Gingerbread Houses

This year for our gingerbread house creation, Jeremy and Bruce thought it would be a really cool idea to build the Great Wall of China.  In theory it sounded really easy but as it progressed we realized what a pickle we had put ourselves into.  Our first genius idea was building a mountain range for our Great Wall to rest upon.  We pulled out some poor man Tupperware and covered it with paper mache.  Ta-da!  A mountain range.  

But as we began cutting our gingerbread pieces to size we discovered that the pieces couldn't be flat on the bottom and needed to curve with the mountains...great.  Ultimately we decided just to create a lot of long pieces that we would cut to size when it came time for assembly.  To give the wall some holiday spirit we thought a snowball fight theme between the Chinese army and the Huns would be fun.  For that to work, we needed little army men and quickly whipped up 150 soldiers.  

As soon as we arrived at Lynnette's we got straight to work. We had to measure, cut, measure, angle, glue, adjust, and wedge, but we managed to successfully create the Great Wall!  Two in fact, since Jeremy and I had ours, and Bruce, Leesa, and Dantley had theirs. 

 

While we worked we dined on pizza, sucked plugged frosting tubes clean, and tried keeping all the little helpers happy.  

Slowly our creation came together and we were really happy with the result.  

By the time we finished and cleaned up it was nearly 11:30.  Normally Jeremy and I are really good about getting the kids to bed on time, but that night they had to fend for themselves.  They dropped to sleep one by one.  When it was time to go we found Kelton on a bedroom floor all wrapped up.  McKenzie cuddling on a bed, and Cambrie was zonked in a chair next to all the action.  I guess that means no family picture next to our gingerbread house huh?  

Since they had fallen asleep before it was completed they were really excited to see it the next morning.  The girls love all of the silly things on our house: the piles of snowballs, the Ewok spies, Santa Claus sitting on the roof, soldiers who tumbled down after being hit with snowballs, a Waldo hiding among the trees, a cheerleader cheering the soldiers on, and the colorful Christmas lights on the battlements.  It was a lot of work, but we think it was worth it. 

The Nutracker

This year Cambrie and I were able to go see the Nutracker with my mom, sisters, cousins, and Grandma.  It was a surprise treat to go watch Ballet West with all of them.  Cambrie and I both love dressing up and having a special night for the two of us.  

On the drive up to the theater I asked her if she wanted me to tell her the story again so she could remember what was happening, she told me that she wanted to be surprised instead.  I suppose that's valid.  When we walked in to the theater she immediately found her little cousins and found a corner to get out all of their wiggles before the show started.  As we sat down in our seats, she was so excited.  She's still too short to see the whole stage sitting in her seat, so she spent most of the performance on my lap.  It worked out really well because as the show progressed, she did in fact have questions and it was easy to whisper in her ear.  During intermission we walked down to the orchestra pit.  Now that Cambrie is learning to play the piano she enjoyed looking at all the music and asks some of the musicians about their instruments.  Once we talked to everyone we could talk to we walked back up to our seats where my mom tried to get some pictures of the two of us.  Cambrie decided to be super silly for the photos.  

It was a late night and towards the end she started getting tired.  I can't really say I blame her though, the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy does seem to take a long time.  She perked right up though when I told her we could go out for ice-cream afterwards.  She didn't want to hold still for the group photo and it took a little bribery to get her to smile.  

Her only request for our ice-cream stop was that she could have a cherry on top.  Luckily that is an easy request to fulfill.  It was such a fun night with my girl and my family.

The Thankful 13

I like running simple, fun races on Thanksgiving morning.  Partially because I am thankful my body is healthy enough to run, partially because I think it is a good family tradition, and partially because then I don't feel as guilty eating Thanksgiving dinner.  This year, instead of running a standard 5K, Camille talked me into running a half marathon.  It was a little intimidating getting back into the running game after Kelton was born, but I was going to do it so my sister and I could have a fun bonding experience.  That morning I picked up Hannah to come cheer for us and met Camille there.  It was a chilly morning, as expected, but luckily we warmed up quickly as we ran.  The race started at Thanksgiving Point, ran through the streets of Lehi and along the Jordan River Trail.  Along the course there were signs made by the race directors that had things some of the runners were thankful for, things such as "My husband who is probably trying to catch up to me." "My kids." "My shoes for not giving me blisters." and "A thankful holiday season."  Because we were just out there to have a good time, we did have a good time.  

