!

Puking and Pupils

So, around July 2014 I was in the best shape of my life. I had a running group plus I would go to Easy Fit to train 2-4 times a week. It was awesome. And I felt great. I knew I would be pregnant soon and I thought it was going to be my best pregnancy yet.

I was wrong.

Around August I suddenly got very sick. Like, "oh, I'm shopping. Now I'm puking! I'm so glad I just took Noah to the bathroom here because I know where the water fountain is. Yikes, this is embarrassing!" I spent many daylight hours on the porch trying to not smell anything and eat something that would stay down (and also to warm up and stop the shaking I had from frequent vomiting). I spent even more on the couch trying to listen and be a part of the family during meals, play time, scriptures and FHEs. Sometimes I remember what it was like and I shudder.

Luckily, I had wonderful support from my husband, who took the kids places and spent time with them as much as he could.
   
I wasn't able to see Isaac off on his first day of 3rd grade, but Jared sent him. Sadly, there are no pictures to document this event.


Then Jared took Noah for his first PE class-- a bike ride! I stayed home and languished miserably inside right after I took these pictures.

The first day of school for Ellie was several days later and I was able to drop her at her new preschool with Ms. Yvonne! She was so excited and today she still talks about how she misses it there.

And to make up for Isaac's first day of school being missed, here's some evidence of his awesomeness from August 9, 2014 when he had an entire menu planned, a table set, and even dressed the part of breakfast waiter and cook. It was adorable.

A Fabulous Summer

We enjoyed the summer of 2014 quite a lot! Here are a few collages (unedited in any other way) to illustrate:

 The many faces of Noah Grey

 

 Isaac on the swim team again.

 Isaac at Scout camp

Hanging at the pool at Iron Horse 

And the 4th of July (post bike parade).