Walking Out the Old Year at BYU

The kids and I spent the last day of 2008 walking

around BYU with Greg, Mindy, and my parents.
Greg starts classes there next week, and we

took the opportunity to show him around campus.

After we found all of his classes, we went to

Sammy's Cafe for lunch.

It was an adventure, but the food was really good.

We especially liked their fries (sweet potato and regular),
and we loved their pie shakes.
(an entire slice of pie blended into a milk shake)

Ruby may be the pie shake's biggest fan.

Happy New Year!

She Likes Pink

I've been wanting to use more of the Heather Bailey

fabric that I won a while back,

and last night I had some free time.

So . . . I purchased this pattern on etsy,

and made a little skirt for Ruby.
Unfortunately, I'd already used most of the pink

fabric to make her an apron.

For the skirt, I used this blue fabric.

I thought it was cute, but when I showed Ruby the

finished skirt, she started to cry!

"No! Pink!"

Evidently, she has developed a passion for pink,

and the blue skirt just doesn't cut it.

(Ruby NOT modeling the skirt)

On the bright side, the skirt IS a little big for her,

so with any luck she'll have gotten used to the idea

of a blue skirt by the time she grows into it.

Clothes

As a kid, John did NOT like getting clothes for presents.

(he reminds me of this whenever I want to buy clothes as gifts for one of our kids . . . )

He compares clothes as presents to seeing a really nice cake,

only to take a bite and find out it's made of dirt.

When I got home from Target today, Bentley asked me
if I bought anything for him. When I told him that I had,
he came running upstairs expectantly.
"What is it?!?!" he asked.
"I got you some new pants! Isn't that great?"
"What?" (as his eyes fill with tears) "I thought
you got me something good!"
Whoops.
John looked at me, and said, "See what I mean?"
Point taken.

However, after a second trip to Target, I brought home
a little dress for Ruby ($5 on clearance!).
When I told her I'd bought her a new dress,
she smiled and held her hands out for it.
Then she held it up to see if it fit,
and happily went to show her Dad.

Lesson: not ALL kids hate clothes as presents.

Christmas Highlights

Some favorite shots from our Christmas:

Listening to Dad read the Nativity
Jonah - inn keeper/wise man
Maxwell - shepherd with his sheep(dog)
Bentley - Joseph
Ruby - Mary

Mary gives her baby a kiss.

Christmas Morning!

(Bentley is carrying his loot from the Tooth Fairy)
They aren't sure what the gift IS, but they're excited anyway.

Trying out the new toys with Dad.

Jonah opens his new Power Ranger costume.
(btw - Jonah did NOT get an allowance from Santa as he
had requested. However, he DID receive enough money
to subscribe to ToonTown for one month. He was satisfied.)

Ruby (aka Snow White) watches the
red and white Rangers play ToonTown.

Gifts from Bentley:

a jewelry box for me, and a candy dispenser for John.

And a gift from Maxwell - his little hand print.

Ruby and her much loved chap stick from Grandma R*.

She carried it around all day yesterday.

Ruby and her Dad get to spend a minute together.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Tonight we should be visited by two magical beings.

Along with Santa Claus, Bentley is expecting the Tooth Fairy!

He lost his very first tooth this morning

(it's been loose since Thanksgiving).

I remember waiting for AGES for that tooth to come in.

It was his first, and it didn't break through

until he was at least 9 months old.
Now it's sitting under his pillow.

btw - does anyone know the going rate for teeth these days?

In other Christmas Eve news,
we finally assembled our gingerbread house!

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we managed to take our annual Christmas

photo BEFORE church - and we were still on time!

Elizabeth - you made it out of town just in time.

We got a ton of snow after you left.

In other news . . . Brooke and Jeremy's twins

were born this morning!

Still Scary

We took the kids to see Santa tonight,

and someone is still scared.

Even the rocking horse was too close for comfort.
Ruby does not like Santa.
I told her that next year it will
be the baby's turn to cry.
If we're lucky, none of them will be afraid next year.

