Extreme Room Makeover

Savannah got a bedroom makeover this fall and I had every intention of putting pictures of the finished product on back in October when we finished her room, but as with many other things, life gets crazy and then before I know it 2009 is over and I never got to it! So this will ceremoniously end the posts of 2009 (even though it's 2010 - doing the best I can!) because this was one I really meant to get to and Savannah has only asked me about a zillion times, so after this 2009 is in the history books and anything I may have missed - well it just got missed!

In my typical fashion there's a story . . . So going way back - when we found out we were expecting Jonas we realized we would have to do some rearranging. Originally we had Savannah and Audrey sharing a bedroom upstairs and Grace was next door in the nursery, but with a little guy on the way things had to change. We moved Grace into the upstairs bedroom with Audrey and that room was way too small to put all three girls in together, so Savannah had to move downstairs, which meant I had to make a very difficult decision, I had to give up either the playroom or the guestroom/office. Well in the end it was a no brainer with 4 little ones we can't live without a playroom, so there went my office and guestroom, sorry Papa and Mama K and sorry for me too, there are days I really miss that office space! But Savannah was way excited to get her own bedroom, she moved down into the guest room and lived with it guestroom-ish for 6 months and then for her 8th birthday we gave her some new bedding, some art for her walls and her dad promised to paint her room. Well that promise was made in December 2008 and finally in October 2009 Larren and Savannah got to work! That's kind of how things go around her sometimes! It was really a fun daddy/daughter project for them to do together, they painted and then got all the art hung. She was so excited when it was done, especially since she had waited . . . oh only 11 months for her makeover to finally get underway! It turned out really beautiful and she is really happy with it! See for yourself!

Here is the first half of the bedroom. There are some office remnants that had to stay put, but don't worry all you out there I am NOT a psycho mom she has no computer access, it is password protected, once and a while she gets to play webkins on it, but that's pretty much it, mostly a decorative piece really! She does like to do her homework at the desk, however! The clock on her desk is a coo-coo clock, it is so cute when the little bird comes out every hour! OK truth be told it would annoy the heck out of me, but Savannah loves it and sleeps right through all the coo-cooing all night long, how she does that is beyond me, but she loves her little clock!

Here is the other half of her room the art is really cute at least I think so, anyway so after nearly a year she got her room made over and decorated - I was a teenager before I ever got my own room, she is one lucky lady. I thought she would be maybe a little nervous being on her own, but nope she couldn't be happier! She really works hard to keep it clean too, so that keeps mom happy!

When Audrey found out Savannah got to have a picture of her room on the blog, of course she wanted a picture of her room on too, now they didn't get a makeover per se, but when Grace moved in, we bought them matching bedding and put the flowers on the walls for fun! I think their room is pretty dang cute too, and I'm glad they love it! They are sweet little roommates, most of the time!

Grace's side of the room.

Audrey got this mirror for her birthday, and she is the type of little girl who sure knows how to put a mirror to good use! She loves checking herself out! Emily added the flowers to jazz it up and make it match her room perfectly, it turned out so cute!

Lost Tooth

On December 30th Audrey lost a tooth, this was a pretty big deal! This is technically the second tooth she lost, but unfortunately the night of the first lost tooth I wasn't home, so it didn't get documented so she wanted me to be sure to take pictures this time! After I took a couple pictures she said, "mom, put it on the blog!" So here it is Audrey - on the blog! The tooth fairy stopped by and left a dollar under her pillow, a big increase from when I was a kid, my teeth were only worth a quarter!

There's the big hole in her mouth, so cute that this is such a huge deal to kids!

She decorated a custom bag for the tooth fairy and put her initials on it, very very cute!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning is so magical! I love wonder, joy and amazement spread across little faces! It brings back so many fond memories of my own days as a child and how exciting that moment always was as I peered around the corner and saw the gifts under the tree! I love that I know exactly how my kids feel as they struggle to settle down and sleep and how exciting it is when morning FINALLY arrives! We had a wonderful Christmas Day with plenty of surprises and fantastic gifts, the kids were so thrilled with all they received, I loved all the squeals and big "thank you" hugs as they opened each gift! Christmas is so much work, the preparation part that is, but like anything when the moment arrives it was all worth it and then some! It was a perfectly wonderful day, just as it should be!

