Snow, Programs, and Dancing Lights

During December a few things happened....

On our way home from something...don't remember what...we stopped to see some lights.  A dancing light show with the radio.  We sat in the parking lot for a bit and snuggled in the front seat to watch.  Then we stopped through Draper's city lights.  They were pretty.  Kids enjoyed it. 

Isabelle had a Christmas program.  We avoided the wardrobe "incident" of last year.  I actually didn't have anything to do with it.  She asked to have her hair fixed super cute.  We braided it wet the night before so it would be wavy.  Then she insisted on wearing her Christmas dress WITH high heels.  It was adorable.  This time she was the super dressed up one.  Better than the homeless looking one like last year.  haha. They sang a couple of songs, and then her Chinese class sang Jingle Bells in Chinese.  It was really cool and she was adorable.  

Michael's program was right after Isabelle's.  It was adorable.  They sang some songs.  They asked each kid what they wanted for Christmas and Michael said, "I only want one thing!  A book.  "Snowy Bunny Tales." 

The first snow, my kids went NUTS!  It was fun for them and they have spent lots of time in the snow since. Kids just love to be outside. 

Zoo Lights

Back in mid December, we hit up the zoo lights with all of Mike's family.  Mike was working, but kids and I went anyway.  It was actually nice and "warm" like 40's.  We had lots of tears.  And by lots, I mean LOTS...we should have eaten dinner before the lights.  After full bellies and warm hands, they all apparently loved it.  But when we first got in the car it was "the worst experience EVER!" Ha! Kids are so dramatic.  I enjoyed it even though the kids didn't in the moment. They were so excited to see some of the nocturnal animals, that was the extent of their excitement in the moment. 

The Dance World

I have never danced a day in my life.  Well, Isabelle has been asking to try it.  We gave it a shot.  She goes to dance with her cousin Sarah.  They love getting to see each other an extra time during the week and Isabelle is LOVING dance.  She's graceful....that she does NOT get from me! She had her first dance recital and did so well.  She wasn't scared at all and didn't even seem nervous one bit. I took all the boys with me to the dress rehearsal. That was a train wreck, even with some ipads in the back corner.  For the actual recital, I dropped the boys off at the dealership with Mike and Isabelle and I had a little girls night out. We both enjoyed ourselves.

I didn't love these outfits until this dance and now absolutely love them. 

 She's in the back left corner all excited and ready to go. 

 Dance number 2. Oh these girls are so cute together! For this alone, I would move back again in a heartbeat.  They are just the best of friends. 

I look forward to many more of these to come!!!

Finally Toddling

Spencer learned to stand up in the middle of the room and bend and stand and stay standing forever much earlier than the other kids.  I thought for sure he was going to be our earliest walker.  He would only ever take a couple steps, then when he fell he would just keep crawling and not get back up.  MONTHS of this!  He finally has decided walking is the way to go. Christmas week was fun to watch the transition happen as he gradually walked more than he crawled.  He's now officially a walker at 15 months! All my other kids were walkers by their first birthday.  It's was fun to see him stay crawling.  With him being so small, it felt like I had a permanent 11 month old! I soaked it up!  Now he looks so big and cute getting into everything. He loves this little red car.  When he's not unloading my pans, dishwasher, or tupperware drawer, he actually plays with toys. 

Brothers

These cute boys.  I love the sounds and craziness they bring to our house.  My house is always a loud mess which can make me feel like somewhat of a failure sometimes, but I had a cute conversation in one of our Baskins with a mother of 4 teenage boys.  She was watching me wrangle my three boys, and just watched me and started chuckling in her own memories of when she was in my place.  She gave me some good words of wisdom and hope. I'll put up with the mess to keep them around. :) 

A Birthday....back in November. :)

So back in November....(I'm really slacking it up these days) Michael had a birthday!  He turned 5 and honestly, I don't remember much about it. It was a Sunday. He wanted blueberry muffins for breakfast and picked Macaroni and Cheese, hot dogs, peas, and jello for his birthday dinner. Mike's parents came for dinner, presents and cake.

Look at that cute face! 

All he asked for his birthday was "Super Bunny Tales." 

He got this crown at preschool, and  he wore it for days!  It was pretty cute. 

Michael got magnet tiles for his birthday among a few other things. These are seriously the best toy ever!  All 4 of my kids, all ages, play with them, every. single. day.  

Grandma brought us one of Mike's favorite childhood books.  The Rainbow Goblins has become a new favorite with the kids.  

He picked a red soccer cake. Oreo Cookies and Cream over chocolate was delicious. :)  

This kid....he makes me laugh and gives the best wiggly snuggles. Mr. wiggly man is still just as wiggly as ever. He loves to read, and build, and be crazy. He loves anything that plugs in, but is starting to learn a little moderation. His favorite color is red, he wants to be a fire man when he grows up and cannot wait for the next soccer season.  When he goes to bed he's always thankful for me. :) He then lists the rest of the family, minus Luke or Isabelle depending on his interactions for the day.  NEVER a dull moment with Michael around. 

Happy Halloween?

We have two cameras one of which never got downloaded. So I just came across all these pictures that I apparently never blogged.  Isabelle decided to change outfits for the school parade, "Mom, I don't want to be Elsa again, that place is going to be CRAWLING with Elsas!"  Haha.  Which was true.

Then we went to Sharon's for soup and trick or treating.