"Oh Martha, ...Oh CHRISTMAS!!!"

Every year we set up the Christmas tree on November 11th.    (Unless we get a real tree and then we wait a couple of weeks but this year we didn't get a real tree, so November 11th it was, and now I'm just trying to make this the biggest run on sentence possible;)

The kids were SO stoked to get to use the Ridleys tree this year as ours is packed away.  (or perhaps we donated it to the Bargain Barn?)    

Abby made sure to crank up the Christmas tunes real loud, Nate had to get into his coziest jammies (in the middle of the afternoon;) and the kids all loved each other a little bit more the whole day long.   Setting up Christmas is seriously the happiest day in our home, in fact it can get downright cheezy!! 

I love getting the kids to bed and enjoying the soft glow of the Christmas lights with a snack that I've kept secret from them all day long good book and a blanket. 

  

I'm pretty sure that there is nothing better then this time of year!!

Now that Daddy's back!

It has been two weeks now since John's last volleyball tournament (which means I'm two weeks late with my journalling;) and we still get excited to wake up Saturday morning to the smell of one of Dad's breakfasts!!   The kids LOVE his hash browns and french toast and I just love that I can stay in bed a little later and smell it;)

Everyone is happier when Dad is around!!!

It was a good season though, and John had a lot of fun with his boys.   They improved so much throughout the season and I seriously feel as though John improved right along with them!   He always says he isn't a very experienced coach, but he's been doing this for six years now and he gets better and better each time.       To celebrate the end of a good season, we had his team over for a dinner (Cafe Rio) and a movie consisting of some of their highlights.   It was fun to see them interact with Joh and the kids were glad to get to be included.    

 Awesome group of Young Men right there, that's for sure!!!

Now that John is around a lot more, the kids have resumed their favourite winter pastime - 

Skating!!   

Not a single one of my kids are very accomplished skaters, but slowly (ever so slowly) they are improving.   We generally try to carve out time each weekend to get to the rink, but the kids would go every single day if we let them! 

Thoughts on Growing up...

My baby is 5.   Yes, that's right. 

 My baby.  FIVE!!

How did this happen?   Like, really, at what point did time start flying?  

One moment I was crying on a pew in sacrament meeting, juggling four kids under the each of 6, trying to remember my own name - LONGING for the day when my kids would be older, and the next moment - WHAM!!!   My baby is five.   

It's just not fair, that's all there is to it.   Nobody told me that I would look back and wish for those days back again.   Oh wait, yes they did, I just didn't believe them!! ;)

Well, I am here to say, it is all true!

On day you will look at your wee little babe and wish that he/she really was still your wee little babe.  You'll wish for the tantrums, the late nights, the feel sick cuddles, and the sticky fingers.  You'll want it all back, every last bit of it! 

Sigh...despite all of my recent pleading, this little guy is determined to grow up on me!

 He welcomed his 5th birthday wholeheartedly and made sure to tell everyone around him just what his expectations were for the day. 

(I tried to make our customary ghost cake with flaming eyes, but Nate didn't like the fire eyes, so out they came;)

John got home late late Saturday night, but Sunday was so busy with church stuff and attending Uncle Jordan's pornography seminar that we didn't actually get to celebrate John's birthday until Monday evening.    (Luckily, John handled it like a big boy;)  He sat all by himself at the table while we sang to him though, because all of the kids apparently had to act out the Happy Birthday song, they couldn't just sit there and sing to him.   haha.    

For the past few years, John has always gotten upset at me every time I say he's "almost forty." 

  I'm just really really thrilled that he is 39 and that now I really can say that this ol' man of mine is indeed - almost 40!!

Abby didn't celebrate a birthday this week or anything, but she did come home this week with a recipe from Home Ec class that she wanted to test out, which is a new milestone.  It was a recipe for baking powder biscuits and they were so delicious!  She made them from start to finish all by herself and she was proud as punch when we all ate them for dinner.   

She's really turning into a beautiful young woman and is so so helpful here at home.   She's cooking more and more meals and really has a love for baking.   

If there had to be a silver lining to watching my kids grow up, I'd say getting to enjoy fresh baked treats like this is one of them!!!

Halloween Highlights

Halloween made for a busy couple of days around here.   

