Christmas Day!

What pictures should I post was what I kept saying to myself when looking through ALL of them. I have a lot of the kids opening gifts but then I figured you all had those pictures too, so I decided to just post a picture of each of the girls with their stuff at the end.

It was so much fun to watch Mya this year, she was being so cute. She knew exactly what was going on and was always eager to open her next gift when it was her turn. She got a little piano from Santa and Hope and Ellie enjoy it as much as she does.
Ellie kept telling us that she told Santa she wanted a dolly and then the next day she said she told him she wanted a doggy, so I guess Santa was smart and brought them both to her. (The stuff on the floor was gifts the girls received together. The stuff on the right is a REALLY CUTE fairy village from grandma and grandpa)

Hope asked for Ipod speakers and got really cute hot pink ones. She LOVES the puppet theatre, all three of them play with it nonstop (thanks Ainsley, Addison and Alivia). Thank you so much to EVERYONE who made this such a wonderful and memorable Christmas, we love you!!

Christmas Eve!

Every year for Christmas Eve we have a "Feast" or "Picnic" whichever you would like to call it. First the girls open a present (which is always their pajamas) and then we eat on a blanket on the floor. We eat finger foods of all sorts and drink sparkling grape juice. After we eat they get to open another present (which is always a new ornament). We then all take turns picking out Christmas songs and then we all sing it together. We then write Santa a note, put out the milk and cookies and then go to bed. It is very laid back, just the way I like it! (p.s. don't you love their pajamas?)

Mya standing by her new reindeer ornament (I usually always get them the same ornament but this year I just picked what I thought they would like best and I will probably continue to do it that way from now on).
This is Ellie with her jingle bell snowflake ornament. She absolutely loved anything with jingle bells this year so that is why she got this one.

This is Hope standing by her beautiful sparkly snowflake. It has crystals all over it and she loved it.

Cookies

So I did officially did get the flu but I sucked it up and let the kids make cookies anyways. However I did tell them that we had to ice them this morning. This is Ellie rolling out the cookie dough.

This is Hope getting ready to roll more out. Mya was asleep on the couch so we just did this part with Hope and Ellie.

This is one of Hopes cookies, I thought it turned out pretty cute. It is Santa if you cannot tell.

Sorry this picture is a little blurry but the girls had so much fun. I have more pictures but Ellie was of course naked so here are the ones that she at least had a shirt on for. Mya was being so cute, she iced three cookies all by herself with her finger. She was a complete mess.

Just being kids!

After wrapping Christmas presents, I had some left over boxes and so all three girls got a silkie and put it in their own box. Tweeb then proceeded to pull them around really fast and bang them into each other. They were having a good time and we only had one mishap (the back of Ellie's box broke on her and she fell out backward, however she just laughed and we had to get a new box).

This is one of the moments when you say.... how the heck did that happen. She was clean one minute and literally 20 seconds later she looked like this. Ellie gave her some chocolate (I guess I should look at it as sharing huh!). Sorry about the red eyes.

The last couple of days!

Saturday we took the kids to The Tale of Desperaux movie (Hope read the book in school and really wanted to go). It was really cute. Sunday was a bust because Ellie was throwing up all night (Hope was sick on Friday night after we went to see the lights). Yesterday we finally went and got our shopping done. I did not have much to do because everything we are giving the kids is homemade (and on the way home Mya started throwing up). So the last couple of days have not been very exciting. I have wrapped presents all morning and we are going to make sugar cookies tonight so maybe that will make up for it (meanwhile I think I am getting the flu too!)

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Opryland Hotel Lights!!

We went to the Opryland hotel last night for our activity (the night before we made Christmas gifts for Hopes friends....I will have to tell you about them later so they wont find out what they are). The hotel is AAAAMAZING!!! It is absolutely huge and you need a map to find your way around. Tweeb and I compare it to Disneyland. This is one of the many trees that they had, we tried to take pictures in front of it but the lights were to bright.

I told Tweeb that this tree is made after my own heart. It is made of poinsettias and if any of you know me you know I LOVE poinsettias (they were my main wedding flower). It was gorgeous.
This is some of the lights outside. The night that we went none of us even needed coats, the weather was fantastic.

This is the girls and I in front of a waterfall even though the picture doesn't show it.

This is not a very good picture but this was a life size nativity scene. The majority of it was where we were standing but then it also had the shepherds across the road coming to see the baby and it also had statues of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem as well. It was the coolest Nativity that I have ever seen.

Here is a better picture of part of the Nativity.

December 18th

Last night we had to go to tithing settlement so I did not really have anything planned, but little did I know the girls did. It was so cute, they dressed up and put on a whole Christmas performance for me (even Mya joined in). It consisted of stories and dancing and lasted about 20 min. It just made me realize that it is times like these that I cherish the most about being a mom. I love my girls!!