The living room, just before the mayhem began, looks like Santa did another bang up job!

The stocking lined up on the couch with care!?! Someday, perhaps there will be a chimney! Santa is so terrific, while he doesn't bring Larren or I a gift, he does leave us a stocking, how thoughtful! The stockings were filled with lots of fun goodies!

The kids all walking down the hall - ooohh almost to the living room! Their little hearts were probably just a racing with excitment - they could hardly wait! I love how Savannah is holding hands with the girls - the are so cute together!

Savannah asked for a received Zhu Zhu hamsters and a habitat, and all of them gravitated right to it, before even looking at the presents they had asked for it was so cute! Luckily Santa brought 3 hamsters, so Savannah gave one to Audrey and Grace, they all love playing with those little critters!

Grace with her pram and Audrey with her Littlest Pet Shop, they were both very happy with what Santa picked out for them.

Jonas with his Tonka dump truck - he is in love with this truck! Such a boy - I love it!

Take the wrapper off first Jonas! He so amazed when he reached his little hand in his stocking and kept pulling out candy and candy and candy! He couldn't believe it, he got busy right away trying to eat every thing he got his hands on!

Grace found Hercules in her stocking, yeah we can delete it off the DVR its only been on there for a year!

Savannah found "Hotel for Dogs" in her stocking! Yeah and she SO wanted that!

Grace unwrapping the crying baby! She was so excited! Look how clean the living room is at this point and the girls are sitting watching so nicely, oh that didn't last, by the end of it there was wrapping paper everywhere and no place to sit at all! The madness is all part of the excitement! Right?!?

Savannah opening a present - things are still somewhat under control, but places to sit are apparently becoming an issue!

Look how excited she is and I think it was clothes even! I love her enthusiasm! And besides I'm pretty sure it was a dang cute outfit - of course!!

Audrey opening a present!

I love her reaction to everything! She is so fun and over the top it is such a joy to watch her open things! I got a huge hug for that present! She is such a doll!

Grace holding her new dress! It looks so cute on her!

Larren got a new suit, not necessarily thrilling but much needed and he looks really nice in it and the girls and I found an awesome tie to match! It was a perfect fit, no alterations needed! How good am I?!? Don't worry I got him a fun present too, he's been wanting a blue ray player forever and he got his wish, so his Christmas wasn't all business!

Savannah helping Jonas open a present, thankfully he had lots of doting sisters eager to help! He got helped whether he wanted it or not, I think that will be his life's story, lots of mother hens to smother - uh I mean mother him!

After all the opening was done we had a yummy breakfast and then devoted the next several hours to the tedious task of untwisting 28,412 metal twist ties to get the dang toys out of their packaging, who assembles those packages!?! Poor souls, yuck! So finally once our finger tips were numb we resorted to wire cutters to finish the job! Sheeesh! When we got done, everyone spent the afternoon trying out the new toys. Grandma and grandpa stopped by to "ooo" and "ahh" over the presents, it made the kids day! Later that evening we had Christmas dinner with the whole family and exchanged sibling and cousin presents, now that was insanity! It's all a blur, but everyone was happy midst all the craziness so there you go! It was a great Christmas, but as with everything else thank heavens it only comes once a year! I want the spirit of the season to last all year, but I am glad the day itself comes just once a year!

