Thursday, January 17, 2013

2013 Is The Year Of Fun

We want to have as much fun as possible this year.  Who doesn't want to have fun?  Because of Christmas being such a fun time of year I think that January - March can tend to be a little boring.  So we are going to make those months especially fun and we are off to a good start.


For New Years this year we went to eat with my family to Callaways on New Years Eve. Then we all came back to our house for games and treats.  We played games with the Play Station Move and played some Poker and Back Alley Bridge. 


We even got Chapman and Lauren to come hang out with us for a little while.


We sent my dad to the store to get a COUPLE of treats.  He came back with red and black licorice, caramel corn, a toy for Drake, three king size candy bars, three different kinds of ice cream, sparkling cider, orange juice, fruit snacks, a candle, fresca, captain crunch, two different kinds of cookies, fireworks, and some hand warmers.  Ha ha ha ha I love that man!  He is always thinking of everyone and every situation and what we just might need or want.


Drake even made it to midnight! 



Another fun thing about this new year so far is that I get to kiss those darling cheeks every night!!  


Drake and I had a fun date just the two of us.  One Saturday we left Josh and Stella home and Drake and I went to a movie.  We were the only ones in the movie theater.  We saw Monsters Inc. They brought it back in 3D but Drake just wanted to see it without the glasses on.  It was so much fun to go with Drake and even more fun because he sat on my lap the whole time!!


After the movie we went and got some lunch at Chick Fil A.  Drake loves going to to Chick Fil A.  He loves seeing the cow and he loves to play.  We have met my friend Annie and her kids a lot the last few weeks so the kids could play and Annie and I can chat and drink diet coke.


Drake helped me make cookies a couple weeks ago.  He helped measure everything out and poured everything into the big bowl and turned it on and off.




Stella just makes everything fun because she is so dang cute!


We have read lots of bed time stories....



...and watched a lot of shows on the iPad.




A couple of weeks ago my friend Tessa and I took our kids down to the Tree House Museum in Ogden.  Drake and Hunter loved it. Their favorite place to play was the music room.  They played on all sorts of instruments.






Love those big blue eyes!


Drake's latest thing is, he likes to borrow things from my parents and grandparents house.  He borrows books or small toys and then returns them.  Right now he has this clown that when you wind it up it plays the song "It's a Small World".  Drake loves it and listens to it every night.


We have been having dance parties almost every day.  Drake asks me to pick him up and we dance and then he gets on the ground and busts out some of his own moves.


Stella just watches us dance and eats her treats.


We play with a lot of toys.  Drake is really good at helping me pick them up when he is done playing.


Drake has been into drawing lately and really is doing a good job!  He drew this picture of me and gave it to me.


Last weekend I went to Salt Lake with my mom to stay over night and go shopping.  This is what Josh gave to me for Christmas.  So I left on Friday and James watched Drake for me until Josh got off of work and Stella went to my grandpa and grandma's house. James took Drake to the Fun Park to go bowling.





My Mom and I had a blast.  We stayed at the City Creek Marriott.  We shopped, went to eat, shopped some more and then Saturday went to watch my sister dance at a drill competition. We had a great time!  Thanks to Josh for getting the hotel and giving this to me for Christmas, it was a great getaway! 


Josh did a great job taking care of the kids by himself.  I mean he even has Stella in matching clothes and he even put a bow in her hair!


It has been so cold outside so we have had a lot of fun inside cuddling on the couch watching a show, playing games and Drake has loved playing with his train.  He just sits on his chair and watches it go around and around the track.



Because you can't have fun all of the time.... we have all been sick the last couple of weeks.  We just found out that Stella has croup.  The poor thing had coughed and coughed and had a yucky nose.  But with all of this sickness there is one fun thing about it and that is she has been very cuddly!


Every morning when Stella wakes up she likes me to sit in the rocking chair and she lays her head on my shoulder and stays like that for about 5 minutes.  If I don't do that she cries.