Wishful thinking, I know.

Thursday

Today Maxwell's class got a chance to ride the

Polar Express. (much to Bentley's frustration

because although he did it last week,

HE didn't get to do it in kindergarten).

Max seemed to have a great time.

I interrupted Ruby in the middle of a song this afternoon.
She's always ready for a photo opportunity,
so she didn't really mind.

We've gotten a ton of snow over the last few days,
and today Bentley took advantage of it after school.
Unfortunately, his brothers decided not to join him.

This evening, Jonah's Joy School group gave their
final performance of the Nativity,
this time for their families.
This time, Jonah got to be an Inn Keeper/Wise Man.
Here there are, right before their big show.

There's just one more day of school before
the Christmas vacation starts! Hurray!!!!

The Birthday Girl!

Today Ruby turned 2 years old!

Her birthday celebrations started last night.

She and her friend, Elise, had a Princess Party

to celebrate their birthdays. Ruby had a great time.

This morning, Jonah and Ruby helped me walk
the two big boys to school in the cold.
They all wore their party hats from last night.

Ruby got to play at Elise's house again this morning,
while I helped in Maxwell's class.
Then she got to go on a lunch date with her Dad.
She was really excited for that part.

After nap time, Ruby got to play ToonTown,
one of her favorite things to do.

We had her family birthday party after dinner.
To start off with, it was hard work keeping her
brothers' hands off HER presents.

Opening presents isn't that easy,
and Ruby worked hard to get the paper off of hers.

Her last present was a new doll.

It was a big hit. (thanks Ashley)

Ruby is having a lot of fun figuring out how to dress
her new baby, and how to come her hair.

Her brothers are also having fun with the doll,
and claim that they each want one for Christmas.
That's how FUN this doll is. ;)

We had a great time celebrating Miss Ruby's birthday.
I think she had a nice day, too.
At least she doesn't seem to want the day to end.
The birthday girl is resisting sleep
tonight with everything that is in her.

Wired

Last night we took the kids to our Ward Christmas Party,

and to a wedding reception. They were wired BEFORE we

left for the parties, and by the time we got home

they were bouncing off the walls. It's not easy to be

calm when you feel like running laps around the gym. :)

(Ruby may look docile in this picture, but

she did her fair share of damage, too.)

All Aboard . . .

. . . the Polar Express!!!

(Bentley brought this note home sometime this week;

I didn't see it until last night.)
"You are invited to something great,

An exciting ride, please don't be late.

The Polar Express is coming our way!

Friday, December 12th is the day.

Wear something warm and cozy too.

Sweats, a bathrobe, or slippers, will do.

Our imaginary ride will be lots of fun,

To the North Pole and Back by the time we are done."

He insisted this meant he could wear his pajamas to school.

I was skeptical, but too lazy to protest,

other than to specify which pajamas he could NOT wear.

(Liz - I think you know the ones I'm talking about)

Anyway, he went to school in his pj's, and

when we got to the school, we found

three first grade classrooms full of kids in pajamas.

I'm still not sure exactly what they did today;
but I do know that he had a great time.
And, I know that he wasn't the only one in pajamas.
Phew.

Joy School Nativity

Today our Joy School group presented a nativity

program to a local retirement home.

The kids have mostly taken turns with the different

parts, but here's how it was broken down today.

Joseph and Mary (aka Jonah and Diana)

The Angel (aka Emma)
The Lone Shepherd (Logan)
(unfortunately, our other shepherds were home sick)

The Innkeepers/The Three Wise Men

(Oakley, Elise, and Chris)

The program went really, really well.

None of the kids got major stage fright,

and nothing at the retirement home was broken.

The kids were calm, sweet, and very well-behaved.

Why can't they be like this more often?

She Flaunts It

Unlike her cousin, who has the good sense to try to

avoid detection, Ruby enjoys her spoils openly.

The Rocket Launch

When Bentley got this rocket for his birthday,
we had high hopes for a brilliant launch.

After several failed attempts, our expectations

were quite a bit lower.

