Merry Christmas, indeed!!

At the risk of putting your attention spans to the test, I thought that I would share "a few" pictures that sort of show our Christmas season in a nutshell. It's been such a wonderful holiday and worth every bit of work!

We got ourselves into the holiday spirit by attending 3 sing-a-longs at the Elementary school. This is a great tradition that the school does every year. The last six days leading up to Christmas break, the school starts its day with a sing-a-long assembly. Each grade gets a day to perform for the rest of the school and their parents. There is NOTHING that gets me more excited for Christmas than this! The kids know the songs so well and it's so fun to watch them and sing with them. The school building is one of the few really OLD buildings left so it just feels like I've stepped back in time...not to mention the fact that they are actually allowed to sing "Christmas" songs! GASP!! Here is Corinne with Spencer following her program.

Paige with Daddy and Spencer on her big day.
Nicole being "shy" after her fifteen minutes of fame.

During that week we had to bake gingerbread cookies because it just isn't Christmas at our house without them. Spencer LOVED the "cream gun" and would have emptied the whole thing on that one cookie if I had let him.
We enjoyed several family parties. We went to Great Grandma Felt's house on the 21st and had a nice time visiting with Matt's cousins/aunts/uncles. Then on the 23rd we were at Josh & Brigitte's house for our party with Matt's brothers/Mom/grandparents. The kids all exchanged gifts and then had a great time with each other. On Christmas Eve Mom and Dad and G'ma Pat and Matt's grandparents came for dinner. We had a very fun evening except that Paige was really frustrated that we couldn't just go to bed already!! Claire stole the spotlight for a moment when she decided to sit up by herself for the very first time.

While Claire was busy showing off, the other kids got to open their new jammies!
We had a live nativity program and I'm pretty sure that those present would agree that it was a very moving, spiritual experience...or something like that. Here is Mary riding her donkey to Bethlehem. Joseph decided that he needed to be a horse, which isn't a bad plan in case the donkey gets tired or something, I guess.
You can see here that the shepherds were "sore afraid" of the angel. (An oscar moment if ever there was one!)
Christmas morning was great! We were able to hold them off until almost 7:20 and then the fun began!!

'Tis the Season

Hi all! The last few weeks have been hectic and crazy and fun! I'm sure you can relate. I just wanted to share a few things that have gone on since my last post. I hope your holidays are happy and stress-free! : )Nicole is in her second year playing the violin. She had her Christmas concert last week and it was great! In her own words regarding orchestra: "I love, love, love the concerts...I just hate the rest of it."

Claire has found 2 new toys at the bottom of her legs! I just love it when babies find their feet. I thought that I would share this picture because even though she has crazy hair fresh from the tub and I couldn't get her to smile and hold her toes at the same time, it's just cute! (Says the Mom)

Two weekends ago, our Colorado cousins were here for Kaiya's baptism. We got to spend the afternoon playing with them and the kids didn't waste one minute of the time they had together!

Here is Spencer having the time of his life playing cars with...A BOY!!!

And as if we don't have enough spa days around here...

The fashion show put on by the divas (check out that pout on Kaiya!)

And not to be outdone by the girls...the guys walk the runway! Don't you love how they accessorized too? Cooper with his Colorado Rockies hat? And Spencer with his Hot Wheels carrying case? (Sorry Coop...I had to!)

Later that evening our family went to our Ward Christmas party. I included this picture to show you what a Wellsville Santa looks like! Zoom in and you'll see that they paid very close attention to detail even getting some rouge on his nose...but it seems like something is missing...hmm...I just can't quite place it.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

What a great weekend! We celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious dinner at Matt's uncle's house. It was so nice to visit with everyone and Uncle Kelly and Aunt Kristy were so kind and welcoming that they had a hard time getting rid of us all! Nicole even announced during the meal, "I think that we should come here for dinner every night."
Yesterday we took a drive up to Fairview to visit the horses that belong to Uncle Trent and Aunt Bink. Well, at least that's the way Nicole looked at it. Matt and I were happy to visit the humans that live there too. Uncle Trent is an amazing horseman and humored all of us with plenty of rides for several hours. Meanwhile, Aunt Bink kept us happy with hot chocolate and the best rice krispy treats I've ever had! The kids LOVED it! Here are some pictures and if you look closely you might see Nicole floating since her feet never actually touched the ground for the rest of the day! : )

