i have twins...

...that are 7.5 years apart!

i was so excited when i found this dress in a box in the top of my closet.  

i can't believe i brought it to New York with the limited 

amount of things we packed.  but so glad.  it was one of 

my favorites of lexi's, and fit malia so cute for church today.  

i am so thankful for my two girls.

blueberry face

malia loves frozen blueberries. 

it's her favorite snack lately.  

she comes to me during the day saying "beh-wees."
i love her cute blueberry face when they're gone.

crazy hair

yesterday when malia woke up her hair was cra-zy.  brenner and i had a good chuckle over it.  a little hair wash and she was good as new.  we love our silly love bug!

happy new year

dave wasn't feeling well on new year's eve, so the kids and i celebrated a bit early.  

we rang in the new year at 9:00pm with balloons, blowers and sparkling cider.  

and i love taking photos, so here are a few more.  

the next morning i woke up to a breakfast picnic!  

kyler is quite the chef and makes the best pancakes (next to his dad's).

lexi worked on the picnic set up and did a fabulous job.

we also had scrambed eggs and fruit.
what a great surprise.

i have the best kids ever.  

happy 2013!

stockings

so when my kids were little i bought cheap stockings at walmart and stitched their names on them, planning to use them a year or two until i could make some better ones.  well, it's turned into 8 years.  my kids LOVE those stockings!  but this year i decided was the year to finally make new ones, since malia didn't have one and Brenner's was smaller than the others.  so i started the day after thanksgiving and sewed for a couple days.  i lined them all with minky inside so they are soft and thick, and let the kids pick out which material they wanted.  and wouldn't you know, a few of my kids wanted to keep their old ones!  i admit the colors started to drive me a bit crazy as the season went on, maybe i'll redo a few next year...  sigh.  sad when a project doesn't quite turn out how i was hoping.  although cute malia is happy with everything.  bless her little heart.

stubborn

i just wanted to post this because it was so funny.  in december porter had a christmas party in his classroom so brenner, malia and i walked to the school.  malia didn't get her nap so she was a little moody.  she put her coat on all by herself, only it was upside down. she would NOT let me change it or help her fix it.  and when we got to porter's classroom she would not let me take it off.  it was so funny.  every time i looked at her it made me laugh to see the hood over her bum and the bottom of the coat sticking up around her face.  she is normally so sweet, and when a little stubborn streak comes out in her it is quite funny.

more nyc and stomach flu

on saturday of christmas break we decided to get out and about one more time.  lexi didn't want to go with her staples she stayed pretty mellow, and brenner and malia seemed tired so they all stayed home with Dave.  i took kyler, and porter who had finally recovered from his stomach flu, after throwing up 15 times through Thursday night.

first we went to the Times Square visitor center to see the ball that drops on new year's eve. this is the ball that dropped in 2008.  the ball that dropped for 2012 was already in place (lower right picture). we made a wish at the wishing wall.  we wrote down our wishes and goals for the new year on a piece of confetti and pinned them to the wall.  on new year's eve all the confetti was dropped over times square as the ball dropped at midnight.  kinda fun!

 to make the outing worth it to my boys we made a stop at rockefeller center.  to see the tree you may ask?  no, we saw that gorgeous tree, but nintendo world was their destination.  they could spend hours here!

next was a stop at grand central station to catch a train to wall street.  i love grand central station, i don't know what it is about it, i just love it.  there is the chrysler building all lit up to the side.  so many fun places on 42nd street.

i really wanted to see the NYSE Christmas Tree so we hustled down Wall Street and saw the tree in front of the New York Stock Exchange, which was all lit up in green.  in a way we are saying goodbye to these places, because we are leaving nyc in 8 weeks.  fun to see these places one last time when they are lit up in all their christmas glory.

we caught another train back to grand central, then walked down 42nd street stopping at starbucks for hot chocolate and popcorn.  as we were walking to our subway stop to catch the F train back to Roosevelt island, poor dave called me and told me brenner had thrown up.  oh no!  when we got home malia started throwing up too.  it was insane!  we got the other kids in bed and brenner and malia took turns throwing up every 10 minutes until 2am.  dave and i sat on the couch between them as they threw up over and over.  at one point i was holding two bowls as they both threw up at the same time!  dave had picked up a couple movies for our datenight, and we had to laugh at this 'date' as we watched the movies in between cleaning up barf.  we thought it needed to just run it's course, but finally at 2 in the morning we were worried about how lethargic malia was. so dave gave them both a blessing and they stopped throwing up and went to sleep.  it was quite a miracle in my eyes.  thank heavens for the priesthood.  so so thankful for that power on earth, and for a husband that can use it to bless our children.  after that dave went to bed and i slept by the two sickies on the couch.  

