Parties, parties, parties!

Oh and Lucy turned SIX!!!! 

She is getting big. Its amazing to see how much she has grown and changed over this last year. We were talking about what she wanted for her family dinner and dessert. I was expecting her standard mac n cheese (from a box). But she surprised me! She said she wanted a chocolate ice cream cake! not her normal chocolate with blue frosting cake. And for dinner she wanted my mashed potatoes with peels, cauliflower and pork chops! What a grown up meal!!! I don't know why her dinner choice makes me so happy, but it does. 

We got to go her class and bring cupcakes! They gave her a hat and sang to her. She has been waiting for this day all year. It was fun to be there to experience it with her. One thing I love about her is how much she wants us involved with what happens at school. She uses her reward points to have us come eat lunch with her every other week. And she wants us to be at every event that goes on. We are lucky she has such awesome teachers who don't mind me and the three younger ones crashing their class  all the time. 

She wore the hat all day.... :) 

Lucy is such a wonderfully kind girl. She loves giving to others, she loves to make people happy, she loves to be outside and especially to ride her bike. She is a wonderful big sister who plays with Eddi and is momma's biggest helper. She is loving that she can read, and tries to read everything and anything she can figure out. She is always trying to get people to come to our church and participate in our activities there. I love her I am grateful she is in our family and so grateful she made me a mother! She is our guinea pig and I pray she succeeds in spite of our lacking. 

Oh Eddi. I don't know what to say about his eating, or lack thereof. We are not allowed to feed him, he will swipe at the utensil, spit out the food and throw a fit if we try. So this is what it becomes, food all over him, his chair, and the floor, but he is happy. 

Tuesday  it was beautiful enough that we could clean this table with water and bare feet....I am not complaining! :) :) 

This tree is beautiful. I haven't even raked up its leaves all over our yard because I love the color it adds! Haha! 

Wednesday morning Devin left for a 2 day business trip. His shortest one so far, but we still miss him a lot and we purposefully planned a lot those days so we wouldn't be home wishing he was there too. At playgroup that morning we made christmas trees! 

 Eddi ate graham crackers with frosting and sixlets.

Cole's tree that he made for me. He is always making things for me. It is so sweet. 

 

He didn't even eat any of the candy off of it because it was for me. 

 Sadie had a lot of fun making hers, she ate a good amount of it before we went home that morning. 

Wednesday night we spent with some good friends, we had dinner together and then went caroling! 

 We visited a lady in our ward who turned 90 that day. Lucy and Sadie were put off by the atmosphere of the room and didn't want to go near the lady. Cole on the other hand went right up to her and gave her a hug and wished her a happy birthday. After having to take sadie out of the room and talk to her about throwing fits, she calmed down and said she would go give the lady a hug and wish her happy birthday. She did it! And then asked to leave the room. haha, I couldn't argue with that. It was the first time the children have been to a nursing home and it was good to talk about he importance of visiting older people who don't have families around to see all the time. That really stuck with them. I hope we can make it a more common activity for our family. 

Thursday it rained. It rained a LOT that morning. We got back form dropping Lucy off at school and the rain magically stopped. It was crazy because I couldn't see the cars in front of me while we were dropping her off, and within 5 mins. the sky was clear. 

 We had puddles and rivers galore in our neighborhood so we ran around outside for an hour. 

 Some of the 'gutters' (I don't know what else to call them) were up to Sadie's knees. 

 They were running and sitting and rolling through the water. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 

 Afterwards they enjoyed a warm bubble bath. 

 These two are becoming such good friends. Eddi used to just bug sadie because he always wanted to be near her and was always taking her things. Now she actually plays with him, and loves on him. 

 He is always giving her hugs and kisses, and she reciprocates in kind. 

 That night we decorated rice krispy trees and ornaments with some friends! It was a blast, and a super creative idea. 

Friday, daddy was home and Lucy had a birthday party with friends planned for that night. She had pajama day at school, so naturally we had one at our house too! Haha, They were showing Polar Express that day and I have never seen it. So Cole, Sadie, Eddi and I watched it at home. It was a fun morning. 

 Sadie was tuckered out, and fell asleep like this! Haha! 

 To pass the time after school we rode bikes and played outside. It was actually cold and we needed gloves and close toed shoes! Here are the kids taking a break and building pine needle castles on the side of the road.

 Lucy wore her eye mask to school since it was pajama day...

The only picture I got from the party that night! This was the piñata I made for her. She has wanted a pinnate for years. I didn't do a very good job because only 6 kids got to hit it. And we even had to tape it back together so that Lucy could have a shot at it!! Haha! I'll try harder to reinforce it next time! Lol. 

It was a lot of fun having people over. Lucy just loved it. Saturday we spent prepping for the coming week! Its been busy and needs to slow down a bit! Thankfully the holidays are upon us and there is no more time for preparations so we can relax and enjoy our time together! 

I am so grateful for this time of year and the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I love talking to the kids about christmas and seeing them embrace the spirit of giving.  

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!