Ear Piercing

Maizy had been noticing that people have their ears pierced for quite a while now. We contemplated whether to let her have her ears pierced or not. We finally gave in for her 6th birthday. My Aunt manages the store Icing that is in the South Towne Mall so we thought it would be great to support her as well. We also decided last minute to just do both girls so we didn't have to do the whole cleaning thing again-pretty much to make our lives a little easier. Maizy went first and didn't even cry. She screamed out "Ouch" and that was it. I was so proud of her.

Zoey, however, didn't handle it quite as well. She wanted it done but cried the entire time. To make it worse, what could go wrong did. They did both sides simultaneously but on one side the back didn't go on so they had to grab her ear and push it on. The other side, my Aunt's glove got caught in the earring. We had to cut it and then tear it off. Let's just say drama!

Now that the drama is over, they are both excited to have earrings. Maizy bugs me non-stop asking "is it time to clean my ears yet?" She keeps me on my toes.

Santa, Parties, and Christmas

Wow has it been a busy December. The kids were lucky enough to have a visit with Santa 3 times before Christmas. I think they enjoyed each one.
This first visit was put on by the Lion's Club here in Coalville. He came riding in on a Fire truck to the station. He gave them a little sack of candy along with an orange.

It took Zander a little convincing, but once I told him he would get candy if he sat on his lap, he was all for it!

This next visit was at our Ward Christmas party. It was crazy-too many kids pushing to get there, but we were one of the first ones since my kids are still little.

I spent all morning Christmas Eve making cookies with the kids. They chose the colors...surprised they didn't choose red.

The last visit came Christmas Eve. We had the Jones' Christmas party at my Casey's sisters house and we somehow always get Santa to show up for a short visit. He brings all the kids a small present and they love it.
Zander sat on his lap pulling pieces of paper off his present and handing them to Santa until he had the whole gift unwrapped. It was hilarious.

Zoey is at such a fun age. She finally gets it this year.

Maizy of course believes it all. She had to make sure she told his what she wanted. So cute!

Christmas morning Zander got the Toy Story dinosaur...he LOVED it. My mom barely got it out of the box before he grabbed it and started loving on it. He also fed it waffles for breakfast that morning.

Maizy had me taking so many pictures of her holding different things. Both the girls got this Rapunzel soft doll. They were so cute.

Here is Zoey trying to hold as many Princess barbies that she can. My brother got the girls a pack of 7 Princess barbies to share...they were in heaven.

I am so thankful for our our kids and our families. They all mean so much to us. This season is truly magical. We have had a fabulous Christmas and hope each and every one of you did as well.

Update for Halloween and part of December

The Elementary school always does a Halloween parade. When I was a kid, we used to walk through town and all the businesses would hand out candy to us as we walked by. Now that is considered "unsafe" so they parade around the football field with us in the stands. Not quite the same, but it is fun to see all the kids dressed up. Maizy is in the white fairy costume.

Maizy made such a cute fairy. Unfortunately it was cold so we had to have warm clothes on under her costume.

Zoey was the prettiest Snow White I have ever seen. She absolutely loves being a princess-I hope she grows out of that soon!

Zander was the transformer Bumblebee but he would not wear the mask for anything. I attempted to put some face paint on, but who am I kidding...he is 2!

We spend Halloween at my friend Cindy's house. She is always a great hostess, the kids have a blast, and we always have great food.

This is the first of the attempts to get a good family picture to send out with our Christmas cards. It was a beautiful day and we had matching shirts. The second we went outside Zoey started whining about it being cold...and then I sat her in snow. It was all downhill from there. We tried a few pictures but she was just bawling. Needless to say-STRIKE ONE!

I thought since it was cold outside according to Zoey standards that I would try a few inside. The lighting wasn't good, the kids wouldn't all look the same direction, and our tree just wasn't big enough to get the shot I wanted...STRIKE TWO!

The 3rd attempt I said screw it to the matching shirts and decided to just do coats. It was another beautiful day. I like this picture, but the lighting wasn't very good.

This was also a pretty good shot, but not the money maker I wanted it to be.


Jackpot! I love this picture of our cute family.

This is our cat Tigger. He loves to climb on my piano...ggrrrrr...and sit on the lights since they are warm. He doesn't realize in the mean time that he has knocked over multiple things to get there. It looks like a giant cat has destroyed the town. Godzilla is back!

I love the Christmas season. Even though November and December are so chaotic with a lot of parties and get togethers to mix in with work and kids, it is still a magical season. I look forward to having my kids sit on Santa's lap and see their surprised faces on Christmas morning.