Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend really was this fun, and yummy:

We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Tait's. Adam's sister, Jodi, and her family were here. So nice catching up with them. We saw Frozen (loved it), got rained out at the zoo and hit Chuck E. Cheese instead, did a little Black Friday shopping at Target and Costco - hardly any crowds when we went. Cousins ran around a ton, we all watched movies, played games, and ate leftovers - just what Thanksgiving should be.

Today we put up Christmas. Love when the tree can finally come out! We'll see how Cole does with it...

We're working on advent calendars:

Tyler and Audrey got letters ready for Santa. Santa's done most of his shopping, and I think all bases are covered.

Thankful

Today's thankfuls (at least a few of a them):

Testimony

My babies

Health!

Family near and far

Mom's visit

 Girlfriends and sisters

Quiet moments
Getaways
Birthdays

Awesome primary, and leaders

The temple

Healing hearts

Date night
Little treats
Good music

Disneyland

 Wonderful teachers
Playing Santa

 Enjoying a little each day this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Good Job!

School pancake breakfast this morning for reaching their reading goals. Audrey's first one, officially! Thankful Adam was home to take them, and Cole (and I) could sleep in a little.

Disney Adventure

When I received four tickets to The View at Disneyland I didn't know if I'd be able to make it happen, but I figured I'd at least try, and thank goodness it did! Babysitter worked out, no sick kids, stress-free, great friends, truly the stars aligned. Best day!

The View taped live at the park from 8-9am. We had to get there by 6am, and they overbook the show so seats weren't guaranteed. Crazy, but we were committed. Left our neighborhood at 4am !!! My alarm clock went off at 2:45am! This is us bright and early in line. Somehow Disney feels magical even before it opens. We don't look too tired yet.

Lisa, Tina, me, and Amber.

The show was fun! Guest was Tim Allen, and they had Toy Story and Monsters University characters. We were hoping for a cool giveaway - got Monster's U. dvd and Frozen soundtrack.

The View ended at 9am, so were were ready and waiting when the park opened. Lucky us the park was all decked out for Christmas, too.

Then lots and lots of rides. Especially the ones our kids don't like to ride. And barely any lines!

Love these girls. Lots of laughing all day.

Cars Racers was the longest line of the day, but we handled it well - I mean, it's not so bad waiting in line with no kids in tow!

How funny is this guy in the front?! By the end of the day we were all making crazy faces.

Love Small World at night.

We stayed 'til the park closed. The castle was gorgeous all lit up. Fireworks, then snow!

 Like I said, one of my top five days of 2013. A big thank you to our awesome husbands and babysitters who helped make it happen, and to these three crazy girls for going on this adventure with me. So worth it!

Happy Friday

Parent/teacher conference day = no school. Kids conferences were yesterday and both got excellent reports from their teachers, and reached their 150% reading goals (Audrey's was sight words). They're having a great year so far, and I really like both of their teachers. The kids are in good hands, and I'm so grateful for that!

It's cold today! I'm a homebody - still recovering from Disney I think. Pjs and cartoons this morning, met Amber and her kids for lunch at Burger King play place. Now Cole's asleep. Helped Tyler and Audrey build their fort, and made some fancy hot chocolates. Thinking we'll stay in, nice and cozy, for the rest of the day.

Cozy

Rainy night, reading time, slipper twins. School book fair got me again.

Yesterday Was Awesome

Me, three wonderful friends, and a live taping of The View from Disneyland that came with four free park-hopper Disneyland tickets! By some miracle stars aligned and four stay-at-home-moms with 15 kids between us got a kid-free, stress-free, fun-filled day away. (We stayed 'til the park closed!) More photos and stories to come.

Tina, Lisa, Amber. So happy we pulled it off! Truly one of my favorite days of 2013.

Tooth #2

Audrey lost her second tooth! She was wiggling that thing forever, and even told me she had kids in her class wiggling it for her!

The day Audrey lost her tooth I happened to walk past her room to put some of Cole's laundry away when I saw her kneeling by her bed praying. After she was done I said, "What were you praying about Audrey?" "I was praying that Heavenly Father would tell the Tooth Fairy that I want to keep my tooth" !!! How awesome to catch her saying her own little prayer about something that obviously meant a lot to her, and that her prayer was answered right then and there! Heavenly Father did in fact make sure the "tooth fairy" heard that Audrey wanted to keep her tooth. Of course her tooth was still there in the morning for her to keep, along with a dollar. A simple, sweet moment that reminded both Audrey and me that Heavenly Father does indeed answer prayers - of all kinds.

Week's End

Not much going on this week, and it's been nice! Happily back to routine. I miss my mom, though - sad to live so far from her and my sisters. Hoping for an east coast trip this summer. Here are a few things:

Took Cole and kids to the mall play area and Shave It for snow cones on his birthday. Amber and her crew came, and we ran into Michalle, too! Shave It might be one of my new favorite places - soooo good! Here's Audrey on sugar:

Took Cole on the carousel, too. We spoiled him plenty.

When my mom is here we always end up discovering new Trader Joe's favorites. Pita Crisps with Cranberries and Pumpkin Seeds are so good! Gonna grab a couple bags to stock up next time I'm there since they're seasonal. This tea, too - been having it at night with almond milk and honey. Mmmm. My mom had also brought their Nourish Antioxidant Facial Serum and oh my gosh I loooove it. Feels amazing on your skin, and it's $10.99! Seriously feels like stuff I've spent $50 on. I went and bought the whole line (for about $20 total), and so far it's great on my skin. Good find at a good price, can't beat that.

Started Christmas shopping. Cole's my little elf. So fun to shop for everybody. Trying to keep it simple, although I start going to that crazy place - looking for the best deal. Wonder if we'll be up for Black Friday shopping this year? Love this time of year! Especially looking forward to lots of family time with my four, and some good date nights with Adam, I hope.

Kicking off a laid back weekend tonight, maybe a movie night and popcorn. There's some fun stuff on the horizon though, looking forward to next week.

Happy Two!

New

One

Two

Two means a big kid car seat:

 And an ice-cream sundae party.

Cole loves:

Big brother and sister

Blankie!

Dinosaurs

Superhero guys

Sword-fighting

Elmo and Sesame Street

Books

Animals

Juice, crackers and chips, raisins and fruit

Picking out his own snack

Wrestling with dad

Being mommy's little buddy

Playing outside

Twinkle Little Star at bedtime

Happy second birthday to our sweet Cole. What a special place he has in our family. Something wonderful about the youngest - all four of us just treasure him. Bittersweet to watch this little one grow up (a tiny bit bitter, mostly sweet.) Here's to a great year!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today was:

Lunch at Hugo's, just me and my mom.

 A little shopping.
Aroma for tea

Headed home for a Tait party - gifts, movie and pizza, Bake You Happy. Hope we treated her well for her big day. So happy to spend it with her!

This Week

My mom is here! It's been so fun. We've been playing with the kids, shopping for Cole's birthday and early Christmas ideas, eating yummy food, and doing girly things like this:

Also this week Adam and I fit in some one-on-one time with Tyler and Audrey. Need to remember to do it more often, especially with them both in school all day.

Squeezing in a late movie with Adam tonight. My mom's birthday is tomorrow!