Christmas Sunday Attire

The kids wore their Christmas Sunday outfits this Sunday. Growing up, I was always all about "saving" my Christmas dress for the actual Christmas Sunday. I don't remember if it was because we didn't actually buy it until close to that day, or if it really was all about "saving" it for that day. But the last couple of years I decided to get our money's worth and wear it starting the first week in December. I decided to use the same skirts from last year for the girls, and just change the sweater. I'm happy with my decision!

These pictures turned out pretty great considering it only took us about 3 minutes to take them - honestly. I think Trever was thrilled with only 3 minutes of me stressing to get the kids to look at the camera and me telling Trever to get them to look at the camera. Bowen kind of had a mind of his own and wanted different poses than I had in mind. But, for a 5-, 3-, and 1-year-old I think they turned out pretty darn good! I made Bowen's bowtie the night before. I won't reveal how long it took me, and how late I stayed up, but it turned out super cute! Trever knew I was making a bowtie, but wasn't prepared for it to be pink! But he is reassured at the fact that Bowen's favorite word right now is "football!!!" so he let him wear it. Trever's friends at church teased Trever about letting Bowen wear a pink bowtie.

Bowen is such a cheeser right now - he often likes to stand up against something - the tree,wall, fireplace, etc. and say, "cheese!" I don't even have to have a camera, I can just pretend I'm taking a picture with my hands and make a clicking sound, and he really gets a kick out of it. Another sidenote for Bowen - I have had the hardest time finding shoes that fit his fat feet! I have had my sights set on some shoes for awhile and was waiting until he was more of a walker so I could make the splurge. Well, we went to try them on to match his Christmas outfit, and I couldn't even get them on his feet! Not even close! His tennis shoes that he wears daily from Walmart are the only shoes I have found that fit him. He is on his 3rd pair - he has gone through sizes 3, 4, and now is wearing a 5. I was stressing about finding a pair of shoes nice enough for church to match his Christmas outfit, and decided to check Payless. I haven't had luck in the past there. We got lucky and found a pair that fit! They aren't my favorite, but they are black and they fit! I only had to get a size-and-a-half bigger than he should wear, but at least they go on his feet!

I do have to say, the worst part about these pictures is that looking at them it confirms to me that my kids are growing up way too fast!

It is officially winter here now, which means it is super cold for desert rats like us. The nice thing is that it's usually sunny, so at least it's not cold and dreary. We were freezing after church, so we got the fire going, and snuggled on the couch.

Bowen wanted his picture taken, too.

One of the Christmas traditions I have done is each day we try to do something Christmas or holiday related with the kids. I have little Christmas socks strung and write a little note to tell the kids what we will do that day. This day was that we would make a Christmas treat. I found some yummy-looking mint and chocolate chips, so we mixed them in with a brownie mix. It was fun for the girls to help and not be in a hurry. It seems like anytime I'm making a dessert, I'm working with a deadline and it's hard to let them help.

Bowen was trying to get in on the action. He is a climber now - he climbs on anything and everything, and thinks he is the coolest. It's so fun when he gets food and drinks and spills them all over the place! He also likes to move the little stepstool everywhere I go and try to get in the middle of whatever I'm working on, especially when I'm making dinner. He's such a good helper!

Halloween (Part 1)

For Grandma Helen:

We have lots more Halloween pictures, but here is a peek.

SNOW much fun!

(I'm sure I've used that "catchy" title several times already on this blog - I'm so creative!)

We had our first snow of the season that actually stuck for longer than an hour and covered the ground. The kids were super excited! It sure is pretty to look at, but I just don't like the cold! We have definitely taken advantage of our gas fireplace a lot already. I love the flip of the switch!

The annual "Winter Wonderland" event happened to be going on up at the Hualapai's, so we decided to brave the cold and snow and check it out. We got there before the event actually started, which was fine, because we were really just going for the snow experience - which I knew wouldn't last too long before we froze. The worst part of it was that the small road throughout the park was icy and everyone was sliding all over the place. I thought we were going to have to get pushed out a couple of times. When we got there we found a "great" parking spot and were about ready to put our snow gear on and get into the snow. Then, one right after another, 3 different vehicles heading down the small road started sliding right towards our parked car. We decided we probably picked the worst place to park, and found a better spot out of the way of sliding vehicles! The best part was that we parked right next to a fresh area of snow to play in and we only had to take a few steps away from the car to enjoy it.

The kids loved playing in the snow, but were definitely freezing. There was probably a foot or so of fresh snow. Bowen wasn't too sure about it, but I think he enjoyed it somewhat until he was too cold. I got actually snow mittens for the girls this year, which I'm sure made a huge difference. Those fleece/knit mittens just don't cut it for longer than five minutes! We all know I hate being cold, and I get cold very quickly, so I enjoyed watching the kids play, took some photos, and I was done. The girls had been dying to make snow angels, so we let them do that last so they didn't get too wet and cold. They kept asking Trever if he was going to make a snow angel too! They were a little disappointed that the snow was too powdery to make a snowman.