i guessed they each threw up 30 times.  dave said it seemed more like 40.
what an awful flu-bug.  

the next day kyler and lexi got it too.  this is what our living room looked like for a couple days.  blankets, pillows, bodies, and throw-up bowls.  so sad.

poor sick kiddies.  dave got it a couple days later.    

i am so surprised i never got it since i was up to my elbows in throw up for days.  

i'm thankful i can keep on going. it's so hard when it's mom that's sick.

what a sweet tender mercy.  

i know Heavenly Father is so aware of each of us and sends these tender mercies, sometimes when we don't even know we need them.

snow

this is as much snow as we've gotten this year.  the kids were so excited when we saw the big fluffy flakes gently flying past our window and swirling down down down.  so we bundled up and ran outside.... just as it stopped.  haha!

build-a-bear

on Thursday night Porter and i had a little one-on-one.  he had some hard earned money he wanted to spend at build-a-bear.  walking from the 42nd street subway station to 46th was fun because i was hand in hand with my cute boy.

we passed the christmas tree by the ice skating rink at Bryant Park on 42nd. i love seeing all the different christmas trees around nyc.  there are lots of them!

 this is the largest build-a-bear in the U.S.  it's pretty fun inside.

porter loves dinosaurs so he chose a dinosaur instead of a bear and put a little push-player thing in it's hand that plays his favorite song, 'you don't know your beautiful.' he was so cute.

as we walked back to the subway we saw the empire state building still lit up red and green.  i love how it changes colors for each holiday.  another fun thing about this city!

i sure love my porter. he is right in the very center of our family with 2 older siblings and 2 younger and with his quiet nature it's easy for him to sometimes get lost in the shuffle.  i'm thankful for time to be with him and listen to him.  i sure love and am thankful for this boy.

one side note, after build-a-bear he wanted to go home because he was having a tummy ache.  i didn't think much of it.  but when we got home he started throwing up.  oh dear.  thus began the next adventure of our christmas break...

lexi's staples

two days after christmas poor lexi got pushed by brothers playing basketball and hit her head on the air conditioning/heating units in each room and split her head open.  we took her to urgent care where she got 8 staples.  poor girl! we weren't very happy with the job the doctor did, it was still wide open under all those wobbly staples.

opera and museum day

the day after christmas i took the three older kids to the opera 'The Barber of Seville' at the Lincoln Center.  the opera was in english, and it was geared toward families with kids so they made it quite entertaining, amidst all the opera singing.  the song "figaro" comes from this opera (which i recognized from i think it was a Tom and Jerry episode?) and there was an exploding cannon near the end that scared us to death.  it was fun.

when the opera was done we walked to meet dave and the two little kids at the museum of natural history.  

first we got waffles with chocolate and real cream from the 'waffles and dinges' foodtruck right by the Manhattan LDS Temple, then we took the subway to 81st and walked past these gorgeous brown-stone houses (which are where everyone in NYC wishes they lived, and where I'm sure more than a few celebrities live).

the museum of natural history had 2 big dinosaur christmas trees out front.  so fun!

we went inside to see the christmas tree with 500 origami ornaments.  it was awesome! completely amazing.  i loved how the silver stars floated out  around the tree.  every animal you can imagine was included, so fun to play i spy.  they start folding the ornaments in july, i believe it!  

 then we walked around and looked at all the fun stuff at the museum.  animals and egyptian mummies and human brains.  but our favorite was the big blue whale!  it was gigantic!  hanging from the ceiling in the ocean room.  so cool.

we came home and watched a double feature of 'night at the museum' 1 and 2 in honor of our day at this museum.  

what a day of culture with museums and operas.  aren't we lucky?  :)

christmas day

christmas day dawned in the middle of the night, as it usually does at our house, with the kids waking up in their excitement at 3am.  yes, we have rules, but the excitement wins over everytime.  they look through their stockings, and this year they rearranged the presents into piles before we heard them stirring.  and then it was back to bed.  not until 6am little stinkers!  :)

finally it was 6am.

at 6am we ate bacon, eggs, and pancakes.  and then we began.  we were very spoiled this year by grandmas and grandpas.  thank you so much!

