Nutcracker

Our December was filled with nights at the Nutcracker! Claire was cast as a sugar plum page in Mountain West's Nutcracker in Sandy. She went to practices every Friday for 2 months and then she had performances in December. She had so much fun. She loves the music from the Nutcracker and was thrilled to dance on stage. She would practice her dance at home and talk about it all the time. I was so proud of her for trying something new and diving right in. She made friends and had a great experience. I'll never forget the look on her face when she first came out on stage. Her smile was so big and bright she lit up the whole stage. She looked so happy doing what she loves to do.

Happenings

 Dr Judd moved his office to Farmington so it was easy to take the kids for their annual checkups. They're all healthy and strong, just like I knew! Lily has to get her kindergarten shots, and Luke and Claire were pretty bummed to have to get a flu shot instead of using the flu mist they usually do. Lily thought it was pretty fun to sit up on the table.

 Red Ribbon Week meant hat day at school and that was our first day back on track! The next day was pajama day which was also a big hit! Claire got some new pink pjs to wear and changed into them in the morning. Luke just woke up in his pajamas and was ready to go!

The weekend before, Claire had her cousin Callie spend the night after her Nutcracker practice. They have fun together. I went to Ballet West with Amanda that night and the girls had a movie night with Kiel. Luke spent the night at Lincoln's house after going to a science fair with them. The next day the girls wanted matching outfits so we went to Target and they picked them out. They thought it was so hilarious to be twins! Kiel and I were invited to go to the Jazz game with the Empeys so all the kids spent the night at Boyd and Holly's house. So it was a pretty fun, and full of late nights, weekend.

Quick trip to Moab

The kids have been off track for 4 weeks and I was really feeling like we needed a change of scenery and to get out of town! Kiel was able to get a few days off work and we planned it around the kid's ballet and basketball. So we left on Sunday after Halloween and headed to Moab. We stayed at the Marriott Fairfield Inn which was super close to Arches National Park and had a pool that the kids thought was really fun. We spent Sunday swimming and going to the park, then Monday we hiked around Arches for most of the day, then swam again, then Tuesday we went home. It was a quick little trip but so fun! There was hardly anyone at the hotel or Arches, the weather was beautiful so it really made us appreciate this year round school schedule. It has some challenges but when you can travel and do things like this, it makes it really fun.

The kids go back to school this coming Monday, then they're in for a few weeks until Thanksgiving. Then a few more weeks of school before Christmas! Time is flying as usual! And it's a regular mixture of fun, frustration, joy, and hard work. But I'm trying my hardest to enjoy all the time I have with my kids while they're still little! 

Some Moments

 Loving this artwork from Lily

 Claire and Kylee were tickled to be twins!

 My chocolate faced ballerina

 I voted for the new school bond. Then we did a quick trip to the library.

A McDonald's just opened by our house and the kids were excited to check it out!

Sisters

 Kiel got these dress up dresses for the girls and they had so much fun with them! Can you tell they've been to Disneyland to see Elsa and Anna? They were trying all the poses. Claire was directing the photo session and they kept busy doing that for a long time!

Halloween 2015

I had a ghost, a bat, and Harry Potter visit my house on Halloween!!! They went trick or treating around our neighborhood and got SO much candy. Trick or treating in our neighborhood is so much fun, everyone is out, and pretty much every house is passing out candy.

I made the ghost and bat costume. Claire decided at the last minute that she wanted to be a ghost. So we recycled the ghost tutu from when she was 4, bought her some white long underwear and sewed long ribbons to the sleeves. She was most excited to spray paint her hair white and put make up on.

Ever since Lily started reading the book "Vampirina Ballerina" she decided she wanted to be a bat. She pretty much dressed as Vampirina Ballerina with her ballet tights, leotard and ballet skirt, but she insisted she was a bat. I made the wings with the cobweb pattern fabric that Vampirina Ballerina wears and Lily was so happy. She's been flapping around like a bat ever since!

We were a little panicked about Luke's Harry Potter costume because we found out at the last minute that the one I ordered from Walmart was backordered and wouldn't be here in time! And he had his heart set on being Harry Potter. I was ready to fashion something out of a graduation gown and make glasses and improvise a tie and glasses, when luckily, we found one to borrow! Luke went to a Halloween party at his friend's house and when I picked him up, I mentioned it to the mom. She offered to let him borrow their Harry Potter costume and we were all set! I was so relieved and Luke was happy. He made a great Harry Potter. The girls said, "Wow! You really look like Harry Potter!!"

Preschool Halloween Songs

 Lily's preschool performed their Halloween songs for the parents and it was so cute! Lily knew all the words and actions and was so expressive. She's been singing the songs all month and getting them all stuck in our heads! She's been having fun at her new preschool even though she still says she misses her old Jump Start Preschool. She decided to be a cat for her preschool Halloween party.