AHHHHH!

Holy cow I am just realizing that there are only 7 days left until Christmas. I am not even close to being ready. I have everything that needed to be shipped done and shipped out but I do not have much done for my family. I guess I better get on the ball. I am going to try to not stress out about it and hopefully it will all work out.

Hopes Christmas Play

We went to Hopes Christmas Play (Christmas at the okay corral) last night for our family activity. She did a really good job however she was being really shy because there were a lot of people there. This picture is of them standing in front of the gingerbread house. Ellie kept saying to us... can I go tell Hope hi now?

This is Hope right after the play. I could not get any good pictures of her during the play because she was on the other side and people kept standing in front of her or me.

Monday night activity!

Paper Bag Reindeer Puppets!

We did not get very good pictures but here is what I got.

Hope and Ellie coloring the reindeer's body.

(It actually just looks like Ellie is quite disgusted and Hope is cheesing it for the camera)

Here is Mya showing the finished product. It is blurry but you can kind of see Ellies on the table behind her. They liked it and I think that they turned out cute.

Commodore

Last weekend I played a 'round' at the Commodore Sports Bar and Grill. I was pretty excited because I play somewhere every night but this one I had to be invited to play. There are a lot of hit songwriters who play here and it is one of the best places in Nashville to meet other songwriters and artists-ya know the ones who actually get paid a lot of money to do it! It was so much fun. There were three of us and we each took turns playing our songs one at a time. We played 5 songs each in an hour slot. A few nights earlier I had played there and sang the song me and Cody Braithwaite wrote together called BTW I LOL. One of the waitresses said to me "I just barely got that song out of my head from the other night and when you started playing it I was like Oh man". She said she liked it and thought (obviously) that it was catchy. In the round after me one of the writers has had 4 top ten hits with George Strait, one is 'Baby Run'. So much fun you can't even believe it! I feel like I am living in a dream when I have nights like this. Oh this place is on U of Vanderbilt's campus-right next to the Football stadium.

Not the best pic. A nice lady took some pics for me as I sang.

A different song...can u tell? ha ha. The girl on the far left is LDS. I sang in a multi-stake choir the next night and her parents approached me and said "did u sing last night at the Commodore? That was their daughter and they live in the area but attend another Stake. Funny.

Day 12

Ward Christmas Party!!

This is Hope sitting on Santa's lap (if you couldn't tell).

She asked for Ipod SPEAKERS and Santa thought she said an Ipod, so now she is worried that she will get another one. We will have to wait and see.

Ellie did so good, this is the first year without tears and she sat there long enough to tell him what she wanted and everything. She would like a Dolly this year. I also thought it was very cute that Santa gave them a bell (like on Polar Express) instead of a Candy Cane.
Mya actually sat on Santa's lap without crying. I was SHOCKED!!! You can tell from her facial expression that she did not particularly enjoy it but we were very proud of her.

This is Hope and Ellie singing with the Primary kids. They sang Away in a Manger and the one that says... picture a stable in Judea, picture a sacred silent night (the name has slipped my mind). They did a really good job. Ellie was not supposed to be up there but she was sitting quietly so I did not find it necessary to remove her. We had a really fun night and all three girls really enjoyed it and that is all that matters.

Snow Day!!!

It snowed, school was cancelled and this is what we woke up to. Is that not the funniest thing you have ever seen? I would hate to see what the town would do if it REALLY snowed.

Here is some more of the damage.
Oh, Oh, watch out its a blizzard out there. I guess growing up in Utah has made me view weather in a different way than Tennesseans do.

Blessed

Today my heart is so full and at times I think it may burst. I realized that I needed to write about it so I can remember how I feel. I know that it has to do with the Christmas Spirit and Family. Every time I listen to Christmas music there are certain songs that I can just feel the spirit so strong and I get a little teary eyed. Today I have laughed and cried (a happy cry), many times. I am just soooo thankful for our family and all that they do to support us in this adventure that we are on. It is all the little (and big) things they do and say every single day that keep us positive and knowing that we are doing the right thing. We have never doubted this but it helps to know that you are behind us and believe in our dream as much as we do. You know who you are, so...Thank you!!!

The booth

Here are some pictures of the Christmas booth that I did. It was very slow and I did not sell as much at the booth as I would have liked to. The booth next to me said that it was the slowest booth that they have ever done. I was getting stressed out but sure enough after it was over people started calling and buying things. I wonder why I worry so much some times. I knew it would work out, when you have faith in the lord it always seems to. I knew I was supposed to do the booth....so why question??? Maybe this was a lesson I needed to learn (you would think I would know it by now). Now I only have 2 tutus left and very few bows and headbands, all of my cards are gone and I have enough stitchings left for the gifts that I need to give. What a BLESSING!!!