Inevitably we started growing tired and it became my job to keep talking to keep us going.  With a half mile to go we ran into cheerleader Hannah and we were given a new burst of speed to make it up the final hill.  Then as we entered into the final stretch we saw our dad who had driven down just for us.  I must admit that seeing Camille conquer the course and seeing my dad along the sidelines made me start to cry.  Thank goodness for sunglasses.  We crossed the finish line with a time of 1:59.12, just as Camille had hoped to do.  At the finish line we had turkey medals waiting for us and pumpkin pie.  Thanksgiving dinner was definitely more satisfying that afternoon after a quick morning run :)

Thanksgiving

This year we were able to have Thanksgiving with both of our families!  Thanksgiving lunch was at my Grandma Stratford's house in Ogden.  We were missing a couple of families simply because everyone is getting old and going to school across the country (wait, that sounds familiar), but it was really nice to see those families members that made it.  And I love that my girls' have little friends to play with while we are there.  Round two was Thanksgiving dinner at the Pearce's in Morgan.  We were all pretty stuffed, but McKenzie can always fit in more rolls and everyone can fit in more pies.  It felt funny telling the girls in Ogden that they could only have two pieces of pie since they would be having more later.  I wish there was more of a story than what I have written, but it was a very normal Thanksgiving; turkey decorations on the table, festive tableware, people laughing in the kitchen, plates piled high with food, and lots of satisfied bellies.  One year I'll be smart and actually take a picture of my family at Thanksgiving dinner.  As it is, I have a quick pic of Jeremy, Kelton and I at my Grandma's house.  I suppose that will have to do.   Happy turkey day!

Cambrie's thankful list

I found a thankful list in Cambrie's backpack from today.  I want to remember all the cute things she's thankful for this year.

Little Snowman and Little Reader

It snowed just enough for a snowman.  While McKenzie tromped around making paths in the backyard, Cambrie made a little snowman in the front yard.  Once she was done she realized that she had just checked out a snowman book from the library the day before and decided that Snowy definitely needed story time.  She grabbed her book, plopped down next to Snowy, and read the whole book to him.  What a sweetie.

Our week

We have had a pretty good week.  There were enough small moments worth remembering that I snapped some pictures and am putting their captions here.  It doesn't create much of a story but I guess that's okay.

We made cupcake turkeys.  Leesa sent the girls a little kit and we thought it was too cute not to share.  We invited over the Werner's and the girls made some cute and tasty turkeys.

Cambrie had a farm field trip a couple of months ago.  She brought home fresh onions, potatoes, carrots, and a huge cabbage!

  

It has been waiting for us to eat it for awhile.  We dished it up with corned beef and it was delicious, but we still had half the sucker left.  So we tried an experiment...making our own sauerkraut.  The process is so simple it seems wrong.  You dice up the cabbage, sprinkle it with salt, and let it sit on your counter for three days.  We were skeptical but decided to try it.  Jeremy tasted some today and he said it tasted salty (I didn't do a very good job of measuring), but other than that it seemed okay.  Bizarre, I know.  

  Daddy and Kelton watching some Sunday afternoon football.  Love my boys :)

McKenzie fell on the playground and banged up her knees.  After waking up from her nap she was tired and sore.  Cambrie jumped right in to help her poor sister.  She pulled out the computer chair and wheeled McKenzie around the rest of the night in her "wheelchair."  They helped set the table by putting things on Kenzie's lap and shuttling them back and forth from the kitchen.  It was just too sweet not to remember.

And Kelton had his four month check up.  He weighs 13 lbs. 8 oz, and is 25 inches long.  He is my skinniest baby so far and I just love the little guy.  I don't have the official copies of his updated pics, but I loved this one of my handsome little man so much that even a phone pic of a computer screen is worth posting.

Mullet control

I tried to just let my girls' hair grow and grow when they were babies, but I'm realizing it doesn't quite work the same for little boys.  I've been hesitant to do anything to Kelton's hair since it's so thin.  If I cut it he would just look really bald.  But his mullet...sigh....was starting to drive me crazy.  So today I plopped him down in his bumbo for a little mullet control.  I wrapped him up in his first towel cape ever, pulled out Jeremy's clippers, and hoped Kelton wouldn't go berserk.  I was totally surprised that he didn't react at all!  I was able to trim his mullet then moved on to his cowlick.  I cut nearly two inches off his little cowlick which really helped the comb-over situation we had going on.  Such a handsome little guy!

McKenzie's preschool projects

I haven't been very good at posting McKenzie's projects she brings home from preschool.  Maybe I'll add some more pics to this post after school this week, but for now I only have one project to show.  I liked this school bus because it shows how great she is at using scissors, how cute her handwriting is, and her love for her family.  Riding in the bus are Kelton, Jeremy, me, and Cambrie.  She is doing so well in preschool...I love that I get a chance to be her teacher!

