Christmas Time!

I really look forward to Christmas every year, it is my favorite holiday, and I have come to realize that it is my favorite because it is a whole season rather than just a day. I love the magic, yes really, the magic at this time of year. The food and the music and the movies and the activities and the decorations and the presents and just everything that comes along with it. I never understood why my parents said that they really didn't need presents they just enjoyed watching us, until I had kids of my own. I think maybe I am more excited than they are for it all. It is funny through because they just want Christmas day to come and I dread it coming because then all the magic and wonder is gone after that. So every time my girls say "I just wish it was Christmas today!" I try and remind them to enjoy what we are doing right now. One of our favorite traditions is to turn off the lights and turn on music and have Christmas dancing. Last year Jane wanted to dance with the girls so bad but she wasn't walking yet so it was so fun to see her keeping up with the other two this year. This year I caved and we bought a fake tree. I was just too tired to go and get a real one and put the lights on, so we went to Walmart and found this extra special one that was only 40 bucks. It looked really sad when we got it out of the box, but I fluffed it out and revived it. I have to say it was nice to not have to string the lights this year. The girls love to help decorate and they did a really good job although I think they liked to look of the ones hanging off the bottom because they put about a third of them on the bottom branch.

Our ward had a Christmas breakfast this year, which I don't particularly like, but oh well. It was still fun and we even went in our pajamas. It was really hard for me not to do my girls hair because normally I refuse to leave the house without their hair done, but I decided to go with it, although most people still did their kids hair. I felt like a rube, but oh well. The girls got up there and sang with the primary, and surprise that Lizzy sang super loud, she is such a little singer.

I love this picture with Santa with Jane having not one but two fingers up her nose.

Nellie had a little Christmas program at her preschool and she did such a good job! Nellie is really not one for performing but she know how much we wanted her to do it so she did and she did such a good job. It was really hard for Lizzy to not be up there in front of everyone, she sat up front and sang along too.

Here is Nellie with her little friend Mykenzie. She loves going to school and playing with her little friends. School is such a good thing for her, I know I have said this before but her teacher is the best teacher! I can't wait for Janie to be able to go there in a couple of years.

She looked so pretty in her Christmas dress. I just love this little crazy girl!

One of the things that Nellie was so excited about and she talked about for weeks before was that they made the dads come up and put a Rudolph nose on and sing with the kids. Nellie thought it was so funny.

Then of course Santa came and Nellie got to tell him what she wanted. It seems like kids tell every Santa they see something different.

It is always a tradition for us to make a Gingerbread house, but it seems like I do most of it with just one so this year we made one for each girl. We went and got a bunch of bulk candy and graham crackers and put them together. They loved it and I plan on doing it this way from now on. It was so cute for Jane to help stick on the candies. They all had fun eating them too.

Such a cute little baby lady. Yes I still call her that. I know it is a weird nickname, but I think it fits her.

Lizzy really got a lot of candy on there. One whole side of her roof is covered in peppermint disks. Lizzy never ate any of hers though. She is really funny and won't eat a whole lot of junk because she says it is not good for her.

This was Nellie's gingerbread house that she decorated. Look closely at how much candy she had on that thing

And this was it the next day. Virtually every piece of candy was gone. She has a little bit of a junk food addiction. She definitely is not on the same wavelength as Lizzy.

Lizzy Lizardo

My Lizzy is so big now. Six just seems so much older than 5. She has grown up so much in this past year. It is like she seems to understand so much now that she didn't before. I love having such a big girl. She is such a good help to me.

Lizzy started Kindergarten this year and she loves it so much. She is one of those kids that loves going to school so much that she doesn't really get very excited about having days off of school. Not much like me. In fact sometimes I wonder where this girl of mine came from, she is so different than me. It is so cute how social she is , when we are walking to the car from school she is saying bye to all of her little friends she sees. I love how confident she is too, she know what a good girl she is and that she is so dang cute too.

Lizzy is one of the easiest little girls to have around because she is a people pleaser, so she always is trying to do something that will please me. She is so sweet all the time because she always will tell me how much she loves me and that I am the best Mom and that I am the best cooker in the world. It is so cute and as a mom you just treasure things like that because it can be a thankless job, and it can feel like no one notices all that you do, but Lizzy does that for me.

