Valentine's Day 2012~

I'm weird, I know, but Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite holiday.  I love it.  I completely do.  Spencer is so good about remembering to spoil me.  He always gets me tulips and chocolates.  I woke up this year to this beautiful spray of tulips and to little vases with tulips and flowers all over the house.

Ethan was very excited to tell Victoria and Ezra all about what to expect on Valentine's day.  He made sure to tell them to go to the bathroom before bed so you didn't have to get up.  That way, mom and dad can sneak into their rooms to set up the Valentine's presents.  He also told them to be sure to fake like you are sleeping if you hear mom and dad come in so they don't take the presents away.  It was fun to hear his perspective of things!  They both followed his advise.

The kids were sweet and made cards and fun things for me too.  I took pictures to remember them.

Of all of the kids Mason is the one who hits the jackpot every year.  It's funny.  Ezra was obsessed with Valentine's and was so excited to give them to his friends at school and once he got them he carried them every where.  Ethan loved it and got a bunch, but Mason comes home with bags of stuff!  He sure is loved.

Ezra was sure to remind me that he is my Valentine.  He sure is.  I'm pretty late posting this, but even about a month after Valentine's Day he still yells "Bye, Happy Valentine's Day!!" when anyone leaves our house.  Maybe he'll be like me and love Valentine's Day.

Christmas Day~

Christmas was a big day at our house so it merits 3 blog posts!  We had to get pictures of our darling kids all ready for church on Christmas Day.  That just doesn't get to happen very often.  We only had sacrament meeting and it was wonderful.  I had to be the mean mom and take a few toys away from the kids who had snuck them in, but that was OK.

 During the closing song Spencer snuck home before we would get there to get our big 'family gift' out to surprise the kids.  We thought it would be a lot of fun to get 2 electric scooters for the family so that we could ride them together.  They are a lot of fun.  When they came I went to Spencer's work and we went for a ride around the office together.  I really can't wait for it to get warm enough that I want to ride these things more often!  Ezra was pretty excited about them.  Ethan was so happy and surprised, but Victoria was scared of them I think.  She won't try them.  Ethan wanted to go riding immediately.  That delayed more present opening, but that was fine. 

 A funny little thing about Victoria before I explain the gift we gave her...  She came here from Ukraine with a TON of stuffed animals that she adores.  They are like real people to her.  She is more worried about them being warm and comfortable to sleep than she is.  In fact, they have occupied at least 1/3 of her bed and most of her pillows and blankets since she came.  She has complained a few times how small her bed is, but after she refuses our suggestion of simply taking out the stuffed animals we don't have a lot of sympathy for her plight.  We did however, for Christmas, give her a little toy box (animal) bed so that she could tuck her little friends in and finally sleep comfortably!  She was pretty happy about that and immediately took it to her room to make them comfortable in their new home.

 We opened a few more gifts until it was again time to leave and go to my parent's house for dinner and more presents. 

 Ezra was happy to get his robot.  He's a big fan of Robots.

 Mason gave me a very thoughtful gift to hold my phone in my car.  He is always thinking!  Lucky for us we had several days to enjoy our gift exchanging.  This year it lasted for 4 days.  What a great Christmas this year was!

Christmas Morning~

Christmas Morning!!  Finally~  The kids were so excited.  We have always done Christmas morning the same way ever since Ethan was little!  The funny thing about my family is that I have 4 kids ranging from ages 3-16 and only one of them knows what to expect!  Ethan has been great at filling in Victoria and Ezra on all of the Christmas fun that is about to come.  He has been so excited and trying so hard to explain what to expect.  He's been very helpful.  He is a great kid.  Our kids are weird because they sleep in on Christmas.  I was awake and dressed with breakfast made before anyone woke up around here.  We had Ezra and Mason awake by 8:30 and Ethan strolled in around 9:00ish!~  At that point we sent Ezra in to 'check' to see if Vika was awake.  Sure enough she was!

We all gathered in our bedroom to eat pancakes before we went to check if Santa really came.  That's always the trickiest part of the morning, but very important for happy kids!

After eating they all lined up youngest to oldest (they thought it was funny that it was shortest to tallest - we thought it was funny that this may be the last year that's the case!).  They made the walk into the family room.  They were all so excited!  It was so fun to watch all of them with their different perspectives.  Ezra didn't really understand what was happening but was thrilled at the outcome, Ethan totally understood what was coming and was so happy and excited, and Victoria had no real clue what in the world all the fuss and secrecy was about but she was so overwhelmed and giddy about everything, and Mason was happy just to be there and to hear the sweet sounds of 'puppy.'

Victoria was thrilled to finally get her chipmunks.  Every time we walk into the grocery store she searches to see if they have all of them.  Since October they have only had 5 of the 6 so she was pretty surprised to get them all!

Spen was a great videographer this year.  He got all dressed up for the occasion and let's be honest, everything is so much more fun when he is around.

Ezra was sooo happy when he saw all of his balloons.  He wanted to play with them all and hold them all.  He had Ethan count them for him and was so happy.  He loved that he had his cuppy cuppy cup cakes and he played with his train . 