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve! I love love love it! As far back as I can remember we have had what we call our "Mexican Fiesta" we serve an amazing Mexican meal - the whole family looks forward to it all year. In fact one year while we were in law school we went to North Carolina for Christmas and I was so sad to be missing Christmas Eve dinner, there may have been a few tears shed, we were coming for New Year's Eve so my family decided just to switch Christmas Eve dinner to New Year's Eve for us (after I begged and pleaded that is) and they had Cornish game hens for dinner instead, and by all accounts it was the worst Christmas Eve dinner EVER so they have never done that again! If you miss it you miss it, but I have been sure not to miss it again! YUMMY! We have every Mexican dish imaginable tacos, burritos, enchiladas (2 kinds), tostadas, toppings galore and delicious chips & salsa of course! It is so good! The house smelled so delicious and the food was to die for, totally fabulous tradition and we are keeping it forever! After our smorgasbord we have the annual Christmas Eve program, now this has evolved over the years, we used to have every individual family contribute something, ending of course, with my dad reading the Christmas story, and before that when we were kids we had to each do something and then last year magic happened! My mom decided to have all the grandkids do a little play with costumes and songs and lines etc. It was really cute! We had Christmas Eve at the church last year so they got to perform it on a real stage! My mom had a few practices prior to the program at her house and my dad later described the whole ordeal as "herding cats!" So I don't think grandma had it in mind to attempt something so ambitious again ever . . . but leave it to Audrey!!

Back story! In October of this year we had my parents over for dinner and then it was time to put the kids to bed, so we read scriptures and then all knelt around the coffee table for prayers. We had not been discussing Christmas or anything so I have no idea where this came from but Audrey starts into her prayer saying how neat it was to do a Christmas program with Grandma, and how she loved it SO much and how she couldn't wait to see what grandma was planning for their play this year and on and on and on! I could hardly contain myself, it was hilarious. So after we put them to bed we all just laughed and laughed about her little plea! Anyway suffice it to say after pleading for divine intervention Audrey got her wish and grandma had no choice but to put together a little play again this year! It was really great and not quite so many "cats," since Bryan and Jamie and their kids were spending Christmas with the Roses (Jamie's family). It was really sweet and the kids did a really good job, but it was still pretty wild and there were lots of little ones to try and kept together!

We had Grandpa as the narrator, Jonas as Joseph, Savannah as Mary, Audrey as the innkeeper, Ronan as a Shepard and Kaylee and Grace were both angels. And at the very end we had Lydia play baby Jesus for a minute! This year we even had a set in addition to the amazing costumes, apparently the budget could be spread a little further for year's production, since there weren't as many cast members!! The kids loved it and I am grateful for amazing grandparents who are so involved with the grandkids oh and Aunt Emily too, who helped with the set and costumes! It was a neat experience for the kids and as usual I cried, it is so neat to see their little testimonies growing of what happened on that sacred night over 2000 years ago. It was beautiful to see the girls sing Away in the Manger! Thanks mom!

After dinner and everyone left we always let the kids open one present - jammies, big shock, it's a very common tradition but I love it! How fun to go to bed on such an exciting night with snuggie new jammies! This year I decided to add something else to our Christmas Eve, and I loved it so new a tradition is born! Woo hoo! I bought the kids a new Christmas book, which they also opened and then I made hot chocolate and we sat in the living room with all the lights out except for the tree of course and drank hot chocolate while I read the new book to them, it was so sweet and cozy I loved it! It will be fun to snuggle up year after year and read under the tree, maybe one day we'll have a fireplace too, wouldn't that be even cozier . . . ahhh someday!

It was a beautiful night, we had such a a wonderful time being together as a family and when all was said and done it was so nice to have my own little chickadees gathered together. I love the holidays and the meaning behind them! I am so thankful for the Savior and for a time of the year to focus on Him! What a wonderful life I live and I am so thankful for it!

Grandpa and grandma snuggling with Savannah,

This is the story for these two boys! Poor Jonas, Ronan is a little monster man! Look how happy Ronie is and Jonas is screaming for mercy! They are so funny together, Ronie is bigger and stronger, but Jonas is faster so they are pretty evenly matched until something like this happens . . . if Jonas can't run away fast enough he is a sitting duck!

We were all busy finishing up dinner and the kids were down playing in the playroom, when Emily went down to check on them she found them in the middle of a tea party! Cousins are so much fun!

