They're BAAAAAaaaaaaack! Part 1

 December 1st:

Our favorite elves, Jingle and Belle arrived! Like last year, they brought gifts of Pajamas.  But this time, the WHOLE family gets them, AANNDD..... they MATCH! (Oh yes, pictures will follow....)

The kids love these elves and take them everywhere. They wake up each morning and say "What did Jingle Belle do?" In Brinly's case: "Where Jingle-Belle?!"

They also love pampering these elves with lush, soft beds and plenty of crackers and water. 

December 2nd:

The elves drew on the kids' portraits with....SHARPEE! dun dun DUN. The kids were shocked that they would write with a sharpee! I'm so glad they know that is a SERIOUS NO-NO in our house.

December 3rd: 

They found great hiding spots in the candle pillars

December 4th:

They hung the unmentionables on the TREE!

December 5th:

The elves have a toilet paper fight.

 December 6th:

The elves take pictures of the kids in their sleep. We found them sitting on Michael's dresser with the camera. 

December 7th:

The elves go fishing!

 December 8th:

They have a tough game of "Guess who"

December 7th: 

Mmmmm....Nothing like a hot class of chocolate milk and marshmallows!

December 8th:

They snuck off and went on Dad's hunting trip with Grandpa.

(Love this picture. Grandpa's expression is priceless...)

December 11th: Jingle painted their noses to look like Rudolph

(This was Sunday morning. I was playing a musical number at church and had to be there by 8:00 AM. Dan was already gone to meetings, so it was a rush to get them ready and out the door. I didn't have time to scrub off Brinly's nose, so she went to church as Rudolph...until I could get to her nose. )

December 12th:

Belle makes a chair fort from the folding chairs set up for that evening's piano recital.

December 13th:

Much to my dismay, Jingle and Belle snooped around the house and found these stockings hidden in my sock drawer. They decided to help by hanging them up.

I thought I had been taking pictures every day, but I'm not sure where the 9th and 10th went. OH well! As you can see, we're having lots of fun and look forward to the next 12 days! 

Overheard at our house

Brinly is cracking me up daily. 

We've been potty training this week. Slowly. Painfully. BUT, I think she might be getting the hang of it. I'm refusing to put her in diapers (unless it's bedtime). So, I bravely stuck to this when we left the house for 3 hours of soccer. 

During Chelsea's half time, I took her to the soccer complex's bathroom. These "big" toilets freaked Chelsea out when she was little and she wouldn't dare sit on the toilet. 

Brinly sat right down, and....drum roll....WENT POTTY!!!!

I was so excited!

She got a piggy back ride on the way back to the field. I sang "Brinly went to the potTY! Brinly went to the potTY! (in the conga line style). 

Then she chimed in "I got to fwush the Toy-et! I got to fwush a toy-et!" in the same style. 

Whatever makes her happy! Let's hope we have lots of toilet-flushes tomorrow as well!

Overheard at our house

okay, I always type that "hour ouse".

Anyway.

We have Netflix. The Netflix where you can instantly stream to your TV. LOVE this feature.

A few days ago, I introduced "Dora" to Brinly.


Yesterday, she had a runny nose, so I told her we needed to go wipe it.

She starts wiping her nose and says "Swiper nose! Swiper nose! Swiiiiiiiper NOSE!"

(If you aren't familiar with the show, there's a little fox who "swipes" things. To prevent him from swiping, Dora says "Swiper, NO swiping! Swiper, NO swiping!". If you say that fast, you can get her confusion.)

Happy Birthday Dan!

HAppy Birthday Dan!

This year I plastered pictures of his past years on a tri-fold poster board, 

and set it up in the break-room at his office. 

Michael picked out the balloons, and Brinly carried them into the work

We also made these cupcakes I found on pinterest. I had never made them before, but they were called "Butterfinger Blizzard cupcakes" and knowing Butterfinger Blizzards are his favorite, I gave them a go. 

Apparently, they got the thumbs up. 

:)

 And just so you don't feel left out, here are a few pictures closer up so you can enjoy the fun. 

That night we had a super quick birthday party, since we had a bishopbric get together to go to.

Michael "got" Dan Beyblade. If you don't know what that is, don't feel bad. I didn't either. Until two days ago. 

Can you see the excitement on Michael's face?

 Michael played it all night with the sitter. 

Happy Birthday Dan! we love you!

Family comes to visit!

Before we get started, if you like to give me input on decorating, please GO HERE. If you roll your eyes at that sort of thing, please continue and do not GO HERE.

We had some visitors come watch General Conference with us!

Dan's sister Katherine, her hubby Dan (yeah...we have two Matt-in-laws too, so it does get confusing at times), and their two girls, and Dan's dad. 