After everyone got their snow fix, Bowen and I got in the car while Trever, Liberty, and Hadley walked around for a bit and checked out the festivities. It is kind of fun to be so close to a good snow area that we can take a couple of hours to play, and then be home again. We enjoyed some hot chocolate and sat by the fire when we got home. I think it took a couple of hours for the numbness in my toes to go away. Rainboots and wool socks don't quite do the trick!

Liberty is a pro!

This morning Liberty was riding her bike (with training wheels) and I realized she was getting too big for the bike. So I told her if she learned to ride her bike without training wheels she could get a new bike for her birthday. I didn't think she would go for it, because she tends to get a little nervous about trying new things. I told her when Dad got home he could help her.

Later, when Trever was home, I asked her if she wanted to learn to ride her bike without the training wheels. Surprisingly, she jumped on it.

Trever and I both anticipated it being day 1 of at least a few of the learning. Well, to our surprise, it took her about 2 minutes to learn to ride, and another 3 to learn to start and stop the bike. She was amazing! She was surprisingly brave the entire time, and had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Liberty is super excited about it, and keeps talking about how she wants to keep practicing. She is also looking forward to getting a new bike for her birthday!

Dance Class

Liberty started her 2nd year of dance lessons and Hadley her first today. Hadley has been waiting for this day for a long time! I think she was surprised that she actually got to go to her own dance class! I didn't plan ahead and buy new ballet shoes, so I had Liberty and Hadley share Liberty's from last year. They are borderline too small for Liberty, and probably 1/2 a size to big for Hadley, but they work for now until they go on sale.

When I told Hadley it was time to get dressed for dance, she started heading towards her dress-ups in the playroom. She thought she would be wearing one of her ballerina dress-up outfits. I explained to her that she would be wearing her leotard and leggings. Luckily, she was okay with that. I told her she would be wearing Liberty's old ballet shoes. She got dressed, and I put the ballet shoes on her. She wasn't happy that they had a little room in the toes and kept saying, "They're crunchy!" I tried to convince her that they were fine, and she didn't want them to be too tight, but she kept saying, "But they're crunchy!" I love that her explanation for having a little extra toe room was that they were "crunchy." After worrying a little bit about them, she eventually got over it, and went to dance class.

Hadley and Liberty both enjoyed their dance lessons and are excited for more classes!

Liberty was excited to try this new hair-do for dance. Doing hair is not my forte! But, this side bun/loop (or ponybun as we call it) turned out cute!

Bowen wanted in on the photography action. He will usually pose and say, "Cheese" when I get the camera out. This time he insisted on posing sitting down. Liberty and I tried everything to get him to stand up, but he just wanted to sit for some reason. Oh, and he always begs to see the picture on the camera screen after I take a picture of him.

Liberty took this picture. Lately, Liberty and Hadley like to take pictures themselves anytime I have the camera out.

Hospitals

Another cute Liberty tidbit:

There are two hospitals here in town. Kingman Regional Medical Center where Trever works, and a new hospital called Hualapai Mountain Medical Center. We see the Hualapai one often (we used to see it daily before we moved a few months ago), and naturally the girls would ask what it was. We jokingly would talk about it as the hospital that wasn't good because it isn't the hospital that Trever works at. After awhile, it somehow evolved into "the hospital that drools." Even Hadley refers to it as that. They both quickly and loudly announce, "There's the hospital that drools!" everytime we drive by.

A few days ago a big move was made, and KRMC purchased HMMC. The day Trever found out he told Liberty the big news, and told her he might end up working there too, now. Liberty happily announced, "Dad told me that "the hospital that drools" doesn't drool anymore!"

Today we were headed to Bullhead City, and we had to stop by the hospital on the way out. We told Liberty we were going to the hospital, then going to Bullhead City. She asked, "Are we going to the hospital that used to drool, or the old hospital?"

Now we are going to have to teach Hadley that the "other" hospital doesn't drool anymore.

Bowen

Liberty has lovingly named Bowen, "The Walking Disaster." I'd have to agree with her! He has been talking several steps for a month or two now, but about a week or so ago he stepped it up a notch and is officially walking. He loves it! I finally bought him some shoes that stay on and that he will actually walk in. He loves them, and doesn't like it when I take them off him. He will hand them to me and stick his foot up in the air until I put them on. Then he has this satisfied laugh/sigh that he makes, and then proudly walks away.

Hadley

Hadley has been very observant lately. Sometimes it is funny, other times embarrassing. She often makes comments about other people in the store while we are shopping, and she always says it loud enough for the person to hear. I always hope they don't understand what she is saying!

Her most common thing to point out at the store are grandmas. Anytime she sees an older lady she says, "Grandma, Grandma!" and usually points to the lady. Today was the first time that the lady she was referring to as "Grandma" may or may not have actually been old enough to be a grandma. Usually the ladies are obviously old.

I wish I would remember all the of things she points out. On several occasions she will laugh and say, "Look, that guy has long hair!" or "Look, that guy has hair on his neck!"

