Wedding of the Century

On the 26th, I was up all night being sick. Like the kind of sick I only get a couple times in my life. It was not fun, and the next day I was very weak and tired. So the kids were kind of on their own. And this is what they did:

I heard a knock on the door and it was this handsome guy asking for Addie because he was going to marry her.

Here is the lovely bride.

The officiator and the maid of honor (and only guest besides me).

They set the refreshments out on the AC unit, because we're totally classy like that.

I guess Andres also gave her away.

It was a beautiful ceremony. Dexter proclaimed that the knocked down section of fence was the perfect place for the wedding.

Afterwards, there two were super-cute in helping each other with their sweaters.

Christmas Day 2016

I didn't get too many pictures on Christmas Day, but the ones I got were pretty good at depicting the day. We were really chill most of the day and had a good time just playing with our presents.

There was lots of Legos going on. Eliana got a set of Duplos and Addie helped her put them together.

And then the boys spent a good chunk of the day hanging out in what has come to be known the Lego Room. If we get too many more Lego sets, our Lego table might just burst.

Aunt Kimberly sent us a lot of fun things, including kits to make some 'calming bottles'. Everyone had fun picking their colors and putting in as much glitter as they could.

Dexter was super-duper excited about his telescope. He had been asking for it for a long time and Santa not only got him the telescope that he wanted, but also an astronaut costume.

Christmas Jammies 2016

For our Christmas pajamas this year, we went with a Star Wars theme. Of course the most fun part was that it was everyone's first Christmas presents to be opened.

Opening presents always seems to be an easy skill to pick up.

Cutest little Wookiee

I kind of with they made shirts like this for grown-ups.

Dad always has lots of helpers willing to help open presents.

The whole crew.

I was really excited to find pants that came in sizes for me and Addie. It's so fun to be twinners.

Christmas Eve Nativity

We had some friends over for Christmas Eve, and we had lots of yummy food and a lot of fun. One of the best parts about having young kids is that we end the evening rather early even on Christmas Eve. So, we did our traditional Nativity act with just our little family. Addie wanted to be the angel and Andres wanted to be a Wise Man and Dexter wanted to be Joseph. Eliana got to be Mary and I was volunteered to be the donkey.

Mary and Joseph.

On the way to Bethlehem.

The whole group. Joseph, Mary with baby Jesus and a helpful Wise Man, and the angel.

Christmas Stockings

I've been working on this project for several months. Updating our stockings was made completely necessary by the birth of Eliana last year, but I was a little busy and I knew that she would not care if she didn't have anything. So this year I started looking for ideas and finally found one that I liked. The best part was that I had most of the supplies already. And the fabric and thread that I did not have, I was able to get an awesome deal between sales and coupons at JoAnns. Can you tell that being thrifty is one of my biggest motivations in life?

The hardest part was embroidering the names. I used my regular machine and by the end (it took me quite awhile to finish all 6 names, plus I redid Adelaide twice) I was actually really good at it. But you could not pay me to do it ever again. So it's a good thing I don't ever have to do this again.

Cookie Decorating

We decided to start our Holiday celebrations with some Christmas Cookie decorating. The kids always beg me to make cookies that they can spread all sorts of extra sugar on, and I finally gave in. They had lots of fun and did indeed use a lot of sprinkles.

Just look at the love in those eyes. She made the most of the frosting and the sprinkles all seemed to melt as soon as they touched her face.

Biggest smile goes to Andres.

Addie is always very professional about her decorating. And notice the best part of the movie on in the background.

That has got to be a good cookie.

See, they totally know how to decorate a cookie.

Playing in the Foliage

We love fall!! It may not be fun to rake up all these leafs in the yard, but they are fun to play in. And boy, do I love the colors of the trees changing!

Halloween 2016

This Halloween we went with a theme of Dexter's Laboratory. We had a lot of fun and really got into the characters that everyone was. And of course, went a bit overboard in some areas. But, what is Halloween without stress and doing way more than is really necessary? So Jason went overboard with the accessories and the hair, and I went a bit overboard with the pictures. Apologies.

First of all, Jason's pumpkin. Using all his perfectionist and slightly OCD skills once again he created an awesome pumpkin.

The Whole Family. I don't know if the parents have names other then Mom and Dad, but that seems appropriate.

Dexter as Dexter. Andres as his nemesis Mandark. And Adelaide as DeeDee.

Dexter grew a lot this year while Addie slowed down a bit, which is why we knew we had to do this one ASAP to get the height difference that there is in the show.

Although I think we did a pretty good job with costumes and hair, I really don't think that reddish hair goes with either of our natural coloring.

This little monkey might have been too cute to only take one picture. I had to include them all because they were all so cute, fun and her.

"You will never be anything more than a mere monkey."

And our trunk for the ward trunk or treat. Jason made some pretty cool glow in the dark beakers and flasks and even used the hand from the Addams Family Halloween in the big jar.