Be Clean

For Family Home Evening on Monday, Mike offered to do the lesson.

He talked about being clean and preparing to serve a mission:

He used Elder Anderson's talk from April 2011 General Conference:

The Lord has appointed a prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to direct the work of His priesthood. To you, President Monson has said: “The Lord needs missionaries.” ¹ “Every worthy, able young man should prepare to serve a mission. Missionary service is a priesthood duty—an obligation the Lord expects of [you] who have been given so very much.” ²
 

Then he pulled out mud masks and told the boys that we are going to get "clean."

The boys thought this was the craziest thing they had ever heard of.

They laughed through the whole thing!

Despite the grumpy face, Bridger secretly liked that it made him look like a smurf.

He didn't even want us to wash it off :)

My little Smurfs:

Dalton thought the whole thing was hilarious!

He wasn't about to be outdone, so he started cheesing it up and doing his happy dance.

Enchilada face and all...

He wanted a blue face, but I wasn't sure about mud masks and baby skin...so I said no.

I just can't get enough of the cheesy face!

Love it!

Nate and the boys, and me and Saxon :)

Bubby refusing to smile, and Mike with Saxy.

 The kids talked all night about how this was the coolest FHE ever!

They can't wait to do it again!

Thanks Mike!!!

The newest artist

A few days ago we noticed some crayon scribbles on the wall.

We asked Saxon if it was him.

He said, "No! I'm way bigger than that!"

We asked Bridger who also denied it.

Then we looked at Dalton who started giggling.

He walked over the the artwork on the wall and started giggling and stomping his feet in a little happy dance, all while pointing at the crayon scribbles.

He was not only admitting to it, but very proud of it.

Then Saxon said,

"Ahhh, Baby Dalton got Grandma Beth's talent!"

Since then, I have noticed more crayon on the walls, and on the floor.  I've even caught the little trouble maker scribbling all over the floor.  He's quite the artist.

Bagel City

My kids love the Taylor Swift song "Mean."
They love to belt out the chorus.
Except that they sing "Livin' in a Bagel City!"

A few days ago, I was driving with Bridger and Dalton on our way to pick up Saxon from school.  The song came on so I turned it up.
Bridger sang "Someday, I'll be...Livin' in a BAGEL CITY!"

After the song ended Bridger said, 
"Mom, does the Bagel City have lots of cream cheese?"
I laughed, "Yep, I think it does."
"Can I eat that bagel city with cream cheese?"
More laughing..."sure you can!"

Then I called Nate to tell him about it and Bridger cried because he was embarrassed that we laughed.  He's so funny though!

Christmas Decorating

A few days after Thanksgiving, the kids talked us into getting a Christmas tree.

They were too excited to wait any longer :)

We also got out all of the Christmas decorations.

This is a new favorite that Brittany gave us:

"Santa's magic key."

You leave it out on Christmas Eve, so that even if you don't have a fireplace, Santa can find a way in :)

The kids LOVED decorating the tree.

They are still constantly rearranging it.

It looks awesome! LOL.

Ward Christmas Party

On Friday night, we had our Ward Christmas Party.

The primary kids were asked to sing, and Bridger decided to join them.

He kind of hummed along for a while, and then he just walked off of the stage.

He decided that he was done :)

Saxon did great though!

He sang the whole song, and then kept singing it to himself that night at home.

Dalton emptied out a jar of m&m's to eat.

That's why he has a red and green face :)

Bubble Boy

At the Festival of Trees, Mike bought the boys some tickets for the kids section.

They got to stand inside of a GIANT BUBBLE!

It was sooo cool!

Once they were in the bubble, they had to blow to try and pop it.

Bridger:

Saxon:

Dalton:

They also called Santa from a phone booth, made layered sand necklaces, went fishing for treats, and made these cool reindeer antlers.

They complained a lot when we were looking at all of the trees, but they LOVED the kids section.  By the end of the night they kept saying "Thank you so much Mike!  That was the best night ever!"

Festival of Trees

On Thursday, we went with Mike to the Festival of Trees.

It was AMAZING!

I had never been before...

Everything there is donated...even the money to pay for the Expo Center.  Our ward was collecting donations, so Nate and I donated some painted signs to sell at the gift shop.

We started off at the Gingerbread Houses:

This was my favorite...the Burrow...the Weasley's house from Harry Potter:

They even had tiny little broomsticks and Weasley's sweaters hanging outside.

The roof was made of frosted mini-wheat's.

It was adorable!

Madagascar Gingerbread House:

They had a Harry Potter tree too...(obviously we love Harry Potter)...

Saxon and Bridger:

"A Romanian Christmas"

"Up"

Saxon and Bridger in front of the "Puff the Magic Dragon" tree.

They, Bridger especially, love that song!

One of my neighbors volunteers at the Festival of Trees.

She told me that one tree sold for $12,000!

She they had sold more trees by Thursday afternoon this year, than they did by Saturday night last year.  All of the money raised goes to Primary Children's Medical Center.

At the end of the night, Mike bought 2 HUGE cinnamon rolls.

He ate one, and Dalton ate most of the other.

All of that wandering around made him a hungry little guy :)

Field Trip Fridays

I'm behind on posting about Bridger and his field trip Fridays, but I can't get my pictures to upload!  Here's a few that I did manage to get:

We went to Pizza Hut to make Pizza for the letter "P".

We had to be there at 9:15 a.m. but Saxon had to be to school at 9:30.

So, we decided to ditch :)

Making pizzas sounded like more fun.

Saxon and Bridger worked together to make a pizza, and then learned all about pizza hut.

We ate our pizza for breakfast on the way home :)

For the letter "I" we went to Cold Stone to make Ice Cream:

Bridger and Dalton got cotton candy blue :)