Today I laughed out loud at one of her observations. Luckily though, she said this quiet enough that the person didn't hear. There was a lady wearing a tube top at the store. Hadley pointed to her an said, "That girl doesn't have any of 'these' (pointing to her own sleeves & shoudlers)!" Then she said, "Her shirt is going to fall off!"

The Saga of the Chickens

Remember how I/we thought it would be a great idea to get chickens for Easter? They have been a source of craziness for us around here. It's a good thing the girls love them, otherwise I would probably get rid of them. It's also a good thing that Trever takes care of them 99% of the time. They are stinky and dirty. I have (sometimes) stinky and dirty kids to take care of, do I really need chickens to take care of? They have also been a pain to find someone to feed and water them while we have gone out of town. Luckily Trever has made most of the arrangements, but it has been a pain.

So to start from the beginning, we bought 3 chickens for Easter - Rainbow, Dee-dee (Hadley's way of saying Liberty at the time), and Watten-totten. Sadly, Watten-totten didn't make it past day one or two. We are pretty sure it was handled a little too roughly by Hadley, and the feeder could have been Hadley's weapon of choice. It was actually a very sad day. Liberty discovered it lifeless and took it very hard. I also had a hard time with it, because of the way Liberty first reacted to it. We had to talk to Liberty a little bit about bodies and spirits and living with Heavenly Father. We also said a prayer for it and for Liberty to feel better. That helped calm her, but she was still pretty upset. She wanted to bury it, so Trever dug a hole for it and burried it. That helped give Liberty some closure. Liberty still talks about it on a regular basis and looks forward to see it again someday. After we moved houses, she was pretty upset because she was worried that since we burried it at our old house, we wouldn't ever see it again. I explained to her that we didn't need to still live in that house to see it again.

Since we lost Watten-totten, we told Liberty would could replace it with a new chick. For some reason, Trever got ambitious and replaced it with two chicks. So then we had Rainbow, Dee-dee, Heart, and Celina. They lived in our garage for awhile until they got too stinky and started jumping out of there makeshift house. Trever designed and constructed a chicken coop, spending a good portion of a day working on it until about 2:00am one night before we left town. I'm pretty sure he took 2 or 3 trips to Home Depot that day for supplies. And I'm pretty sure he spent way too much money on that thing! But, it turned out pretty neat with lots of doors and openings for retrieving eggs, feeding the chickens, giving them circulation when the weather was warm, and ways to keep them warm during the cold months.

Fast forward several months to a few weeks ago. We went out of town for a week to California. The first morning we were home I was awaken at 5:15 AM by a crowing rooster! It wasn't loud enough for the neighbors to hear - yet - but loud enough to wake me up since the coop was outside our bedroom door. For several days we tried to figure out what to do with our rooster! We were suspicious that Heart had been a rooster for awhile because of the characteristics it had been developing, and the crowing just confirmed it! So for several days I was woken up from anywhere between 4:30 AM to 5:30 AM by that dang rooster! I was not happy and very worried that the "authorities" were going to come take our chickens away. That would obviously be devasting for Liberty. I even had a dream one of those nights that our neighbors and "the authorities" came in the middle of the night and confiscated the chickens! I think I was going to go crazy if we didn't get rid of the rooster soon!

Our friend Abby finally gave us the information for her friend Trinity who had a lot of chickens and might take our rooster. Trever called her and she said she would take our chicken. Luckily, Liberty was very understanding and supportive of the idea of taking Heart to live on the farm so she didn't wake up our neighbors. The kids said their goodbyes to Heart, and Trever took her to Trinity's farm. Hadley was surprisingly reluctant to let Heart go, but she got over it. Liberty handled it very well - especially since we told her we could probably go visit it sometime. I was so relieved and was just sure I'd get a great night's rest that night!

Saying good-bye to Heart:

Lo and behold at 4:45 AM the next morning I was once again woken by a rooster crowing! I couldn't believe it! I woke Trever up and told him, because I was so upset! I told him to go see if he could tell which one was crowing. We eventually figured out it was "Dee-dee" who was the rooster. Trever called Trinity and told her that we gave her the wrong chicken and needed to trade it for the actual Rooster. She responded with, "You definitely don't want to trade Heart! It woke me up early this morning crowing!" To our suprise we had TWO roosters! Luckily, Trinity's neighbor was happy to take our rooster, so the next day Trever and the kids went and took Dee-Dee to the other farm and they were able to see Hart (a little more masculine than "Heart") and Dee-Dee at their new homes.

Dropping off Dee-Dee to his new home:

So, now we are down to Rainbow and Celina. Oh, and Trinity told us that we could have one of their baby chicks from Hart. Liberty thinks we will get two now since we gave them Dee-Dee too. We will see about that!

Life is now filled with one less stressful thing for me, and I don't have to be woken up by roosters - just children now!

The good news is, we discovered a freshly laid egg in the coop today! Liberty and Hadley were pretty darn excited! Liberty is looking forward to eggs for breakfast.