Kindergarten Christmas Concert

Michael had his first Christmas concert!

 He's on the back row, wearing a red shirt sucking his fingers (of course).  For the record as far as we could see, he did keep up his end of the deal and sing all the songs so we could go out for ice cream after.

All the kids did so great.  Hopefully you can hear the kids singing on the movies.  We were pretty far in the back and our camera isn't the best for movies like this.  (Plus Robert had Katie helping take the movies, please don't get too sea sick.)

Snowmen

10 Little Angels in the Band ("...Oh wasn't that a band Christmas Morning, Christmas Morning soon." is how the song ends.


I want a Snake for Christmas



I want a snake for Christmas all slippery and slimy and red, I'll take that snake for Christmas and make a nice home in my sister's bed. I want some mice for Christmas all frisky and quick as can be. Won't it be nice to uncage those mice when mommy has ladies to tea. I want some glue. There's lots I can do. With a little bit of glue and a shoe. I'm not asking much for Christmas. Just a snake and some mice and some glue. Just a snake and some mice and some glue sure would make my dreams come true.

What to do on a Saturday night?

Some people go out on dates, some stay in and watch a movie, we stay home with our 4 kids and make goofy elf movies!  Check ours out!

Click Here

Hope you are almost ready for Christmas, it's less than a week away! 

(Thanks Nicole for reminding us how funny these are and inspiring us to make our own!)

I learned something new today!

Did you know that garlic can turn a blueish green color when cooked?  I didn't, until today when I looked in my pot and saw this:
 

(Those are mustard seeds if you were wondering)

"Garlic is known to contain sulfur compounds which can react with minute traces of copper to form copper sulfate, a blue or blue-green compound. The amount of copper needed for this reaction is very small and is frequently found in normal water supplies.  ...The garlic is still safe to eat."
-http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/bluegarlic.htm
  

Kind of interesting right?

Not enough time...

There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done and definitely not enough time at night to get a good night's sleep, and with a new baby...well I just have that many more things to do day and night!

I had plans to blog last week about our Lovely Little Lilly but well, as we can all see that didn't happen.  So for now, forget the dishes, who cares about the vacuuming, I'll get to the office when I can, I'm blogging about my new baby!!

She is just the sweetest little baby (then again, aren't they all!?!)  She does seem to have some colic and cries a bit much but oh well, we're slowly learning what makes her happy and learning how to just breath when she has been crying excessively. 

I finally made time last week to take some official pictures of her.  She is just the cutest subject to photograph!  Okay really all FOUR of my kidos are the cutest subjects to photograph!

While Lilly was wrapped up and holding still James took this opportunity to measure her, and announced she was this big, that's why she came out.   :)

Katelyn is still VERY affectionate towards Lilly.  She is very willing to share everything with her new sister.  (We just have to watch her to make sure she doesn't love Lilly too much or share too many toys with her.)

We're all a bit tired around here but doing well.  Thanks for all the help with our kids, great food and love this wonderful time in our lives!

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures!!

Surprise!

For 9 months now we have been calling this sweet baby a boy... Robert and I were sure that it was a boy.  Michael and James said it's a girl...well, Robert and I were definitely WRONG!!

IT'S A GIRL!!

After my water breaking at around 10:30 PM and going into labor within about 30 minutes our sweet little baby came on November 17th at 1:17 AM.


Everything went great, no problems, nothing unexpected (...except for the fact that she's a girl, not a boy!) and baby and I are doing great! 

Robert and two of the three Midwives weighing her:
8 lbs 6 oz (our second smallest baby so far)
20 inches long with quite a bit brown hair

Around 2 AM all three kids were up celebrating with cookies and juice

Katelyn and our new baby

Michael and our new baby

James and our new baby

It was the perfect day for her to come!  Before she arrived:
we all went for a walk to the park
droped Michael off at school
dropped James and Katelyn off at Aunt Nicole's house
Robert and I went to the Temple
we picked up the kids, came home and went for a longer walk
went to On The Border for some spicy salsa and good food
stopped at Cold Stone for some free ice cream cake
put the kids in bed and relaxed and enjoyed some TV (Castle and Lie to Me if you were wondering)
...then my water broke  :)  and the rest is history...

We were so ready to hold our beautiful baby, you could say we were trying to convince her to come, I think we were successful!

As for a name, we were going with Nathan but now that she's here, we just aren't feeling it...We'll let everyone know as soon as we figure it out. 

And to clarify, yes we had this baby at home.  It was great, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  They were all so patient and relaxed but made sure the baby and I were safe and healthy at the same time. If there are more babies in our future, a midwife at home will be the way to go again. 

I LOVE CouponSense!!

So this morning I got up nice and early, 5:30 to be exact, to go the Fry's without the kids.  After spending nearly all day yesterday getting my shopping list together, printing coupons off the internet and cutting coupons out of the newspapers I had about 100 coupons (literally) to use and a great plan to save some money and stock up on much needed items.

So here is what my cart looked like at the store (Sorry, cell phone pictures aren't always the best but you get the idea--lots and lots of food)

Wondering what the savings and final price was?  Drum roll please...

85 coupons used
$352.55 Saved (Coupons and VIP Card Savings combined)
I paid $30.20
Bought 165 items = 18 Cents per item  (that included a 10 lb turkey too!)

By far this was my best shopping trip ever and I have the over 6 foot long receipt to show for it!  I never thought I would be one of those crazy coupon ladies that hands over so many coupons to the cashier...but I guess I am and I think I'm okay with that! 

Most of the deals I got today I knew of because of CouponSense.  It is a site that you pay once a month and they do most of the couponing work for you by matching up the coupons with the sales to give you optimal savings.  If you are not ready to pay for that, there are others sites that do similar things for free.  One of my favorite websites to help save money is http://mycouponlady.com/  She gives great plans on what to buy at CVS, Walgreens and local grocery stores to save tons of money.

Now onto more important things...Let's have this baby already!!  My cupboards are stocked and no one will need to shop for awhile.  :)  So I think we are ready!

First School Pictures

The highly anticipated first ever school pictures have arrived for Michael.  Doesn't he look handsome!!

And here's his class photo, can you find him?

...need I say more. :)

Halloween Costumes

Katelyn as Tinkerbell
James as Pac-Man
Michael as the red Pac-Man Ghost, Blinkie

The kids had so much fun trunk-or-treating at church.  They were a little disappointed that the only real trick-or-treating they got to do on Sunday was at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  But don't feel too bad for them, they have PLENTY of candy!