Reflections Contest

On Monday Nicole and Corinne entered the annual reflections contest for the first time ever. Corinne made a playground out of trash that she titled "Trashopolis". Nicole sketched a picture of Matt's elk. Here they are with their projects and the ribbons that they won! Maybe we have some artists in the making, or at the very least Corinne could find work with the Environmental Department and Nicole can brighten my world by adding more elk to my walls!

Trick-or-Treat

This week has been so busy it's hard to believe that we just took these pictures last Friday! Here are my little monsters all dressed up for Halloween and ready to trick-or-treat the night away! Matt took Corinne, Paige, and Spencer around the neighborhood while Claire and I handed out candy at our house. Nicole decided to grow up on us and went trick-or-treating with two friends from school...BY THEMSELVES! (Who said it was okay for my babies to grow up and not need me anymore?) We all met back together eventually and went to Smithfield to trick-or-treat at Grandma Pat's house and Grandma and Grandpa Lindhardt's house. It was a fun evening made extra nice knowing that the kids had a Saturday morning ahead of them to sleep off the late night. Annie Oakley

Hannah Montana

Happy Little Witch


Cowboy Spencer

Cute Little Pumpkin

Five Little Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!!!

We hope your day is "spook"tacular!

Yummy??

Claire had her first little taste of rice cereal on Sunday. She didn't hate it, but it appears to be an acquired taste. More ended up running down her chin than actually going in her mouth and she made some cute little faces in the process. Of course, her first meal was served up with lots of help from her siblings...maybe that explains the straight arm that she's trying to give Spencer in the picture!

Tagged!

I've been tagged twice now and the two were very similar so I decided to blend them together. I hope that's not cheating...Enjoy!

10 years ago
I knew everything there was to know about raising kids
I never dreamed my new little baby girl would grow up so fast
I was a “few” pounds lighter
I could speak Hungarian
I swore that my kids would never be MC Mustangs
5 Jobs I’ve held
Caramel wrapper for $2.00/hr.
Arby’s Restaurant
College dorm custodian
Jackson Hole summer employment
Nursing Home
5 Favorite Snacks
Chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven with a big glass of skim milk
Chips and Salsa
Matt’s Stuffed Jalapenos
Banana Cream Pie
Chocolate pudding/brownies/cake, etc.
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire
Pay off the house
Go on some very nice family vacations
One word: Housekeeper! (Or is that two?)
Pay someone to build my deck TODAY!
(with the expensive rail that I really had my heart set on until I learned the price!)
Buy some meat, so poor Matt wouldn’t feel such pressure to hunt all the time
5 Movies I could watch over and over
Rocky IV
The Saint
Ella Enchanted
Tommy Boy
My Turn on Earth (Hee hee!)

I won't tag anyone back but if any of you want to do it I'd love to see your comments! (Haley? Barb?)

Have a great day!!
Nancy

Rockin 'n' Rolling

Claire learned how to roll over this week. It's so fun to watch her. (Well, for me it is anyway. I took it easy on all of you and kept the video to 14 seconds!) She did it for the first time on Sunday evening. Nobody saw it happen, we just found her on her stomach. Since then she's gotten better and faster and I can't keep her off of her tummy. Poor Matt is on a business trip this week so he gets to see it for the first time with all of you on our blog! He better hurry home before she graduates from college. : )

Siblings

THE POSSE


Finally, some brotherly love!
Just thought I'd share a couple of pics of the kids. The girls have fun getting ready and going to school together. They ride their bikes and Nicole and Corinne are pretty good about taking care of Paige. Spencer went through a bit of shock (and so did I!) when all of his big sisters went back to school taking his playmates away for the whole morning, but he's doing better and even tries to play with Claire at times. (Still under CLOSE supervision!)

