1st solid food

We introduced Katelyn to baby food at the beginning of the month and she could not get enough of it. She thought it was GREAT!!!!

At first after every single spoonful she would put her thumb in her mouth. Maybe to help her swallow it who knows but now she just eats like a a champ. So far she has tried; rice, banana, sweet potatoes, carrots, pees, and avocado and LOVES them all!

And I've even become that crazy lady that makes her own baby food. Who would have thought that would EVER be me! I wouldn't have. But now that am more aware of the cost of things I don't know why it took me SO LONG to start doing this. Baby food is SUPER expensive. And I'm sure the homemade kind tastes a TON better.

Happy NEW Year 2013

We celebrated New Years with John's family. Our nephew turned 12 a few days after Christmas so we celebrated his birthday on New Years Eve. 

It was very laid back night. We ate and ate and played games and

 made lots of noise.

 

 

 

What is happening here, I'm in 2 photos. This rarely happens!

I think this means 2013 is gonna be a GREAT year!!! 

We finished the night with Katelyn getting a blessing from John and his Dad. She's been fighting a cold and clogged tear ducts for several weeks now. 

 HAPPY

 

My DIY Christmas

Every year I am on a quest to find the perfect DIY Christmas gifts for our nieces and nephews. This year I think was the best one yet! Although I only made them for the boys. But some of the girls are wishing I made them one too. 

I found the tutorial here.The only thing I did different is that I put pencil erasers on the ends to soften the hit. I just hot glued them on.

They were not too difficult to make. Just a little time consuming since I made 8. And if I had an electric saw it would have been much easier. But I am very happy with the end result and the kids LOVE them.

John wants one for himself too!

RANDOM

 Just a compilation of totally RANDOM photos or things we've been doing....

 

These eyes are not Photoshopped. These are really their true eye color. WOW!

 Yes, my 2 year old helps with chores occasionally. Why not!

 Madison got a nail kit for Christmas or her birthday I can't remember. But they came with these press on nails. We put them on and she thought they were GREAT!!! She was so GIDDY!!! 

She kept saying, "I look like a TIGER"

 Claudia got these magnetic letters for Christmas and LOVES them. When I can't find her I check her room and sure enough she is sorting her letters, by color of course!

 With Madison's nail kit she decided to paint my nails. She had a great time. This was the first time I let her paint my nails or anyone's for that matter. She wanted them to be lots of different colors so she kept putting more and more layers on . They were so thick. 

It didn't stay on long because Katelyn woke up and needed to be fed. When I took it off with nail polish remover my fingers and nails were stained pink.  

But she had a good time!

 We put braids in Madison's hair to see what the result would be.

 She LOVED it! 

Not as cute as expected but different than the normal.

Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas day with John's family. We were so spoiled and REALLY enjoyed being with our families. 

Christmas was great this year!!!

 

Santa brought Charles 3 buckets full of LEGOS

  

Santa brought Madison a Princess Aurora Doll

(Her favorite Princess, only because she is PINK)

 

Santa brought Claudia a chest of dress up clothes. The high heels are her favorite!

 Katelyn trying to eat her stocking

 Claudia found some animals in her stocking. I think she's a little excited!

 In our house Santa brings the kids each one gift and he does not wrap it. So on Christmas morning we see what Santa left the kids and then we see what he put in our stockings. Then we go have breakfast and then come back and open the rest of our gifts from each other.

This year we decided to start a NEW tradition. After we have breakfast we read from Luke 2 and talked about why we celebrate Christmas. Then we finished opening our presents. It was great to spend time celebrating the real meaning of the season.

 Mommy and Daddy got Madison a Princess Aurora dress, she was in LOVE!!!

 

 And Daddy and the kids spoiled me with a new 6 Qt Kitchen Aid mixer!!! Hooray! Now I can finally double recipes!!! I am in LOVE!

Music Performance -- December 20th

The night before winter break the kids had a musical performance at school. Since our school is small they did it in the auditorium of the middle school. The kids had been practicing for weeks and were very excited for the performance. The place was ridiculously packed. The kids did a great job. Madison's class sang, "Must be Santa" and "Have you ever seen a Reindeer." Madison was absolutely hilarious to watch. She was so focused on doing her parts and singing with her whole heart. It was great!!!!

Charles' class sang "Silent Night." The first time they just sang it and the 2nd time they used Sign Language to sing it. They turned out the lights and all wore white gloves. It was cute!

 

My sister Julya and my mother-in-law were able to come watch with us. It was a great night.