BEANS!

My kids love to dig, scoop and dump. The sandbox is one of our favorite places...when it's not covered in snow. When Dylan was in nursery they used to rotate playing with playdough and beans. So I stole the idea and adapted it to work for me. I keep some sort of a pan with beans and a bunch of little cars and trucks in it on top of my fridge and once in awhile we get it down and play with them. Because I had three kids around today, I split the beans so that each kid had a different pan to play with. BRILLIANT! They played forever. They know to be careful not to dump them all over, but if they spill, they clean up easily. It's a perfect indoor "sandbox."

Layton Lights

Last week we decided to go over to the lights at Layton Park for FHE. As we were walking in, we saw Amy, Esteban and their kids. So weird! I guess they had called to see if we wanted to meet them, but we weren't around and didn't get the message. Such a weird coincidence. We must've been in sync. ;) They walked around again so we could see the lights and the kids had lots of fun being together. We were all pretty cold after so we went back to our house for some hot chocolate and to let the kids play for a few minutes. What a fun Family Night!

A blurry picture of Esteban wearing Amy's hat

Me and my boys

Diego and Dylan and their cheesy smiles

The gang minus Marcos

(Esteban, Kylie, Amy, Preston, Maria, Gabi, Mason, Diego, Dylan)

Polar Express

Last night we went on the Polar Express. Anthony's dad got a group together to go on the train. Unfortunately, he ended up with a conflict and couldn't make it after all. Also, the Polar Express people mixed up the date from all the people registered through HAFB and we barely got on the train. Some people had to come back another day. It was really weird. So we had four people on one little bench, but it was still so much fun. The elves, "Jingle" and "Jangle" and our chef "Cinnamon" brought around cookies and hot chocolate and we were on our way to the north pole. Preston was so excited that he was on a train and looked out the window and watched as we chugged along. He didn't really know that we were going to the north pole, but he kept shouting "Time Tunnel" and singing "Dinosaur Train." For those who don't know, Dinosaur Train is a cute new show on PBS that my kids adore. They BOTH love it so it has quickly become one of our favorites. I mean, dinosaurs and trains - how much better can it get for a little boy. :) Preston made it through 1/3 of the adventure and then was out cold. There was no waking that poor child. I guess that's what happens when you go on a train ride at 8:00p.m. When we arrived at the north pole, Santa was waving at us and we could see his village up on the hill. He came through and talked to all the kids and gave each of them a jingle bell from one of his reindeer. Dylan decided his jingle sounded like Prancer's jingle and Anthony told me he ended up with Rudolph's. Funny kids! Dylan was more concerned with sitting next to Anthony, who was sitting with the other family in the group since he dad couldn't make it. Half way through the other dad, Jeff, decided to come back by us and stand and let Dylan and Anthony sit together. Marcos and I both ended up standing too since Preston was sound asleep and all my body parts were falling asleep from holding a sleeping "baby" so long. Yeah, I know he's a pretty big baby these days. :) The elves told us jokes and lead us in Christmas songs. It was really fun, even if we were crammed in there pretty tight. It was definitely a memorable experience!

After boarding the train

The whole fam on our little bench

The kids and I with Mrs. Claus - if Preston looks sad it's because he was two seconds from falling asleep

We read the Polar Express book with the elves and that was it - Preston was completely out

Dylan and Anthony finally sitting together

We were a few rows back from them so this is what we saw most of the time

Dylan and Anthony with Jingle and Jangle

The conductor punching Dylan's ticket (we didn't end up with tickets because of the confusion on the dates so some older lady let Dylan use her to get punched. He was SO excited!)

Dylan and Anthony with Santa

Santa posing with my sound asleep little Preston

Next to the train after the ride to the North Pole (Dylan is sad because he wants to ride home with Anthony and Preston is sad because he has been rudely awakened from his cozy night's sleep by being dragged out to the freezing cold air - you never know what things are going to look like with kids! So much for the happy memory smiling by the train!)

