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We got some wax craft sticks for Christmas.  I was a bit dubious about them, but we've had a lot of fun building things with them.

Rainbows were really popular.

The kids make some cool stuff.  Of course, we also end up with wax goop all over the place--no more surprises on the light switch down the hall!

But Jacob showed everyone how it's really done.

Family craft time is awesome time.

New Skirts

Elinor is growing and the girl loves her skirts. Luckily, I have a skirt pattern that we've loved and a big stack of fabric for her to peruse and choose from.
A couple of hours of work later...

Okay, so only the pink one on the right is new. BUT, I made the other two while we lived in Colorado and she has worn them like crazy! They're so easy to pull on with a t-shirt and a pair of tights that she reaches for them whenever they're clean. (Joseph and I call the yellow and turquoise one her cabbage skirt.) Here's another picture of the grey one that I've had in my "toblognow" file for literally over a year:

This one is made from a super soft jersey knit that I bought as a remnant from The Common Thread in Austin and saved for the right project. I sort of love it.

And this, reposted from May of 2014, is Emily sporting her skirt from this same pattern. She actually told me today (with no prompting) that this is currently her favorite skirt to wear.

I don't want to bore you with the details, but this pattern - a Favorite Little Things pattern called "Little Hip Skirts" - has been fabulous and is so versatile. There are four different skirts (I've only tried two - the pleated skirt and the circle skirt) and the size range is huge. It has from size 1 all the way up to size 13/14 so I plan to keep and use this for a few years yet.

I told Joseph tonight that I've had the pattern for a while and already made it three times, and the fabric has been in my stash forever, so it's like Elinor is getting a free skirt!! He didn't quite buy it, but I kind of love being able to whip something like this up when the kids need it.

Drunk Dialing

I've noticed that my late-night emails are always a bit less inhibited and a lot more regrettable than my normal daytime ones. Case in point:

Sent the night of Friday, Nov 21st
Subject: like three hours shading her upper lip

Hey [friend],

here's a sneak peak of what Aubrey has coming to her this Sunday!

xo 

amanda

PS - there's a lot more where this came from.  ... Too much? Okay, I'll stop.

And I attached a photo of a cute picture Elinor had drawn for her daughter.

Sadly, this is not the only email I have like this that I looked at the next morning and wondered WHY. Why do I do these things? I always know in the back of my mind I shouldn't email while in that state. It totally makes me think of drunk dialing and is yet another reason I am grateful I don't drink.

Snow Day

We were able to spend Christmas in Utah this year, and it was wonderful. The weather was great for the drive, and then we woke up to a beautiful, soft snow on Christmas morning. The following week was bitterly cold and windy, but the day itself was nice. The kids were delighted.

I thought this sequence of pictures was funny:

Loading up the sled.

Taking off.

Man overboard!

Wait, Dad, wait!

 Joseph's traditional sugar cookie house.

He and Emily spent a lot of time decorating this thing. The other kids lasted about 10 minutes. Jake only wanted to eat it.

All the kids enjoyed taking it apart and devouring it.

Jake loves this picture (and the previous) because he's on the table. And "candy reedee yummy!"

Merry Christmas!

It's been a pretty fun and busy Christmas season this year. I've all but given up running this month for all the preparations that have been taking place.

But, we made it through and I think everyone's been happy and had a good time.

On Christmas Eve we were able to go on a Polar Express train ride.

Here are the kids hanging out before boarding. Elinor is usually doing something crazy in the pictures from this day (and always).

Jake could not stay away from this dog.

Happily settled in.

Enjoying yummy treats. (As soon as they announced they'd be bringing around hot chocolate and cookies, Jake stood up and yelled "Yummyyyyyyyy!" in his cute little baby voice. He continued to yell things like "Yummy in tummy!" periodically until he received his cookie.)

Santa.

Santa with the girls.

Sisters. Emily's Christmas name was Mistletoe (horribly misspelled by Santa's elf Sprinkles.)

And... well, we took about a dozen of this picture, and Jacob has this same expression in all of them. So there ya go.

