Thieves!

I don't know if you know how precious my After Eights are to me. VERY! I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping them out of Noah and Jackson's reach by putting them on top of my dresser, ...but apparently that was not the smartest choice I've ever made. I still don't know how they managed to get to them, but with their two heads together and chocolate on the line, I can only imagine. Those little....!

Noah could care less about being caught. And when I asked Jackson how many chocolates he ate (because more than half the box was GONE), he started counting on his fingers non-chalantly, "Umm, one... two, three, ...four, five... six, (eyes looking up as though really thinking about it) ...seven, ...eight." And stopped there. I'm sure he was keeping track. In all fairness, I remember going through my Mom's droors in her dresser when I was a little girl to find her stash of chocolate, so I'm not sure the out-of-site out-of-mind thing would even work for my boys if they have my genes in them.

Relationships

Noah vs...

Ellie!

Their relationship? Definite rivals.

There is a reason why Noah plays with his computer (his newfound love) on top of the couch like so. That reason is his little sister! She loves Noah. She follows him around everywhere and just wants to be a part of the action. "Oh, you're playing with that toy? Can I... just.... chew on it? CHOMP!" Thankfully she doesn't have a clue how much he gets bugged by her. (She's just happy if he so much as looks at her). These are the heights he has to climb (literally) to avoid a slobbered toy.

And there she is, just waiting for him. I love that I captured this, because honestly, this is their relationship in a nutshell. For example, I put Noah in time-out today because he pushed Ellie and didn't say sorry when I gave him the opportunity. (This next part made me laugh so hard).... So, Noah is trying to mind his own business in time-out but Ellie is looking at him. Of course this is infuriating so he says, "Aaauuuggggh!" Ellie smiles back ("he's acknowledging my presence!"). To which Noah responds, "AAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGH!" even louder and more frustrated. Now Ellie thinks this is a game and laughs, then responds with a "Dadada-aahhhhhh-wawawa-gaga" in the sweetest, most angelic and innocent voice ("He's talking to me now!"). "...Aaauuuugh!" "...Di-di-dah-bababa" "...Aaauuuuuuugh!" This continues back and forth for the rest of his time-out. Bwahahahaha! Definitely the best part of my day. (How can you tell I didn't leave the house today?). Maybe one day there will be peace between them. No more kicking her face or pushing her over. Poor gal. But in Noah's defense she is a slobbery baby.

"Dear Santa..."

"...I hope you have a Merry Christmas. I would like a Mickey Mouse Doctor set, and the Fire Station. Thank you Santa. Love, Jax"

I love Christmas. And Christmas with kids is so much more FUN! Today, I helped Jackson write a letter to Santa (our first one) asking for the gifts that he wanted for Christmas. It was so sweet because yesterday we were at the Disney store and if it were up to me I would have bought him everything (I honestly wanted to), but I told him that we're just getting ideas of what he could ask Santa for Christmas. So, of course, everything was awesome! But before we started writing the letter today, I was nervous that he was going to ask for everything from the store from the day before, so I mentioned that we can't ask for everything because there's lots of boys and girls that Santa has to deliver presents to. So, I helped him think of the first two things and wrote them down and asked him what else I should write. But all he said next was, "Thank you, Santa." I was a bit taken back and asked, "Is that all you want?" And he responded, "Yup." It was just really sweet and innocent. Maybe things will change as he gets older but I just thought it was sweet that he stopped after only two things. I guess it taught me that maybe Christmas doesn't need to be about spoiling my kids (as much as I would like to). Maybe I could use this as a teaching tool. For myself. We just had a Relief Society activity on Christmas and the whole idea was about "Christmas Traditions" and "Giving." There are so many charities for people that are without. It breaks my heart that some kids don't have winter boots or mittens, that's not even covering toys, which is what kids should be thinking about on Christmas. Not, what is my next meal going to be, or am I going to freeze today? Ah! I have this awful ability that when I hear about things like that, I end up putting my kids in their situation and I get really sad and just want to give them everything. (Yes, I am crying right now). I guess Jackson re-taught me that my kids aren't the only ones I can give to in the world. I just hope I can do enough for someone this year. I guess that's where traditions can come in. Every year Joe and I do give to a needy family that we know and we give a toy to a kids-charity. (Last year the Burnhams made a "Money-Tree" and everyone in the family pitched in for a woman who just got out of an abusive relationship and was left all alone with her children. I loved the idea because money usually doesn't grow on trees, but it did last year for that woman for Christmas). This year, I feel like my kids are getting old enough to learn how to give as well. I'm actually excited at the thought of teaching them how to give to another child in need. It breaks my heart that there are children in the world who don't have shelter or other necessities. Especially the thought of a child not receiving love from a parent makes me sick to my stomach. Maybe that it God's way of teaching His children how to come together and become more giving and Christ-like. When I think like this it makes me feel like, "What can I do? How are a measly pair of mittens going to warm a child's heart?" I guess this is where I start thinking of how grateful I am for my life and for what I have and what I can give to my children. I can be a better Mom. More loving and patient. I can teach them how to be loving and how to give and how be generous. Joe has already taught me a lot about that in our short 6 years of marriage. It feels so good to give and to give generously even if you don't have much. Last year Joe and I did not spend money on each other so we could continue on with our Christmas-traditions. I loved it way more than getting something I didn't need. I just wish I could think like this all year round. Oh the inadequacies....

