Tub Time

Last night, I put all of the kids in the bath together and then dropped in a couple of drops of lemon oil because Bridger has had a runny nose.  Bridger said, "Will that kill all the sickie bugs?"  I said yes, and then he dunked his whole face in the water to make sure to kill all of the "bugs".

Saxon wanted to make sure that he didn't get any "sickie bugs" so he dunked his whole face too.

Not to be outdone, Dalton dunked his whole face.

We all started cheering for our funny little guy!

He liked our cheering so much that he started cheering for himself.

Then we cheered some more because his clapping was so cute!

Then Saxon told him to do a high 5, and he did.

And we cheered some more!

Then Saxon told everyone to "swim like Shark Boy!"

So everyone flipped over onto their bellies and started kicking their legs.

My bathroom was drenched, but we all cheered!

Since Dalton was on a role (doing everything that Saxon said), Saxon told him to say "Thank You" in sign language.

He did!!!  That was a first and of course...we cheered.

Then Saxon told him to do "Please" in sign language.

And he did!  Another first!  More cheering!

We tried to get him to say "more", but he shook his head no on that one.

He must have been worn out from all of the performing :)

I wish I had the whole thing on video...they are so funny!

My three little munchkins!

Bridger...who can hold his breath forever!

I'm putting this kid in competitive swimming as soon as he's old enough.

Saxon...the ring leader.

He has everyone following everything he does.

His brothers follow his every move, and so do his friends at school.

We have lots of talks about "being a good example" because he has the kind of personality that makes people follow.  I want to make sure the he knows how important it is that he set a good example since everyone will be following.

Best buddies:

Dalton loves his Saxy lately!

He wants to copy everything he does...

And my baby cakes who won't smile for the camera...

But he'll clap...

Yay!  He's so dang cute!!!

I love these guys!  My stomach hurts from laughing so hard at them all night :)

Christmas Day

The boys were SO excited on Christmas morning.

I woke up to Saxon whispering in my ear "looks like I've been good!"

After numerous threats of "you're going to be on the naughty list..." he had to run out and check.  Once we finally woke up Bridger and Dalton, we crept out to the living room to see what Santa brought.

(Bridger decided to do "mustache!" for the picture)

Both big boys got big wheels from Santa:

The big boys were so excited about their stockings:

I don't think Dalton could have cared less.

In fact...he started to get a little annoyed that we were shoving wrapped presents at him.

He kept shoving them back at us.

He did like Bridger's big wheel though...

Saxon got a new winter coat,

Bubs got some Star Wars Figures.

He got Obi wan Kenobi and he calls him "wan kenobi-wan kenobi".  It's so funny!

Uncle Kasen gave Bridger a PSP and some games, and he gave Saxon a remote control car and some PSP games.  They were so excited!  Bridger's PSP came in a case and when he opened it, he said "Kasen got me a briefcase!!!"  He was just so excited that Uncle Kasen sent him something that he didn't even care.  He was even more excited when he discovered what was in the briefcase :)

Pops, Uncle Nathan, and Deanna sent the boys some cool Harry Potter Legos.

Bridger carries his Lego guys all over the house playing with them...

Finally a smile from Dalton...

It was because he discovered that Santa brought him Peeps and Candy Canes!

Later that day, he fell in love with his new Little People sets, but it took him a while to stop ignoring us.

The boys opening their presents from Mike.

Mike had everything labeled, but we accidentally gave Bridger the wrong box.

So while Saxon opened a toy, Bridger opened a box of batteries.

He was kind of confused, but ever since, all the batteries in the house have been known as "Bridger's batteries."  Each time a game needs batteries, Saxon will say "Well...you better ask Bridger for some...Mike gave him a TON of batteries!"

Mike gave the boys a Duck Hunting game to share.

We watched a YouTube video of it and decided that we'd better wait and try it outside :)

And the toy that Bridger was supposed to open instead of the batteries...

A HOTWHEELS Racetrack!!!!

He was SO EXCITED!

It was the one thing that he really wanted for Christmas!

After opening presents all morning, we made Kneaders recipe French Toast for breakfast.

Gregor and Joy came over and we exchanged gifts with them.

Then we went to church, and after, Jeff & Meg and the girls came over.

We visited with them for a while and exchanged gifts.

Wrigley was so excited to see Dalton that he was bouncing on him.

It was so funny.  Good thing he's sturdy.  I think he liked the attention too.

After visiting with Jeff & Meg we drove up to Heber to see Nate's family.

We spent the rest of Christmas up there, and then headed home to try to put our house in order since Nate had to work early Monday morning.

It was such a fun day and went by way too fast!  I wish it could have lasted twice as long...

Christmas Eve

Once Nate finally got home from work on Christmas Eve...things settled down.  We got the kids dressed and finished up dinner.  We had ham, cheese dip, corn souffle, fresh green beans, salad, rolls, and Christmas lemonade.  My Grandma Beth gave me a lot of recipe ideas, and I used the Christmas lemonade recipe from this months issue of "The Friend".

I thought it would be fun to make because I served my mission in Southern Brazil.  Christmas in Brazil is in the summer.  All of the girls get pretty new sundresses and you eat outside and drink lemonade :)

Do you love my glasses?

My sister-in-law, Brooks, made them for me.

We LOVE them!

The kids got to open their Christmas jammies for Gm. & Gp. Gailey.