All of the kids were very attentive to Mason and fetching his puppy and trying to give him paper to tear apart.  Mason wasn't so sure about all this crazy Christmas stuff and all of the kids were so great to him.  It was so sweet to watch as the mom.  I loved seeing Victoria hand him paper and toys and play with him, Ethan kept trying to hold him and talk to him to keep him entertained, and Ezra just kept giving him things to throw.  What great kids.

It's always fun that my parents and my Grandma Pete come over to see the kids.  The frustrating part for them is that my kids don't really do a whole lot for them to see!  They open one gift at a time and then they play with it for a while.  By the time my parents left around noon to get ready for church we had opened only a few gifts.  My cute Granny was loving playing with the balloons and Spencer tied one on her wrist where it stayed all morning!

The best part of Christmas for me is watching my kids give each other gifts.  They get so excited to see each other open them and to see their reaction.  Mason was slow, but they were all patient with him as he enjoyed the boxes and wrapping.

This year we gave each of the kids $40 and the opportunity to earn extra money to use to buy each other Christmas gifts.  Victoria spent that and everything she had on her gifts.  She went to Build-A-Bear to get Mason a bunny that had music buttons in its paws.  She was very thoughtful.

Ezra gave Mason a Perry the Platypus that didn't really last long in Mason's arms!  Perry was quite a hit with all of the kids.

Mason gave Ethan his BYU pillow pet and I think that was one of his favorite gifts of the day.  He was so happy to finally have a pillow pet and that it was even BYU made it so much better!

Spencer was fun all morning and got a few gifts.  He has a money bottle that he keeps in our closet that broke so I gave him his electronic bank.  We kept telling Victoria that we love that she has an 'American smile' now and she didn't really know what we were talking about, so Spen took a few of his pictures with his 'Ukrainian smile!'  We sure thought it was funny..  after looking back at pictures he's pretty accurate actually!

Ethan was elated when he got a bank too.  He was so grateful and happy about everything he got.  He is the one that really started our Christmas' taking forever because he gets so excited to try everything out that we just decided we should let him rather than hurry him along to the next present!  Last year Christmas officially ended on New Year's Eve.  Hopefully this year isn't that long, but it really is fun to let them enjoy their gifts!

Ethan's 'big' gift from us was his radio.  When Victoria got here in April she was pretty involved with listening to her music.  It was really one of the first things she wanted to do.  Ethan is just the kind of kid that immediately ran down to his room and brought up his for her to use.  Well, he never got his radio back and never once said a word to Victoria about it.  He just decided that it was more important to him for her to have it.  He did ask me one time if sometime he could get one for his room again sometime.  He was very happy to get a radio/CD/mp3 player.

Our big gift for Victoria was her watch.  The one I got her when she first came works but you can no longer change the time.  We thought she'd really love it. 

After Christmas had gone on for a few hours Ezra decided that it was finally time for him to try his cuppy cakes.  He was very nice to take them around and share them with everyone that was there.  He had us sing a Merry Christmas song - I'm thinking it was his equivalent to a Birthday song?- and we all ate cuppy cakes.

Victoria was very excited to give Ezra his drill set.  It had a battery drill that he could screw in his screws.  He played with that thing for a long time.

She gave Ethan a Socker Bopper for him to try out his Taekwondo.  He loved that too.  We had a very successful Christmas morning.  This year Christmas fell on a Sunday and we had 1:00 church to get ready for.  It was a nice break to get all ready to go and listen to the speakers and the music that was prepared for Christmas.  It really helped us to remember why we celebrate Christmas and to be grateful for all that Christ does for us in our lives.

Christmas Eve - Christmas Morning ~

Christmas Eve is such a strange day for me.  It feels like the slowest day ever but then suddenly there is so much to do and no time left to do any of it!  We start out Christmas Eve with a little breakfast party at our house.  It's a tradition that I absolutely love.  If anyone knows me they know that I love a good tradition!  We had cousins and family over to play and eat and play some more.  My mom always has presents and games for the kids complete with a Christmas Lego set and ornament exchange story.  We hate to have people leave but they have to go and get ready to get together for dinner at my parents later!

After all the family left Spencer went errand running and me and the kids made our traditional homemade marshmallows.  It is always a huge mess and a lot of fun!  It's usually much colder than it was today so when I put my mixer on the porch to cool as it mixes for the 30 minutes or so it takes it took longer than we expected!  I'm just glad my mixer can take it. 

We got to cleaning up and organizing the house just how we like it for Santa to visit.  By this time it was time for us to get ready for 'dinner' at my mom's house.  We went over at around 3:30 this year to have kind of a lunch/dinner of our traditional Christmas soup.  It was delicious as ever!  I decided the first time she made it when I was a kid that it should be a tradition and named it 'traditional Christmas Soup' to ensure that it was.  It stuck and we enjoyed it this year too!  My kids love it and already remember it.  So much fun.  My mom had presents of pajamas for all of us which was so much fun.  Ezra got superhero jammies, Mase and Spencer got Mickey Mouse, Ethan got some super cool BYU flannels, and Victoria and I got matching purple fleece.   After the early dinner and fun presents we all set out to see the Christmas Lights in the Riverwoods.  It was freezing and gorgeous. 

