Bad mom

So, I totally was a bad mom today. I didn't see myself ever saying anything like this, but I did. We had a ton of errands to run, Christmas cards and packages to mail and plus, it was raining outside. The boys were being pretty good, except for Michael crying for candy at the store. But, the post office is always where I loose control. For some reason it is so hard to take kids to the post office. I had to mail a package to Brazil and that takes like twice as long as anything else. Anyway, the kids were not at their best and all of the sudden I heard myself saying, "Christopher and Michael, if you aren't good Santa isn't going to bring you any Christmas presents." What??? Did I really say that??I kind of laughed after I said it. We don't really push the whole Santa thing in our house because we want to emphasize celebrating the life of Jesus Christ and we know that even if we don't talk about it a lot they are going to pick up the idea of Santa Claus anyway, which they have. Not that I"m against Santa or anything...I think it's a really fun part of Christmas. Anyway, I just felt a little bad that I made them feel like Santa wouldn't like them if they weren't perfect all the time. Looking back on it now, it probably wasn't a big deal...but it totally felt like a silly, trite thing to say when I said it. Hahaha. And by the way, I don't think they believed me anyway, since there are a bunch of wrapped presents in the closet that they have seen...another hard part of living in such a small apartment. :)

So cute!

I don't usually let the boys nap in the same room because....well, they won't nap. But I usually let them play for a little while and then have them go in seperate rooms to sleep. The other day is got quiet rather quick so I went in to check and found them asleep like this. It was so cute. They looked like they had just been hanging out talking and fell asleep. :)

I hadn't taken any 3 year old pictures of Michael yet so I wanted to take him in the backyard and snap a few shots. He wasn't too excited and didn't want me to comb his hair (which you can tell from this picture needed to be cut). But he was a trooper even though it was pretty cold outside. I asked him to smile and he gave me this cute, cheesy, "hurry and take the picture mom" smile. ;)

One of the boys

Baby Anne is one of the boys. She loves to do whatever her brothers are doing and she can growl and climb around on the furniture just like they do. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to get my "girly girl". She is so cute though and she cracks me up at the thing she will do. Her favorite words are "da" (dad), "baby", "no" and "uh oh". Her brothers love to hold her hands and walk around the house with her. For a little while, Michael was having a hard time and he would get in the occasional push or pinch. But lately, he has been much nicer and likes to play with her and help her with things. I can see them becoming buddies. We just love little Baby Anne and all her personality.

Christmas is coming!

7 pairs of slippers - supplies $12

1 quilt for Grandma - supplies $15

1 children's fort - supplies $20

Having all my homemade Christmas gifts done - Priceless!

I had such a fun time making all these presents. The fort was really fun. I put a little mail box on the front (the black square opens up) and on the other side (not pictured) I put a dog house with a doggy inside, for Michael. He loves dogs. I hope they have lots of fun with it.

A fun Thanksgiving

I'm really late posting this, but our computer is on the fritz which is a real pain. We had a really nice Thanksgiving with our friends the Manwarings, in New Hampshire. Jeff and Preston were friends at BYU before either of them got married and ironically, they both married girls named Emily. They live in New Hampshire now because Preston is going to Dartmouth and they have two little boys the same ages as our boys named Andrew and William. The kids had a great time playing together and Baby Anne just did everything they did including climbing in and out of the homemade box fort. Thanksgiving dinner was so yummy. It was so fun for Emily and I to cook together because it's nicer to have someone to talk to and not have to do it all yourself. It was so fun to talk and catch up with them and Emily and I even braved the "Black Friday" shopping, which was just as crazy as I've always heard it was. :) We even stopped and saw the Christmas lights at the Joseph Smith Memorial Birthplace in Vermont on our way back home. The kids slept the entire 4 1/2 hour drive home, which was so nice!

The kiddie table

Jeff and Preston took the boys to a children's museum and they had a blast. It was also nice for Emily and I to have some quiet time. :)