Let "love week" begin

We did this fun craft this week where we wrote things that we love about members of the family on these hearts and did a "heart attack" on the door.

Then one of our family traditions that goes way back is making these valentines cookie trains. It is one of my girls favorite things to do during valentines. I love getting into the festivities of the holidays. I think the kids love it to.

We have some "crazies' around here.

I had to do a post on the fun crazy things that happen around our house every day. Lexi came out with this fun little outfit put together this last week. She loves to be funny and get a little laugh out of everyone.( My favorite touch was the scriptures in hand.) There is never a dull moment around here and I love it!! Kids truely are the greatest.

Pirate Island Pizza

So last weekend we decided to take the kids to Pirate island pizza to have some fun. It was awesome! The kids had such a blast riding the rides and playing the games. Honestly we could have stayed there twice as long as we did. It is the perfect place to take a family since they have fun things for all ages. It is definetly something we will be doing again.

So grateful to have my girls!!

Last week I had a great gratitude moment. Last week Derek and I were laying in bed watching t.v and Derek was just flipping through the channels and he happened to stop on Oprah and we watched it for a minute. There was a mother on who was on a mission to stop texting while driving. She then shared her story of how her little 7 year old girl was riding her bike home from school when she was hit by someone who was texting that killed her. She shared her experiece of how aweful the sight was to see her daughters body laying there in the street and then she talked about the last night she had with her in the hospital. The doctors had told her that her daughter wouldn't make it through the night so she told how special that night was between her and her daughter. She said that she rocked her all night and sang to her and just memorized her face. Of course by the end I was just sobbing since of course it was easy for me to relate to the story with my two little girls about the same age. So I hope out of bed and went down to my daughters room and layed in bed with them and thought so much about my blessing and how much these two little angels meant to me. It was a special night and a special experince I had. I left with a new challenge that even though the days are so crazy and filled with what seems to be a million things to take care of. I am going to take time every day to spend one on one with those little girls I am so grateful to have with me.

"Winter get away"

A family in our ward owns this beautiful cabin up at Sundance that we were able to use for a 3 day weekend. It was so much fun. My dad brought up his guitar and taught the kids some new songs. They loved that.

The kids played and played in the snow. It had a perfect sledding hill just out the front door that was such a blast, and Derek also built a huge snow cave that the loved playing in.

Of course Grandma Chalmers had to make matching p.j's for all the kids. She is way too amazing!

It turned out to be the perfect weekend. Some went skiing while other relaxed and played with the kids. We did some art projects with the kids and played games and had way too much food. Overall it was a total success!!

2010, bring it on!!

We had a really fun New years eve party this year with a bunch of our cousins. We played games and ate some goodies. The older kids played rock band all night and we had some fun crafts provided for the younger kids. It was a lot of fun and I can't believe how well all the kids did staying up until midnight. They all stayed cheerful and had so much fun with cousins.

Santa, Santa, and more Santa

Went to go and see Santa who visits Lexis pre-school

These are from the Downey Christmas party that we have every year. The kids love it because Santa always stops in with a special present for each child. The adults love it because we always have a prime rib dinner that is to die for.

Christmas morning. We had such a great Christmas. Santa brought the girls "american girl" dolls which they were so excited about. The boys got lots of "car show" things they cannot get enough of lightning mcqueen right now. It was such a fun morning.

Kali and Lexi playing with the beads that Santa brought. They wanted to get all dolled up to go to Grandma Chalmers for Christmas dinner.

Christmas night at Grandma Chalmers. Of course the kids had to wear elf hats all night. and the boys loved Grandpa Chalmers train.

Caroling with the Downeys

Fun night Caroling with the Downeys. They are such great in-laws.

School fun

Kali had some fun things going on at school in December. First off at Orchard the first graders have a fun "Polar Express day" They get to wear their pajamas to school and bring their favorite stuffed animal. Santa came and visited and they had little elf helpers around the class room. And Kali's favorite part was that Santa gave each child a bell off of his sleigh. Then Orchard also every Christmas does a Christmas sing where each grade performs 2 songs for the parents. It was adorable.

Still playing VB and lovin it!

I have been playing volleyball a lot lately and I love it more than ever. This year we put together a team of some old college friends. I played with these girls at UVSC and we had so much fun talking about old times and great memories. Thanks girls for another fun season!