John left Thursday night (Oct 30th) for a four day trip to a tournament in Edmonton so as a result - we postponed his birthday;)   Despite that though, there was still lots and lots to celebrate:

1.   Last Halloween with a Preschooler.    

Yup!  It seems this is the last time one of my kids will ever wear this delightful spidey hat home from school.     They've each had their turn with it, and they've all been equally adorable!  Nate almost broke my heart last Thursday afternoon when he clamored off the bus, proudly showing it off.   Sigh....it's almost enough to want another future preschooler!   ...but not quite;)

2. For Family Home Evening we did the annual pumpkin carving.  Each of the kids got to chose and design their own pumpkins, which turned out great! 

 (I watched from a distance as John got his hands dirty for this one.   Everything is easier when he is around;)   I loved sitting back and enjoying the glowing jack o'lanterns!

3. The kids all chose their own costumes this year (and paid for them themselves too;) so it should not have surprised me what they all ended up going as.   

Abby knew the moment she saw this bacon suit that this is what she wanted to be.    I'm pretty sure that Abby loves bacon so much that if she could marry it, she would.   She's been known to eat an entire pack on her own, she has bacon flavored bath soap, and throws "um...bacon..." into random conversations.   She's all kinds o' crazy, this one, and no other costume would have suited her as well.  

Sam went as Gandalf, which for him, was a dream come true!   He's only ever seen the first half hour of the first movie (right up to when Frodo leaves the shire;) but it was all Sam needed to be able to impersonate Gandalf to a tee!    Phrases such as, "You shall not pass!"  "A wizard is never late..."  and "Fool of a took!" were things we'd hear every time the costume was on.   

Jessica went as the cutest little Granny EVER!  Both at our ward party as well as the entire Halloween day - she managed to stay in character the whole time!   She walked to school shuffling her feet, doubled over with her cane;  when she had to write her spelling test instead of putting her name at the top - she wrote "old Granny;" and apparently she struggled during gym class because everyone else was running, and she just couldn't quite keep up!   haha

I LOVE this kid!!!

Nate's costume was a total copout this year, as it was the first thing he saw at Extra Foods and I didn't have the energy/ resistance/ backbone to refuse him.  Luckily, it was 40% off so that is how I justified it;)   He insisted on wearing the cheap plastic mask which sorta took away from the cuteness of the costume (in my opinion) but such is life.   This is a 5 year old who obviously got his way this halloween;)    

Because John was away, and because we'd cancelled his Birthday, the kids ate supper in about 2 minutes flat and were out the door!   It was a GORGEOUS evening especially considering it was the last day of October.    17 degrees, not a bit of wind...the kids were trick or treating without coats for most of the evening!     

They came home a couple of hours later, bags FULL of candy and halloween goodies.   As a kid, the best part of trick or treating for me was always when I got to take inventory afterwards, dumping it all out, sorting and arranging it all! 

 I'd have to say the best part about trick or treating for me now though,  is the hour after the kids go to bed when I get to snack on all my favorite treats- and they never have a clue;)

Best part about it - hands down!!!

Halloween Party

Abby came to me one day, in the middle of October and announced to me that she was "having a party" and needed to fill me in on the plans.    I had to admire her approach.  She didn't ask me IF she could have a party, yet came to me with a well thought out plan, making it virtually impossible for me to refuse.  I had to laugh as she opened up her journal to a page titled "The PLOT of my party" that consisted of every last detail.  Naturally, I changed a few of her details due to the fact that they were wildly unrealistic nor were they safe but for the most part, I chose to honor this little plan of hers.   

So, one week before Halloween, Abby had 15 friends from school over, costumes and all!

They spent the night: eating, decorating cookies, delivering the cookies/playing commando, eating some more, dancing, playing mafia and (once John came home that night from his tournament) they all climbed onto big school bus John had brought home for a late night tour of the town and screaming at the top of their lungs!    

Oh my it was loud.

I didn't actually realize how loud a group of girls like this could be!;)

Thankfully, John did make it home for the last bit of the party and managed to entertain them by spitting grapes high into the air and then catching them again.    In case you were wondering, the only thing worse than 15 screaming girls is 15 girls spitting grapes in the air and missing every one of them!  (Just kidding- there is nothing bad about 15 girls.  Honest!)

Abby had a great time with her friends and I enjoyed getting to know some of these kids she spends a large chunk of her days with.    

I may just let her do it again one day!

...maybe.