So when the rocket failed to reach 200 feet,

we were just happy that it left the ground.

Even though the boys have watched the video many times,
they're still able to exaggerate the rocket's success
just a little more each time.
First, the rocket went as tall as Dad,
then, it went as high as the swing set.
The last I'd heard, the rocket went as
high as our house!

As far as I'm concerned, they can exaggerate all they want.
I'm just glad that they were happy with the launch.

Jonah Goes to Jr. High

On Thursday, Jonah had the opportunity to go

to Jr. High for an hour with our friend, Erin.

She's taking some type of child development class,

and was supposed to bring in a child for crafts and games.

On the way to the school, I asked Jonah if he was excited

to go to school with Erin. He didn't answer, so I asked

a different question. "Jonah, are you nervous?"

"I'm THINKING Mom."

Okay.

A few minutes later Jonah had answers:

"Yes. And no."

So he was excited, but not scared or nervous.

You can see for yourself, he was pretty happy.

Erin said that the parents were welcome to stay,
but I had to pick Maxwell up from school,
so Ruby and I watched Jonah fearlessly walk into
the Jr. High building for the first time.

John picked Jonah up after the appointed hour,
and they both came home for lunch;
Jonah with his arms filled with goodies.

He had a great time. Thanks to Erin for inviting him!

After lunch all three boys had their 6 month cleaning and check up at the dentist.
The boys were awesome - they didn't fight the x-rays, cleaning, or the check up!
However, we did find our first cavity. Poor Bentley was the unlucky guy,
and he was broken-hearted when he heard the bad news.
He'll go back after Christmas to get it fixed, but our awesome dentist calmed
his fears, so he's no longer upset or afraid of the dreaded cavity.

Nativity Fun

Either last year, or maybe the year before, our sweet neighbors

gave us this cute nativity ornament set.

We don't hang the ornaments on the three, though.

We leave them in the box, until the boys remember that

there is something inside. Then, they take out the figures

and play with them. Maxwell and Jonah especially like it this year.
When Maxwell is around, Jonah is more spectator than participant,

but while Max is at school, Jonah gets a turn to be in charge.

The other day, the two of them played with the nativity

ornaments in the living room for the longest time.
I was so glad to see them doing something that wasn't

TV, or computer, or fighting related.

However, on further investigation,

I discovered that there was, in fact, some fighting going on.

The shepherds and the wise men were bad guys

who were "out to get" the Baby Jesus.

At least I was correct on the no TV/computer thought.

These boys don't seem capable of a game without

some kind of "good guy vs. bad guy" thing going on.

She Likes Shoes

Our Miss Ruby loves shoes.

It's an interest that she shares with her mother,

and one that her brother, Maxwell, once related to.

Her 2nd birthday is coming up, and I recently

talked with her about some of the things she

might be interested in receiving.

I suggested dolls, books, and maybe a new dress.

She nodded in agreement, but then added,

"Shoes."

So today, while her brothers were at their various schools,

Ruby and I went shoe shopping.

I'd seen some little slippers at one of my

favorite boutiques, and I've been waiting for her

feet to be big enough for us to buy a pair.

(Last year I thought briefly about buying a pair for

this cousin or this cousin, because the slippers were too cute to NOT buy them

for somebody, but the slippers themselves don't seem to be sized,

and I don't know the girls' sizes anyway.

I decided the only thing to do was to wait for Ruby's feet to grow.

Luckily they've grown pretty fast.) :)
Today I was really hoping that the slippers would

be in stock, and that they would fit her little feet.

We were in luck; there were three pairs of slippers,

and the smallest pair was just a little too big.

I called it "close enough" and we brought them home.

Now the slippers are hidden away until her birthday,
and unless she spots this post,
she'll likely forget about them until then.

Won't the slippers look cute on her feet
when she's karate kicking her brothers?

Bentley's Bedtime Equation

scary cartoon

+ active imagination

+ bedtime

= falling asleep on the couch

with the Christmas lights for company