December 30—More Snow, Elbow Gloves & Waffles

Woke up today pretty much snowed in so we called the Mairs to see what they were up to.  Decided to venture the three miles to their house for a romp in the snow.  The kids all bundled up and headed outside.

 

I can’t believe how grown up Addie is getting!  Look at those beautiful eyes and cute new (to me because I never see her now that she is in school all day) hair cut.  Oh, and of course the frog hat is the coolest.

Addie, Paige and Miles huddled up to stay warm.

Miles sporting his new '”elbow” gloves.  They come up to his elbows so no snow gets in—Brilliant! 

Miles was a big fan of tasting all the white stuff. 

Cute Paige in her bear hat. Hats just add so much personality!

I think Stuart was missing those warm days of summer.  He stayed in the swing the whole time he was outside.

Drop zone for snow clothes. It takes a lot of hats, gloves, boots, coats, snow pants to clothe 6 kids for a day in the snow.

After getting pink noses and cheeks from the cold the kids came in and ate up some yummy waffles courtesy of Nora’s new waffle maker—deeeelicious! 

Thanks for the fun day Addie, Ben, Paige, and Stu.  You are so much fun and always such great entertainment for Ian and Miles.

January Desktop

From The Shabby Shoppe.  Pick up your own its FREE!  So cute now I can look at Miles cute mug all month long.

Merry Christmas From Us Noels

December 20—Cookies, Cookies, Cookies (Yum, Yum, Yum)

Decided to make cookies for my piano students today.  Once I got started I decided the neighbors might need some and then the ladies I’m in Primary with and I knew my boys would love a big pile of them and of course Santa will need some to fill his big belly on Friday night. So after rolling and cutting out about 170 cookies Miles and I were ready to call it a morning. 

Miles was such a good helper and it was so fun to see him excited about the process.  Wesley was happy to test out a few and make sure they tasted good.  Tomorrow we will frost and sprinkle!

December 18—A Grandma, Some Candy & the Last Name NOEL!

So, we headed up to Dave’s parents house to celebrate Christmas today and boy did Grandma show us a great time.  Grandma Mary truly lives up to the last name Noel.  Christmas basically oozes out of the front door to great you.  The living room is filled with Christmas music, a tree laden with homemade ornaments, a Christmas village, Christmas treats, and twinkle lights.  For a kid it is almost as good as Disneyland.

We started the afternoon off by making candy houses, then we played Christmas music on pvc pipe chimes and color coded bells.  We sang a few songs, opened some presents and then Dave and I took off for dinner.  Grandma and Grandpa bundled up the kids and took them to see the lights at the Christmas Village in Ogden.  We came back to some very tired boys that were so glad that Grandma lived up to her last name.

December 17— A Little Boy, a Book & a New Found Interest

Wesley discovered books recently.  My other two were into looking at books from day one, but Wes has never wanted to sit and flip the pages of a book.  In fact I would try to wrestle him into my lap before nap and try to read to him and he would just reach for his crib or wiggle out of my lap.  So when I heard the noises coming from this book and discovered him totally enthralled with turning the pages I was so happy.  He now wants to look at every book he can get his hands on.  I’m sure he’ll be reading by next week!

December 15—Picture Day

Went to Gardner Village today with my friend Bri to take some photos of her cute boys and her two blue eyed nieces. Here are some of my favorites.

December 14—The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock & the Baby Jesus Ran Around in Circles

Tonight Ian said we should act out the Nativity like we do at Grandma’s.  So we assigned out parts to all 5 of us.  Ian-Shepherd, Miles-Wiseman, Wes-Baby Jesus, Dave-Joseph and Inn Keeper, Mommy-Angel and Mary.  It took 45 minutes to find costumes and about 10 minutes to reenact the story.  When I finally got Miles dressed up he started singing “the wise man built his house upon a rock.”  He also took his flask of frankincense/mur/gold and tried to hide it from the baby Jesus (Wes) since it was a Christmas present.  Now, Miles is still calling Wes “baby Jesus” while he refers to himself as Rudolf.  Ahhh…to be in the world of a 4 year old.

