Easter 2011

 For Easter this year, we did two celebrations.  As suggested by one of my MOPS presenters, we had the egg hunt and candy on Sat so we could focus on the Resurrection on Sunday.  It worked out great, especially since it was sunny on Sat and rainy on Sun.  After church on Sun, we headed down to Tacoma for brunch with Brian's family then to Grandma and Grandpa Jorgenson's to spend some time with Peanut (the cat) since she's getting up there in age.
 

Birthdays, Vacation and More

It's been a while, so here is a brief update on what has been going on these last few months.  In Feb, Brian started a new job at Microsoft and I turned the big 3-0.  You can see the result of my 1/3rd of life crisis in one of the photos below.  I dyed and chopped my hair. 

In March, we tried to enjoy some family outdoor time and fed some ducks in the rain and cold.  You can't have a rainy outing without a kid falling in the mud...Lacey was the lucky one to plant her bum in a nice mud puddle.  Brian and I also recreated our first date as March marked our 10 years together.

In April, Brian and I were lucky enough to sneak off on a kid free vacation to Vegas.  We enjoyed Phantom of the Opera, a Cirque du Soleil show, several buffets, and a little gambling. Heidi also celebrated her first birthday (we did horrible with the picture taking and pretty much only got pics of her eating cake).  Hard to believe my baby is already one...its been a challenging, but incredibly awesome year with her. We've got another curly haired spit-fire on our hands. 

We're also FINALLY enjoying a little bit of sun.  I have been squeezing in as much gardening as possible and the kids have enjoyed riding their bikes up and down the block.  It's been awesome getting some vitamin D and time when the kids aren't picking on each other.  Lacey can't quite reach her pedals, but she does just fine working her bike Flinstone-style.

Crazy Lacey

I have had a hard time getting to the computer lately to blog.  The main reason of this has been Lacey.  She has hit a whole new level of mischief.  She has rubbed herself head to toe with things like vapor rub, Vaseline, face scrub and more.  She has dumped entire packages of sugar and cheerios on the floor to name a few.  Tables and stuffed animals have been drawn on, not to mention poor Heidi from time to time.  Books have been cut, Benjamin's projects destroyed, cups of water poured out.  She has been a little terror. 

 The worst of her new habits developed when we switched her crib to a toddler bed.  The first night went great, but then she started getting out of bed numerous times at night and early early morning.  Not only would she get out of her bed, but she loves getting into Heidi's bed and messing with her.  The girls have not gotten much sleep these last few weeks, and I'm sure I have gotten more grey hairs.  We tried everything to get her to stay in bed.  Punishments, bribes, rewards, taking Heidi out of the room...nothing worked.  In fact, one time after I set Heidi up in the port-a-crib I found Lacey in there also.  I finally hit my breaking point last night and she is back in her crib.  She can climb out of it, but it takes a lot more work so I am hoping and praying she stays contained.  Brian thinks she just doesn't understand, but I think she is just that type of kid.  It's a good thing the other half of her is so sweet.

It's not easy to see, but here she is with Vaseline all over her.

This is after she had gotten into the sugar bowl.  The less messy of the two sugar incidents.

She managed to eat several handfuls before I caught her.

Brian found her in our bathroom sink playing with floss and face scrub.  What you can't see is the face scrub all over the mirror and her face.

She only undressed Heidi a few times after sneaking into her crib, one of them was a poopy diaper.  Not fun to clean up.  Poor Heidi has dealt with being kept up til 10-11 pm, woken up at 4-5 am, moved to different places and interrupted during naps.  I have been a very frustrated mommy the last few weeks. 

Holiday Highlights

Below are some pictures from our December. There were lots to choose from, but I just picked a few that highlighted some holiday traditions.


Making a gingerbread house. Lacey didn't do too much other than eat half the candy.

Benjamin had a little bit more self control with the candy, emphasis on little.

I found these cute snowman mugs that I made special cocoas for the kids in an effort to stop them from eating the candy. Not only did it not deter them from the candy, but Lacey spilled hers all over the place about 10 seconds after she got it.



We spent a day at my sister's making fudge and decorating cookies. Making fudge has been a yearly tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. This year we did the cookies to get the kids involved.

We had 3 Christmas celebrations. Cmas eve was spent with just the 5 of us. We spent Cmas day with Brian's family, our first year hosting. It went well with the exception of my under cooked turkey. Doh! Here is Grandma Linda holding a tuckered out Lacey...notice that she has no skirt on, a new favorite pastime.

Heidi and Grandpa David.

This year we decided to do a birthday cake for Jesus to help the kids understand what the day is really about. We sang happy birthday and everything.

The day after Christmas was spent at my brother Matt's house. Here is a picture of the whole clan, which is still growing. The kids always have a blast going crazy with all the cousins.

Christmas Tree Hunting

This year we went to the farm that's just 10 minutes from our house.  The selection wasn't as good, but it was a much shorter trip than usual and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day.  We were all very bundled, but it ended up not being needed. 


Getting ready for the hunt

Brian cutting down the chosen tree

Lacey crying at the end in true Lacey fashion

Benjamin helped Brian carry the tree all the way to the car



Ready to take our treasure home



I'm not very good about letting the kids help decorate the tree.  I am a bit particular about what ornaments to use and where to put them.  I like to have mostly glass, angels and stars, so that means none of the kiddish ornaments get put up.  I've always felt a little bad about it, so this year we bought the kids their own 3 foot tree to decorate all by themselves.  The kids love their tree and it sits in the kitchen window for all to see.  I think we might make it a yearly tradition.

Lacey helping with the lights

She thought they were pretty cool to play with

Stringing lights on the big tree

Benjamin took decorating very seriously

Lacey was able to put up a few by herself

The finished kids tree (Benjamin took the picture)



November

Here is a glimpse at our November.  I think I sat at the computer on 5 seperate occasions to do this blog and am just now getting to it.  Better late than never.  It began with the warmest weather November has ever seen and ended with some very cold weather.  Quite a dramatic temperature swing for one month.  I took advantage of the rare nice weather to get the kids outside and help me rake the leaves.  Lacey raked for a few minutes, but Benjamin was an excellent helper.  He would rake everything into a pile, throw the leaves around, then rake it up again.  We had lots of fun playing in the unusually dry leaves.

We didn't play out in the snow too much since it was 20ish degrees, but the kids loved being out there.  Lacey mostly ate the snow and Benjamin mostly threw it at us.  Great fun for all of 2 minutes.  We tried to sled in the laundry basket, but that was only successful in dumping Benjamin on his face. He was a good sport about it.

I was terrible at taking Thanksgiving photos.  We spent the evening at my parents' WA house with a total of 20 or so people including my grandma from CA.  Benjamin pretty much disappeared the entire time with his cousins, only coming out to eat.  I didn't get a single picture of him.  Heidi got lots of love from all the extended family and was held almost the entire time.  I think she enjoyed herself quite a bit since she doesn't get held all that much at home these days :)  Lacey had lots of fun running around with her cousin Raven.  Below is a picture of them being silly with their dolls tucked down their shirts.  Lacey does this all the time with Sweet Pea and Raven was quick to join in with my mom's cabbage patch doll.  What a couple cuties.