Awards Ceremony

Every year the PTA hosts an arts competition. I always make Sophie enter stuff in several categories just as an excuse to try her hand at things. Last year she entered a dance piece and ended up winning first place in the State. Please note that she was the only dance entry by a Kindergardener in her school and possibly in the State--not much competition. This year, she won 1st place for her photo (even though they had it posted upside-down) and her non-fiction entry (a paragraph about her baby brother). Any way, she was very excited. (why can I not take the underlining off of that paragraph???)

We made such a scene at the ceremony because Mathew was yelling and running everywhere and Ellie was eating all the food and crying about how Sophie gets all the trophies. Then Alex, our neighbor had come along to "help" and was blasting her ipod the whole time.

Ellie gets her ears pierced

Ellie got her ears pierced today..there are no words to describe how excited she was. I was so sad when my girls started to ask to get their ears pierced...for no other reason that it's somehow a symbol of them growing up. So, I told them that they could get their ears pierced after the finish a whole book of piano. The truth is I really didn't think they would make it because I remember how much I hated to practice piano when I was young. However, Sophie surprised me this Summer when she did practice everyday (with my help of course) and met her goal of finishing a book.

Unfortunately, our girls are a little competitive and Ellie of course had to follow. I was so proud of her because she really worked hard.

It was cute because she said she wanted pearl earrings and I didn't think anything of it until we went to 3 stores and they did not have pearl studs. Ellie is so determined, she insisted that we keep on looking until we found a place that had them.

Ellie told me her friend had told her that they take a gun and shoot holes through your ears--poor thing was so nervous but very brave. All day long, she kept on saying, " I can't believe I have my ears pierced". She was looking in any reflection she could find to see herself and was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

It was especially fun because my mom was here and got to do the last 2 songs with her and was there when she got them pierce. That made it extra special for Ellie.

MLK day--hike up pinnacle peak

We took advantage of having Mom & Dad here and went on a hike up Pinnacle Peak. The dessert is beautiful up there and it was a nice day.

There were a ton of athletes running up and down the mountain. I kept on trying to stop Ellie from running because the trail can be narrow and I thought she'd fall off the cliff. This couple stopped me and asked how old Ellie was and said they were so impressed with her. I was confused but then realized they thought she was training and running as an athlete as opposed to running because she is reckless and out of control.

Troy's blessing day

My parents for years have been planning a trip where they drive around the country visiting all of their kids...they call it the "Odessey". My Dad was just released from his 5 year calling/mission at the MTC and so 2 weeks ago they informed us the Odessey was about to start and to expect them on Jan 13th. Luckily Matt's Dad, Sam and his wife Michelle were available as well so we went ahead and made plans to bless the baby that Sunday. Matt gave a beautiful blessing. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed eating outside afterwards--my Mom made her famous cake--pastel de 3 leches--Yum!

I'm in a stage where I hate getting my picture taken. I always thought it was annoying when people avoided the camera but now I have more empathy. It's special occasions like these where I have to suck it up and take one for the team.

I cut Sophie's bangs this week and she is so annoyed with me over it because they fall in her eyes. I think it frames her face nicely though. I've noticed Sophie is starting to smile with her mouth closed. I think she is self conscious about her missing teeth.

Hargis Visit

Matt's cousin, Emily got married after Christmas so the Hargis family (Matt's cousin's family) came to visit with their 5 kids. This was a treat for all of us.















Laurel & Ellie




















Mathew getting into the girl's makeup

Christmas

This is Mathew "hiding" in his pillow so he doesn't have to go to bed.





This was our first Christmas at home and I must say that, although I missed being with family, I enjoyed being able to focus on the kids and also not have to live out of a suitcase. I also loved all of the things we got--Santa brought a wii, my parents got the girls rollerblades, and I bought art supplies and clothes/play makeup with money from Matt's parents. Matt had 3 weeks off because of paternity leave so he was taking the kids out daily to roller blade or bike ride. We also spent a lot of time playing the wii and learning to water color and use oil pastels.






Sophie finished her second piano book so, as a prize, we purchased some fish. Ellie chose a beta (prize for stopping the thumb sucking) and Sophie got two little upside down cat fish--they really do swim upside down.The funny thing is that Mathew is the one that asks to feed it every day. The novelty wore off for the girls around day 3. One of my biggest joys was to watch them learn to rollerblade. After just a few days, they were good enough to confidently skate to the park. Then we turned our attention to Tito, getting him to grasp the concept of riding a bike which he finally got right before vacation ended.



Our neighbor Alex (10) also came over everyday and although she's a sweet girl, I do feel sometimes that I have 5 kids.

The Holidays

Here are a few pictures of the kids right before the baby came.





Summer seemed to last forever around here so when it finally dipped below 80 degrees in the house (mid-december) Sophie was dressed for camping.


All the kids were so excited when we put the decorations up this year--if it were just Matt and I, we would never bother, but it is truly magical for the kids. No one can get quite as excited about things as Ellie.



At the Christmas party, Ellie would not tell us what she was going to tell Santa, but she was having a long conversation with him and was twirling his beard while she whispered in his ear. I still don't know what she was telling him.