Christmas Town @ Busch Gardens

After a first failed attempt to enjoy the festivities at Christmas Town, we decided to try again.  We tried to go a couple weekends ago, but got turned away when we were just seven cars from the gate.  Apparently, the park was filled to capacity and there were no more parking spaces.  I've never heard of an amusement park running out of parking, but it was just our luck.  

We invited my mom to go with us this time and had no trouble getting in....it probably had something to do with the fact that it was FREEZING and WINDY!  We came prepared with hats, scarves & gloves and were excited to see what all the fuss was about.

The kids were a bit naughty, so we stuck them in the pillory....

I think they learned their lesson.  ;-)

The decorations were amazing, and each country was decorated with different colors/types of lights.  My phone camera doesn't quite do it justice.

Here we are in Germany, celebrating our family heritage.....

The lights were so amazing!

The kids rode some rides and loved it.  Their tolerance for the cold was substantially higher than ours. 

Here are some of the lights in Italy.  It was truly amazing....every branch was lit!

I wish the pictures of these lights captured how spectacular they were in person.

This was Pompeii.  I can't imagine how long it must have taken to put all these lights up.

Here's Logan getting a ride from Dad.  His hip (torn hip flexor) was bothering him from all the walking.

Here are some of the kids just being silly.  They loved the giant candy canes.  We were go grateful Logan wore that crazy hat.  It made it a lot easier to keep an eye on him.

One of the highlights of the evening was Scott surprising us with funnel cakes.  And not just your ordinary funnel cakes....these were topped with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream.  Yum!

We had a great time!  What a fun way to start Christmas break!

Claire's 1st Dance Recital

This is Claire posing for a picture before her very first dance recital.  She's been taking dance classes at the gym {which works out perfectly for me!} and has been loving every minute of it.  The whole recital was about 2 minutes long, so they performed it 3 times.  The little girls were so cute dancing to music from The Nutcracker.....easily distracted, but so cute!     

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the video.....

The Princess Turns 4!

It's so hard to believe our baby is FOUR!  Where has the time gone???  

Claire requested a princess party and invited two of her cute little girlfriends over for an afternoon of fairy-tale fun.  

The party started with a Chick-fil-a lunch picked up by none other than Prince Daddy himself....

Then the girls decorated their own tiaras.  Scott wanted to get in on the action but they insisted that he was NOT a princess.  They did, however, tell him that he could be a guard....

Next was frosting/decorating their own cupcakes.  The more icing, the better....

The little princesses also made their own bracelets and necklaces to perfectly accessorize their gowns....

Claire got some cute princess gifts.....

and after her friends left, she sat down and gave herself a much needed pedicure, princess style....

Happy Birthday to our sweet little princess!  We love you!!!

HALLOWEEN!!!

I was determined to spend as little money as possible on our kids' costumes this year.  Mason decided he wanted to be the same thing he was last year, Logan and Brady wanted to be zombies and Claire wanted to be Rapunzel.  EASY!  The only thing we ended up purchasing was wig for Claire.  This year marks our most budget-friendly Halloween ever!  I hope the kids will be this easy to please next year.

This picture was taken before our ward Trunk or Treat......

and this one on Halloween night....

Mason as the scary Scream guy (again).....

Logan as a nasty-looking zombie (Scott was the makeup artist)....

Brady as a creepy zombie (He wasn't interested in the extensive makeup procedures)....

Claire as a sweet little princess (The wig was driving her crazy so I had to pull it back).....

Me as one lucky mama.....

A Momentous Occasion...

Our ward had its Primary program a few weeks ago.  I just had to snap a picture to document this very special day.....the only time EVER that all of our kids would be participating.  It was so strange for me and Scott to sit all by ourselves during sacrament meeting {and we enjoyed every moment!}.  

Blast from the past....

We were at my parents' house last night for a fun birthday celebration and my mom gave each of us a copy of this picture.  We must have been on our way to my dance recital (Don't you love the outfit?).  If I remember correctly, I was chit-chatting backstage (I would never do something like that) and missed my cue to go out for our performance.  I was so upset.  My mom was so sweet and got me a 7-Up from the vending machine to boost my spirits.  I'm sure she told me that everything was okay, but to me it wasn't.  I was mortified and wanted no part of dance after that.  Thus ended my young career as a dancer.  Who knows what would have happened if I'd stayed with it......I could have been a world-renowned dancer.  Those of you who've seen me play "Just Dance" know nothing could be further from the truth!

School Days

It's hard to believe that summer is over and we're entering schedule-mania.  Things always seem to get a little tense around the house towards the end of August and I can tell it's time to get into more of a routine.  I just wish we could ease in a little more slowly.