For the day itself, it started off early and with lots of enthusiasm. The kids were not very happy about being made to pause for a moment for us to take this picture:

All of them in their Christmas Jammies. Ignore Caleb's face.

And just really quick, before I end, here are the kids enjoying their presents from Grandma Oba this year:

Jake riding his scooter like a pro. This one is cool because we can convert it from three wheels to two when he's ready.

Elinor on her new scooter. All the kids have been cruising around on this one.

Caleb trying out his new skateboard.

And Emi thoroughly enjoying her new rollerblades. She really cannot get enough of these things!

Sold Out!

The other night as I was perusing the Boden website, I stumbled across this:

It made me and Joseph laugh, because these were last year's Christmas jammies:

And in fact, Joseph is wearing them this very minute as he finishes up the dishes.

Oh, and by the way, these were going for $54 a pop and are now sold out in this color. Nice, right? I'm a year ahead of Boden! Am I not so fashion forward? I really have an eye for... um... pajama trends.

Santa, the bunkbed, the KitchenAid, and artwork

The ward had a party the other day and the kids were happy to get to chat with Santa for a little bit.

Those cute kids. They each met him individually, but that seemed like too many pictures to put up.

This is how Jacob spent the first half of the party. It's okay though. He woke up and approached Santa on his own (while we were eating) and obtained a candy cane for himself. They were high-fiving and fist-bumping by the time I got there.

We just got bunk beds for the girls the other day (more on that later). I got back late at night and pulled this bed fully assembled out of the van. We had nowhere to put it except in the middle of the living room, so it stayed there until the next day. I laughed when Elinor saw it the next morning and said, "But I thought I was going to sleep in Emily's room!"

Whenever the KitchenAid is doing its thing, this is where Jacob insists on sitting. He's only stuck his hand in there once (it was enough for him to learn his lesson).

And to end, some original artwork for your viewing pleasure. At nighttime after the kids are in bed, we go around throwing stuff away and trying to tidy up. I always come across a few of Elinor's pictures that I can't bear to part with until I have permanent documentation. Here are the latest:

Doesn't this one make you think so much of Allie Brosh's work?

And I don't know what this one is, but I want to go there.

Moustache Monday

I was going through pictures tonight and I noticed a theme with Jacob's:

He is one grumpy baby. The two where he is lying face-down happened when he was way too offended to even look at my face.


 Also, today was Moustache Monday! The little kids wanted in on the action too, of course.

I think they look rather dashing all moustachioed like this, don't you?

Church.

The lady who sits behind us in church sent this picture this evening:

Along with this message: "I wanted to make sure you had these. She made me smile. Is this Elinore?"

This poor lady puts up with the kids' noise and antics each week and is sweet enough to still be amused by some of it.

And yes, this is Elinor. And yes, this is totally typical.

Family pictures!

I decided rather late in the game this year that we needed some pictures for Christmas cards, stat! So, we basically packed everyone up right then and there, piled into the car, and took some pictures at a nearby park. Joseph and the kids had gone to a baptism that morning, so we mostly just went in what we were wearing. The boys did change out of their white shirts. And I changed out of my running clothes (I didn't go to the baptism). Funnily enough, I think I like what we're wearing here much better than what we wore last year for pictures, even though I'd been thinking about those outfits for weeks! Oh, well.

Overall, I'm very happy with how things turned out. It's amazing what a tripod, some touchups on the computer, and having slightly older kids can do to make pictures so much better than last time we tried this on our own!

I love the stair-step going on here. And El's tongue. And Jake's cool-kid attitude. And Caleb's hand on Jacob's head.

Isn't she a cutie?

Always climbing.

He's a punk, but he's pretty awesome. I love this picture of him in his old man jacket! Don't pockets (and a hood) always make the difference between a just-okay jacket and the ultimate jacket that needs to be worn on every possible occasion?

This set up happened very naturally. We just had to pull out the camera really fast and capture it. There was a bunch of dogs down the hill the way they are all facing and since they are all equal parts fascinated with and afraid of dogs, they were happy to watch for a while.

 So, there you have it. Our home done pictures in the park. I love our little family.