Story Time with Claire

It has been so fun watching Claire just explode with her reading skills over the last two school years. She is doing great. She got out this Halloween book from preschool with all the props and read it to Lily. She had expression in her voice and even got Lily to participate. It was so cute! I hope all my kids will have a love of reading and that they'll look back on their childhoods and remember lots of time with books.

Cross E Ranch

 We had fun going on an outing to the Cross E Ranch yesterday. We did the hay maze (this is the kids saying, "Which way do we go?"!, then we did a hay ride, and the kids played in the little maze and corn pit. We ate the lunch I packed on top of the hay bales in the sunshine. It was a fun little place to go and spend the afternoon. It's nice being out of school so that we can do fun fall activities. I love that I can stay home with them so that we can do things like this together! Sometimes the kids just like to stay home, but I like to get out and about, so I get to take them with me!

Pumpkin Patch

 It's been our tradition every year since Luke was a baby to come to the Pack's Pumpkin Patch in Farmington. Now it's so close to our house! The kids picked out the perfect pumpkins to carve, ran through the little hay maze, and pretended to drive tractors. All three of them were having fun together and helping each other out. It was just what we needed that day, a short trip with fresh air and the chance to run around for a bit.

Bonfire in the Canyon

 On Monday we drove down to Holly's house and went up American Fork canyon to have a campfire and smores. It was a little rainy but the sun was out and the canyon looked beautiful. Lots of falling leaves everywhere! Holly did a great job building the fire and we had smores and hotdogs. The kids had fun with their cousins and had fun exploring around. It was the perfect way to spend a day off track.

Hands on Art

Claire worked hard to stay in bed at bedtime to earn the chance to go to Hands on Art to paint something. Daddy went with her and she picked out a dolphin and they painted it together. Then she had to wait for 5 days until she could pick it up, all fired in the kiln, on Saturday. Her dolphin is painted purple and it's pretty perfect for her. She did a great job and we want her to know how much we love her!

Park City

 Sherice invited the kids and I to come up to Park City to spend the day swimming at their time share with them. The kids had a lot of fun swimming with their friends at the really cool pool! After swimming they played in the kid area for a long time and we pretty much spent the whole day just hanging out and relaxing. It was a great day!

Super Luke!

 Luke had pack meeting last week and they made super hero capes and chose a super hero to decorate it with. Luke chose "brave." He has lots of fun in scouts with his friends.

I started last year as a den leader for his group right when he turned 8. Now, just last month, I was called to be the Relief Society Activities Coordinator so I will be leaving scouts. I didn't know anything about scouts when I was called, but now I understand it more, made a good friend, and got to make a few fun memories with Luke - like when we went to day camp. Callings always seem to stretch us, aren't always convenient, or what we would choose to volunteer to do - but I feel like I always learn something, I always meet great people who become my friends, and my life is better because of the service.

3 Monkeys at Fiiz

 Now that the kids are off track, we get to play! Because I don't really like just staying home all day, and that inevitably turns the kids into couch potatoes, AND, it's been such a beautiful fall that we have to get out in the sunshine while we can.

This particular day Lily was at preschool and we didn't have the time for a big day trip. So we went to the park nearby for a few minutes, but it was a little crowded, so it didn't take much convincing when I said, "Do you guys want to go to Fiiz??" There's one at station park now, so we went down there. The kids got sugary fun drinks - and the suggestion was selfish on my part because I wanted a diet coke!

It wasn't much after they finished their drinks that they started dancing around and being goofy. Luke and Claire are so much fun to be with. And Ashton, our friend and neighbor, is fun to have along too!

Natural History Museum

Our first day off track was Free day at the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake. Lily was at preschool so I just took Luke and Claire. We had fun exploring the museum. Luke had been there before on a field trip but Claire and I hadn't been there before. Their favorite things were the dinosaur bones, the listening station in the American Indian exhibit, and the weather station where you could turn a dial and see what the weather was like any day from the previous year. We had fun seeing what the weather was like on everyone's birthday this year and what Christmas looked like last year. We spent a couple hours in the museum then did a loop through Trader Joe's. If we weren't off track we wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the free admission day, so that was nice.

Fall on the Lagoon Trail

 I love looking at fall colors and I love my kids! I convinced everyone to go on a quick walk on the Farmington Trail on Sunday afternoon and got to have both!

 I love Luke - he's so handsome, smart and kind!

 Lily had fun collecting leaves of every shape she could find. She takes her time to stop and look at everything which reminds me to slow down and enjoy what's around me.

My girls are so creative! They came home and glued their leaves to paper to make leaf artwork. Claire drew big trees and they stuck the leaves all over. Now our house is decorated with pretty fall leaves.