Day after Christmas 12-26-06

Shane's last day off of work. :( We decided that we would go into town and take the girls to a movie. Both of them wanted to see Charlotte's Web and Shane wanted to see Erragon. After seeing the trailers for both of them it was decided that Charlotte's Web was the best bet. Both of the girls did great. Paige's attention span is getting better. Once we got out of the movie we asked Paige what her favorite part was she said the spider including the baby ones. (Wee- part of the movie.) Brianna wouldn't answer she just wanted to know why we couldn't go to another movie. After hitting a few stores we went home. The girls almost make it through the drive home but fell fast asleep once on the freeway. Brianna woke up shortly after arriving home. Paige on the other hand could have slept the night away if we would have let her.

Christmas Day 12-25-06

For some reason we didn't get a pictures taken. We did however use one whole 8mm tape. Brianna said that she heard Santa walking around. Santa brought sleds and a bunch of other presents. The kids were amazed at how many presents we had under our tree. Thanks for all of the wonderful things that were given to us!! We enjoyed them all. Brianna especially loved the craft set horses and Polly pocket car and Paige loved her new light up shoes, baby doll stuff and airplane. The whole family got light sabers the girls and I like them but Shane LOVES them. He has gotten it out every night and then asks who wants to fight. Paige has a hard time holding hers up and gets upset if anyone hits me. Brianna loves it and is ready when ever daddy asks.

In the girls stockings they got these packets that fizz and have toys in them. They both thought it was magic. Shane had fun doing this with the girls!!

Christmas Eve 12-24-06

While Paige and I took a nap Brianna wanted to make us Christmas cards. Shane helped her and when I woke up there was a card slipped under my bedroom door. It was so cute. Then I found out that Paige had one slipped under her door too.
After eating dinner we got some plates of goodies together and took them to our neighbors. The girls thought it was fun and they both loved going on a walk.




Once we got home we read stories and then Shane surprised us all and brought up his clarinet and played Christmas songs for us. It was the first time any of us had seen him play. Shane hasn't played in about 10 years so it was a tad bit funny. The girls thought daddy was the neatest guy on the planet. We all gave it a try and then really thought daddy was good! After daddy was done we opened one present. Shane got a fiction book and the girls and I got PJ's!!! This was a family tradition that I'll always remember. I had the girls pick out the material they wanted in October so neither on of them even remembered that I was making something for them. They both had great reactions and wanted them on right away. Brianna's was a little big for her so I had to fix them shortly after. My mom sent me pj's. Thanks mom!
My mom used to make my pj's when I was little and they were always red night gowns. As we got older she started purchasing them. After we got our pj's on we would gather around the tree and sing Christmas carols. It was fun.

Snow time 12-23-06

We did get snow before Christmas which we were all thankful for. Brianna, Paige and Shane went out to play and shovel off the driveway and sidewalks. Brianna and Paige had fun running around and falling. Once they got board of that they asked for shovels. I went and got them each one. Brianna felt like a BIG helper. Paige had a hard time figuring out how to hold it with mittens on. Paige didn't last very long outside. She was ready to come in and have hot chocolate.
Unfortunately the snow didn't last. It melted before Christmas. The family got sleds for Christmas and we haven't been able to use them yet. We are still hopeful that snow will come before Spring.

German tradition

On Shane's mission he said that they would leave out their shoes by the door and if they were good then St. Nickolas would leave them some candy. The girls thought that this would be fun so we did it. Their little faces lit up the next morning when they realized that they had gotten candy in their shoes. Brianna ran into our room yelling we got candy in our shoes and you did too! That day they seemed really happy and full of joy.

Brianna's Schools Christmas Party 12-15-06

Brianna had a Christmas party at school. She was so excited that we were able to go and show us all the new art work. When we first got there they started with singing time. All the kids got a instrument and sang Christmas songs. Paige was excited but a little distracted. Then Santa came and only one kid wanted to sit on his lap. Once he did Paige was fine with doing it. Brianna on the other had took some convincing. One of her teachers went up with her and then she just stood by him. Santa gave them all a book which the girls love. After Santa left they had craft centers and lunch. It was fun! Brianna was mad because she didn't want school to be over. After she was on school break for a few days she told me that she was having fun and that she could have fun at school and home. That made me feel good. Once Christmas was over she asked when school started. She is counting down days. It's to bad that she won't always be that excited for school.

tackle time 12-10-06

Shane got into Paige's bed and pretended to fall asleep. After we got done with scriptures, books and prayer the girls tackled him and didn't want to stop. They both love getting their daddy. Brianna is excited that were having another girl to help tackle dad.

Peanut cluster time 12-07-06

The girls and I had a lot of fun in the kitchen this year. We cracked nuts and now we are melting chocolate for the nuts. They both thought it was neat and fun to stir the chocolate and put the nuts in. However the best part was licking the spoons when we got done. They gave me a thumbs up.

