Mask

Lauren's dental appointment didn't go so well. She got her first cavity. In about nine teeth. So we opted for the surgical center. She did okay and the dentist fixed her many cavities. But they let her keep something I've never seen before. She got to keep her elephant oxygen mask. She goes around either sniffing and saying, "Hmmmmm, smells like root beer." OR trumpeting like an elephant. It cracked me up and we had to get a picture.

So this begs the question....anyone want to play doctor?

Toothless Wonder

Around five years ago Ally suffered a traumatic injury to one of her front teeth. She broke her tooth at the top of the root and we did not have a dentist to help fix it. She did this by tripping and failing to catch herself with her hands. She caught herself with her mouth and nose and tooth. As you can see by this picture.

We ended up going to a pediatric dentist that saved her tooth. We were so impressed and grateful we STILL take the kids to see him.

But for a year or so we didn't know he had saved it. I was convinced it was going to fall out at any moment. Well I was wrong. It didn't come out. In fact, last month the dentist has to PULL the tooth out.

And here is Ally without the tooth. And proving her camera face is about the same. But she doesn't have scabs all over her face. That is an improvement.

Although I am sad to no longer have my tooth twin. I also have a dead tooth in the front that is slightly twinged brown. But oh well. I'll be alone in my nasty brown toothness. *sigh*

Poetry Night

Elijah was tortured in February by his teacher's enthusiasm for Poetry. She had already been having them memorize two poems a month. But I learned in January that she had planz for those poems. Evil Exciting plans.

The class was to do a choral reading of three of the poems. And then have at least two 10 lines poems memorized to perform for Poetry Night. Elijah had grand plans to perform a couple of clever poems that were 16 lines each. One about Inventions and the other about School Lunch. Unfortunately he failed to practice those poems and chose a different one about Shoes. And then another called "One Two Buckle My Shoe" by Shel Silverstien. It came as no surprise that he was the sarcastic voice in One Two.

Here is one of the poems they said as a class. I liked this poem.

Keep a poem in your pocket

And a picture in your head

And you’ll never feel lonely

At night when you’re in bed.

The little poem will sing to you

The little picture bring to you

A dozen dreams to dance to you

At night when you’re in bed.

So - -

Keep a picture in your pocket

And a poem in your head

And you’ll never feel lonely

At night when you’re in bed.

They also did the Road Not Taken by Robert Frost and Parts of Speech.

The choral reading:

Elijah was over by the side next to the boys.

The rest of it were poems by the other 28 students. There were a lot of poems. A. Lot. of. Poems. So this is what he looked like it through most of it. Bored. I may or may not have had a similar look on my face. Or better yet, the look that is on Alex's face.

Here is his moment to shine with his "Shoe" poem.And the highlight for me, "One Two Buckle My Shoe." Elijah started off stage and had to yell his sassy comments. Finally, a time where it's okay to be a smart alec!

His poem went like this:

One Two

By Shel Silverstein

One two, buckle my shoe.

”Buckle your own shoe!”

Who said that?

”I did. What are you doing with those silly buckles on

your shoes anyway?”

Three four, shut the door.

”You shut it—you opened it.”

Er… five six, pick up sticks.

”Why should I pick them up—do you think I’m your

slave? Buckle my shoe, shut the door, pick up sticks,

next thing you’ll be telling me to lay them straight.”

But it’s only a poem… Nine ten, a big fat… oh never mind.

In the end he did great. He was stressed out but he did fine. Maybe next time he won't be so worried about performances. Yeah, right.

Sick

We have been busy this winter. Immediately following Christmas we started the longest winter in existence. We spent three months being sick. And it started with the stomach flu and ended with a cold. And we had everything in between.

We spent a lot of time doing this.

We also spent a lot of time doing other things, like Mario Kart. Ally became a Mario Kart shark. When she bats her pretty eyes and asks to play Mario Kart with you, only do so if you understand that she is going to pulverize you.

We also did a lot of laying around. Like this:

And this:And this:And lest you think only Eden was laying around, here's Lauren laying feverish in her bed. When they started feeling better there was a bit of fort building....

Hi Ally!

Here is Lauren and Eden destroying all of Ally's hard work.Here's hoping for wellness for the rest of the year!

Christmas Day

After a very, very long night we woke up Christmas morning with my parents, my brother's family and my little sister's family. It was quite packed with so many people's Christmas gifts. In fact, here is what the tree looked like before the kids got to it.

We really missed my sister Kerstin who always can arrange things for ultimate dramatic effect.

Then the kids came and started opening gifts. Elijah received many gifts. And here he is temporarily THRILLED with Matchbox cars. Go figure.

This was an impulse gift for Lauren and she LOVED IT! A little Tinkerbell music box. Ally and Lauren each got a Bitty Baby Doll and beds for them. Ally loves it. This is also her Christmas dress. We had to run off to church after this. Apparently someone allowed a hag come and open some of the gifts. Oh wait....that is me. Apparently I didn't sleep well that night. I would submit to you that I didn't sleep that night.Eden loved her Teddy Bear from Grandma and Grandpa Olson. She loves it. As you can see by her, "Don't touch this. It's mine." face.And here is Eden again in her Christmas dress, ready to go to church, apparently watching Price. This seems ill-advised somehow.Turns out Tian and Lauren are two peas in a pod. Here they are chilling on Grandma and Grandpa's bed.Ally, making Lyric feel bad with her cool Princess DS game.

Merry Christmas from us!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve was a little different than any we had had in years. All of my siblings came into town and we all spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my parents.

So we crammed into my parents rather large house, which actually felt VERY small with four families crammed into it.

