Christmas

After a long month of anticipation and preparation, Christmas finally arrived!

Christmas Eve we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with candle light, followed by the children dressing up to act the Christmas story as Derek reads it. I didn't take any photographs since I was videotaping it.

Then we run the everyone off to bed so we can put out all the gifts under the tree (and I mean all since we can't have anything under the tree with toddlers around--they are at that search and destroy stage, which the big kids tested this year with fake presents. They didn't last the day)

Christmas morning when the children wake up they can look everything over but only open stocking gifts. We then get breakfast going (eggs, cinnamon rolls, bacon and sauce, egg nog) and enjoy that. Once breakfast is done we can open presents. This year since it was on Sunday and we'd be going to church in the morning, we had everyone get their church clothes on before we started opening gifts.

Christmas morning!

Our 8th Christmas elf! Great Grandma O'Dwyer bought this outfit for Hannah when she was a baby, and all the babies since have worn this on their first Christmas. Bethany's turn this year!

The children opening a box of books from mom and dad (my favorite gift to shop for each year)

Jamie and Adam showing their excitement for a new computer

Samantha modeling the scarf she received from Mackenzie (who crocheted it)

Katelyn enjoying a fun Christmas morning

All the pretty dresses the girls are wearing were generously given to us from a friend from church. She embodies the true meaning of Christmas

She got her two front teeth

Bethany's first two teeth came in this week. Just as she turned 5 months old, her front bottom teeth were coming through. The last two months of drool has finally paid off!

(If you click on the picture you'll see a bigger version which will make it easier to see her new teeth)

December highlights

We had a very busy first two weeks of the month! All Christmas related for the most part

Primary Christmas party
Ward Christmas party
Friends over for dinner
Making cookies to deliver
Homeschool co-op party
Homeschool choir singing at two nursing homes
A visit to Bethlehem
Scout activities
Play audition
Derek and Cathy going to a Dicken's Fair in San Francisco
etc, etc....

Here are some pictures of the little ones

Bethany giving a happy smile

Derek reading to the little ones, Bethany, Katelyn and Laurel

Bethany trying on the reindeer antlers

Laurel and Samantha modeling the beautiful indian clothes given to them by our friends, the Sarredys.

Hannah's play audition

Hannah auditioned for a play and got the part of a daughter in the Pirates of Penzance. The production is run by California Theatre Center and will be preparing for the next three months. Hannah is super excited!

http://ctcinc.org/Education/Funshops/1112Season/GreatSpringMusical2012.pdf

Odds and Ends

After surviving the lice incident, we did our best to continue schooling amidst preparations for our trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving week and the upcoming holidays. Nothing terribly exciting happened, but here are a few pictures that were taken in November.

Taking portraits of Bethany, 4 months old

Bethany playing on the floor

Bethany playing in the exersaucer. From this spot she has the best seat in the house for round the clock not-stop action and entertainment.

I began preparations for Christmas cards before Thanksgiving in hopes of staying on top of things (ha ha). But this is just one of 10 takes to get one that would work for the card.

I spent so much time relaxing and enjoying our time in Arizona that I didn't take pictures of the family or anything we did. I guess I brought it out briefly and got this one picture of Jamie, Samantha, and Laurel with their cousin Maryanne.

Laurel posing with Bethany

Katelyn having some one on one conversation with Bethany

Hannah showing signs of eagerness for the Christmas season to start (Hannah, the skirt is for the tree!)

A big Time Out

Every now and then a busy mom needs a time out. Not just to her room (that's daily!) but a time to step away from things for a chance to relax and regroup. Soon after Bethany was born, I came across the information for a Time Out for Women in Phoenix that was happening in a few months. I thought that sounded like great fun and an opportunity to have a little break and see family and friends at the same time. There was also going to be a Time Out for Girls that Hannah could attend. So we signed up and put it on the calendar.

I'm so glad that I had the foresight to do that! As the date approached, I was so ready for a time out. The baby still didn't have a good schedule yet, and with her and schooling and then dealing with lice (as mentioned in another post) I was at a very low point. Hannah and I and Bethany flew to Phoenix and stayed with Grandma Taylor for 3 days. One big thing I noticed on this particular trip was how QUIET it was at her house. That truly was refreshing and gave me time to read or think or just sit and not be needed anywhere. It was nice to spend time with family when we could. The conference was awesome! Very uplifting and filled with messages of encouragement. A great boost that I needed. I'll have to keep this little get away in mind for future opportunities.