Katherine's family is visiting from Chicago, so we don't get to see them much, so we loved every second of having them here!

As usual, I didn't take enough pictures. 

On Sunday, we took a walk to the Columbia River temple. It was a gorgeous day!

Look at these cute cousins!!!

I wasn't fast enough, but all three were peering in through the windows at the same time. The line from the temple song popped in my head "I'll go inside some day..." and I almost cried. Almost. 

Annie and Brinly became great friends. 

Annie let Brinly do her hair! If Annie tried to get up, Brinly wrapped her hands around Annie's shoulders and plopped her back down. Such a good sport. 

During the priesthood session, Katherine was helping me get dinner ready. We heard Michael's dramatic cry: "Mom! Mom!!!!!! Brinly is doing something REALLY bad!"

Brinly is always doing something "really bad" and Michael is always being dramatic about it. So, we kind of rolled our eyes, but went to go see what the fuss was about. 

And we found this:

yes, that is Annie STRAPPED into the doll stroller about to go for a ride down the stairs. Both just looked at us like "What's the big deal?" 

Thank you Michael, for being dramatic! :)

Thank you Millers and Grandpa for the fun visit! 

Stupid...Stupid....Stupid!

Disclaimer: This is a long, dramatic post, where I whine and complain about temporal thing....mixed with a little (lot) of rambling.

Anyone that knows me knows I am obsessed with home improvement. 

That's not to say my house LOOKs like I am obsessed...

just that it is constantly on my brain. 

For the most part, I'm too scared and insecure to try something out. When I finally get up the guts, sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. 

I see potential...but not sure how to get it there. 

Especially in my own home. 

I loved the architectural interest of these niches when we moved into our first home. 

Not crazy about the oak cabinets...but thought we could change that up...if we wanted. 

But those niches have caused me a lot of mental grief. What to do with them?! 

Then after a few days of the Parade of Homes, I was inspired!

Mirrors!

I picked this one up at Lowes. I was surprised I liked the modern design. 

Warning: Excuse the cluttered mess!

I also got a round one from HD, but decided I liked the Quatrafoil one best. 

So, I returned the round one. 

But it still didn't look right. 

It just looked busy and cluttered. 

We are getting our carpets cleaned today, so we're removing as much furniture as we can. 

I thought while I was at it, to completely remove everything from the niches. 

I was liking the clean feel. 

Almost 99% sure I was going to return the mirror and spend that money elsewhere. 

Then it happened.

I was moving some accessories, when I heard this huge crunch.

NOOOoooooOOOOooo!!!!!

I just stared at it with tears filling my eyes. All that $$ down the drain. 

On something I just decided I didn't want. 

I was even more dissapointed as I removed the glass to find out that the frame was made out of plastic. 

ARGH!

So, any ideas for what I can use this for now?!

Or for the niches?!

Maybe we could make them look like bookcases...

or....

just put a vinyl quote in each one?

(Sigh...)

What we learn from our children...

When Dan picked up Michael from his church class today, Michael showed him what he learned...

They were given magazines and asked to cut out things they were thankful for, and things they needed. 

Yeah....you're asking for it if you ask 5 year olds that...

Michael is thankful for girls, and wants a guitar. OH. boy. 

First days of school!

Is summer over already!? Actually, I think my kids are starting later than most of yours, but still, the summer went by fast!

I wanted to make their first day, extra special, so Chelsea got her favorite for breakfast: crepes and suausages!

THIRD grade already! She is super excited about her teacher, Mrs. Calvin. She wishes her good friend Cloe was in her class, but I'm sure she'll make more friends quickly.

 The kindergarteners have a slower start. On the first day of school, they come in for a 15 minute "assessment". Here is Michael cramming for the exam. :) Last year, we started the "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" that my sister uses in her preschool. We still have 3 lessons left (that we should finish up this week), but he has become a pretty good reader!

After the kids are assessed, they are evenly distributed among the classes, to have well balanced classes.

The next day, Wed., they called to tell us who his teacher would be. This year, he will have Mrs. Scherer, who actually lives down the street from us!

On Thursday, I went in with him to find his classroom, meet his teacher, and have a brief orientation. 

His "locker". 

The school!

On Friday, was the real deal. It was his turn for his special breakfast: blueberry muffins. 

 This was his first experience on a bus, and he was soo excited. He gets picked up at our driveway, and then dropped off at the regular bus stop, which is our backyard. 

After those doors closed, I started to cry. I really did not think I would. But watching that bus drive off with my little guy, made me realize how much he has grown up! I'm excited for him and for everything he will experience and am also looking forward to some down time with just Brinly and I (and just me when she naps....yay!).