School Christmas Programs

The week before school let out Demzi did her preschool Christmas program.  They went to an assisted living center.  There was an old lady who was being super cute with the kids, chatting with them before and clapped really loud after each song.  Because they were positioned to sing for the people in their recliners all of my shots are from the side.

 Then this Wednesday was Addie's Christmas sing.  She found where I was sitting right away this year.  Last year when she saw me she got really excited/embarrassed and tried not to smile whereas this year she was super excited and was actually trying to talk to me.  After she got home from school she asked me why I wouldn't talk back when she mouthed things to me.

Happy Birthday Kris!

Kris's birthday was on December 11th.  We woke up that morning and had some orange rolls before he headed off to work for the day.  After work we had a little family party, pretty much just cake and presents.  Love that Kris totally hams it up for the camera.  

 I had to include these pictures of Tad.  Come to find out this kid is totally obsessed with fire.  As soon as we lit the candles he started screeching and pointing at the flame.  We relit it a few times just for his benefit.

 I also realized that I never gave Tad a piece of cake and let him make a mess of it on his birthday so I figured I should let him with Kris's cake.

Christmas Outfits

My mom got super cute Christmas outfits for each of the kids. We had initially planned to try and get all the kids pictures taken in them but scheduling didn't work out for that so on Sunday we decided to take some of our kids.

 

 

The Benson Birthday Bash

On Saturday after Demzi's dance recital we celebrated the boys' birthdays with the Benson side of the family.  Liam couldn't decide, did he want a train, firetruck or helicopter birthday?  Finally he settled on train so we had everyone make these little candy trains.

 Then we let them open some presents.

 Kris even got presents this time since his birthday is on the 11th.  Then we went out to eat at Culver's to celebrate his birthday.

 On Sunday we did cake and ice cream after family night.  It turns out the Tad REALLY likes fire.  He got very excited when he saw yet another candle to blow out.

 Not my best work, especially since the tin foil stuck to the frosting and pulled off/smeared most of the train track but Liam thought it was pretty cool so that's all that matters.

That concludes Liam and Tad's birthday festivities. 

Demzi's Dance Recital

Demzi had her very first dance recital on Saturday.  I was excited to see how she was going to do.  I came home from the dress rehearsal the day before just laughing.  It is such the age but there was always someone off doing their own thing.  We didn't get any pictures of her dancing because we were trying to get video.  At one point though she was standing in the middle of the stage, by herself, looking around.  I was nervous she was going to cry but she figured out really quickly where she was supposed to be.

 She actually loved watching the rest of the recital.  Up until then she has asked to be done with dance and start gymnastics but the recital made her think she might want to do dance still.  For the finale Santa came out and gave everyone a candy cane and the dancers each got a medal.  My mom came to watch with us.  At one point she had all of my kids sitting on her lap.

 She has seriously worn her medal everyday since then.  Yesterday she came up to me and said, "Mom, maybe I want to do dance forever." 

 

3 Year Old Liam

Liam turned three on December 3rd.
Liam's three year stats are:
Height: 37 inches (37%)
Weight: 29.4 lbs (25%)

We started out the morning with a birthday breakfast.  I love how hard he is concentrating on trying to show me three fingers.

We waited to do presents until after dinner that night.  He is at the fun age where he is excited to open presents but I could get him just about anything and he'd be excited.

 Like a random helmet, he thought that was pretty cool and didn't wonder what it was for.

 He was really excited when he saw he got a bike to go with it.  We had this in our house for the week following so he could get to try it out before summer time.  He actually does a really good job pedaling.

 Then it was time to blow out candles.  We have had so much birthday lately that we went for some ice cream cupcakes instead of birthday cake.  They were a hit.

Hotel Night

My parents did their annual hotel night early this year.  We went up the night of the 30th and let the kids swim.  I think this is the most fun my kids have ever had at the hotel pool.  They usually ask to get right in the hot tub but they were all having so much fun we stayed for a couple of hours. 

 

 After we had exhausted the kids we headed upstairs to celebrate some birthdays.  It works out that Caellum, Liam and Tad's birthdays are all within nine days of each other so we had a triple birthday party.  My dad brought up his brownies.

 At this point it was three hours past Tad's bedtime (he's been going to bed at 6:30) so he was being a very good sport about everything.  I guess anyone can be happy for chocolate.

 Then it was present opening time.  I love in this picture that Liam is trying to get Tad's attention and Tad is focused on Caellum.

 It's such the age, you get them great presents and all they want to do is play with the paper.

 Then somebody pushed a button for him and he was back on track.

After that we were thoroughly worn out and went to sleep without too much effort.  The next day we swam some more before checking out and heading to The Pie, where we met up with my grandparents.  It was tons of fun.  We always look forward to this tradition every year.