Drake is now a Sunbeam!!  You can't see him really well in this picture.  I tried to snap a quick picture in singing time.


Stella laid like this for about an hour and didn't even move and then she fell asleep and stayed asleep in the middle of my room while Drake was running around and I was blow drying my hair and getting ready.


Here is to more fun in the year of 2013!!!


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Stella's First Christmas

This year's Christmas was so fun.  It was Stella's first Christmas so it was fun for me to get her presents and also to get a picture of her with Santa Claus.  


Stella wasn't afraid of him at all and was as happy as could be sitting on his lap. I love the picture above. It is so sweet!



Drake didn't want to have anything to do with Santa.  He was scared to death and just pretended he was asleep!


We were grocery shopping at Smith's Marketplace and Santa was there. Drake didn't want to go and sit on his lap so Santa came to him.  It took a minute of Santa talking to him and then he was ok with getting a picture.



One of the Sunday's before Christmas Stella and her Daddy hung out in the foyer because she was being too loud for the High Priests.


The Sunday before Christmas we went to the John's house and decorated gingerbread men.  This is a fun tradition we have done for the last three years.  I love doing it and the kids love it too.





HA HA HA we gave Stella her first taste of something sour.


Josh had to work Christmas Eve so the kids and I stayed home and watched a Christmas movie and made yummy food for that night.  When Josh got off of work we went to Robin and Ted's house for dinner and some fun.


We read the Nativity from the Bible and acted it out.  Ted and Emmy were Mary and Joseph and Stella was baby Jesus.


Syd and I were the Shepherds.



Josh, Logan and Robin were the 3 Wise men.  I don't have a picture of Barb but she was the Angel.  Cooper, Drake and Capri didn't want to dress up and they were running around most of the time so I guess they were the sheep!


We decorated some Christmas tree rice krispie treats for Santa.



Josh read some Christmas books to the kids.



It was the perfect Christmas Eve because it snowed....and it snowed a lot!



We then went back to our house and got the kids in the bath....



...and let them open their Christmas Eve present which was new Christmas Pj's.





We left some treats and milk out for Santa and tucked the kids in bed.



My favorite tradition at Christmas time is new Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve.  My parents have always done this for us and for some reason it was always my favorite present to open.  I love pj's anyways but there is something so fun about opening new cozy ones on Christmas Eve.  My parents were kind enough to drive out to our house so that I could open my Christmas pj's.




We kept Christmas really simple this year.  We talked to Santa and told him that our kids didn't need a lot and that we wanted to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas.  I agreed to help Santa make a doll for Stella.  We named her Prissy.  She is really cute and I hope that Stella will love her.  Drake wanted a toy train and a toy train is what he got.  


Grandma and Grandpa Wood came down to our house Christmas morning and were there when the kids woke up.  It was fun having them at our house.  We have gone up to Pocatello when it has been our turn to be with them which has always been fun, but it was fun to wake up at our own house this year on Christmas morning.


Drake was so excited about his train!



Stella got a fun toy that she can stand up to and play with. 



Stella also got a pillowcase for when she can start laying on a pillow at night.



My friends and I gave all of our husbands the same thing.  We bought them tickets to a Jazz game and a gift card for dinner.  We were so excited to give this to them because it would give them a fun night out with the guys and we also got them pretty good seats.


I also surprised Josh with some pictures of our kids I had taken without him knowing.  I had them taken in their Aggie gear up on the A on campus. They turned out great and Josh being the HUGE Aggie fan that he is loved them!


After we opened presents at our house we went to Robin and Ted's to see what they got.  We also ate breakfast and opened more presents.


We hung out at Robin and Ted's house for a while and then went to my parents house to see my family and to let our kids open presents from them.




Drake got Woody.


Stella got a fun little toy that makes a lot of noise and the cutest night light I have ever seen!


They both got this fun little house made out of felt that fits over a card table to play in.  Drake loves his little house and I know Stella will enjoy playing in it too!