Yesterday Nicole and Corinne made a "card store". They handmade greetings cards that we could buy with play money that they also made. Well, I thought I would share a sampling of their work. This is the poem that Nicole wrote in a card that she made for Matt to give to me:

I leave,

I miss you.

You miss me too even though I hog the T.V. for football,

go hunting without taking you,

come back with no meat.

You are my sweetheart, you can't be beat!

We had a good laugh about this...makes me think that she pays attention around here!

Domo Arigato Aunt Annie

Here is a picture of Claire wearing her cute little cherry blossom kimono courtesy of her Okinawa cousins. Thanks Annie, Andy, Ethan and Lainey!! I did her hair in a top knot to try and complete the "sumo wrestler" effect, but I think the fair skin and blue eyes gives her away.

Toaster?...What's a toaster??

Okay, so yesterday morning I made an eggo waffle for Spencer in the toaster like I do most mornings. He is very familiar with this routine and has watched them go in and pop out of the toaster many times. Well, he didn't come to breakfast right away and by the time he got there his waffle had cooled off, so being a nice mom I put it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up. Thinking that I had cooked his waffle in the microwave, he became upset and in his "my life is ruined" voice he said, "No Mom! You put mine waffle in the...(big pause here while he tries to think of the word "toaster", and then)...in the waffle cave!" Classic!! I just love being a mom...tell me where else would I have this much fun? Have a great day! Love, Nancy

Jammies & Camo

Is there anything cuter than fuzzy one piece jammies? Spencer and Claire are just such snuggle bugs that I had to share this picture of their happy faces...bed head and all!Matt took Nicole and Corinne with him elk hunting this year. Due to the girls' very busy schedules he had to take them on separate trips. This is a pic I snapped right before Corinne and Matt left. How cute is she in camo?! Enjoy it now though because it may be the last time we ever see her in it. As she said to me this morning when I asked her if she was going grouse hunting with Matt today, "Well Mom, hunting isn't really my thing." Hallelujah...she is my girl after all!

Look out world...here comes Paige!

Well finally I am posting a picture of Paige on her first day of kindergarten. I would have and should have had this up sooner, since Paige actually went to her 7th day of kindergarten today, but Matt stole my camera and went hunting before I downloaded my pictures. Despite the setback, I am here to tell you now that Paige LOVES kindergarten. She said to me on the morning of, "Why do you have to go with me? I can go by myself!" And even though I insisted, since it is my right as a mother to go through that teary ritual, in the end she truly didn't need me at all because when it came time to say goodbye to her, I couldn't get through Nicole and Corinne who were hugging her, showing her where her backpack goes, introducing her to her teacher and being great little mothers (wanted or not). So I made my way home, knowing that she is in good(?) hands as she enters that big world. The only question for me now: Is the world really ready for her?!

And of course what would a post be without an update on my little Claire? Here are some pictures of her being a big girl in her "Bumbo" and catching a nap in her swing. Still so fun!

Milestones

It was the first day of school for Nicole and Corinne yesterday. They were very excited and when they came home they told me about all of the fun that they had. Nicole is especially excited to be in 5th grade...the oldest in the school. Her teacher told the class all about the fun things that they will do this year. The ski trip was what really caught her attention! Corinne is excited to learn cursive and says they will start today.
Claire turned two months old on Tuesday. She is starting to smile a lot and is still just the sweetest little baby. She had her checkup on Monday. She weighed 9 lb. 3 oz., which at two months is exactly one ounce bigger than Nicole weighed when she was born!

Happy Birthday Paige!

Paige turned 5 years old a week and a half ago. We had a fun monkey party complete with a monkey cake...(remind Nancy to keep her day job if she ever thinks she can make it as a cake decorator!) Paige is so excited for kindergarten and can't understand why she has to wait a week longer than her sisters for the first day of school. Especially since I've been telling her for a year that she could go to school when she is 5. I guess I should have been more specific...5 years and 3 weeks! We love our Paigie bug!!