Here is the play! See the exciting Bethlehem Inn in the background, this was quite a production! The kids are singing Away in the Manger and all holding dolls it was really sweet!

The innkeeper and Mary, not sure where Joseph is, he wasn't a particularly doting husband in this reenactment of the famous Bible story. Mary had a heck of a time trying to keep him by her, I am not sure if Jonas is going to be able to reprise his role next year, he had some struggles this year, the director may have to have a serious talk with him if he has any hope of a role next year!

My niece, Kaylee as an angel!

Grace is also and angel, the two of them made up our choir of angels and they were really cute!

There are the angels and Shepard Ronan hearing the "Good tidings of great joy!" Shepard Ronan is having a snack too, it was a central part of his participation, he was coaxed with food!

Tired Joseph sucking his thumb! Hey at least he's sitting still! Way to go Jonas, um I mean Joseph!

The girls opening their Christmas Eve jammies!

Hot chocolate and snuggie jammies on a cold Christmas Eve! What a beautiful end to a beautiful day!
All three of the girls wanted to sleep together so they all crowded into the little girls bedroom and slept on the floor! They didn't even budge when we took the picture, must have been all those "visions of sugarplums!"

Looks like we've had a visitor . . . .

Cookies for Santa

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve this year, Larren took the whole day off which hasn't happened before, sometimes he'll leave early but never the whole day, it was really nice. We got up and had a yummy breakfast I made this pull apart coffee cake type thing, it was really delicious. Then we all got ready and went to the Museum of Idaho to look at the display of nativities, gingerbread houses, and the Santas, Emily and Ronie came with us and it was a really fun way to spend Christmas Eve morning.

When we got home the girls wanted to bake cookies for Santa. It is a known fact I am not a baker, try as I might I fail every single time! But for some unknown reason every once and a while I decide to give it another go and then I quickly remember why I gave it up int he first place and I'll avoid baking for the next several months until my memory lapses again. Actually, this attempt didn't turn out too terrible, but it is still not my cup of tea! We decided to make Christmas trees and then cut circles out of the trees and fill them with red circles so when they baked it would look like Christmas trees with red ornaments, it worked in theory! Actually, they turned out OK not amazing but OK, better than some attempts we have made and I was glad we didn't have to frost them! Despite the lack of talent it was a fun project to do with the kids and really isn't that the whole point anyway!?! So for their sake I'll keep on trying once and awhile - who knows maybe someday I'll be able to bake!

Savannah and Audrey rolling out the dough.

Grace with her Christmas apron standing on a chair all ready to bake!

Audrey cutting out the trees. She did a really great job of cutting out the cookies. She was all business!

Savannah's job was to get out the green circles and replace them with the red ones. It was kind of tricky, but she got them all switched around, we had a good system going with all the girls, and then once we got our cookies baked we just waited for everyone to arrive for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a really really fun day, hopefully Larren will take it off again next year . . . hint hint!!

Winter Dance Recital

The girls participated in their winter recital on December 19th. It was so much fun for them - there are limited pictures and not even all the costumes got photographed between the three girls, they were 7 dances! Yes I said SEVEN! So I had serious costume and hair changing situations going on backstage - it was ca --raaaazy! I had Emily backstage with me frantically trying to help get them all ready in between numbers but it was crazy and we missed getting some of the costumes photographed for lack of time! Several times we were chasing Savannah down the hall trying to finish bobby-pinning hair into place as she is racing for the stage - it was a wild night! Many of their dances I only saw by peeking in from the side of the stage - three girls in dance what am I thinking?!?

Here's the breakdown!

Savannah danced in 4 dances
Christmas in California - hip-hop
Ice Cream Freeze - hip-hop (it is the competition piece)
Where are you Christmas? - ballet
Fame - jazz

Audrey danced in 2 dances
Ice Cream Freeze - hip-hop with Savannah
Where are you Christmas? - ballet also with Savannah

It has been fun this year for them to be taking classes together! They have really enjoyed being together and it is fun watching them practice at home!