Pictures

Okay first of all if you didn't notice already... the picture on the top of the blog is terrible, terrible, terrible of me but it is the only one I had of all the kids looking at the same time. With that said now I will tell you how dumb I am. The reason my computer was not working was because something had come unplugged....HELLO!!! you would think that I would check the Internet connection. Anyways, here are the pictures of the activities that we have done.

Hope putting the bow on the top of the tree.
The girls fingernails that we painted. I did not get a good close up picture of the snowmen, but they turned out cute.

This is us at the Christmas Tree lighting after Hope and Ellie danced. They did such a good job. Poor little Ellie was freezing and shaking the whole time but did her dance soooo cute. Everyone around us kept saying, oh look how cute she is... she is shaking so hard.

This is them riding in the parade. I was at the booth so I was not able to see them. Thank goodness for technology.

December 10th

Last night we set up the Nativity, which I just LOVE. I usually put white lights and angel hair down first but last year it was such a mess that this year I just said... forget it. We also watched Home Alone.

Dec 4th, 5th, 6th,7th, 8th and 9th Activities

I do not have a computer right now so I am at the library trying to update. So sorry there are no pictures, hopefully soon.

The activity we did for the fourth was play a game and watch Polar Express.
The fifth Tweeb took the girls to Hopes school and watched The Grinch in the gym. The girls had a lot of fun.
The sixth Hope and Ellie were in a parade for dance and also were able to perform at the Fairview town hall for the tree lighting, so that is what we did.
Sunday we all danced to Christmas music, I know it sounds dumb but the girls LOVED it.
Monday the 8th Tweeb was gone singing so I painted the girls fingernails and toenails red and then painted little snowmen on them. They turned out so cute and I have pictures but that obviously does me no good at this moment.
Tuesday the 9th we put up and decorated the tree FINALLY!! I know the month is half over but I was so busy doing the booth that it just had to wait. Mya loves the lights and likes playing with all the ornaments. I am sure we will have plenty of broken ones this year.

We have been having a lot of fun just doing little things together as a family and I think the girls are quite enjoying it. I hope you all can try it too.

December 3rd!

Today the girls and Tweeb wrote a letter to Santa. I was gone for the night (girls night out), so when I got home I found out that Hope wants a speaker dock for her ipod (this is new news to me, I guess she saw it on t.v. today). Ellie would like a Bitty Baby doll from American Girl (Hope was helping write her list so I am sure any dolly will do) and Mya would like a stuffed dog??? I guess I should say that Hope and Ellie would like Mya to ask for a stuffed dog. Tweeb did not take any pictures...sorry!

Activity #2

Activity for December 2nd: DECORATING TOILET PAPER ROLLS.

(I am still getting a kick out of it)

So this is the activity we decided to do with the girls tonight.

It was really pretty fun, they enjoyed it and it was super easy.

Hope decided to make an Angel and of course was big enough to do it all without help.

Ellie wanted to make Santa but got distracted very easily by The Polar Express that was playing in the background. She did however pull herself away from the movie long enough to stick everything on.
Mya decided (or should I say her sisters decided) to make a snowman. She was actually very willing to help (if you can call it that) put her snowman together. She was entertained the whole time and tried to cut the paper and attach the tape and everything. When we were done she was also very willing to squish it, throw it and eat it too.

December 1st!

This Christmas season Tweeb and I decided to do things a little different from other years past. First of all we are going to do a homemade Christmas. All of the gifts that we are going to give to each other and to family and friends will all be homemade and made with love, with the exception of what the kids ask Santa for. Second, we are going to do some sort of special activity with the kids everyday intel Christmas. We are going to try to create special memories instead of getting caught up in all the craziness of it all. Wish us luck that it goes as smoothly as I have it pictured in my head. With that said, today we made a gingerbread house together. Here are a few pictures of the girls.

This is the finished product. The only child that I could get to participate in taking the picture was hope. It looks like Mya could not quite decide, at first she was hiding behind Hope.
This is not a very good picture but I was just trying to get a picture of the icing all over her face. I personally like the big glob on her eyelid. She was being hilarious during it all. She would keep coming up to me with her mouth open for me to squeeze icing into it. Hope, Ellie and I could not put the candy on the house fast enough, she kept grabbing it off and eating it. We also have very cute finger prints all over the gingerbread house.

Working together, nothing makes a mom happier. Notice Ellie sitting on her feet, check out kids say the darndest things to read what she said about it.