My kids teach me so much.

I have learned that our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can ever comprehend. The love of a parent can not be described.

However my kids are AMAZING! They love me unconditionally, they don't care if I mess up, or burn dinner, or yell at them when they don't deserve it. They always forgive and show true love without a second thought.

Thank you to my babies for loving a very imperfect Mother who loves them unconditionally too!

Christmas Day

Santa came to our house this year! He enjoyed the milk and cookies that Makayla left out for him and he left some great presents.

When Makayla entered the front room she did not notice her stocking or the big present for her by the tree, she noticed that the cookies and milk were gone. Then she ran across the front room to look at the plate.

Then she turned and found that she got a Pink and Purple bike! She yelled My bike! She had the biggest smile on her face. It was so fun to watch her.

Then as she sat on her bike it pointed her in the direction of the stockings on the couch. Hers included a Unicorn Pillow Pet which she asked Santa for.

Excited does not even describe her attitude :o). Micah was asleep when Makayla woke up so we let her open her stocking and we waited until Micah woke up for the presents. This is how I found him on Christmas morning. So cute.

He was a little grumpy when I brought him out of his room and he did not want to walk but he warmed up as soon as he saw the car that Santa brought him.

Two very excited kids!

Micah loves his car, he spent most of the day playing with it and sitting in it. He even got mad when I made him get in his high chair for dinner because he wanted to eat in the car.

Next we opened presents.

These were the gifts that our kids got for each other. Makayla was super excited to give Micah his present. And that was the first present she got out from the tree. Made my heart burst with joy to see her so excited about giving!

I don't know what it is but Micah liked having the Christmas bows on his head! LOL

They got the Toy Story 3 toys that talk. We tried to get them to look at the camera but no love.

We hung out at home all day. After dinner they got into their jammies, played with the toys and we watched a movie as a family.

Here they are watching a movie and enjoying the Pillow Pets! We are all so thankful for Santa bringing these pillows. They have come in handy and both kids love them so much.

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope that you all did too!

Christmas Eve 2010

We went to my parents house for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. It was so much fun to see everyone and eat the delicious dinner my Mom made. The grand kids that play instruments put on a Christmas talent show. Here are my kids having a turn playing the piano. They had lots of fun - even though it did not sound very good. :o)

Every year My parents give the grand kids pajamas for a gift. Then they all run upstairs and get changed into their pajamas before we leave. It is a fun tradition. And as I have mentioned before Micah does not like to hold still for pictures. maybe next year I wont be in the picture.

When we got home Makayla finished decorating her cookies for Santa,

And she and Clint threw the reindeer food that she made at school on our lawn.Then with a last reminder for us to go to bed early from Makayla she fell asleep. We had a fantastic Christmas Eve and enjoyed the day even though it was a little bit crazy at first.

How cute is this?

Here is a link to the instructions

http://craftsandcrap.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowman-hand-sanitizer.html

and by the way what an awesome name. Crafts and Crap. Crafts feel that way sometimes LOL! With having a home daycare we use A LOT of hand sanitizer. I may be making a trip to Dollar Tree to find this bottle to make one for me :o). On the other hand this would be an awesome neighbor gift ... maybe next year!

Temple Square December 2010

We decided to make a break for Temple Square to see the lights on a Tuesday night as the weather cleared up and so did the haze. Our kids loved seeing the lights. Micah was very cute and kept saying WOW! Makayla's new saying is that is so awesome! I realized that I didn't take any pictures of the lights. Oh well there is always next year.

In front of the nativity

Gotta love the super cheesy grin :o)

Micah is at an age where if he is kept sitting in the stroller or on the couch he will look at the camera. Other than that you must click fast! I got a lot of pictures of the top of his head, side of his head, his back and half smiles. But I liked capturing him exploring around the Temple. The kids were enthralled with the Temple. They kept touching it and we showed them all the different stones that are all over. It was a wonderful night. I cant wait to go back when it is warmer!

Bedtime tradition

Makayla and Micah love each other so much. It makes my heart so full to see them together. I know it will not always be so happy but I will enjoy it while it lasts. Before bedtime or nap time Makayla will lay down next to Micah and hold him for a minute. This started when he was about 3 weeks old and they still do it today :o). Micah loves to lay next to Makayla in bed and sometimes I have a hard time getting him to go into his room. I love these two like crazy!

4/2009

6/2009

10/2009

8/2010

12/2010

Makayla's Friend Party

Makayla had her first friend Birthday Party this year. She picked a Princess and the Frog party. We wanted a smaller party so we invited 4 girls and 3 were able to come. They had a blast. They decorated princess crowns, then played throw the frog on the lily pad. I made some bean bag frogs and we cut some felt into a lily pad shape.

Then we had our cake, they ate the Prince Naveen cupcakes and we took the Tiana cake to the family party later that day. They colored on some activity pages that I printed out and then went home. They had so much fun that the girls did not want to leave.

Makayla still talks about her party when her friends came over. She even gave me a hug and said thank you when they left. It made me feel so happy to know that we did something that made her so happy. Happy 6th birthday to one of the cutest kiddos in the world!