One big one!

I entitled this "One big one" for two reasons. One, because the quote reminds me of Jenny and this post is all about her visit. And two, because it is literally a BIG post with lots of pictures! We had such a fun time! Jenny came to visit from Cleveland for about ten days and it went by way too fast! I will do my best to touch on the highlights of the trip! First and foremost, the airport....

What? Tears coming from Jenny? ;)

Taylor and Hannah were PUMPED to see Jenny and Milo. It was so cute to watch them run to her.

I think it may have been a long trip for Milo.... He was puking the day before and had the runs for a few days. What a sport!

Yeay! Jenny's HERE! It felt so surreal (almost as surreal as dropping her back off at the airport. Booo!). I kept telling Sarah on the way there that it felt like Christmas morning!

Below is the bulk of Milo and Ellie's relationship. It was so cute to watch them play together. Ellie was in Heaven having a cousin to follow around and steal things from. (Milo looks like a cute little puppy in this one!)

...notice Ellie has the bottle now? I think she's so used to having older brothers that steal everything from her that it was refreshing for her to be able to steal something from someone else. Poor Milo. Looks like he really cares....

And here's Ellie trying to do big-baby things like Milo. ....aaaaaaand getting stuck. Haha!

This is me trying to get Milo to smile. Honestly, I think I did pretty good.

Another perk to their relationship was less sweeping. Ellie would eat the dregs of Milo's meal and vice-versa. Haha!

Tasty!

Okay, I'm not going to pretend this next thing was a perk, but at least Milo is good at sharing. Even if it is the flu. With each of my children. One at a time. Haha! I can look back on it now and laugh, but I felt so bad for my babies at the time! First it was Jax 13 times in one night. Then Noah 3 times. And then Ellie, just once, thank goodness. It was so funny though. She's the happiest sick baby ever. After puking, we came and cleaned her up, etc, and then I held her and sang to her, and she was just smiling and laughing and gabbing back. Probably happy to be staying up late with Mommy.

Okay, it is sad when your kids get sick, but I will say I love the cuddling.

After the kids were happy and well, we took them to WEM's play place in Galaxy Land. I think they were pretty excited to get out of the house and PLAY!

Okay, this slide is deceivingly freaky! Jenny even screamed. Haha! I don't blame her though, it totally drops, ...and it's one of the "small" slides. Sheesh!

Milo's Puppy. Well, to be fair, she DID follow him around wherever he went.

It was so cute to watch them play together. I miss you guys already! Ellie needs her cousin back Jenny.

No. I did not see the sign that said, "No throwing balls." Cough.

Weeeeeeeee!