December 13—A Preschool Project, a Marker & a Little Imagination

Need I say more!  My little reindeer has colored his nose red for the last three days and his antlers are looking a little smooshed, but he his perfectly happy to do anything you want if you call him Rudolf!  Thanks for the fun Teacher Lici.

December 5—Bittersweet

Today we went to see Ian’s daughter Olivia blessed.  We stopped by the cemetery to say “hi” to Ian and see the headstone.  It was great to see little Olivia those big eyes that look like her daddy’s, but it was bittersweet to not have Ian there knowing what a proud daddy he would be.

Sweet Olivia. Look at that red hair and who knows maybe she’ll have beautiful curls like her daddy.

December 4—A Few Reindeer, a Man in a Red Suit & Super Dad!

So this morning I was off to eat brunch with the gals when I mentioned to Dave that Santa would be at the local shopping center.  I thought we could go when I got home, but Dave being the super hero that he is decided to tackle the crowds and craziness by himself—Merry Christmas to me! 

Apparently Ian asked Santa for enough toys to bury his sleigh.  Miles asked Santa if he could try on his hat to which Santa said nothing and changed the subject!  Wes had nothing to say, but can you believe he is not screaming his head off—isn’t every one year old entitled to a photo of themselves crying on Santa’s lap? 

After Santa it was off to Ab’s or Crab’s as Miles says for corndogs and hamburgers.  The kids came home tired and happy.  I’m thinking daddy was a little tired too!  Way to make daddy of the year my sweetheart.

December 3—A Very Important Person

Today Ian was VIP for his 1st grade class.  Every week one of the kids is “spotlighted” as the class VIP. They bring a poster, explain the poster into the microphone, and get to answer three questions from classmates.  Ian was the picture of calm as he explained his poster and called on students to ask him questions.  What a talented kid and a very important person to me. 

As a side note—the teacher in me was thinking this microphone around the neck was the coolest thing ever!  Why didn’t I have one when I was teaching a classroom of rowdy 9th graders? 

December 2—Winter White Light, Beautiful Browns & Baby Blues

Have you ever noticed that each season has a color?  The sunlight seems to take on a different hue depending on the time of year?  I don’t know if it is the position of the sun in the sky or the reflection color from the landscape that exists during each season, but I would say Spring is a soft greenish yellow, Summer is kind of a harsh yellow/white, Fall is an hazy orange yellow, and Winter is a stark bluish/white. 

Today while cutting up grapes for Wes I realized that this fabulous winter white light was flooding my kitchen, making the kids eyes glow and their skin look like porcelain.  So, without wiping off their faces I pulled out the camera. 

Miles said, “take some pictures of my eyes”  so we did. 

And..here is Wessy showing off his baby blues. 

Now that I’ve discovered the great lunch time light in my kitchen you might be seeing lots of high chair photos, or bring your kids over for lunch and I’ll share the great light with you.

**One year olds in overalls are just about the cutest thing ever**

November 26—Some Dry Utah Snow, Two Cute Hats & Lots of Smiles

Okay—These pictures pretty much say it all.  The boys were so excited to roll around in the snow.  Miles wanted to make a snowman, but Ian said “the snow was too salty.”  Thank you to Aunt Katie for the cute monkey and lion hat they are so cute, and fit their personalities so well.

November 20—A Bowling Alley, a Thomas Cake & a Happy 4 Year Old

Saturday—Finally the day of Miles “official” birthday party.  We started the evening off with a little bowling.  We won’t say who won, but let’s just say it wasn’t one of the boys!

Next we headed home for some pizza and some presents.  Have you seen this little movie about Mater?  It is so cute—we watched it while we chowed down on birthday dinner and cake.

And….here is the Thomas cake.  Not my finest, but defiantly better than Ian’s leaning tower of cake.  Miles kept saying “Thank you mommy, I love my birthday!”  Thank you little guy we love you your quirky personality, your big brown eyes and your love of snack foods.