Beginning Christmas!

 

A local photography studio offers these darling Santa pictures- where the parent dresses up as Santa so the kids aren’t scared and it’s supposed to give you really great Santa photos. Well, even though Lila KNEW and could totally tell the man in the red suit was her dad, she really wanted no part in any of this. And refused to put down bunny. And mostly screamed and cried the whole time (which was only like 10 minutes). Nevertheless, we got some really darling and funny pictures from it! And we will remember what life was like and Lila was 2 and she really did scream a lot about really dumb things.

We did our annual Kick-Off to Christmas party! I love this. The kids are so excited decorating the tree. This year Davis was sure he made most of the ornaments himself after listening to Chase and Hudson pull out year after year of ornaments made at school. Soon he will have his own school-made ornaments in his collection, but until then he’s sure he made the ornament my mom bought me back in 1992. 

Lila went with me to pick out their special ornaments for this year- her’s in a princess house (castle), Chase’s is a beautiful owl, because he loves Harry Potter and also he’s a night owl. Hudson’s is a snowman driving an old fashioned car, because he loves cars. And Davis’s is a panda, a homage to his beloved Bei Bei! 

Also, I love how happy my kids are to unwrap new jammies! They all get so excited! We snuggled up with the Muppet Christmas Carol- the most nostalgic movie for me! I’m so glad my kids all love it too!

Right after Thanksgiving we had a girls outing to see the Nutcracker! It was so beautiful and magical. I was smiling ear to ear the whole time. Ballet West does such an incredible job making the whole thing so enchanting! And don’t worry- Papa took the boys on their own outing to get hamburgers. 

Right after Thanksgiving we got a nice snowstorm! It caused a late start for school (which means kindergarten is cancelled). Hudson was inexplicably upset about this because he “really wanted to do a full day of school!” But his attitude turned around quickly when I said I’d take them sledding. We bundled up and headed to Nana and Papa’s and the boys sledded and played in their snow for a good 90 minutes before I had to load them up and drop the big kids off at school! The snow sure adds another layer of Christmas magic around here! 

And then there is this little Christmas diva- always keeping things magical!

November

 

We finally hit up the Discovery Gateway! We hadn’t been since May and it was bothering me that I wasn’t using our pass! Lila was delighted to be back!

Hudson had a piano recital. He played “Smooth and Crunchy” and “Spanish Caballero” He did so well! He worked really hard and it definitely paid off!

This is Davis’s excited face he does every time I give him even slightly good news. Usually that a friend is free to play or that we are having pizza for dinner. It kills me every time. 

I love him so much! Just working hard at his homework. He’s learned SO MUCH in kindergarten! I’ve been amazed at his progress in just a few months!

Hudson is studying Utah in 4th grade and we were tasked to bring a Rice Krispie treat in the shape of Utah to school one day. It came home like this- all decorated and labeled to match the geography of our state! Then we enjoyed munching on it for a few days. Hudson’s teacher this year is awesome and is making 4th grade such a great experience for him!

Davis’s class earned 10 points again and voted to have a pajama and stuffy day at school. He was delighted to wear pajamas and he brought his little “buddy” (it’s a bear, but he is sure it’s a dog) to school with him for the day. Also- I love that he frequently wears this little fingerless glove! Hudson got those in first day and they were a very common accessory for him for years. Long live the (dollar store) fingerless gloves! 

Also, speaking of which, it got really cold quite suddenly this year. One day before school started, my friend Brianne (who brings Davis home from school half the time) noticed he was sitting in the ball on the playground before school instead of playing like normal. She tried to see if anything was wrong, and he just wouldn’t respond. Very un-Davis-like. When Megan (his teacher, Mrs. Joseph, also our neighbor) came out to get the class he was still curled in a ball and wouldn’t tell Megan what was wrong. Brianne and Megan carried him into the room. He still wouldn’t tell her what was up, so she was brilliant and went down and pulled Chase out of class and asked him to help. He spent a little time with Davis and before too long Davis was happily sitting in his seat, being part of the class and acting totally normal. Chase explained to Megan, “cold hands!” And headed back to class. Apparently Davis’s little hands got really cold (he didn’t have gloves on) and he just couldn’t handle life or anything until they warmed back up! Oh Davis! When I talked to him about it later that day and explained that grown-ups like Brianne and Megan are there to help him and he can tell them what is wrong, he furrowed his eye brow, tapped his little cheek in the classic “thinking” pose for a minute as if considering it, and then went on with his day. Needless to say, I make sure and send him with gloves on every morning now!

Classic Hudson style. Can’t just wear the shirt the way it’s supposed to. I love how Hudson puts his own little twist on everything!

This is basically Chase’s uniform now. A black hoodie (he has two, they are slightly different) and jeans every single day. People might think he only owns one outfit. 

You can tell, Lila is delighted that Chase is joining in her game, although I can’t remember what they were doing!

Davis and homework! This particular day I told him he was supposed to write “1 to 20” on his paper. He wrote (below) 1, 2, 20. And was sure that was totally fine. I laughed, didn’t argue with him, and had him finish up later that night. He only finished with the help of Bei Bei, who you can see is also holding the pencil. 

