little stinker

Bella's asserting her independence lately by violently shaking her head & screeching whenever she sees a bow in my hand coming toward her head.

Doesn't she know that after 3 boys, cute little hair bows are like a drug?

I can't stop buying them...we have hundreds of bows.

Bows that just sit in the drawer & stare at me with all their cuteness. Sigh.

this morning...

"Mom, Bella's eating my chocolate kisses with the wrapper"..."Mom, there's syrup on my Leapster screen"..."Mom, where's my Lego pirate guy, I can't find it anywhere?!"

hmmm...wonder why it's chaos in here?! I was looking forward to putting on my new clothes today & checking out the after Christmas sales, catching a movie & basking in the Christmas afterglow. I guess I need to clean first!

Yesterday, Bella loved opening her new puppy Violet that says her name & sings cute songs.

After Noah got his new Nintendo DS, we just saw the top of head for the rest of the day!

Mack was enjoying shooting us all with nerf missles & then laughing while running away.

We couldn't find Sam, but this cute storm trooper zoomed by every now & then!

I worked hard to make sure the kids understood that Christmas is about the birth of our Saviour, and I know the boys all understood that this year. Thankfully, we had many opportunities to do things this month to bring the true spirit of Christmas to our home.

Yesterday was all about Santa & toys though! :) We had so much fun & hope you did too.

Rite of passage

Noah went to his first football game yesterday in Las Vegas. He has been asking to go to a game for awhile, and he is so happy to finally be initiated into the club. We are not hardcore football fans, and generally cheer for any team from Utah. Len's Dad, however, is a hardcore BYU football fan & he was able to meet Len & Noah at the game. It was a 3 generation male bonding trip!

Naturally it was the coldest day of the winter so far in Vegas. Noah was so excited to see the strip, try to dangerous rides at the stratosphere & go swimming....none of which turned out to be very fun in the freezing cold wind.

He still had fun though!

Year in review

2009 has been a great year...and most of the highlights have been recorded on this blog. I still enjoy reflecting this time of the year, while thinking about what we did well & what we can do better next year.

We started out this year with a newborn, but I have to say we did learn a lot from our boys & Bella is a much better sleeper than they ever were as babies! Yeah! She is growing so fast & is a constant source of joy for our whole family. We just can't get enough of her & she is very patient with our many kisses, hugs & needs for carrying her around. I think we all know she is our last baby & need to take advantage of every baby moment before it disappears. Even the boys carry her around or push her down the hall in a laundry basket! Bella does walk now & she is finding her independence by spitting & pushing our hands away when we try to feed her, trying to undress herself & attempting to go down the stairs by herself. She has 13 teeth, which is a bit freaky for her age, but it's nice because she can munch on carrots & apples as a snack. She also has the cutest toothy grin! She says most typical words for this age, like 'bath, bye bye, night-night". She also says "I love ew" & "Ash" whenever she sees our cat, Ashleigh. She is very loving & has recently become a total Daddy's girl, which makes Len very happy.

Len is in school finishing his Economics degree & working 10-12 hours a day at Firehouse Car wash. That's pretty much his life right now & we hardly ever get to see him. He is in charge of the construction at the Bountiful location, which should be finished this month. Once they open for business, we are hoping that his schedule will become more normal & he will be able to be home more in 2010. He does get to take Noah to Las Vegas on the 22nd to watch the BYU bowl game & he's really looking forward to this fun time off.

I have been working at getting our wedding business up & running this year, and was lucky to have a friend approach me about partnering up. This partnership has worked out great & we are gearing up for a busy 2010 with a new website & updated inventory. We both agree, however, that we will never get busy enough to take away from our families.

Being "Mommy" is top priority & the best work title I've ever been blessed with. I try very hard to be the best Mommy I can & am always learning how to improve. This year I've felt like I spend most of my life in the car driving kids to school & activities, or in front of the sink cleaning dishes! In 2010 my goal is to limit the kids sports activities to 1 at a time, and at the same field!!! It was impossible at times & stressful this year to have all 3 boys soccer games in different locations. We will have more fun time at home this next year (& more chores to help me get away from the sink!) I am also scheduled to begin the Master's in Education program at Westminster this next summer. Although I am very excited, having Len & I in school at the same time may prove to be too stressful. My schooling may have to be deferred another semester...or two!

These 3 boys are best friends & worst enemies! They really do love each other so much and share a passion for Star Wars, legos & Wii. Noah is in 2nd grade & doing really well in his class. He loves art, reading & math has also really clicked with him this year. Still, his favorite subject is recess! He is such a good example to his little brothers. I often hear him saying to them, "Good job" & asking them "Are you OK?" He reads to them every night before bed too.

Sam is still our little curious monkey. He can climb to the top a tree in seconds & while us on-lookers are ready to call the fire station for an emergency rescue, he monkies his way down just as fast! He smiles with his eyes & melts our hearts. He can pretty much get away with anything by smiling at us! He says the sweetest & most observant things. He's very inquisitive, social & naturally spiritual. He often says things that stop me in my tracks because he is so deep! He's learning how to write his name & recognize his letters in school. He's almost gotten it down, but he doesn't seem very interested! He's rather discuss religion or politics I guess!

Mack, on the other hand, can't get enough of traditional learning. He loves learning his letters, numbers & writing. He likes to pretend like he's reading books & his made up stories are hilarious! He likes to sing & color too. He'll spend hours at our kitchen table coloring & cutting paper. He's still our biggest baby, because he loves to cuddle & whine! He's always extreme in everything. We're working on appropriate voice volume & how to ask for things with good manners. He's doing better most of the time! Mack is very athletic & was very fun to watch play soccer & t-ball this year. He's also very shy, but he looses his inhibition when he's out competing at a sport.

I love my family & friends very much. It's been a great year of learning & growth. This year I read a book with a beautiful quote from Mother Theresa. I'm adopting it as our family theme for 2010, and it is:

"Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."

Merry Christmas & thank you all for being such kind & wonderful friends.

Cute...

The-Christmas-Spirit

Favorites

These are some of my favorite pictures because they make me laugh & make my heart melt! My friend, Cheri, was over when Bella was walking past our little Santa decoration & she pointed out that Bella is the same size! We laughed & agreed that I needed to get pictures.

Unfortunately, I have a crappy camera & I was taking them from too high, so she actually looks a little taller than Santa. They are still adorable though :) She's such a tiny sweetheart.

I only have 10 minutes, but I thought it would be fun to think of my favorite things this year off the top of my head. I don't keep track of what I've read, watched or anything...this is all off the cuff. I want to hear your favorites too!

Movies:

1. "Slumdog Millionaire"

2. "Julie & Julia"

3. "Up"

Books:

1. "The Goose Girl"

2. "The Invisible Wall"

3. "Enchantment"

Music:

1. Keith Urban

2. Nickelcreek

3. Zac Brown Band

Plays:

1. "Wicked"

2. "Seussical, The Musical"

3. "Momma Mia"

Styles:

1. Flat shoes/boots

2. Skirts

3. Plaid is back!

TV:

1. Still..."Grey's Anatomy"

2. Survivor

3. Oprah

Restaurants:

1. Rio Grande

2. Cafe Madrid

3. Noodles & Co

Websites:

1. babysteals / kidsteals

2. goodreads

3. facebook

Lastly...

Things learned:

1. I can sing in front of people without literally dropping dead

2. I lost my gift of organization with child #4

3. Happiness= Love = Kindness

Annoying I know, but the kids love it!

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