The Nutcracker & Santa

As an early Christmas gift for Madison, I took her to see The Nutcracker here in Boise. We got all dressed up to go. Madison was SOOOO excited, she could hardly wait to see the ballerinas! Before the show started we browsed through some of the fun things they had for sale. She found this cute little ballerina mouse ornament. She said it was Angelina Ballerina, who she adores! Madison sat through the entire 2 hour performance on the edge of her seat. She loved every bit of it. I must admit that it was a spectacular show, the sugar plum princess was an amazing dancer and left us all breathless! During the short intermission Madison got out of her seat and did a few twirls! This girl just might be a real ballerina some day, we'll just have to wait and see!

So after the show was over, we walked out to the car (amidst a snow storm) and found that I had lost my keys. Arrrgh!! So we walked all the way back and I asked an employee about my keys. Luckily some kind person had found them and turned them in. When I bent down to button up Madison's coat, I set my keys down on the floor and forgot to pick them up! After finding my keys, the crowd of people leaving had pretty much died down. Madison ran over to look at all the Nutcracker things they were selling. I felt pretty bad that she had to walk out to the car and back, in the snow, with her church shoes on, so I caved in and bought her the nutcracker she had picked out. Lucky girl! What a "magical" (as Madison said) time we had!

Last week we took the kids to the mall to run a few errands. We thought if the kids were feeling up to it we'd stop by and see Santa. Now let me back up and say that in years past Madison has been very terrified of getting anywhere near Santa. I don't really blame her though! But this year she'd been telling us that she wasn't going to be shy with Santa and that she wanted to sit on his lap. And that she did!! We couldn't believe it. When it was our turn to see him, she walked right up to him and sat down with him. Quinn, on the other hand, held tight onto me and didn't want down. But then he warmed up and sat with him too. He wouldn't look at Santa, which was pretty funny. So we took our limit of 2 pictures with our own camera!

So here we've got the kids looking at the camera, but not Santa! Come on Santa! You'd think he'd have this down after how many pictures???

Christmas Kids

The kids were looking pretty festive in their church clothes on Sunday, so we stuck them in front of the tree and snapped a few quick pictures.

If I Could Turn Back Time

The other day I was looking at pictures we have of our family from over the years. I love looking back at them, it brings back so many good memories. I was looking at pictures of Madison (who is now 4 years old) from when she was Quinn's current age (20 months). I don't remember her having such a round little face! Time sure does fly by because now I have a hard time remembering what she was like as a toddler. Now I know why my Mom can't remember when I got my first tooth! (Remember when I asked you that Mom?)

Thanksgiving 2008

We packed up the car and made the trip to Grace, Idaho for Thanksgiving this year. We spent the holiday with Hal's family. We were able to see almost all of his siblings and their families. We had a yummy spread of food and enjoyed the good company of family. Grandma Bennett gave all the grandkids Christmas pajamas and a Christmas book. We tried rounding up all the grandkids in their new pjs for a photo. It was a bit of a zoo! But somehow we were able to snap this photo of Quinn giving Madison a sweet little kiss.

Thankful for...

For family home evening during the month of November we made a paper turkey and feathers. On one of the feathers our family wrote down things we are thankful for. Then we mailed a feather to grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and asked if they would write down on their feather what they are thankful for. Then Madison anxiously waited for the mail to come each day in hopes that she'd be sent a feather to add to the turkey. It was a lot of fun and maybe we'll make that a family tradition of ours.

Boys Will Be Boys

When we found out we were going to be having our first baby boy, we were ecstatic! Madison would have a little brother, Dad would have his little buddy, and I would have my sweet little boy. 20+ months later and I'm still trying to figure out where this little boy came from and how come he didn't come with an owners manual! He has a mind and agenda of his own, that I know for sure.

The other day Madison had out some markers and was coloring. Of course Quinn wanted to join in on the fun. He climbed up onto a chair and dove into the markers. Me, being the conscientious mother that I am, pulled off Quinn's shirt knowing he would get marker all over it. Even if they are washable markers, why create more laundry for myself? So Quinn started coloring in his coloring book and I went about making dinner. I turn around from the stove and this is what I see....Not so much coloring on the coloring book, but mostly on himself. Now this is something Madison NEVER did. She was always very soft and gentle with all her toys and things. She wouldn't voluntarily get herself messy or dirty. So I'm wondering to myself, is this just a boy thing or what?

I think it's funny when friends come over to my house and see my kitchen drawers and ask about the yard stick going through the drawer handles. Thankfully my Mom came up with this brilliant idea on how to keep my little boy out of all the fun kitchen toys. It works like a charm and I would recommend it to anyone who has little ones who love to pull out and drop on the floor everything in the kitchen drawers. This system has surely saved Quinn from numerous injuries. Once again though, I'm thinking, is this just a boy thing or what? Why must he get into EVERYTHING!


But at the end of the day, after chasing Quinn out of all sorts of trouble and mischief, we love him still the same. How can we not with a face like this...

Meticulous Madison

Every day Madison "makes her room beautiful" (as she says it). I think it's pretty funny how careful she is in placing each item in it's proper place. She gets out all her stuffed animals, babies, etc. and puts them in the perfect spot. She is super diligent about keeping her bedroom door shut during the day so Quinn doesn't come in and mess up her room. I'm amazed that she has kept her room this way for a few weeks. It's great, I love it! I'm not cleaning her room, she is! I wonder where she gets this little quirk from....hmmmm???

Now when she's a messy teenager, I have proof of what a clean room she used to keep! We love our meticulous Madison!

Here We Are

Well, we have finally decided to start a blog. I had talked myself out of doing one for a long time, but I finally caved into the peer pressure! We hope it will help us stay in touch with all our family and friends. I'm still trying to figure all this out, so you'll have to be patient with me.