Just a little sweet pea all dressed up to go visit my Grandma at her assisted living place. Lila is doing great with these visits and it very sweet and talkative to my Grandma. It makes her day.

Our Elementary school doing a musical every year for only 5th and 6th graders. Chase didn’t try out last year because it conflicted with robotics too much, but once he saw the play kind of wished he did it. So this year he was determined to try out. This year they are doing Aladdin.  His original plan was to try out just for a speaking part, since he doesn’t really sing. But after going to the pre-try-out workshops he was so excited he decided to do a singing and speaking audition! 

Two of the directors are our neighbors and very good friends (Megan and Lindsay), but they assured me that isn’t why Chase landed a lead role! He gets to be the Sultan! He was so excited about the role! It has a lot of lines (and no solo singing) so it’s really perfect for Chase. Megan and Lindsay both said he was so cute in his audition and one of the few kids who came in to auditions really memorized and prepared- so they knew he could handle the part. He’s so excited to get going! He’ll get his script in December and practices start up in January! 

One Sunday we had some time and energy to burn, so I took all the kids to walk to the Layton temple! It’s so close to being open and we are so excited about it! It took us about 20 minutes to walk there during golden hour and we all loved it!

Ben has had some free time and he loves going to Costco. Lila also loves Costco. 

This year’s thankful tree. Lila was being grumpy and wouldn’t be photographed with it. This year Lila wanted to put Penelope on it every day (so she’s on there like six times at least). Davis, our beginning reader, loved being able to find certain leaves on the tree. I love this tradition!

We had a really lovely Thanksgiving this year. Leading up to the holiday I was feeling really worn out, both emotionally and physically, so I decided not to go nuts and try to plan a lot. It was amazing. We hung out at home a lot and just enjoyed each other the whole break! Lots of quality family time. We watched Christmas movies together and played some games. The kids played with each other and some friends. We had some opportunities to do a little service. Mostly we were just together a lot and it was wonderful.

 Our delicious Thanksgiving dinner was at my parents house this year. My grandma came, along with Dennette and Sonja. Grandma had been really depressed lately since she’s been in the nursing home for 7 months now and her goal was to be home by Thanksgiving, which isn’t remotely looking like an option for her. As soon as they wheeled her in, Davis gave her a big hug and continued to hug her multiple times throughout the night. Between dinner and dessert the kids put on a little program for her- singing a few primary songs and Chase and Hudson each played her a piece on the piano. It’s always a little hard to tell if/how much Grandma is enjoying herself because she’s pretty quiet these days. Apparently, as Sonja was driving her home Shauna called. Sonja reported that grandma said that the food was good, but her favorite part was all the little kids. She loved their program so much. “That Davis!” She said quite a few times. (I get it, Davis just has a way of making people feel so good!) I’m so glad the kids could give her a little joy!

Lila and Rose had their own table- it lasted about 5 minutes. The big kids all sat at their own table too. I think they all mostly ate rolls and had a really good time together!

I snapped this photo out my window on morning in late November during a moment of pure gratitude. Life is far from perfect. In fact, November in some ways was kind of a stressful and downer of a month for us. But we still have so much to be thankful for. We are healthy. We are happy. We have the best kids and a great marriage. We love our home and our neighbors. The kids have a great school with great teachers. We have so much loving family nearby (and far away). I was just feeling so thankful. 

Halloween

 After an entire month of Davis asking daily if it was Halloween yet, it finally came! This year was extra special for Chase and Davis. When Chase was in kindergarten he loved being escorted in the parade by a cute 6th grader, who then became his buddy for the kindergarten/6th grade combined party. He did the math and figured out that Davis (who wasn’t born yet!) would be in kindergarten when he was in 6th grade and he could be his special buddy! Chase had been planning and looking forward to this moment for 6 years! 

I helped in the party and brought a bingo game to do. It was so cute to see Davis sitting on Chase’s lap for the game. I brought Lila along too and she sweetly played the game or hung out on my hip the whole time (which was a relief considering the major tantrum she had been throwing for the half hour before the party started!).

Then it was finally time for trick or treating! We started at Nana and Papa’s house. I love seeing all these cousins together. The two youngest girls sure make it hard to get a picture of all of them these days! 

I snapped a few pictures before they went out trick or treating in our neighborhood. Lila talked about being Minnie Mouse for months! She was the cutest little Minnie- even though her ears didn’t last much longer than the picture. 

Davis decided in about August that he would be Black Panther. He already owns the costume and was constantly in character! He was so excited all night. My friend Lindsay told me that every time they cross paths with Davis during trick or treating, Davis gave Will a big hug! He was just so so happy!

Hudson went through a few costume ideas before deciding he wanted to wear his Jedi robes again, for the third year in a row. He was sure cute in them! 

Chase was excited about being Where’s Waldo- although he was nervous people wouldn’t know who he was. Don’t worry, most people got it! Chase went out with friends and got the most candy. He brought a friend over after for a movie and candy eating and declared Halloween to be the best!