Igloo

When it started snowing enough to need to bust out the snow shovels, Dylan decided he wanted to make a big pile so we could make an igloo. Dylan has been super excited about shoveling snow so I bundle him up and let him go for it and then I go help afterwards. But, as helpful as he is, he still has a mind of his own. I tell him to stay in the yard, but if anyone in the neighborhood wanders outside, he goes over to help them. I guess I should feel grateful that he wants to help other people. The other day he actually went over to recruit a bunch of neighbors to help build the igloo and that they did. I usually have to be the head engineer of such projects, but I didn't even have to stay outside. Dylan knows how to choose older kids who are super capable. That kid runs a tight ship for a 5-year-old and the older kids are tolerant of his desire to be in charge. I went outside and they were finishing it up. We were hoping to build it bigger, but for now, it fits two little kids comfortably. Preston prefers running through the snow chanting "I pway da snow mommy" and licking the snow off the ground. I choose not to think about it and pray there is no yellow snow in my yard. :) Here are a few pictures of the snow and igloo.

Anthony's giant snowball

Dylan and Anthony in the igloo

Preston eating snow

Chasing me with snowballs

Thanksgiving - Part 3

We had a Thanksgiving celebration the Monday after Thanksgiving with Marcos' family at Amy & Esteban's house. Marcos' aunt, uncle and two of his cousins were there also, which was really fun. I ended up having to go late because the YW presidency was taking dinner into the YW counselor who just had a baby. It was a busy week to say the least! So I didn't get to take the pictures I would have liked to take, but I did manage to take a couple of the kids as they opened a gift from abuela. Now, I have to say that we are big on our kids appreciating things and showing they are grateful, but this is too funny not to talk about. Abuela gave the girls all matching dresses and the boys all matching sweaters so we can get their pictures taken together. But to a 5-year-old, a sweater is a sweater and not exactly what you were hoping to received from the "surprise present" that emerged from Abuela's secret stash. You can see the difference in a 5-year-old's reaction and a 2-year-old's reaction to a sweater as a present in the pictures of my two boys. CLASSIC!

Thanksgiving - Part 2

We had Thanksgiving at my dad and Suzanne's house the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was chilly, but after we ate, we took the kids outside to play for a bit. The kids LOVE the doggy door and go up and down the ramp and in and out of the door over and over again. Crazy kids! Preston would walk up and then "slide" down the ramp, although he didn't really slide he just scooted and said "whee whee whee" as he went down. We ate great food, visited with family, played in the yard and even made a gingerbread house while the guys watched the BYU/Utah game. What a fun day! For those who want to see the pictures up close click here.

Thanksgiving - Part 1

We spent Thanksgiving at my mom and Barney's house. Three of my four step siblings were there also so it was a big crowd, but we had a really good time. Dylan put on his Indian attire from school and transformed into White Thunder (the Indian name he was given that week at school). He tried to give us all Indian names so we could be like him. I was Red Fox, Marcos was Swift Wolf and Preston was Big Buffalo. But to me, Preston will always be my "little turkey". He loved his turkey hat they made in nursery and wore it all week long! We pretty much spent the whole day at my mom's house hanging out and visiting with family. Preston LOVES Uncle Justin because he teases him and will play with him forever. I captured a couple cute moments of the two of them in the middle of their game. Pretty cute! For those who want to see more pictures up close, click here.

White Thunder trying to cheer up Big Buffalo by letting him play his drum

White Thunder playing his drum and cheesing it for the camera

Candid family photos

More pictures of the fun ... Preston playing with Justin, Dylan washing dishes and proof that Marcos ALWAYS falls asleep during parties! :)

Zoo Day!

We got a call from Marcos' sister, Laura, reminding us that the last Wednesday of every month is free at the zoo during the winter months so we headed to the zoo the day before Thanksgiving. We thought it was going to be freezing, but it was actually pretty decent weather. We bundled the kids up just in case. Dylan LOVES his cousins and had a great time with Leah and Mylo. Leah had a friend there so it ended up perfect with Dylan and Mylo following each other around. Preston is right at the age where he's hard to watch, but is really done having fun in the stroller so I compromised and let him walk half of the time. It turned out to be a really fun couple of hours at the zoo with cousins. Then we headed over to my grandma's (GG's house) to visit and go to lunch with her. What a great day!