The kids were excited to go back to school, but Mason was a little anxious about starting 6th grade and going to middle school.  It honestly seems like I just put him on the bus and sent him off to kindergarten....oh, how time flies!

Here he is....a little sleepy because he has to leave an hour earlier than last year.  I've really been loving the time I get to spend with just him in the mornings and after school before the other kids get home.  He had a little trouble with his locker the first day, but has really adjusted well.  I couldn't be more proud of him!

Brady started 1st grade this year and is doing great!  His teacher is amazing!  We really lucked out.  Logan is now in 4th grade and this is the first year he hasn't had either a brand new teacher or a teacher teaching his grade for the first time.  He's a great student so I never have to worry about him....it's just nice to know his teacher has a little more experience this year.  

Last, but certainly not least....Claire started preschool!!!  I still can't believe that I get three whole hours to myself three days a week.  I hardly know what to do with myself!  She was more than ready to go and actually told me on her first day, "Mom, I'm not going to miss you."  And I don't think she did.  She's so excited to be going to school like "her boys" and is loving every minute of it.  

VA Beach

It's become a tradition for us to spend a few days at the beach every summer.  I'm always a little nervous (thanks to my irrational fear of sharks) but Scott loves it and is so good to play in the water with the kids.  I, however, don't usually get in much past my knees.  We had so much fun and I was much more at ease than I normally am.  It was a great weekend!

Claire loved playing in the sand although it kept getting in her "crack."  Yes, that's a quote.  What do you expect from the only girl???  She's a little rough around the edges....I guess that's what happens when you have three older brothers.

Brady was super-adventurous this year.  Last year, we could hardly get him to go in the water and this year, we could hardly get him out!  He loved boogie boarding and letting the waves knock him over.

Brady was getting buried alive by his siblings.  I love the look on Claire's face in this one....she's definitely got some spunk!

This isn't a very good picture, but we loved walking on the boardwalk at night.  (This was a sandcastle sculpture right off the boardwalk.)

We also ate some pretty good food while we were there.  We found a great little place called Mojitos that had awesome Puerto Rican food.  It reminded me and Scott of our trip there last year.

(tostones)

(Scott's meal....chicken and mofongo)

(My meal....shrimp and mofongo)

It was sooooo delicious!!!  I'm ready for another Puerto Rican vacation right now!

While I'm Posting...

My grandma used to always make batches of WHOLE WHEAT APPLESAUCE COOKIES.  They were so good and I always anticipated visits to her house knowing she would have some of these delicious little treats waiting.  

Over the years, my sister, my mom and I have changed and adapted Grandma's recipe and the results have been healthy and yummy!  

(I just made a batch today.)

Here's the recipe:

1 bottle brown rice syrup

1 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup egg beaters

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (not pie filling)....instead of applesauce

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups almond meal/flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

3 cups oats (not instant)

2 cups dark chocolate chips

Cream together the first 6 ingredients (brown rice syrup through vanilla).  Sift in flours, salt and spices and mix well.  Add oats and chocolate chips.  Spoon onto greased baking sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

(We keep ours frozen and eat them straight from the freezer.)

It looks like she's trying to gag herself, but she was actually eating the batter right out of the bowl.

I wouldn't mind letting the kids eat these cookies for breakfast!  (I've been known to eat them for breakfast myself.)  They're so good for them and they don't even know it!

Scott affectionately refers to them as "poo cookies".  I'm not sure if it's because they look like poo or because they keep him regular.  Either way, they're delicious!!!

It's About Time

You know it's been a while since you've updated your blog when you don't even remember how to do it!

Many special and noteworthy events have come and gone without any online documentation....Thanksgiving, our 13th anniversary, Christmas, birthdays, Easter, a trip to New York, Summer trips, a cruise to the Bahamas....just to name a few.  The sad thing is that none of that seemed to be enough to motivate me to update our blog.  

It took the MOTHER of all events....something we NEVER DREAMED would happen....something that has ELUDED us for so many years it seemed NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE....

And just when we thought it would never happen.....

I ORGANIZED THE HALL CLOSET!!!

Here's the proof:

It's labeled and everything!  (Can you sense the giddiness?)

I just wish I had a "before" picture to share with you.  (I can promise it would be waaay worse than you can imagine.)  The best I can do is a picture of all the stuff I permanently removed from the closet....

Yep.  My dirty little secret has been exposed.   

Anyway, I got so excited about my little organizational project that I decided to tackle a couple more closets....

(the laundry room closet)

(our bathroom closet)

If only the rest of the house was this organized.  (Sigh.)  With Claire starting preschool this year, I might actually have some time on my hands to take on more projects like these.  After all, miracles do happen!