We came home to make our hot chocolate and eat our marshmallows and treats.  Victoria, Spencer, and Ethan ended up in a whip cream fight.  There was whipping cream everywhere.  They were laughing. 

The kids were mostly excited to get to the present opening.  Nan and Papa Shaw sent pajamas for the kids too.  We had to get a picture of all of the kids showing off their pajamas.  Ethan was embarrassed that they were tightys so he tried to hide!

Victoria was funny when she opened hers.  She was not at all discrete about not liking them.  We made her put them on and when she did she liked them.  They were very soft and cozy.  After that she never wanted to take them off!

After we talked about Christmas and read our Christmas story the kids went off to bed.  We were so tired already that I wish we could have just gone to bed!  We have always kept every present hidden until Christmas Eve.  The kids all gave us theirs as they wrapped them to hide so that magically before Santa comes we put out all of the gifts for everyone all at once.  Ethan has always loved it because it is such a surprise and a change in the morning.
This year if you asked my kids what they wanted for Christmas Victoria would say, "a cat." Not happening.  Ethan said, "an electric scooter," or "an electric motorcycle," or "a BB gun."  Hmmm, not really sure about most of those!  Mason really would have loved if we could have pulled off a bike, but he is happy with anything.  But then Ezra... Ezra was a funny little kid.  He was a little confused with Christmas.  I think that he really thought it was another birthday or something.  When you would ask Ezra what he wanted for Christmas he would answer, "I want balloons and cuppy cuppy cup cakes."  So darling!  He stuck to that all month long.  Luckily Santa surprised him with exactly what he wanted.

It really was quite fun to have a room filled with balloons for Christmas.  It was a first for all of us.  This is what the kids saw when they woke up and walked into the room together...

The funny thing was that the stockings were what held Victoria's obsession.  She was so curious about what in the world could be in there.  Ethan kept explaining that we do the stockings very last and that just about killed her!

It's kind of fun having our tree on a platform that is raised about 14"  off the ground.  It really gives us a great place to stash stuff!

Ezra got some of the yummiest cuppy cuppy cup cakes ever.  They were fantastic.  He even got enough to share.  Along with his balloons Santa brought him a new train.

Victoria changed her mind from a cat the the beanie babies 'Chipmunk' dolls.  Spencer kept telling her that 'Santa must be real because he would never buy her that!'

Ethan got his Heely's.  He didn't ask for them but he was thrilled when he got them.  He put them on and was riding all over the kitchen for the next 30 minutes.  He was happy.

Mason got a new puppy.  This makes #7 I think?  He loves that puppy.  He wasn't very interested in Christmas this year.  Usually he rolls around in the wrapping paper and loves it, but he kept trying to leave and go to his cupboard in the kitchen.  Poor kid, kept getting dragged back to be with us.

It was just so much fun to walk into this Christmas room, I have to post all of the pictures I took!  We had such a great morning.  Our kids are funny.  They have always taken their time.  Christmas morning lasted a few days at our house.  More on that next..

Visiting Temple Square Lights~

Another tradition we have as a family is visiting Temple Square to see all of the lights.  We love going there but our kids always freeze.  We made sure to go prepared this year.  We actually planned our trip to arrive at Temple Square around 4:30 before the crowd showed up and just as it was getting dark.  It was in fact, genius!  We were the only people around for a while.  By the time we left after eating dinner across the street it was packed, but for the first little while it was quite nice to enjoy the lights to ourselves.

 We had to get a picture of Victoria with the pink lights.  The boys usually don't like me taking pictures over by the pink lights but now that we have a girl, it's allowed.

It was actually really great to go so early.  It eliminated a lot of the tantrums and crying we usually get.  The boys were very excited about the lights.  I honestly couldn't tell how Victoria felt.  Mostly it felt like she was ready to leave before we got there!  Oh, well.  We were glad she was there!  Ezra and Ethan loved being in pictures this outing.  That made me happy.  Mason was really good too.  That is not something we can count on lately with him.  He is really hating going anywhere.  This was such a great night though, I think we'll for sure do it again next year!

 It really is quite spectacular to see.

 As I was taking a picture of the family a nice couple offered to take one of all of us!  It was so great.

 This year my favorite and Spencer's favorite tree was the tree with all of the white lights.  It was breathtaking.

 You can see Spencer with the kids when we first got there by the pretty trees, there is NO ONE there!  It was so much fun to enjoy it without running a wheelchair or a stroller into anyone.

 It really is a gorgeous temple.

 We had to warn the kids about touching the water.  All 3 of them still tried!  They were amazed by the reflection pool as always.

 Ethan wanted a picture of himself with the temple.

 Then so did Ezra!

This was my favorite picture I took of the night.  I may actually have to print this one at some point!  I love the temple glowing through the tree of lights.  It was pretty. 

 Luckily we all stayed warm in our snow clothes.  We planned for freezing and we were pretty happy that we all kept nice and warm and could stay as long as we wanted to enjoy the lights.

 Merry Christmas!