Our neighbors created a huge spook alley for Halloween and listed it on facebook and other social media to let the surrounding community know. The result was SO MANY trick or treaters in our neighborhood! It was nuts! I ended up running out of candy around 8:00 (and I thought I had more than enough!).  It was pretty wild! 

October

October brought us some fun cousin play dates with Rosie! These two are best friends and it’s the cutest (when they aren’t fighting- they are both very strong willed!)

One night I made Rice Krispie treats and we sculpted with them! The only direction I gave was to make it Halloween themed. Their products made me laugh as they were so fitting to their personalities:

Chase made a pumpkin. (The easiest, fastest thing he could think of so he could eat it). Hudson made a haunted house and continued to tweak and improve and add features long after everyone else was done. (He’s always trying to figure out how to make something cooler and has a great imagination!) Davis made a portal from the avengers. (Which wasn’t really on theme with Halloween, but in true Davis fashion he didn’t really follow the rules but he was thrilled to be there and be part of it and smiled the entire time). I love these guys so much! Lila sculpted…something. I’m not sure what, but she did love eating the finished product as well. 

We met up with Warners up Milcreek Canyon on Saturday night and it was the best! We roasted hot dogs and s’mores. Our kids connected and made fast friends, despite not seeing each other in about 3 years. It was so fun to catch up with Keith and Ann and the fall colors in the canyon were absolute spectacular. I love fall in Utah! 

We got to see the Broadway version of The Lion King in Salt Lake with the Smith Family and it was incredible! I questioned if Davis was too young to appreciate it, but I was so glad I brought him along. He was hilarious and SO into it! He clapped so loudly and talked (kind of loudly) through the whole thing. He was just so excited! 

Hudson ran into Hyrum there! They were sitting a few rows in front of us!

Will and Kate got a puppy. We stopped by to see it. His name is Leo and he’s adorable and now our kids keep asking when we are getting a puppy too. 

Just doing some homework with Harry Potter.

The kids had “Ribbon week” at school, which was also kind of called “safety Olympics”. Well, they got points for dressing up each day and signing pledges to be safe in different ways (internet, drugs, I can’t remember the rest). I was really overwhelmed by life that week and I was doing the bare minimum, but they did dress up and I signed Hudson’s pledge papers because he got them out for me to sign each day. At the end of the week, late on Friday night, I got an email from the school saying Hudson’s class had won the silver medal in the school and gets some type of reward. Hudson’s reaction was just hilarious. It was like 9:30 and he was really tired. He burst into tears “I don’t even understand what was going on? Like how did we win? I didn’t get the point of the whole week!” I explained they won Ribbon week. “It was ribbon week? I thought it was safety Olympics? I learned nothing from this week! It was just so many pointless activities!” Followed by more tears. I was laughing so hard at him, and sweetly sent him to bed because he was too tired. Just showing that sometimes less is more and kids can get overwhelmed with fluff- just like their parents!

After some early trick or treating at Great-Grandma’s nursing home, I frequently found Davis scaling the pantry shelves to get to the candy. He has no shame. 

The kids all dressed up for said trick or treating. I was planning to take them, but got sick with a nasty cold and decided not to spread it to the elderly, so my dad took them. He was thrilled that Lila wanted to hold his hand the whole time. And Davis was very sweet and affectionate to my grandma when they got to her. 

A major highlight of our month was the Harry Potter party! The Hickman’s cousins throw this incredible party up at their home in Mountain Green, and since Lindsay helps with a ton of it, her sister said she could invite us too. Davis was so excited for it and even though he still doesn’t really get what Harry Potter is, he was so excited to be there! They had a Dark Arts shop set up in the basement, complete with Dark Mark tattoos and Blaine made Hudson and Davis make an “unbreakable vow” (pictured with glow bracelets) to promise to not fight with each other every again.

Davis loved running around to all the activities with his buddy Will (Ron). The best part of the night was the face painting. When it was finally Davis’s turn they asked what he wanted. “A blue rectangle. With two long sides and two short sides.” She questioned if that’s really what he wanted, or if he wanted something in it. The other kids were getting lions, spiders, lightning scars, etc. Nope. A blue rectangle. As she was painting it on his forehead she expressed nerves that he might be disappointed. I assured her he’d probably love it. When she finished and showed him his face, his reaction was priceless! He threw his hands in the air and shrieked in pure delight! Both face painting ladies burst out laughing and declared his the best reaction all night. That’s our Davis, just delightfully enthusiastic about the best things! He was so sad when I made him scrub it off for church a few days later.

We carved pumpkins! Four kids and sharp knives sounded really daunting, so we split them up and did two kids at a time, each with a parent. Hudson did all his own carving this year! It went so well and the kids were all delighted with their pumpkins!

Hudson learned the song “Book of Mormon Stories” on the piano. He asked if he could try playing it for the whole primary while they sang along. He got to on Sunday and our sweet neighbor (who is the normal pianist) took this picture for us. I heard he played it perfectly. When he finished, his buddy Will stood up and said “Hudson! That’s my BOY!”