Hard to say Sorry 12-06-06

Paige hurt Brianna and when this happens they need to say sorry to each other. On this day daddy was there and thought that it would make for a good picture. Unfortunately it only made Brianna more upset. She didn't want her picture taken while she was crying. Paige was finally able to say sorry once daddy put away the camera. They are very cute when they say sorry to each other. They say sorry to each other and then they hug. Those hugs can melt my heart. They love each other so much. It so nice to have a sister by your side. DON"T look at me in the pictures looks like it was a cleaning day. :)

cracking peanuts 12-01-06

Growing up my family always made lots of candy and gave out 90% of it to those around us. Which is a tradition I would love to pass on to my family. This year the girls wanted to help me crack the nuts. Brianna wanted to crack the nuts to help but Paige wanted to crack the nuts for a different reason. She loves nuts!!:) We had a lot of fun and this took us a couple of hours to accomplish.

decortating the tree 11-27-06

This year we had fun decorating our tree. It is always a challenge decorating in a new place because its hard to find a place that will work and look good. We first had it in front of the window and decided that it would get in the way with the girls running around. The tree looks a lot smaller in the house (in our apartment it was just the right size). We thought about getting a bigger one after Christmas but decided that we didn't need to spend our money on that right now. Our tree sure did get full as December went on. It was a lot of fun to spend it at home and see our decorations for more then two weeks. This year we were able to do some service for those around us and the girls loved being sneaky and leaving presents on peoples doors and running or hiding. Going to the elderly and wishing them a Merry Christmas and giving them some goodies. We really were able to enjoy the giving season and for this I'm thankful.

Family Birthday 11-25-06

On Saturday we opened presents from the family. Brianna's birthday isn't until the 26th but mom and dad were leaving on Sunday after Sacrament. Plus the power went out for over an hour so it gave us all lots of down time. Brianna loved everything that she got. She has played with, worn and read everything that she got. Paige has too!!! Bri does a good job sharing with her sister. Probably her favorite thing she got was the roller skates from Paige. She didn't want to take them off for days. She told Paige that when she gets bigger ones that Paige could have the ones she got for her birthday. Paige just thinks that Brianna is cool!
Later to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa took us all to the movie. The girls saw Happy feet (really cute by the way) and the boys went and saw The CasinoRoyale (which both really enjoyed). Grandma even got the girls popcorn- which mom and dad never do. This made
Brianna feel very special. Thanks mom and dad!!

Grandpa

I thought that this picture turned out really cute. Dad doesn't like his picture taken so I was surprised when I was able to get this one.

Thanksgiving Day 11-23-06

Mom and dad were able to come and spend time with us for Thanksgiving and Brianna's birthday. We enjoyed the time with them! Dinner was good but as a mom it's hard to enjoy it. There is always something your kids need. Paige decided that after getting her all dished up that she wanted to take a nap. Brianna is a picky eatter and only wanted the jello that grandma made. By the time I was able to get to my food it was cold and dad was done with his food and was ready to watch football. I told mom that I'm not convinced that it's worth all of the work and preperation.



Brianna had been praying that she would have snow for her birthday for about a month and on Thanksgiving it snowed. After Shane got home from work he decided it was the last time that he would be able to get the leaves off off of the grass before it started snowing. Brianna was thrilled with the chance to go out and play in the snow with her dad out their.

The Joys of Two Year olds 11-20-06

I was down stairs with the girls getting it ready for mom and dad to arrive for Thanksgiving and then I realized that Paige wasn't with me any more. I walked upstairs and found that Paige had gotten the chair over to the fridge and grabbed the dry eraser and decided that it would be fun to make some pretty pictures for mom. To say the least I was not pleased with her pictures! After she went into timeout she got the opportunity to clean it all up. Then we three went back down stairs and finished cleaning. Then I noticed it was time to go make lunch because Brianna had to leave for school in a few minutes. Once I walked upstairs I could smell a smell that no mom wants to smell - Permanent Marker!! Yes- Paige had found the markers that were hidden in the back of the junk drawer which she is to short to even see into. I still don't know how she was able to get them. The smell was not the only present she gave. She had decided that it was fun to draw on the wall, fridge, stove, dishwasher, table, door and cabinets. I was very , very upset! The only thing that kept me from giving her a spanking that she would never forget was that I had to take Brianna to school. Latter I was proud of myself for not loosing my temper. Every time I walked into the kitchen I would get mad. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get it off. I did have some luck. Later when Shane got home Paige showed daddy what she had done. Shane asked if it was a good choice or bad choice. She said BAD Choice. He asked what she should draw on and she said paper. All of the right answers. After all of us girls had gone to bed - Shane stayed up to try to get it off. He did get 98% of it off. He didn't get to bed until 3:00am. Brake cleaner did the job. I was thrilled with how it looked.

Bri's Birthday Party 11-18-06

This year Brianna had a combined birthday party with her best friend. Their birthdays are less then a week apart and at this time of year is hard to fit everything in. The girls were very excited that they could have a party together (the mom's were too!!). Brianna thought that I did a good job on the decorations and loved having friends over.