Christmas Picture Overload

A month later we found our camera and all the Christmas pictures on it. Christmas Eve was just plain old crazy and we didn't get any pictures of it but it was fun. Sarah and Heidi and their families were in town and it was AWESOME to see them and their kids and spend time with them.

Christmas morning a happy Troy found a Toy in his stocking. Only Troy would appreciate this at his age. It's some dino rider or something from the 80s 

One of my most favorite traditions is making a big family breakfast before we open gifts. We made good use of Mom's big new kitchen.

The breakfast table 

Aunt Lindsay with baby Hunter who didn't sleep at all the night before but fell asleep in her arms. I think all the kids got sick that week and some of the adults. I don't know where it originated but I think we all blame each others' kids.

The tree was pretty impressive with all our families gifts under it. There were 9 Adults and 8 kids!

 I can't get enough of that smile!

 Aiden and Rockwell

 Christmas day we hung out and assembled toys. There were so many helpers around

Why do we give them toys? 

We had a great time. I had more pictures of everyone but they were mostly candid and maybe a little embarrassing. Merry Christmas!

2012 Christmas Card

(A very late)

Merry Christmas!

(And a not so new)

Happy New Year!

                                      Love

Troy, Alison, Rockwell, and Otto

 

Little Artist

When I worked as a para educator for one of the elementary schools here we did a teacher inservice on handwriting and I learned that drawing/ writing vertically instead of on a table helps develop correct handwriting techniques so I let Rockwell draw on the fridge with a dry erase marker. Really, though, now that it's cold I just like that it keeps him entertained for a while. Sometimes he makes me draw and it's fun to do it with him.

If you look closely you can see he really did hold the marker really well

It comes off pretty easily with a magic eraser  

And Finally, The couch

 Tah Dah! The much anticipated arrival of the post about the finished couch. Nobody believed we could do it, but we BUILT a COUCH. I just barely finished it this week.  It took so long because the instructions only called for one measly cushion so we only bought stuff for one cushion but since our bums turned numb pretty quick  we decided to add 2 more. But then we had to re-gather materials and get motivated and re-measure etc etc. Since it's one of our [few] traditions to put up Christmas decor on Thanksgiving so I buckled down and got it done so nothing would distract from our beautiful festiveness. So.... here it is...

It's super comfy and the top cushions can be taken off for the perfect napping spot for that hypothetical nap that's always in the back of my mind

 

What's this? Oh, that's only my favorite feature of the couch and the best reason to DIY a couch.  All our blankets and extra pillows fit inside. Thank you ana-white.com!

 

And in case you forgot what my lovely face looks like when it's in the middle of a 2 day project while juggling two kids, here you go- a bonus picture

Baby Blues

I think... I'm finally... getting used to .... having 2 of them. Shhh.... I'm afraid if I say it out loud I'll jinx it. But I mean the juggling and the scheduling and the balancing 2 is finally under control most days. I know it took 8 months (I think it took me a year to get used to having just one, so this is a considerably shorter time period) to grow accustomed. Maybe it's because we're finally getting some sleep,  or because Otto can sit up and amuse himself for an impressive amount of time,  or that Rocky is used to sharing his parents now. It could just be that I've finally got some energy most days to do slightly more than the bare minimum. Probably it's all of those. It's great. It's really great...

...AND I just love that face!

                        And those eyes!

Kids and Pets

I like having a cat around. The kids like it, too. I like that the kids like it. Here's some of my favorites pics of them

Playing Hide and seek with Rockwell

He's kind enough to share the bed with Otto

Mwa-ha-ha I love this. Someday he'll get stepped on while sitting on the bear rug we inherited from Grandpa Blake.

 

I sure am glad Halloween is over. Happy November everyone

Halloween 2012

This years' party was a small affair-not as small as last year- but it was fun. It was at my Parent's house this year. Thanks everyone for coming

Caree, Ryan, and baby Tidus

The set up. Mom and Dad's new kitchen is a great gathering place

I dressed as Cinderella- I stole the idea and dress from Sarah- and baby clown Otto

Charlie and Rocky. Charlie is Rocky's hero

Clown, Cinderella, Aquaman, and Hobgoblin

Here's his whole costume. I love how it turned out. He was the perfect clown. I used the pajama pattern from the Child Sewing class modified a bit, and made the hat up

 This kid would NOT hold still for a picture. You'll just have to get a general idea of what it was throughout the blog post. Here's the inspiration:

He even has muscles an scales but you can't see the details. Oh well. He didn't even know what he was he just knew he felt really cool

We got to go Trick-Or-Treating at Troy's new work (at the bank)

 See? He wouldn't hold still. Oh well. Here we are Trick-or-Treating at Troy's cubicle

I'm sad I didn't get pictures from real trick or treating but I forgot the camera. We went to Uncle Jordan's townhouses in Rexburg. It was the first time we took Rockwell and he did pretty well, but I think I was a little more gung-ho than he was and it took a bit to get the hang of it. I don't think he "got" it and i don't blame him (what? all that's all I have to do and they give me candy?)  He's already forgotten about his candy because I hid it and that's good cuz it's already half gone

Happy Halloween!