Happy Thanksgiving!

Brandon thought he could fly like Batman if he wore the cape. We had a family camp-out in the family room last weekend. The kids loved it.
It is interesting how fast kids learn to put olives on their fingers. I guess it is just one of those things like putting fingers up your nose.
Grandma and Grandpa (and Kaylee) came to town just in time for Grandparents day at Kathleen's school.
They sang the cutest song for their grandparents.

Grandma won the youngest grandparent award.
When we came home from Kathleen's class, Alyssa was holding the boys and Cody was asleep.
We went to Utah to Jared and Heidi's house. Here the kids are making Indian headbands with what they are thankful for on the feathers.

Hanging at the Plumb's.

Turkey Bowl.

Peanut butter play dough. Heidi is so cute with the kids.



The Thanksgiving feast!

Kathleen is stuffing her face as fast as she can.






We went to visit Marc, Suzy, Emily, and Carter while we were there. Carter was so cute. And it was very fun to watch Kathleen and Emily (the only girl in the world taller than Kathleen) play without Kathleen picking on Emily (she used to bully her a lot when they were little).

Putting up the Christmas tree!

Making snowmen out of paper plates, cotton balls, felt and buttons.

Decorating sugar cookies.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grand kids.







The candy game has been a family tradition since we were small kids. Now grandpa carries on this tradition every chance he gets with his grand kids.

Brandon took this picture for fun during the candy game.
Grandpa reading the story of Christ in the bible.
We went to tuck in the kids and couldn't find Brandon. Finally, Ryan pointed out that there were two heads in Cody's crib. I guess they needed to snuggle.








Cody got a lot of snuggle time with Grandma this week and loved every minute of it.

Presents under the tree, all ready for the Plumb gift exchange.

And just when you thought we did everything we possibly could in three day, think again. Now we are making gingerbread houses.
When we got home, Kathleen wrapped up her bear in the blanket from Grandma and Grandpa and pretended it was a baby.
Kaylee got us this super fun game that we played all night last night. It's called Don't Break the Ice. I remember playing it when I was a kid.


Thanks to all the Plumb's for making this a memorable Thanksgiving weekend. Especially to Jared, Heidi, and Xander for putting up with all of us. And double especially to Heidi for all her hard work. THANKS!!

It's a Hard-Knock Life!

I have had quite a few requests to see Kathleen's talent show dance. Although I don't have a video of it, I did video tape their rehersal. However, you can't hear the music as well as I would like. But it is cute none the less. Here it is.

Orphans

You are probably wondering why I gave this blog entry the title of "Orphans." It is not on account of this picture, although it is one of the rare times you may see one of my children without pants on. It does, in fact, happen on occasion. However, if you continue through this blog, you will soon see why. This picture of Cody is especially cute if you know that the entire time he walked around with these two balloons (which was a long time) he yelled, "yah! He-yah!" It was so cute. Last Sunday morning, Ryan built a fort with the kids first thing. Here they are on top of it (the kitchen table is underneath them).
Here they are in it. Yes, he moved around furniture for this AWESOME fort.
Kathleen studied color and shapes last month. Here is her beautiful artwork.
Cody still takes two naps a day. Sometimes when I want to run errands, I force him to skip his first nap. I guess this day in particular, he couldn't take it. He fell asleep in his high chair while eating lunch.

Still wondering about orphans?
Here they are. Kathleen and her friend Selyn decided to dance for a talent show to "It's a Hard-knock Life," from Annie. Selyn's mom and I put the entire thing together and I made these costumes for them. That's right, I said it. But I will say it again. I MADE these costumes. No pattern, just me getting crazy lucky. Aren't they cute?
While we practiced the "orphan" dance, Brandon worked hard with a fake camera to be our little photographer.
But when that got boring, I found him upstairs playing on a set of drums that were just his size. He LOVED it.

Here are Kathleen and Selyn on performance night. Super cute.
I was told by many people that they stole the show. They were adorable and performed nearly flawlessly. Super cute.
Ryan got a hold of the camera the other day and took some interesting pictures, including this one of himself.

And this one of me talking to my mom on the phone.

And yes, this one of his eyeball. I guess I did fall in love with his eyes first.
We have had a lot of rain the last few days. The kids love to play in it. Cody couldn't stand being left out, so yesterday Ryan took him out in it as well.
Cody is dressed in an outfit that used to be Brandon's. He is all cute and ready for church.
Kathleen was playing on the computer today. When I went to investigate, she had made this AMAZING artwork. She is so gifted artistically.