Another exciting thing that happened while Jenny and Milo were here was that Ellie got her first tooth! Thankfully she didn't fever or anything. It just showed up one day! (It's possible that her flu-like symptoms masked the pre-production of it coming). If you look closely you can see it in this shot below!

I love Milo in this shot. "...how do I get out of here?"

Could there be a happier face? Smile Ellie. Bigger. Bigger! C'mon, you could do bigger!

"Hey Milo! Smile! A-boogie-boo! A boogie-BOO!" ...and here's me trying to get Milo to smile. It's pretty close. I think there was some improvement in the week. ;)

And the excitement begins! Although we had our kids during the day, we were able to spend most of our evenings hanging out (Thanks to my awesome husband. THANKS JOE!) To prepare for the release of the first half of movie #7, we've been watching all the Harry Potter movies on the previous weeks leading up to it, ...and here we are with movie #6! We were pretty pumped!

Here's me trying to do a timed-picture. It's only a little off. From left to right, we've got Tarilyn, Cassie Baily, Jenny, Sarah and ME! We're missing Bethany because she was sick, however, she was a firm member of our Harry Potters nights. We missed you Bethany!

We also spent a few nights watching a BBC series called Cranford, ...which we loved. At first I was excited about it because I love that Mr. Bingly from Pride and Prejudice is in it, ...but then you come to love everyone!! ...Definitely recommend the series.

Sarah's "Awwwww!" face.

I think Jenny's face may be a little different from an "Awwww" face, ...but I'm pretty sure this expresses how she is feeling inside while watching. ;)

Hideous? Why would you call me that?

We watched the first few episodes at Sarah's, then finished them off on my King Sized bed all snuggly and cozy-like!

This is our reaction to the ending of the movie, ...although it just looks like Sarah and I are mad at Jenny for farting.

HARRY POTTER 7!!!!

Here were are in the theater awaiting what we've been waiting YEARS for. Did it live up to my expectations? Indeed!!! In fact, as soon as the movie ended (which was at a ridiculous 1:30 in the AM!!), I immediately wanted to watch it all over again. (L-R: Tarilyn, Ashton Harker, Me, Sarah, Jenny, Jordana, and Cassie was getting something from her car, but she was there AND she brought everyone a bag of home-made cookies along with a tootsie-roll. Love that girl).

Part of our excitement was that Harry Potter was sitting right in front of us! (Okay, okay, so it was Janine Hodder's son).

I don't know where Janine went, but here are our faces post-show. Tired, but so not-tired because we were all SO excited. Okay, ...we were tired. But only from being excited.

During Jenny's last day, we went to "Let's Play" which is similar to WEM play place. On a SATURDAY! What were we thinking? Notice how I have no pictures of the event even though I brought my camera? I was stressed to the max for a full 2.5 hours. Never will I ever do a Saturday there again! Ever! Later that day, Sarah and I went with Jenny to visit Oliver's grave. I came up with the bright idea to sing "Silent Night." Why? Just to give us an excuse to cry some more I guess! Sheesh! The first line started out okay, ...but then we all fell apart. It was a very sweet experience though to be able to share that with Jenny and talk a bit about him. It was two years ago on that very day that he was burried. (Nov 20th, 2oo8).

On Jenny's last night in town, we hooked up with Barb and Jordana to hit up Milestone's and hang out at Sarah's after. We just talked, but it was just like old times and such a good fun evening. ( ...except for the part where Hannah threw up in bed and Sarah's family was leaving for Disneyland the next day! Haha! She's there right now, so I don't know if Hannah's better by now or if Taylor got it, but I am praying they are all having a blast on all the rides and visiting all the Princesses!)

These are our sad-faces since Jenny was leaving the next day. I guess Jenny and Sarah felt differently..... ohhhhhh.....

And how thoughtful of Jenny to leave me with a present! Haha! I walked in later that day after I had dropped her and Milo off at the airport to find that she had left me with the Doll-Head's sister (a new addition to the famous Doll-Head that's been secretly passed around between us), whom I will name "Annabelle." You just wait Jenny, I will get you back....