Aubrey's Little Accident

Aubrey usually waits to go potty until we are sitting up to the table and have already said prayer over our food. She will then wiggle all around while she takes a bite or two, then promptly get down from the table and run to the bathroom. The last couple of days I decided to teach her that she needs to ask to be excused before getting down from the table. (I should also state that before meals I ask her if she needs to go potty and she insistently tells me that she does not. If I make her go before the meal she usually starts crying, telling me she doesn't have to. So I am not oozing with sympathy when she is wiggling uncomfortably in her chair.) It was lunch and we had just finished the prayer. Aubrey stuffed a few bites in her mouth and then got down to run to the bathroom. As she was leaving the kitchen I stopped her and told her she needed to ask to be excused. As I am telling her this I am watching her,her face full of concern and concentration, legs crossed, and pee starting to trickle down her legs. As the pee came down her face relaxed and I couldn't help but laugh. It was quite a funny situation.

Happy Birthday Papa

In December we celebrated Papa J's birthday!

Family Christmas Party

This year Santa was able to stop by a family Christmas party we went to. In years past the girls have been terrified of Santa and have only received a candy cane for all their tears. This year it only took one child sitting on Santa's lap for Aubrey to realize that she would get a whole bag of candy if she sat on his lap...I think she was child number 2 in line! When he asked what she wanted for Christmas, she simply stated that she wanted a reindeer. So much for the dog! Hailey also quickly realized that there were bags of candy involved. However, instead of going to Santa she went directly to Santa's elf and repeatedly asked for a bag of candy, completely bypassing Santa. When the elf wouldn't budge, Hailey was next up to sit on Santa's lap. After the rest of the children had their turn with Santa, Hailey slyly took advantage of Santa's age and fading memory to sit on his lap yet again and get a second bag of candy! That's my girl!!!



Hailey was not fooled by that beard.

"Look Mom, another bag of candy!"

Here is our gingerbread house. It fell apart before we could enjoy breaking it ourselves.

My apologies

I am so sorry I haven't updated this blog in almost 2 months! I could say we are still recovering from Christmas, however that was more than a month ago. I feel like we are still recovering from Christmas and trying to get back into a routine. We went to Boise for Christmas and were gone for about 10 days, then came back and Paul started work at his law firm. Aubrey has begun another ballet class and we try to think of ways to get out of the house. January seemed to go by rather quickly. I'm not sure I'm ready for February to start. Ready or not, it's here! Over the next week or so I will be updating our blog with pictures of our Christmas vacation! Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree!

Random

An old friend from High School came to visit over the Thanksgiving holiday. Carissa looks fabulous and is so happy. It was great to see her and know she is doing well.

Whenever I lay down on the couch Hailey gets a book and lays on me, wanting me to read to her. I love it!

Katie's House

We went to my dear friend Katie's house to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with her. She gave the girls Christmas presents which they absolutely adored! I also learned while being there that I am a terrible wii player!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Paul's Dad and brother. We enjoyed their company and the food was delicious! It was a good day and is always a wonderful time of the year to reflect on what we are grateful for. I am so grateful for my family, my sweet sweet husband and two beautiful daughters. Along with the gospel of Jesus Christ, my family makes my life complete. I am so blessed, the Lord has been so gracious to me. I cannot count the blessing and miracles that are so abundant in my life. I have been blessed!

Birthday Cake

We made Paul's mom her birthday cake. (Thank you Abby and "Hello cupcake" for the great ideas!) Her birthday is the beginning of November so we made a fall wreath to go on top of a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The leaves are made out of chocolate, hand painted by Paul and I. The acorns are made out of caramels dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. It was a lot of work but was really fun to make!

Halloween!

We went to a ward Halloween party which was a lot of fun. It was raining outside so, instead of trunk or treating in the parking lot, the adults lined the hallways of the church and the kids went around collecting candy. This was by far the best trick or treating experience of my life! We dressed up with a Winnie the Pooh theme. I was Eeyore, Hailey was Piglet, Paul was Christopher Robin, and Aubrey was a chick. (We didn't have another Pooh costume for Aubrey). And, like the wonderful parent I am, I forgot to take pictures! So, about a week after Halloween we all put back on our costumes for some pictures. Nice! (Aubrey took the picture of Paul and I. She did a great job. We have a budding photographer on our hands!)

I went to Boise in November and got to see one of my dearest friends, Abby! We were next door neighbors in Iowa City and I practically lived at her apartment, especially in the evenings when the girls were in bed and Paul was studying. Thank heaven for wonderful friends. It was so great to see Abby and cute little Paige! (Hailey really was happy about the visit. She was unhappy about being confined for a picture.)

While we were in Boise my sister spoiled the girls rotten! Here they are with their new pillow pets and toys! Bliss!

This is my first cake using ganache frosting, (thank you once again to "Hello Cupcake". Thanks Abby!) It was unbelievably easy...OK OK, it wasn't real ganache. It was the fake stuff (that's probably why it was so easy) but worked like a charm. I decorated the cake with orange peels. I should have waited until the cake was more dry because the orange peels sunk into the frosting. Oh well, it tasted delicious! Yum!