Dear Laundry Fairy ...

Dear Laundry Fairy,

I would love to think that you exist, so if you would please come fold and put away my laundry for me I would LOVE it! It would mean that I would stop procrastinating putting it away and being sick of clothes while folding 4 loads of laundry. Thank You so much for your help in advance ;o)

Sincerely
Kristy

Smarty Pants!

It has been a while since I have done a Micah post so here it is :o)

oh where to start ...

Micah is 20 months old, he runs and climbs, and laughs most of the day. He is getting taller and loves to be a big helper around the house. He is saying a ton of words and the ones he doesn't know yet he does a sign or repeats after us. This has been fun, especially when he runs into Makayla's room in the morning yelling KAAAYYYLLLAAA to wake her up. And I must say that she does not oppose to Micah waking her up, she is not nearly as grumpy as when I have to wake her up :o)

Micah can reach into the top drawers in our kitchen, even though he can not see what is in them he reaches in and goes up on his tippy toes to get stuff out. Here are some of his favorites: can opener, spoons or forks, measuring spoons / cups, my Tupperware bowls and lids. He has a new found love of pots and pans. We went out and bought him a set of play pots so he would leave mine alone. I moved the play kitchen from Makayla's room to his and this is where he is for most of the day. He is my little chef and I love it.

While he is super cute and lovey and says "ove you" and gives you a hug and kiss he has a dark side ... he throws some of the best tantrums, screams NO and throws his head back. He hates nursery and he screams bloody murder while he is in there. I hope he gets used to it soon.

Micah loves our Christmas Tree and I love waiting until he is in the room to turn the lights on because he says wow or awesome every time and that reaction makes all the work of getting it up worth it. Also it makes me super excited for Christmas.

Micah has been through a lot this year, and after his last sickness of a yucky stomach flu I hope that is the last of it for a while. I love my little guy so much and can't imagine my life without him. Although some days he drives me crazy he was definitely meant to be in our family and I thank our Heavenly Father for blessing us with this sweet spirit.

Disappointed ...

On Christmas morning 2007 imagine our excitement when we saw what Santa brought for Makayla. A super cool play kitchen. It is interactive, has fruits that you can "cut" apart- they Velcro together.

So it was time to get up ... Makayla takes a little time to get going after she wakes up. I guess we should have let her wake up a little bit more before having her open presents because this was the reaction we got!

Actually this was one of the better pictures - a sad attempt at a smile! She warmed up a little once she dug into her stocking and played with that kitchen all day. Clint and I imagined such a different reaction from her. At her preschool that was her preferred center for work time. ALWAYS in the play kitchen.

Her reactions to surprises lately have been super cute and so much fun for Clint and I. So when she started planning her birthday party 5 months ago, and no I not kidding! And she decided on a Princess and the Frog party. She told me that she wanted a cute Princess Tiana cake. So we worked out a plan to make her a cute cake. Her birthday party was on Saturday so I got the cake baked and frosted on Friday. After she went to bed I decorated the cake with fondant. I grabbed her Princess Tiana Barbie earlier in the week and told her I needed it for a fun birthday surprise.

After I decorated it I hid it in the fridge so that she would be very surprised when her friends came over for her friend party. But of course the queen of disappointment struck again! I bring the cake out of the fridge and put it on the table and get her attention. I am expecting a squeal, jumping up and down, or a huge open mouth. Did I get any of these things ... nope! She started crying and as she ran into her room to hide I heard her say, " I need my Barbie out."

Now while I was disappointed about the fact that the cake sagged and she was leaning pretty bad and the fondant did not work as I imagined it, I still thought the cake was pretty cute. :o) After a talk with Dad, she came up to me with tears in her eyes and said "thank you for the cake Mommy". We assured her that her barbie will be just fine and that later that night we would take her out. After the initial shock of seeing her Barbie in the cake, she loved it. She showed it off to everyone that came to both the friend and family party. It made me feel good to have her be proud of something that I made for her. She had a wonderful party and we love our Birthday Girl like crazy!

Makayla is getting too big!

On Sunday as I flossed Makayla's teeth I noticed that she has gotten 2 of her 6 year old molars, and she had a permanent tooth growing in behind her baby tooth on the bottom. So we took her to the dentist on Monday and they numbed her mouth and pulled the tooth out. She lost her first tooth! My baby is old enough to lose a tooth :o( sad day for Mom and Dad! She was so brave at the dentist. No crying or freaking out. I was one proud Mama. Our amazing dentist gave her a tooth shaped container on a necklace to put her tooth in. That went under her pillow, and the Tooth Fairy came and took her tooth and left her some money. I was sitting on our couch in the morning waiting for her to wake up. I heard her gasp and say "I have to show Mom and Dad!" She came running out like this ...

She carried her money around until she had to get ready for school :o)

Here is my happy girl!

She has 3 more loose teeth - YIKES! But she told me she is excited for them to fall out because she wants more money :o) She may be able to say - All I Want For Christmas is my four front teeth - LOL