so fun.  we make them take turns and go one at a time and ooh and ahh over each others gifts, trying to make it last as long as it can.  this year malia couldn't wait.  she was so funny.  she opened all her presents and then started opening the other kids when they weren't paying attention.  she was too cute.

kyler had a boise state christmas and couldn't have been happier.  lexi got her wish for another american girl doll.  porter loved his new sporty sweat suit, light up pillow pet, and erector set.  brenner's favorite was his bey blade set.  and malia loved it all.  cute little bug.

i love christmas afternoons playing with the kids.  we also got boggle and racko, and spent hours playing through the week, and doing a 500 piece puzzle we got of the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

i love that we can spend the day in pajamas with bedhead.  it was very relaxing and perfect.  

malia cracks me up.  oh i love her!

it was a very merry christmas and we are so grateful for all of our blessings.

christmas eve

christmas eve.  i think this is the best day of the year.  we did simple this year.  the kids opened their gifts for each other.  they drew 2 names this year, instead of giving to everyone.  in the past we have made homemade gifts which is so much fun.  but this year we made a trip to the dollar store.  i think they get as excited to open these presents on christmas eve as they do on christmas morning!  i love it.  oh, and our poor tree.

i think this picture of malia is one of my favorites of christmas this year.  she got this high heel princess set from brenner and was beyond happiness over it.  she wore those high heels all day until they broke (i think her brothers may have tried them on a time or two).  and brenner's cute handwriting.  love.

  

in the afternoon the girls made sugar cookies with their dad. best dad ever!  ever.  love these pictures.  and the cookies were fabulous.  santa's wife may have eaten 5 of them. shhh.

in the late afternoon we went to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn where we heard the Italian neighbors try to out-do each other every year.  it was crazy!  we parked and got out to walk around the blocks and enjoy the over-the-top decor, from giant snowmen, nutcrackers and santas to the real live Santa!  

it even snowed while we were walking around! lightly of course and nothing stuck to the ground, but still it was snowing for Christmas Eve, hooray!



then we hurried home, driving past a great view of the Manhattan skyline with the red and green empire state building.  we ate tacos (kids choice), read the scripture account of the Savior's birth, and talked in the glow of the Christmas tree, then the kids hurried to bed in a flash and all of them were out like a light!

The Messiah

Dave and I were able to go to The Messiah at Carnegie Hall on December 23.  Oh it was amazing!  I was in tears nearly the whole time.  I love The Messiah.  My heart was so full.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our Christmas season!  And so fun to go with Dave for 3 whole hours, just me and him.  Best date ever.

gingerbread houses

Some of our favorite friends shared a fun Saturday night with us decorating gingerbread houses.  The kids ate so much candy!  It seemed to keep disappearing somehow, and we didn't see it on the houses!  My cute friend, Klarissa, brought all these awesome kits, and the gingerbread kids were such a hit.  One of my favorite parts was watching Malia squeeze out the frosting and place each little candy on her gingerbread girl so carefully.  We're so thankful for these friends.  Anything is fun with their cute family!

baby love

We watched some friends' kids while they went to the temple a few weeks ago, and oh how my littles LOVED their baby!  They could not get enough of him, especially Malia.  What a great "helper" she was!  She looooves babies.  She was in heaven.  It's so cute how that motherly instinct is there when I still think of her as MY baby!

don't worry, they only held this sweet baby for a couple minutes and then he was all mine again.  i love me some baby snuggles.  

Nutcracker

Last Wednesday (12/12/12) Lexi and I went to the Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet at the Lincoln Center.  Wow!  It was amazing!!  And right after we walked inside we saw Kelly Ripa walk up the stairs with her son.  I was so excited and talked to her for a minute in my starstruck jibber telling her i went to a live taping of her show and thought she was so cute, then she said Lexi was cute and we said goodbye.  My first and probably only time to talk to a celebrity!  I was a little dazed the rest of the show. But it was a fabulous show!  Lexi and I loved it.  

It was our first time at the Lincoln Center.  It is across the street from the Manhattan LDS Temple.  So fun to be there!  I still get bedazzled by everything in New York City.  Even after 18 months.

The ballet was breathtaking!  Such a fun time with Lexi.  Our seats were clear up on the 4th balcony, but we were on the side so we were practically overlooking the stage.  We could see really well.  It was awesome.  No pictures allowed in the auditorium so I googled some so we can remember our favorite parts.  During the ballet Lexi asked if she could please take ballet lessons again.  It made me want to take ballet too!  They are beyond talented and make it all look so easy and beautiful.

