Look Alikes

There seems to be no doubt that Dallin looks exactly like Brian. When Brian holds Dallin, he looks like a little mini me.



But I have wondered about Blake and Kyle, who looks more like Mom, or Dad.

I found this old baby picture of me, and for sure I think I look more like Blake as a baby.







Blake also looks a lot like my Dad, especially in the eyes.

Kyle does has my eye and hair color, but he still looks like a Schwab to me.



They sure are cute little boys!

We Love Sledding

The park across the street has small hills perfect for sledding.







Super fun!

Naughty

Hey Mom! Baby proof this!

Sunshine!

It's January and the weather has been so beautiful! Usually January is my least favorite month. It's cold, dark and there are no Christmas lights to lighten things up. But if January was always like this, it would be one of may favorites.

I took Blake and Dallin outside and we had a great time! Blake and I played hide and go seek.





and jumped on the trampoline:



Blake is super fun to play with.

Dallin was fun too, can't you just hear him saying "Ball" when you see this picture?



We also went to the park:



Kyle is getting older, and wants to be alone more. That is why he isn't in this post. Really, I never thought that would happen to Kyle. He has always wanted my time so much. It's a bit of a shock to see that he doesn't always want to play with me.
:( Oh well, we do other things together and we still talk every night. So I still have some Kyle time.

Having a yard is such an important part of these boys lives. They need outdoor activities. I love being outside with them. I know the snow will come and cover everything up, but it sure has been a great way to start January.

Wishful Thinking

When it comes to your kids, you always have in mind the way you think or want something to go. The way things actually go is usually different. You think of playing games together, everyone happy, smiling, and lots of I love you's flying around. You also think of going fun places together and everyone excited. Pretty soon, you realize that it is just wishful thinking and reality sets in. Going places with little people is so much work and it doesn't always result in smiling faces. You come to accept that games are frought with lots of tears and pouting because they didn't win, and the rivalry sets in. This year, I wanted a picture of all the boys in front of the tree with their Christmas Jammies on. Here is what I got:



I tried my best. But, well, this was it.

I settled for 2 out of 3.



We don't always have the best family home evenings, or the happiest game of candy land ever played, but they are still awesome. Even when they are throwing a tantrum.

I love my boys. And maybe next year, I will get all three of them smiling at me in front of the Christmas tree.

Upgrade

I love to read. Love it. Like most people, I don't get all the time I would like to just lounge and quietly enjoy a great book. So, as often as I can, I get a good book on CD and listen to it in the van. I don't necessarily trust much fiction to be appropriate for little ears so I usually stick with church books for that. The bonus is that it helps me teach relief society and it is spiritually uplifting to me.

Three months ago we sold our Honda Van and got the Dodge. I love this newer van but the one drawback has been that the CD player in it didn't work. I was kinda bummed. So for my birthday Brian got me a new one! It has an Ipod connector so that I can now listed to books on CD, without worrying about getting them back to the library on time. It is awesome!



I felt kinda guilty because it is really nice, but he told me that it was a black Friday special and he really did get a great deal on it. Then, as he pulled the dashboard apart to install it, he found $6! Then he pulled out the old factory CD player and he heard a metal rumbling sound in it. So he shook it, and coins started falling out. He shook it some more and about $1.50 in change came out of it. I guess the kids of the family who owned this before us do what kids do, which is put coins in the CD player. After Brian got all the change out, the old CD player started working! And I guess the factory one is worth more that what we paid for the new one. Even in used condition. So, I got a great upgrade! And now I can listed to my Ipod in the van. Bring on the Sheri Dew and John Bytheway!

Christmas!

Oh, I love the age my boys are. They are so much fun. Christmas was something they have been looking forward to and excited about for a while.

For Family Home Evening the week before we did a lesson about the meaning of Christmas, then played with Play-Doh. Can you tell what we made?


Then on Christmas Eve we had what is now pretty much a tradition. Everyone met at my house and we had a little nativity with the cousins.



What else could Blake be but a shepherd with his Lamb? It was chaotic and busy, but I loved every minute of it. It is so fun! These kids are each so special and I love them.

Since we each kind of do our own thing Christmas morning, we usually open the Grandma presents on Christmas Eve too. I love this face of Blake's, priceless!



Bummer of all, we ended up with a stomach bug. :( Dallin got it first, but of course it coincided with me trying to get him on milk. Every time I give him milk, he gets sick. So I figured it was the milk. Then, Blake got it, and I wanted to blame it on the two huge boxes of candy Aunt Dixie gave him, but I was a little suspicious. Then, I started not feeling so good Christmas Eve night. It was awful. Especially considering that Dallin, my usually good sleeper was awake from 1:00 until 4:30 am. Nobody slept that night. 7:30 am rolled around and we all got up excited anyway about presents. Here is what they woke up to! Lucky kids.




Maybe I don't get to do a lot of costly things with my boys during the year, but we always have a great Christmas. They will have great memories of this.

Anyway, the stomach bug was gone quickly. So my birthday was still fun. Tired as I was, we still took the sled out and put it to use right away.





The boys aren't the only ones who got spoiled, I did too. I certainly wasn't expecting it. But I got a beautiful new coat and an awesome printer/fax/copier among other things. Lucky me! Mostly, I am lucky to have my little family and home, and also to have my savior. He loves us all!

Merry Christmas!

Brian's Birthday

Brian turned 34! Wow, wierd. I didn't get him much, but I know that this is something that he will use and will like very much. Waders.
Here they are:


He didn't like that I snuck a pictures, so this is all that I got. Anyway, you get the idea.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Next Time

If it's quiet in the playroom and I think, "Oh, Dallin is being so good in there," I should be thinking, "Oh, Dallin is eating crayons in there."

Snow

The white stuff is here! I spent over 30 minutes bringing out snow pants, boots, hats, gloves and winter coats from storage. I got the kids all bundled up and out we went. After all that effort we were going to make it worth it.
Dallin doesn't remember snow from last winter. So this is really his first experience with it.




He wouldn't let me put his gloves on at first but quickly realized his hands hurt. Then he was happy to have them.

Sledding at the park! So fun. Well, not for Dallin at first:



I love that Dallin is bawling in this one! He quickly realized that it was really fun. He got into it after this and it was all smiles.



Dallin is the luckiest little boy ever, his big brothers love him and enjoy watching him do new things. Both Blake and Kyle were cheering for him and loved having him ride with them.




Look at Blake's face! He was pretty into it too. Though I thoroughly miss summertime and playing in the water, watching the boys have fun in the snow is pretty satisfying too. Maybe we'll have to do a snowman this afternoon.