Kids performances

We got to attend Kali and Lexi dance class this december. They wanted to show the parents what the kids had been learning and give them a chance to show off a little. It was so adorable!! Their dance teacher Mrs Ashley is so great with the girls and they love her so much. Lexi has her twin cousins Sadie and Saylor in her dance class. They have a lot of fun together.

Kali has also gotten really good at gymnastics. She was asked this year to advance to the more competitive class. She had gotten her backhand spring down perfectly and almost her back tuck.. It is fun to go and watch her cause she is the smallest in the class. All the other girls are quiet a bit older and they love to kind of play big sister to Kali. She loves it and is really enjoying gymnastics.

Lexi Turns 5

Lexi turned 5 this December and I can hardly believe it. We already did her birthday party back in October, but we still did some fun things to make the day special for her. I think the highlight for her was getting to decorate her own birthday cake. She is such a sweetie and I can hardly believe that she is 5. Love you little Lu!!

Girls night out

Derek was out of town and so I took the girls on a date with me to go and see "New Moon" They loved it almost as much as me. TEAM JACOB

Family Pictures

We are all human!!

Okay so this is kind of a random post about something that has been on my mind and my sisters and I were talking about it yesterday so I wanted to do a post about it. I had a friend of mine last year say that she didn't want to blog anymore since it just made her feel bad about herself and her life. She said that reading everyones blogs about how perfect their life is was depressing for her and made her feel like she was a terrible person. Do you ever feel that way?? That everyone else has the perfect marriage, and the perfect kids, with the perfect house and friends, and they are always have a grip on life? So I wanted to do a post for the girl who is a little discouraged about something in her life. I want you to know that I am so not the perfect mom. I have lost my temper with my kids, and been impatient and said the wrong thing at the wrong time. My house is never clean, as hard as I try there are always messes that seem to never go away. I don't always make perfect home cooked meals. Some days are so crazy that yes I will run to McDonalds and grab some happy meals for dinner, with a rootbeer to top it off. There have been some days that I want to stay in my sweats and just kick back and hang out on the couch, and so I do. And some days I don't even get make-up on. Here are just a few things that make us not perfect. There are so many more I don't need to list them all. But I just wanted you to know that we are happy and life doesn't have to be about looking perfect and having everything that you see others have to be successful. You can find happiness in your imperfections and weaknesses. We are all human and trying to do our best and I think that is enough.

Halloween

Kali this year chose to be a vampiress. She is so in love with the movie Twilight that it has gotten her hooked on vampires. I love how she always has a pose for pictures....

Lexi decided she wanted to be the "water fairy" from the Tinkerbell Movie. It just suits her so well since she is just a little princess and always so girly and sparkly. Lexi is also a huge sugar nut, so Halloween is about the best time of year for her.

We decided to have the twins be "thing 1" and "thing 2" from the Cat in the Hat. They are too silly!!!

Here is the crew!! They are such a cute bunch of kids!!

Trick or treating was a blast this year. We had no idea that the boys were going to love it so much. They were running from house to house, and saying trick or treat when the door was opened. My favorite though was that they would wave and yell "thanks, see ya" to every house. It was such a blast for me to watch and the kids loved every minute of it!

Chalmers Halloween party!!

This year we decied to do our own Chalmers Halloween party for the grandkids, and it was so much fun!! We just kept it really simple and decorated cookies, and did an art project. Corey made a really yummy creamy chicken soup, with homemade bread and homemade rootbeer.

I just love so much that the cousins are all so close and love being together. There are 15 grandkids total and things can get kinda crazy when we try to do stuff together. But we love it and they love it.

So far we have partied through the Halloween season and there is a lot more parting that is going to happen through the week.

I love Halloween!!!!

Lexi's bday party!!

So this year we decided to do a Halloween party for Lexis Birthday. Her birthday is in December and we always have the hardest time putting together a party for her that month, and I also feel like she gets so many presents at Christmas time. So this year we wanted to try something different. And it was fabulous!!

The kids had such a fun time. We decorated pumpkins and ghosts,

Opened presents and had birthday cake.

Then played "pin the mouth on the ghost" and Halloween twister.