Dinner?

Last night I was "this close" to serving the girls Rice Krispie treats and a glass of milk for dinner and calling it good.  If you think about it, it's really a bowl of cold cereal sprinkled with sugar.  That counts as nutritious right?

Rollie Pollie Ollie

Now that Kelton is comfortable rolling over, he really rolls.  This series of pictures was taken within ten minutes.  He is all over the place!

Soccer star

Cambrie just finished her most recent season of soccer and she is still in love with it.  This season was a little bit more hectic because she had practices two days a week plus her games on Saturdays.  I didn't know if she would like going to soccer practices in the evening so often, and I really didn't know if she would handle her socks, shin guards, and cleats...sometimes they tickle.  Luckily I was able to find some comfy soccer socks and that literally made all the difference in the world.  She really enjoyed the girls on her team and was excited to learn that some of them go to her school.  It's fun to watch her grow in the sport, and become more confident and capable with the ball.  While I am a little relieved not to be watching chilly evening practices any more, I think we are going to miss the fun social aspect of the game.  Her last game was this weekend and I finally whipped out my camera to take some action shots of my little soccer star.   

This shot resulted in one of her three goals this game.

This shot was very, very close to goal.

She did a great job of maneuvering this one away from the pack and down the field.

Her team, the Sassy Cats.

Her soccer buddy, Brynlee.

And her absolutely favorite part of soccer season is the medal she receives at the end.

Bath time

This little boy LOVES his baths.  Watching him smile, giggle and kick in the tub just makes me happy.  

He also LOVES his fingers.  

Just look at how happy he is :)

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween traditions.  I love the leaves.  I love the pumpkins.  I love the spooky stories.  I love the costumes.  And I love trick-or-treating.  Sometimes I wonder who in the family is looking forward to the night more, me or the girls!  We started getting in the Halloween spirit weeks ago as we decorated the house then started decorating us.  Leesa bought candy-corn tutu outfits for the girls and McKenzie was totally in love with hers.  She has alternated between wearing her "tandy torn" clothes and her pumpkin shirt every days this entire month.  She even tried to get Kelton in on the action.  

After bringing the pumpkins home from the pumpkin patch the girls have been asking daily if it's time to carve them.  They were a little surprised when I finally said yes.  Like previous years they did not want to get their hands dirty.  Pumpkin slime is too slimy for my girls.  But I laid down the law and said that if they didn't get their pumpkin guts out on their own then we wouldn't carve them.  I find it ironic that my girls make mud pies, pick up worms and kill spiders but won't grab pumpkin guts.  After some compromises and a lot of hand washing they finally had their pumpkins clean.  

McKenzie wanted something very spooky and chose Dracula.  

Cambrie chose a ghost and was old enough this year to wield the pumpkin carving knife mostly by herself.  

Kelton got to hand out in his Bumbo chair and was very interested in grabbing whatever was within his reach.  

The girls were really proud of their pumpkins once they were done.  

And Kelton...well, I just couldn't resist.  They're only babies once.  

Cambrie had a class party that her brother, sister, and I got to help with.  They wrapped up each other like mummies, went on a scavenger hunt, ate goodies, and pin-pricked pumpkins.  (I hope that I'm able to get some copies of the pictures some of the other moms took).  We had so much fun playing at Cambrie's school.  McKenzie also had a quick party at preschool.  They are such a good group of kids to teach.  

Not a moment too soon it was time to go trick-or-treating.  Luckily our friends, the Werners, were able to come hang out with us and were able to help us get some family photos.  The theme this year was Wreck-it-Ralph.  

Jeremy was Ralph.  

I was Sgt. Calhoun.  

Cambrie was Venellope von Schweetz.  

McKenzie was Taffyta Muttonfudge.  

And Kelton was Fix-it-Felix.  

We had some great responses to our costumes at the ward Halloween party, and Jeremy and I received the award of the "Most Destructive Couple."  We had more great comments while we were out trick-or-treating too.  The weather was cold so I'm glad that my girls' costumes had coats built into them.  Their legs were a little chilly....but can you believe they are both wearing tights without complaint?!  Big deal folks!  Big deal!  

I went out with the girls while Jeremy stayed home passing out candy to all "the rotten little cavities."  It was an easy year to be the chaperon because both girls were very confident walking up to the doors by themselves.  I got to chat with the hot dog and ketchup bottle that were with me...I mean, Greg and Ashlee...and just enjoy myself.  

Like I said though, it was windy and cold.  Our loop is only about a mile, but by the end we were all super excited for the fireplace and a mug of hot chocolate.  What a fun, fun holiday.