After the Nutcracker we shared a peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks and then had a free hand treatment at a favorite store, Sabon.  Their lotion is amazing!  Everytime we walk by one (there are 12 in NYC) we have to go in and wash with their yummy soaps and try their lotion samples.  Even my boys like to!   

While we were walking we passed this screen where the little character would follow your movements.  Lexi loves dancing so we spent a few minutes here!  Cute.

And because we were walking this way to the subway we had to go in and see the Christmas stars at Time Warner.  They change colors and are humongous.  We went up on the 3rd floor so they were at eye level.  Favorite!

Such a fun night out with my daughter.  We giggled and a had a great time.  I love you Lexi Loo!

We don't get to do things like this very often without all the other kids, so it was especially fun.  Thank you to my wonderful husband who kept the other kids while we were gone and put them all to bed!  It was nice to get home to a peaceful house.

our Santa at Macy's day

Last week we played hookie and went to see Santa at Macy's.  Because the Santa at Macy's in New York is the real one you know!



There is an amazing Santa Land where we lost half the kids in the crowd at one point or another before we made it to Santa.  It was so chaotic I didn't get any pictures of how awesome it is.  But it's fun to wind through and look at, a talking tree, a train looping up over a Christmas tree, caroling bears, Santa's sleigh full of toys.  It's quite spectacular.

Do you think the school missed our kids that day?  Haha!



Oh how I love these friends.  So thankful they are here in New York with us.  It has made our experience here all the better.

We saw a cute marionette puppet show, "Miracle on 34th Street" with cute songs that sounded like Broadway.  It was really cute.  Brenner is the perfect age for things like this and had a smile on his face the whole time.


Then the kids wrote letters to Santa... (except Kyler, he said he didn't want to this year... getting too old for this I guess... so sad!)



Mailing them in the magic mailbox...

Everyone left after this, but Klarissa and I kept on going.  So thankful she trudged along with me!  We went to the Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Station.  I love Grand Central Terminal!  It is so big and majestic.  We had to go talk in the Whispering Gallery first.  And the train show was fun too, off in a little side store.  I thought of Dave's Dad and how he would love to add this to his amazing Christmas village collection.  There were little stores with people in the windows along with the racing trains.  Easy to spend a lot of time at.

Then we got back on the subway and went to Washington Square to see their big Christmas tree under the arch.  The kids played at the playground in the rainy drizzle, and I was hoping we might make it until the tree lights came on but it got too cold.

Klarissa and her kiddos headed home at this point, but my kids and I and Mackay went on to Minetta Playground.  The kids love that one.  It kind of rained on us all day, off and on.  But I guess running after each other playing tagged help keep them warm.  We love playgrounds.


Since we were in the neighborhood we had to get cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes. Our favorite little cupcake spot!  Oh we will miss all these fun New York City places.



Love how Malia was sharing a bite with Kyler.  The cupcakes are so fabulous, with cream centers.  Malia and I shared a cookie dough center cupcake, best thing ever!  Kyler got the same, Porter is a die-hard oreo fan, and Brenner had the cake batter.  I had a bite of Lexi's red velvet peppermint cupcake, and I think that was my favorite of the day!

The last stop of the day was at Rockefeller Center to see the famous tree.  It is always beautiful!  My favorite Christmas tree.

It was the perfect time of day to go, it was just getting dark and wasn't so crowded yet.  Malia didn't want to get out of the stroller for a photo.  Brenner was asleep.  Yep, it was time to go home.



But we saw a few fun things along the way to the subway.  New York City is a dazzling place to be at Christmas time.

The star in the center bottom is spectacular!  It is gigantic and hangs in the middle of the intersection of 57th and 5th.  It sparkles!  This picture does not do it justice.  It's awesome.  All the sights definitely fill me with Christmas cheer!

Although, sidenote here, there is nothing about the true reason for the season.  I was teaching sharing time last week and needed a cheap nativity for the kids to handle, and I could not find one anywhere.  I spent an entire day going store to store, and asking the clerks if they carried nativities, and one person was like, "What's that?"  I explained and he snorted at me and said nothing like that was there!  After that day I was quite disappointed in humanity, and saddened that everywhere has forgotten the real meaning of Christmas.  They have forgotten the babe lying in a manger.  It made me miss Idaho where I for sure would have been able to find the true Christmas spirit.  It made me realize we need to keep that spirit in our hearts and make sure we remember the greatest Christmas gift ever given, when our Heavenly Father gave us the gift of His Only Begotten Son.

(drawing last week by Porter)

Merry Christmas!