Merry Christmas!

McCarthy's in Town!

Jay's family came to visit us this year for Thanksgiving, (which was a great excuse to see the new babe :D)  We blessed Hazel while they were here.

Hazel and Auntie K

Hazel and Nanie

 It was so nice to have a big Thanksgiving meal at my house (didn't have to go anywhere) but only make half of it.  Peach wanted to help me make the rolls, and thought it would be a good idea to taste the flour, directly off the counter:

 Gampie got to hold Hazel a lot while Nanie and I worked in the kitchen.

 Jay even helped in the kitchen!! (we had a hard time moving the 20 lb turkey around...)

We decided to start eating while the kids were napping, expecting them to wake up during the meal.  It was really nice to get to sit and eat quietly for the first half of the meal- best idea ever, Jay :)

 We went to the Natural History Museum up by Red Butte Gardens.  It was really cool, but I was in charge of following The Frog around, which means we were basically running through the museum from one thing to the next and I barely had time to take any photos.  But I did manage to get TWO.

 It was really cool.  I'd like to go again, and I was impressed with how kid-friendly and adult catered it was.

 Nanie bought gigantic gingerbread men for everyone to decorate.

The kids were all really into it!  I thought for sure Peach would just eat the candy right away, but to my surprise, she waited until her cookie was "done".

 Here's her finished product:

 And Auntie K's:

 The Frog was very thorough.  He wanted to use up ALL the candy.

 We blessed Hazel the Sunday they were here and though I got no pictures of Hazel in her dress alone, I did manage to sneak in a family photo.  She's wearing the dress Peach was blessed in, the booties I was blessed in, and I made her a new headband, just for her :)

 We had so much fun.  Gampie spent a lot of time reading the SAME Christmas book over and over and over (by the kids' request.)  He's an excellent story teller :)

Thanks for coming out, McCarthy's!  I wish we could get together more frequently, but we'll see you next Summer :)

Kid Conversation

I have quite a few kid conversations that I've emailed myself, waiting to post here.  Here we go:

Peach often tries to sleep with so many stuffed animals and dolls that there is hardly room for her.  I try to sneak some of them back downstairs to keep in manageable, but she always needs to have at least one baby, her dalmation dog and her lamby.  At bedtime:
Me: Peach, what's your baby's name?
Peach: (thoughtfully) Jesus.

The Frog is playing with Star Wars action figures.
Peach: (talking to Hazel while I nursed her) Hazel is Chewbacca.
Me: Hazel is Chewbacca?
Peach: No, (pointing at the Chewbacca action figure) is Bacca.
Me: Ohhh.  You're telling Hazel that is Chewbacca.
Peach: NO!  No two Bacca, only one Bacca.

While reading a book about space before bed-
Me: (reading from the book) Do stars shine forever?
The Frog: No
Me: How long do they shine?
The Frog: Only at night.

The Frog saw the Thanksgiving turkey defrosting in the kitchen sink-
The Frog: What's that?
Me: A turkey
The Frog: Why?
Me: We have to defrost it so we can bake it.
The Frog: Open it up! I want to see it!  I want to see its eyes.
Me: They cut its head off before we get it, so you won't be able to see them.
The Frog: Well, what did they use?  A knife?  or a sword?

Just some pics

I can't believe how strong Hazel's neck is!  Right from birth, even...  I wanted to document it, so put her on her tummy to see if she'd lift up her head high.

 Peach, as usual, wanted to join in.  I love that I can't put Hazel on the ground without one of her siblings lying down near her.

 There she goes!!  Look at that!

 The kids love holding Hazel and request to do so often.

 Peach wanted to wear a headband!! I was so excited to put one on her!!  (It didn't make it to church though...)

 Peach is such a ham.  She loves spontaneous silly faces :)

I always thought I wouldn't do this...

But I did:

  At least they're not exactly the same...  I bought Peach's years before Hazel's, but when I saw the similarity of the pink one to Peach's navy, I had to do it.

I can't promise it won't happen again :)

Look at that cutie!!

First Snow!

Can you believe the warm-weather leaf jumping was just two days before this?

The Frog made this huge snowball completely by himself while I was inside nursing Hazel.

He loves throwing snowballs but it's completely nerve-racking  because they never fly predictably.  Guess this might be a good time to teach him how to throw properly.

Peach finally woke up but didn't know what to think.  It's hard for her to walk and she prefers holding your hand.  (which is great because she will never usually hold my hand)

The Frog's giant snowball was begging to be turned into  a snowman, and he thought there needed to be one for each kid.

It continued to snow all night long...

poor broccoli...

Once Peach discovered how tasty snow is, that's pretty much all she does outside now.  I caught her eating snow from a car bumper in the church parking lot yesterday.  Bleh!

Once the driveway was shoveled, Jay took the kids for "sleigh rides".

Notice Peach is still eating snow...

We really should get a sled... poor Jay- running in deep snow with all the gear is exhausting!

The Frog thought it didn't look too hard.  Peach- still eating snow...

Fall Fun

We had some beautiful weather last week and The Frog suggested some leaf jumping.  I could tell it was much more fun for him this year because Peach was in on the action as well.

I love how far back they go to get a running start.