The kids had so much fun ,and most importantly Lexi loved it!! We love you little lu!!

Pumpkin Patch

In Lexis Pre-school class every year they do a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It is so much fun for the kids. They each get to pick out their own pumpkin, and they have a small corn maze, and two fun different playgrounds and some fun small animals that the kids can pet.

The kids had a fabulous time!!! We look forward to going again next year.

New photos of kids

Cookie Time.

Growing up every Halloween my mom would make these super yummy spiced sugar cookies with us, so it is a tradition that we are passing on down. We made them for FHE tonight and it was kind of a bad idea considering I am dieting and thought I would have no problem turning them down....5 cookies later I realized that I might not be as strong and I thought. Not to mention these are the kind of cookies that there is no way you can eat just one. Opps I gues I will have to step up the excersize program...

Spiced Sugar Cookies

1 c shortening

3 eggs

1 tp nutmeg

2 c sugar

3 tsp water of milk

1/2 tp cloves

3 c flour

1 Tbsp baking powder.

Cream sugar with shortening. Add eggs, water or milk, and spices. Sift together and add dry ingredients. Flour the counter and roll out dough. Cut in shapes. Use a spatula to place on greased cookie sheet. Dust with sugar before baking. You can color the sugar by adding a drop of food coloring and stiring or shaking in a zip lock bag until color is even. Makes great fall cookie because of its spiced flavor. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Goodnight Sweethearts!!

Here is my little angel Dominic as I lay him down for a nap and give him a kiss and tell him "Goodnight, Mommy loves you"

When I come down to check on the boys to see if they are asleep, this is what I see next....

These little stinkers have learned how to climb out of their cribs. Which has made nap time and bed time very interesting. At least in this picture their diapers are on...add that to the mix. This phase always comes way too soon.

Fall is in the air.....

I absolutely love fall. I think it is my favorite season for so many reasons; I love BYU football, I love the crispness in the air, I love when things are starting to get all cozy for the holidays, I love making all the yummy soups and pumpkin goodies, I love the trees changing colors, But most off all I love the festivities.

Little Lexi got her ears pierced this last week and is loving how pretty she looks.

I had presidency meeting on Saturday morning and came home to this. Daddy had some fun with the kids making pumpkin pancakes. The kids loved it and I could tell that Derek loved getting a little creative also. What a great guy!!

Here are just some pictures of the guys. They are way too much fun!

My latest hobby!!

I have pulled the sewing machine back out and dusted it off. I made a decision when I was pregnant with the twins that I was going to not plan on doing much for myself for the next few years since I knew it would only frustrate me. And the boys have gotten so much easier for me, so I decided I was going to be back some old fun hobbies. And first was sewing. So I made these adorable skirts for the girls, some cute aprons and winter pajamas for the kids. It has been so much fun to start sewing again, and see my kids wearing things that I have made for them.

My angel is 7

I can hardly believe that my little angel turned 7 today. I can honestly say that she has brought so much joy and happiness into my life. I have always called Kali my angel. When she was about 6 months old my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a hard time for our family and especially my mom. Well she was the only grandchild that lived close to my parents and since I was able to be a stay home mom with her I spend a lot of time with my mom as she was struggling through Chemo and sickness, and Kali was the bright spot of every day for me and family. She helped us all get through that hard time and I have always said that the Lord sent her as an angel to our family to help us through a difficult time. She was my little buddy and her and I had such an amazing realationship with each other. She has so much personality and spunk!! And she is so talented and gifted in so many ways. I love her so much and I feel like the years and flying by. It is like one of my favorite songs says, "I wish I could save these moments and put them in a jar, I wish I could stop the world from turning keep things just the way they are." I love her and I love so much that she was able to come into my life and teach me so much about love and patience. I love you little chick and I hope you had a great birthday!!!

Kalis dog birthday party

Kali told me from the beginning that this year she wanted to have a dog birthday party. So we went to work to find some fun ideas for her party.

We got Kali and Lexi all dressed up as puppies

I was so glad that the weather was so nice that we were able to do the party outside.

All the kids got their faces painted, then they adopted a puppy and gave it a name. after that they went and made a dog colar for their new puppy out of beads. Then we had dog races where they had to run like a dog and carry their puppy in their mouth. The kids were giggling through the whole race.