Alliance Children's Social

 The other night, we had a children's social with the Alliance that I am a part of through Jason's work.  It's basically an alliance of wives (and a few husbands) of residents.  This year, a local business called Practically Picasso came and we were able to decorate a few Christmas plates.

Kamryn all dressed up and ready to go...

I didn't have the boys wear the clothes they were going to wear for their Santa picture because I wasn't very hopeful that they would be able to keep the paint off of them!

They also wore a couple of Jason's old t-shirts over their clothes to help with mess control.  It turns out we really didn't even need them.

The older two boys did most of the painting... Gaven wasn't really even interested in doing much... he DID help with a couple things, but for the most part, he was content watching his brothers.

Luckily Jason hadn't been called in yet and was able to spend some time there with us... and take care of Kammy!

They were both SO proud of their work!  I thought they did a might fine job, too!

 

We all had a really great time...

Unfortunately, right at the end (7pm) Jason got called over to the hospital.  We had only taken one car and he thought that it would be a short procedure, so the kids and I headed over to the nearest McDonald's to let the kids play... however, the play place was shut down due to some water leakage... so Plan B was to head to Sam's Club and kill some time.  It had been a long day (The kid's school in the morning for the Christmas Blessing, Braeden's mini-birthday party at our house and then this) and we were more than ready to head home when Jason was finally done at 8:45pm. 

Celebrate 8!!

 I didn't have any plans to have a "friend" party for Braeden for his 8th Birthday.  We will be in Washington for his baptism later this month and we just planned to celebrate with family.  I think he was a little disappointed because he kept asking me about having a couple friends over.  I finally gave in and figured we could squeeze it in to our busy Saturday.  We just invited a couple of his closest friends and we all had a great time.

I didn't take many pictures because, like I said, it was pretty impromptu.

"Official" Santa Picture

My friend Lori Barnidge, who is a wonderful photographer, took this picture the other night at our Alliance Children's Social.

"A Christmas Blessing"

This is the second year in a row that we have attended "A Christmas Blessing" at the boys' school.  One of the local churches provides a meal, Santa and crafts for the kids and their families.  It's always a hit with the kids!

I love how the older boys sensed that Gaven was a little hesitant, so they gathered him in like little mother hens!

Kamryn really DOES like Nathan, it just doesn't look like it in this picture.  LOL!

We met up with our neighbors... some of the kids best friends.

A few months back, Braeden wrote a letter to Madison asking her to marry him (I should post THAT shouldn't I!!).  Both families got quite the kick out of that... and gave them both a hard time for a while.  I happened to catch them practicing their vows... I guess she must have said yes after all!

Cutie-Patootie

Here's my little cutie-patootie getting herself into a predicament.  At the time, she didn't realize that she would have a hard time getting back out, hence the smiles!

Three peas in a pod...

Taking one for the team

Let me take you back to this picture that I posted a few weeks back of our guest bathroom mini remodel.  Picture this umbrella about 5 feet higher bracing against the top part of the mirror.  Let me set the stage... I'm out with the girls at dinner then headed to see "Breaking Dawn."  I get a text that says, "Call home 911.  Any of you that know my husband, you know that he is no drama.  If he tells me to call home 911, it's serious.  

Scroll down to see what this umbrella, with a super sharp tip, does when it lands on your husbands toe.  Better yet, if you are squeamish at all, DON'T... 

These pictures are obviously post-stitches.

He was obviously in a bit of pain for a while... still is at times.  One broken toe, 8 stitches later, the best neighbors ever and I didn't even have to leave my dinner and movie!!  But I WOULD have had I needed to, right!???!

We are thankful for...

This year, Thanksgiving was Jason's "holiday" to work or be on-call.  We took advantage of the time that he was gone to write some things that we were thankful for. There was a mixture of writing and drawing, but I think what we learned most from doing this was that not even an extra large sheet of paper can hold all the things that we are thankful for.

I love as we sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and pass the M&M's (this year olives since Mom forgot the M&M's at the store - oops!) to listen to the things that my children come up with.  Braeden was thankful for sports, friends, Holy places and heroes.  Carsen was thankful for sports, his baby sister, his dad's job and the stuffing, and Gaven was thankful for everything his brother's said.

Jason and I were, and continue to be, very thankful that he has secured a fellowship position for the 2013-2014 academic year as a Breast Imaging Fellow in Dallas.  This was a huge load lifted off our shoulders.

After dinner and before Jason got called back in, we headed with some friends to one of the local gymnastics places that one of my friends works at to play and have some pie with them.  Thanks so much, Shauni, for inviting us... it was the perfect end to a great day!  We are definitely thankful for our wonderful friends!!

Gaven heading down the "runway"

Trying to capture Carsen as he zooms by

Carsen tried and tried all night long to clear this stack of blocks in one big leap.  He came close a couple times, but never quite made it over without touching them.  Okay, so I don't think he ever really came close, but I could tell that he got better after working on it all night long.

I think this is one of the only pictures that I have Braeden in, so I put it in there just to show that he was there, too.

I love this picture of my friends' little girl!

I mentioned to my friend Janene that I was trying to get some action shots... Her response: "I'll give you an action shot!"  Gotta love it!  Great form AND great hair!!

 

Gaven's preschool had a little Thanksgiving performance for the parents and then we had lunch with them.  It was cute to see all the little kiddos with their pilgrim hats on singing away!