Teddy Bear Picnic

January has been a bit rough for us.  We are actually a very healthy family and rarely get sick.  I don't mean to brag but it is really so nice.  But this January was very different.  A couple of weeks ago Kevy started feeling really sick on Sunday.  He was down and out with a really bad cold, so bad it really seemed like the flu. He was sick through Wednesday, so bad that he had to take off work, which he never does. Well wouldn't you know that Wednesday all of the rest of us start to bite the dust.  Nellie came home early that day from school and Jane developed a fever too.  Then I started in on the coughing.  So of course by the time Thursday rolled around all the rest of us were sick and Kevin was finally well enough to go back to work.  So that left me home pregnant, sicker than heck and taking care of four sick kids.  Not to mention that I couldn't take anything to actually make myself feel better.  No fun.  It was a really miserable 5 days.  None of us really felt better until the next Tuesday.

Janie had really been looking forward to her Teddy Bear picnic at preschool where they get to wear their pajamas and bring their favorite teddy bear, and then have treats, so we decided to have one at home, minus the pajamas.  I just can't stay in pajamas when I am sick it makes me feel sicker, so we all got dressed that day.  We laid out a blanket in our living room and had our picnic. The kids all loved it. You would never know how sick they were from this picture, but that is because they were all pretty doped up at the time. Plus Russy never really even acted sick.  He even had a checkup the next week and they said he had an ear infection, but you would never have known it because he was acting just fine.  Anyway they are all better now and doing great.  Let hope the rest of the season goes smoothly.  I really hate having sick kids.  It's horrible!

Janie's Rapunzel Party

We gave Janie her first friend birthday party and it was a hit!  I don't like to give them one too soon because I don't really feel like they really understand until they get a bit older.  I think 4 is a good one to start with.   I also really do not enjoy birthday parties.  Maybe that makes me a bad mom, but they just stress me out so much!  I decided though that I was not going to allow myself to feel stressed and  overdo it.  So we bought the invitations and bought the games and the pinata and just stayed really low key.  I mean these are three and four year olds.  If I did go all  out it would be to try and impress other moms because the little kids could care less.   The day of the party Jane was SO excited.  I love to see that!  She was so thrilled with everything which makes me so happy.  The day of the party I surprised her with a bunch of Rapunzel balloons and she was so excited about that.

We played a put Pascal on Rapunzel game and Jane didn't want to wear the blindfold, but said she would keep her eyes closed but of course she put it in the exact right spot, so of course she peeked.

I just love this picture of her. She has the cutest little smile.  Even though it's a little bit blurry.

Lizzy and Nellie were my very good helpers with the little girls.

We did coloring too, which Jane always loves.  I really think she could color all day every day and never get sick of it.  She is really good too.

We did the pinata  and it was funny because we told the girls to pull one of the strings, and when it was time for one of the little girls to go she grabbed all the strings and yanked before we had a chance to stop her. So the pinata lasted about a minute.

Janie was really excited about all of her presents, she is super easy to please, but she is so easy going that sometimes she doesn't say much even though she really likes it.

I did make her cake, because it is way too expensive to buy cakes and I think homemade ones taste better anyway.

Janie had such a good time for her first birthday party.  She is such a sweet little girl.  We love her SO much!

Tubby Time!

Probably one if not the most favorite things of Russ is bath time.  He loves it soo much!  All I have to do is turn on the tub and he comes, from anywhere in the house.  It is hilarious!  It also has turned into quite the production as well.  He feels like he needs it all.  One time I thought it would be fun to give him bubbles and now he has to have them every time!  If I haven't put them in yet, he hands me the bottle, so funny. He also has to have it in our big bath, as do the girls so I really don't know why we even have a second bathroom, we barely use it.  One of his favorite things to do is climb up on the side, little stinker.  He has fallen back in numerous times going clear under the water and doesn't seem to care.  He thinks it is a pretty fun game.  I am getting a bit worried for this summer because he really has no fear with water, so taking him and a new baby to the pool is going to be interesting.  He sure is pretty darn cute though!

A New Year

We celebrated New Years Eve with just our little family.  And I am perfectly happy with that.  It is nice to spend time with just us.  Now that our kids have gotten older we no longer feel so sad without our extended family.  Sure it is nice to be with them, but we have so much fun with just us. I made some appetizers and treats and we rented some movies. Then we counted down for New York New Years. We tired the real new years a couple of years ago and vowed to never do that again.  The girls are okay knowing it's not the real thing.  We did a balloon drop and had poppers, it was fun.  Russ of course is too young to stay up, maybe in a couple years. Kevy was even a good sport and wore the New Years hat with the girls.

 The next morning we thought we would make a new tradition and go out to breakfast which was fun.

 The girls have been begging us to go up to the snow and we haven't done it each year we have been here, so we decided that we had to do it.  Big mistake to do it on New Years Day.  Everyone else in Northern California was thinking the same thing as us.  We got off on the exit where there is a good sledding hill but it was packed and they wouldn't let us park.  We noticed some people parking on the onramp so we thought why not. So we parked and got the kids all bundled up.  As we got to the top of the hill we saw a sign that said no parking, tow zone so we decided even though there were a lot of other cars doing it, we just don't have that good of luck and we would be the ones to get towed.  So we drove up to the next exit.  It wasn't nearly as packed, but there also wasn't any place to sled.  The girls were okay with that though.