Lizzy is so outgoing and she just loves to perform. We went to Nellie's Christmas concert and Lizzy was just dying inside because it wasn't her up in front of everyone. She did however sit up front and sing along with all the songs. She wants to learn how to play the piano and she told me today that when she is eight, well maybe ten she wants to sing in the choir at church.

Lizzy has such a tender little heart and is a lot like me in that she gets her little feelings hurt very easily and cries a lot. So I guess she is like me. She is always wanting to do the right thing and do what Jesus would want her to do. She has such a sweet little spirit and she is so sweet with her little sisters. Nellie many times doesn't like to have Jane around but Lizzy will always include Jane.

Lizzy does have a lot of friends and it has been nice to move out here where there are so many little kids around. Lizzy lives to be with her little friends, she has some that live right across from my parents house and when we go over there she always says she wants to just enjoy being outside instead of going in, but really she is hoping her friends will see her. It is so silly. Lizzy totally fits the first child mold perfectly. It is crazy how much she wants to be in charge and tell everyone else what to do, including me sometimes.

Lizzy is such a beautiful and special girl. I am the luckiest person that I have been entrusted by Heavenly Father to be her mom. I hope I can always do a good job. I love her so much and I am so glad that she is my little girl.

Thanksgiving

We sure had a great Thanksgiving this year, but the girls were not about it, they just wanted it to get over so Christmas could come. This was a little conversation about thanksgiving that I just had to write down.
Lizzy: Is Thanksgiving just a bunch of eating?
Mom: Yes but it is so fun to be with everyone and think about what we are thankful for too, I am sure thankful for our family.
Lizzy: I am thankful for Jesus.
Nellie: I am thankful for candy.
And that pretty much sums it up. I got a good laugh over that one because that truly is the thing that Nellie is most grateful for. She is a junkfoodaholic. Here are my cute little pilgrim, Indian and turkey. Lizzy was a pilgrim for her program and Nellie was Pocahontas for her little feast at school and Janie got to wear a turkey hat that Lizzy made.

Lizzy is just getting so old I can't believe it, but I am loving having such a big girl she is such a good help to me.

she sure is a pretty little Pocahontas. She is just loving her preschool and I just love her teacher, she makes Nellie feel so special.

Isn't she just the cutest little turkey you ever saw. I just can't believe that she is so darn big! She is almost 2, I just cant believe that she isn't a baby anymore, I am so sad and really not ready for her to be big yet. Not until I get another little one coming.

Lizzy at her Thanksgiving program, she of course sang her little heart out, she get very serious about her singing and the actions. She wants to do them all just perfect.

Lizzy showing off her pine cone turkey she made. She was also sitting next to her new little friend Iris. She is so cute to always make new little friends.

This was our group for Thanksgiving this year. Not very big compared to usual. Of course the year that we move out here is the year that no one comes to visit for the holidays. It is always fun to be with the people who are here though. We had fun eating lots of food and being together. The day after Thanksgiving I got up at four after sleeping for about two hours and decided to do the black Friday thing. I will admit that I have never done it before, but this year I wanted to save lots of money, so I went and got a really nice trampoline for less than half the price it usually is. I am super excited about that, then my mom found me at the mall and I helped her get a bunch of stuff, the poor lady has way too many people to buy for, but it was fun to help her pick stuff out and then we went to breakfast at McDonald's. It was really nice to have Kevin home for for straight days. We went to Tangled the next day and we decided to take Janie. I know Kevin didn't want to but I wanted us all to be there. Well I couldn't believe that such a little girl could do so good. She sat in her little seat the whole movie and watched it. Pretty much without moving, I put her on my lap for a little while just because I wanted to hold her, but she didn't once try and get down. It was truly amazing. Nellie on the other hand was a different story she drove me nuts wanting more and more treats in order to sit still, but that is life with that girl. We loved the movie, so much fun.

Nellie with her dirty face, such a big surprise.

Jane really liked her sparkling cider and was going to get every last drop.