They all looked so cute matching.

Six little blondies running around :)

Our family picture:

And a Gm. & Gp. picture:

(at least everyone is there, even if no one is looking)

After dinner we had a small Christmas program to remind the kids of why we celebrate Christmas.  We talked about Baby Jesus and we sang "Picture a Christmas" and "Samuel tells of Baby Jesus".  I made chalkboard Christmas ornaments for the kids with a picture of Jesus on one side and their name and chalkboard on the other.  Each year when they get out their ornaments, I'm going to have them write on the chalkboard side what their gift to Baby Jesus will be.  Then we will hang it on the tree so we can remember all season.

Christmas Eve - day

This Christmas season has been unusually busy for us!

Between my etsy shop, and my husband having to work a million hours, it's been hard to get anything else done.

We invited my Nate's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, but since Nate had to work all day on Christmas Eve, that left me to take care of the preparations by myself.

I was busy from the time I woke up in the morning...I didn't even dress my kids.  I wanted them to look nice for dinner, and I figured that the best chance I had was to dress them just minutes before dinner started.  I scrubbed the bathrooms...mopped the floors... folded the laundry... all while trying to make sure the rolls were rising and the fudge was cooling in the fridge.  

While I was entirely distracted, Dalton helped himself to breakfast...

Of course it had to be fruity pebbles that he dumped everywhere!  I was in a hurry, so I vacuumed up the mess and threw a tablecloth on to cover the fact that there were fruity pebbles wedged into the cracks of my table.  He was pretty impressed with his self-sufficiency:

While I was frantically cleaning up cereal, I heard Bridger go into the bathroom that I had just cleaned.  When he came out I said "Please tell me you aimed..."
Bridger: "Actually...I missed...sorry..."
Figures.
There was pee everywhere...the shower curtain, the trash can, the floor...not much in the toilet though...How does that happen?  So...back to cleaning the bathroom...

Today

Some funny stories from my funny boys:

Last night my neighbor did my hair for me.  I didn't have her blow dry it for me because it was really late and she was helping me out by doing it at all.  When I got home, my side bangs were falling in front of my face like real bangs.  

Bridger stared at me for a minute and said,

"Mom, your hair is not very pretty."

Later he told me that I couldn't brush his teeth until I was pretty again.

So I clipped my bangs to the side and asked, "better?"

He said yes and let me brush his teeth.

Today, we took Mike to the airport.

He came over to my house in the morning and dropped off Christmas presents for the kids since he won't be here on Christmas.

 Saxon came into the bathroom, where I was attempting to cut Dalton's hair, and screams,

"Mom!  You have got to come see this!!!"

After he showed me he said, "Mom, what are we going to do for Mike for Christmas?"

I reminded him that we already gave Mike his Christmas presents, on Sunday.

Saxon: "Mom, don't you know...when someone does something nice for you, you have to do something nice back.  Maybe I should paint Mike a picture?"

On the way to the airport, Bridger fell asleep in his carseat.  When he woke up, Mike was gone.  He started sobbing.  When I asked him what was wrong he cried, "I can't even see Mike anymore!  He's gone..."  It was sad.

Once we got home, Bridger had to go to the bathroom, so he locked himself in there.  I knocked on the door and asked him how he was doing.

He said, "I actually missed.  With my pee."

Nice.

This morning I told the boys that I had to clip their nails and Bridger said, "yeah...because I have snaggle-toes!"

Dalton started doing the sign for "more" on occasion, when he is really desperate.  But never when we ask him too.  Looks like I've got another opinionated little guy.

While I was trying to trim Dalton's hair this morning, I was letting him empty out my makeup bag to keep him entertained.  I was concentrating on the back of his hair, and when I looked up, I saw what he had been up to.  He had colored all over his face with purple, liquid, eyeliner.  It was a MESS and hard to clean off of him.  His hair still has streaks of purple.

Christmas Ideas

I've been trying to come up with ideas for Christmas Eve this year.

Mike and I found this picture and thought it was fun :)

This is Mike and I, as Mary and Joseph, on Christmas Eve.

I also just had a HUGE baking day with Joy and Megan.

We tried Steve's Meghan's toffee recipe and it was so good!

We also made a million cookies and a million oreo truffles.

Nate and the boys are going out tonight to deliver them to our neighbors :)

Up next...

planning and shopping for Christmas Eve dinner.

Sigh...every time I think that I'm done having to go to the store...I think of something else...

Funny story:
Saxon was supposed to be playing with Wrigley and Morley while we baked.
All of the sudden he yells:
"Megan!  We've got a problem here!!  They're about to touch the ornaments!...Nevermind...they already got them..."
It was cute!
The girls were really good and the boys loved having them over.

Preschool Christmas Program

Last week, Saxon had his preschool Christmas program.

It was so cute!  Saxon knew all of the songs and sang his heart out!

It was so cute!

Bridger lost interest part way through and climbed under the bleachers.

Saxon LOVES his teacher Ms. Nettie.

So does Bridger, he's so excited to be in her class next year.

Bridger insisted on doing his "mustache" in every picture...

The boys and Santa.  Dalton refused to go near him :)

Bridger asked for "hotwheels" and Saxon asked for "Indiana Jones Lego Video Game" (which Brittany got him for Christmas).

Yep...these are our best attempts at a group shot...

We can't wait til Christmas!