 I was planning on just staying in the car with Russ because after the 10 minutes we spent at the other spot he seemed like he was all snowed out.  But after a few minutes he wanted to get out and be with the girls.

 They had fun just walking around and playing in the snow.

 They made some snow angels, and Janie was glad that we had made her wear the snow pants.  Since we haven't been in the cold in three years we didn't really have any clothes for the bigger girls to wear and they just had to wear their jeans.  Janie wanted to be like them and not wear the snow pants we had for her because "sisters aren't wearing them!" So funny. She always wants to be just like her sisters.

 Russ was funny because he didn't want to wear his mittens and kept taking them off.  Then he would touch the snow with his bare hands and start crying because it hurt them.  Silly guy, he kept doing this over and over.

We accomplished what I was hoping for with this little trip.  The girls keep saying how sad they are that they don't get to live in a place where it snows.  Well they have changed their tune after playing in the snow for a day.  They had lots of fun, but froze to death and had a hard time getting warm.  They now are glad we live in a place where it doesn't  snow, but that we can go and visit the snow if we want. Yay!

Christmas

Our Christmas really started two days before.  Kevy had the greatest idea to let the kids open a present on the night before Christmas Eve.  We knew my parents had gotten them pajamas and they were supposed to open them on Christmas Eve, but the girls always want to pick out their own present instead of us telling them which one to open.  And with the frenzy and hyperactivity of Christmas, Kevy thought why not let them open a present the night before Christmas Eve.  It will be a new tradition in our house!  It was a hit with the kids, plus it kept them busy Christmas Eve and not so out of control,  It was a great idea.  The real reason Kevy did it was so I could open the new pans he got me so I could use them for cooking. What a great guy!

Christmas Eve day was pretty busy with making food and getting all ready for the next day.  Since we have our big meal on Christmas Day we decided to go out to eat for lunch, and it was so nice and empty!  

 The kids got a free sundae with their meals and they sure enjoyed them.  Especially Russ!

 Nellie really loves her Chocolate!!! Can you tell?  It sure was nice for me since I had so much food to make anyway to be able to get a break for lunch.

 The kids opened their pajamas that night and they loved them.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  We thought Russ looked so cute in his pirate jammies.  Janie's are doggie ones so she decided to pretend to be a dog for the picture.
Christmas Morning came bit too soon for Kevy and I. This was really the first year that the kids were so excited that they had a really hard time going to sleep.  Lizzy was awake forever!!  Kevy and I stayed up until almost one, which is pretty darn rare for me these days, and that was a huge mistake.  I thought that once they were asleep they would sleep for a while.  I had a little visitor (Jane) come join me in bed around three.  She said she had a nightmare, and then Nellie woke up around 3:30 or 4 a.m. wanting to know if it was time to be awake yet.  Then she said she couldn't go back to sleep and came in every 15 to 20 minutes asking if it was time yet!  Arghh!  It was a pretty rough night and I have a feeling that Christmas Morning is going to be like that for a lot of years to come!  If they can just learn how to tell time then maybe it will get easier.

 Lizzy asked for roller blades and she got these really great ones from Santa.  She is absolutely amazing on them too.  She is so fast, it is really cute. What a great gift from Santa!  Plus it sure is nice that the weather  here is so great that we have been able to go to the park and play and go on walks and be outside a lot.

 Janie got her Rapunzel doll she has been asking for.  She is really into Rapunzel right now, so she was in heaven!

 Nellie asked for a pogo stick.  We had found this one in a magazine that seemed really neat because it does some different things other than just bouncing.  She said she wanted it and Santa brought it, and then come to find out later that she is embarrassed of it because it doesn't look like a regular one.  I swear we can never win with her!  Maybe one day she will figure things out.

 It was really hard to get a picture of Russ because he was all over the place that morning.

 Nellie asked for a cake pop maker so she was pretty excited to get this one.

 Once again Janie wanted Rapunzel stuff and she got an awful lot of it this year and she was thrilled.  I am just glad she has moved on from Dora.  She was obsessed with Dora for sooo long!

 Lizzy got some new slippers too.  She has gotten into the bigger kid phase where she is happy to get jewelry and clothes.  Its nice because I know those presents won't go to waste!

Russ got a truck that has flashing lights and sounds and he liked it quite a bit.  He is definitely a boy!  It is so fun to see the difference between him and his sisters, and nice to have a little balance.

He is just such a cute little monkey!

 Nellie got a fun cookbook and apron from Grammie and Papi.  She was pretty excited and wanted to immediately make some food out of it.

 Jane got a puzzle from Grammie and Papi and she loved it.  She still loves to do puzzles.

 Lizzy got some cute jewelry from Grammie and Papi and was so excited.  She loves having earrings to wear!

 Both Lizzy and Nellie made some pretty great presents for Kevin and me at school.  They spent a lot of time and were so excited for us to open them. Those things are the true treasures that we get.

We had Judy and Jim, Grandma Smith and Joe over to our house for Christmas dinner.  The food was great and there wasn't too much of it, where I had stressed myself out with the cooking, so it was really nice.  Russ really enjoyed my banana cream pie.  His favorite food right now is bananas, so he was seriously in heaven, plus I will admit, I can make a pretty good pie. :)  We had a great Christmas and were so sad to see it end.