Elijah has been having brother envy for a few years now. We finally told him that the brother shop was closed and he didn't take it very well. So now he is turning his brotherly affection towards his baby boy cousins. (He is very good with babies in general. However his patience runs thin with toddlers. But then again, doesn't everyone's?)

He thinks his cousin Stockton is just about perfect.

Heather has an iPad and everyone wanted one. Whenever I could I spent my time hiding away with it. I have been in love with it for a while now. I want.I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, but I'm sure Elijah is saying, "Stockton, will you be my brother? I need a brother and I will share my room with you." So how about it Heather. lol The girls were making cookies and such. Here is Lauren helping. Stir a little, lick a little, you know. Helping.Santa arrived a little sooner than we were expecting. Before the Christmas program I had been slaving for. But whatever. I'm adaptable. Ding-Dong, here are you Christmas Pajamas!This is when the good, the bad and the ugly made an appearance. Mainly everyone was good with their pajamas, except Elijah. He thought they were bad, he thought they were ugly. Much to his horror, his T-shirt had SCOOBY DOO on it. And their wasn't any way Elijah was going to risk his friends coming over on Christmas Eve to SEE him in a character shirt.

But he liked the pants....

So for a while he refused to change. Instead he started a pillow fight. (Actually my brother probably started it, but I can't remember, I was playing with the iPad.)And the wrestling match began. Of course I had to come and watch. From the looks of it, I'd say my brother lost. He was taken down by his own namesake with a saw.This was too much for Eden. She hide by the fireplace eating candy. Which is what she really wanted to do. We eventually talked Elijah into putting on the pajama pants and made him feel better by letting him hold his other baby cousin Price. Such a happy couple of guys.After that we sent the kids to bed. Who actually didn't fall asleep until several hours later. There was little sleep to be had that night.

Gingerbread House

I am not good at decorating Gingerbread houses. Somehow, when I started the tradition I thought my skills would improve. Nope. Not a bit. But a tradition is a tradition.

This year we had Ally's friend Quincy to help up. I could tell she was a little stressed out by my skillz. OR lack there of. Heh.

It started off with just our kids. Here they are fighting discussing the candy.

But soon Quincy got involved. My kids are on even skill level with me. And they covered the roof in candy. But we started having technical difficulties....

The roof...didn't stay on. And this really stressed Quincy out. BUT my kids were okay and went to watch a movie. :)

Elijah's Christmas Program

Elijah hates programs. HATES THEM. But one thing about his gifted teacher, she LOVES them. The first one was his Christmas program. HE was supposed to wear a white collared shirt. Of course I think, Sunday Whites!! And he cried foul. So we compromised. He wore a white polo.

When I got there (I had dropped him off earlier) he was the only one not wearing a holly berry tie. They were cute, but totally not his thing.

Here he is with what I like to call his "Program Face". See the dazed look, the look of near torture. It's the same look he gets with the Primary Program.

It was about the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. He had two parts where he smiled.

First, when someone came out in a Grinch costume. Hilarity ensued.

Two, when he got to put on his Rudolph nose. (Note: Elijah had trouble with the props. Again, not his thing, but he got a grin when he was lite up like a flashlight...or a light bulb...)

Ah, how many more programs can we look forward. I can't wait!

Primadonna

Eden has proven to be an early talker. Which only makes it seem like she hasn't been a baby very long. But she is very smart and very determined. She is also a screamer. Really this isn't a surprise.

At church last Sunday, Elijah was bothering her. And she turned to him, stuck out her lower lip in her cutest pout and said, "ELIJAH! STOP!!!" (Or rather E-wi-da! Top!) Seriously, she reminded me of a teenager in a one-year-old's body. And of course Matt and I were laughing. So funny coming from a baby!

This Kitty Has Strange Ways

Having a cat has been a lot of fun. Cupcake isn't really a warm cuddly cat. She's a don't-touch-me-unless-I-approach-you-first cat. Which is...like most cats and perfect for Lauren. Since she is still a kitten she is still pretty playful at times. Here she is "playing Twister" with the kids. Okay really she is jumping for a string, but it's funny the Twister pad is underneath her. heh.

And soon after we found the cat in the Christmas tree. Apparently it's boring enough in the house that she will play with anything resembling life. Strange Kitty.

Another MTC Trip!

For the second time in a year we got to host a missionary before they went into the MTC. This time it was my oldest nephew Josh. The kids were excited to have him over and drop him off at the MTC. And it was fun the talk to him on the eve of his going in. It is an interesting experience talking the young men about to go on a mission. I can't wait until he gets home to see how he's changed.

Gook Luck Josh!

Temple Square

The next thing we did was go up to Temple Square which is the best at Christmas. We decided to take Trax up so we didn't have to worry about parking. The ride up with four children was an adventure.

Ally likes hanging from the ceiling. Eden is running around on the ground.
Lauren decides to follow suit and hang from the ceiling as well.

Elijah was playing hide and seek on the train. Which is really ridiculous on a train if you ask me. I mean, we kept finding him every two seconds.We finally did some parenting and told the kids to sit down and be quiet. So Lauren zipped her lips.

And Eden got a bottle. That kept her quiet for 5 seconds. And they were the best five seconds of the entire ride.

We finally made it to Temple Square and took the kids to the Tabernacle. A nice stranger took a family shot AND gave the camera back. It's always nice to go to the Temple. :)And the kids got a little goofy. Bunny ears.

Then we saw the nativity and then the kids really wanted to go see the Christus. Lauren at first wanted to stay and them decided to see it after this picture was taken.We had snacks outside by a statue. I can't remember which one, but it was a nice, but cold stopping place. For the ride home on Trax I got smart and strapped the baby into the stroller. That was a much better ride (for me, not for her.)