Grace made her debut in 1 dance
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - jazz
Here is our new little dancing queen! Oh she looked so cute on stage doing her little dance! It was adorable! She knew the whole dance and in fact also did a little assisting to the little girl next to her - silly girl! It was really really sweet though! She is my kind of shy child when it comes to things like this so I was nervous for her, but she did amazing no stage fright whatsoever! It was so fun to watch her and she was so excited to finally be in a recital like the "big sisters!"

Look at all that amazing hair Grace has! WOW! When her teacher said she wanted their hair in a curly side pony I thought "fake hair here we come!" The poor child has no hair, but for one night she had a long curly pony and she thought she was something else!

Here is sassy Audrey in her Ice Cream Freeze costume. This is her favorite dance. period. She sings this song non-stop at the house and does the little moves! It's a Hannah Montana song of course so who wouldn't just love it?!? Audrey has a talent for putting on a show no doubt, she loves this kind of stuff and playing to an audience is right up her alley, she absolutely loves performing! It is a really cute dance and she did great in the recital, she has such a big personality and it just reads all over her face how much fun she is having! She never needs to be reminded to smile or look excited she just is and so she always looks it!!

Here is Savannah in her Ice Cream Freeze costume. This has been a little bit of a tough year for her with dance, she was not naturally blessed with amazing dance talent, so it has been frustrating for her at times, because she knows what she wants to dance like and where she wants to be and it just doesn't come easily to her. Despite the frustrations and disappointments she has worked so hard, and strives to be better. She never complains about going to dance, she always runs into class with such exuberance and is so eager to learn, her persistence and dedication has been really inspiring! She has taught me that just because you may not be blessed with a particular talent does not mean you can't develop a love for it and she does LOVE dance and she works so hard despite the disappointments and I am so proud of her for that! And in my eyes she is the most beautiful dancer because I know her heart and the love and hard work that she puts in and that is truly beautiful and reflects outwardly!

This is Savannah's hip hop costume for Christmas in California - it was a really cute dance too! I feel really bad I missed getting her other two costumes and Audrey's ballet costume documented, but trust me they were cute and it was a fun night for all the girls. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Emily, Aunt Lisa, Kaylee and Lydia all showed up to watch the girls and that was really great! I love living close to family so we can love and support each other, it makes it fun! Grandma and Grandpa came through with roses for all the girls! Thank heavens for grandparents, because I often forget that part as recital days are crazy hectic! The girls were thrilled and exhausted - it was a really really good night!

Candy Cane Lane

We have the neatest thing in Idaho Falls and we love to take the kids to every year at Christmastime. We have a really neat street that transforms into "Candy Cane Lane" and the grand finale at the end of Candy Cane Lane is an amazing house completely decked out and on the weekends Santa, Mrs. Claus and a couple of elves stop by and visit with children and pass out candy canes. They sit outside for hours in the freezing cold and provide this service! It is such a fun tradition and so neat to live in a community where there are great people, who provide wonder and magic for little ones and not so little ones! Larren and I love it too!

Jonas had no fear whatsoever, just went right to Santa and sat on his lap happily! It was so cute, Jonas was fascinated with the whole experience and was disappointed when I took him back! Yet Jonas will not go to nursery! Baffling! He cries and cries - like hysterically and both weeks we have tried it, he has been brought to us 20-30 minutes later just screaming - but a huge man with long hair and a beard in pitch black night doesn't bother him at all?!? Hmmm . . . kids are odd ducks that's for sure!

Grace on the other hand - was not so sure! Santa came right over to her and crouched down and while still clinging to my leg she eventually told him what she wanted! So funny the difference in kids, Grace was completely excited until we got up to him and then she just froze!

Then Santa talked to the older girls and Grace really began to relax and warm up as she watched him talk to Savannah and Audrey. We were lucky to catch Santa this year, this was the last night we could so after recital dress rehearsal we stopped by and caught him just before he turned in for the night! It'll be fun to see how Grace and Jonas do next year, it's so neat to see how they change and grow. Savannah and Audrey though by this point absolutely love Santa, they know how fantastic he is!