I was so excited to see a friend at the conference that I hadn't seen in 10 years. This is Teresa Stewart and myself

Hannah loved Time out for Girls! She attended with her cousins Mary and Rayanne and her friend from our ward in California, Anelise Long.

A new challenge

The week before Halloween it was discovered that just about everyone in our family had head lice. Yuck! This was our first experience with it. Having so many children, and most being girls with long hair, made for a lengthy and tiring process of cutting and treating hair. I also thought our usual amount of laundry was a lot, but this event brought out a year supply of laundry all at once! Thankfully, we have a friend who has been through this before and she became our lice fairy. She counseled and helped us, as well as another family from our co-op who was going through it at the same time. We couldn't have made it without her! Just the sheer amount of time to treat everyone a few times and then pick nits from so many heads of hair for a couple of weeks was daunting. She made it manageable. Thank you Janine!
It was a tough few weeks, but now that the storm has passed, I can talk about it. :)

Halloween

This year we gave the children the option to go trick or treating on Halloween and then give most of their candy to the Great Pumpkin, or do a fun activity at home. They decided to do something at home, but they wanted it to be big, like a party with friends over. So we invited 2 or 3 families and had soup and bread, veggies and deserts. The kids planned the games and decorated. They also handed out candy as trick or treaters came by. I mostly just sat and visited with the other moms, which was quite nice. I enjoyed it so much I didn't get up and take any pictures!

A few days before Halloween the kids wore their costumes to our homeschool co-op. Below are the pictures of them. Jamie was going to wear a pioneer costume, but ended up being sick and had to stay home.

Katelyn as honeypot

Samantha as Dorothy and Laurel as a clown

Mackenzie as a viking (inspired by our history studies!)

Hannah as a Who. Inspired by all the Who's in Dr. Suess books, Hannah made her own costume, including a can of Who Hash.

Taking a 2 year old's picture

I was trying to take Katelyn's two year old picture to put on our wall. It's quite entertaining to get one good picture of such a little one. It's not too effective to say "sit up" or "look forward" or say "cheese". Even though it took a while to get one shot that would be a good portrait, these others show her natural cuteness.

This one made the final cut.

Baby Bethany

3 months old now! We're loving her smiles!

Samantha's Birthday

Just 3 days after Katie turned 2, Samantha had her 6th birthday. We love having Samantha in our family. She loves to learn and help and has a most infectious giggle. Just recently she and Adam were having a laughing competition. I had a blast watching them two and found it hard to contain my own laughter.

Samantha is very happy to be 6 now

Sammie is very excited to have her own legos. Now she doesn't have to beg to play with Adam's.

Bethany right in the mix of things. Too bad she couldn't enjoy the cake and ice cream with us.

Katelyn's Birthday

Katelyn turned 2 years old this month! She's still at an age where she doesn't really understand her birthday. But we have no doubt that by next year, she will be helping to choose her birthday dinner and gifts.

Katelyn is a joy to have in our home. We love that she is still so cuddly and that she is the most grateful child. She often says "Thank you Daddy", or "Thank you Hannah" in her very sweet voice when we help her or give her something.

the birthday girl

opening presents

playing with a new gift

enjoying yummy ice cream!

You may be wondering why Katie's face is looking scraped up. A few days before Katelyn turned 2, she did a face plant from a front door step onto a rough door mat below at a friend's house. Gave her a good scrape and swollen cheek the first few days. This girl goes from one owie to another on an almost daily basis. Such is the life of this 2 year old

September news and a growing baby

I've been swamped with school and appointments and classes and a new baby this month, so it's been difficult to update our blog. However, it's time to at least put up a few pictures of Bethany, who is now over 2 months old! My how time flies. Bethany has been a great eater and sleeper. She is plumping up quite nicely and has sweet smiles for just about everyone.

Laurel holding 3 week old Bethany

Bethany 4 weeks old

Samantha with Bethany, 5 weeks old

5 weeks old, love those cheeks!

Katelyn loving on Bethany, 6 weeks

Daddy and baby time

Our good friends, the Sarredys, holding Bethany, 6 weeks old.
They've given her an Indian name, Pooja

Bethany 6 and 1/2 weeks old

7 weeks old, wearing an outfit that was given to Hannah when she was a baby. I'm glad it's lasted this long!

8 weeks old

Bethany, 2 months old. Now that's a cute smile!

10 weeks old

A couple weeks before Bethany turned 2 months, Laurel had her 4th birthday. She was so excited! We had her favorite dinner and then cupcakes. We are so glad to have Laurel in our family!

Laurel enjoyed receiving some nice gifts such as crafts and Legos

A fun random picture of Laurel and Katelyn dressing up in hats