Puzzle Time

Since Mr. T still takes 2 naps a day, we usually have an hour or two in the morning for big girl time. Today we played Cooties (a build-a-bug game that is very fun for preschoolers) and did puzzles. I pulled out my new toy during puzzle time and snapped a few shots of my growing girls for you all to enjoy.

Gingerbread close-ups

I got my Christmas present in the mail today and am very excited. It is a new camera! It arrived only 48 hours after we ordered it from Costco (even though it was supposed to take 7-10 business days). So after the battery was fully charged, I started taking pictures. Since the kids were already in bed, I used the gingerbread house as my subject (and Mr. J too!). Enjoy

The door that swung open to the ribbon candy trail

The snow covered sprinkle tree

A view from the top

All of these little men are one of the kids, I just can't remember who's who...

The skating pond
I like the color on this one, and how I can zoom in on the cookie in the back and the front one is kind of blurry.
Mr. J after about the 10th picture I took of him, isn't he hot?Me reading the manual, it was kind of confusing so I am so glad I have some great picture taking friends to call (like Leslie). As I was uploading these pictures, I realized Mr. J and I had matching sweatshirts on. I guess that's what happens after being married for 6 years (and being too pregnant to fit into my own sweatshirts...)

Gingerbread fun with Aunt Nanny

Yesterday and today, while I was at work, Aunt Nanny and the kids worked on a very fun holiday project! On Monday I made gingerbread men and panels and we went to the store and purchased a lot of candy and sprinkles. On Tuesday, Deanna made royal icing with the kids and started constructing the house. We used a whopper container (leftover from the sweet turkey treats) and it worked very well. Today, they worked on decorating the house and all the gingerbread men. Here are some pictures of the kids working on their project.. stay tuned for more pictures of the finished product.
All ready with their aprons and sprinklesAunt Nanny coolest aunt/nanny around!
Deanna said Miss O had to go wash her hands a lot, she couldn't seem to keep them out of her mouth..... The sugar cookies they decorated, Deanna said these were before she made the 5 pieces of candy per cookie rule
So Mr. T had one job, to decorate the wreath... as you can see he was quite excited about this
Although he thought the sprinkles should go in his mouth instead of on the wreath...
The sugar is starting to get to her...
Miss O working hard to get the sprinkles just right

The house from the top, complete with trees (sugar coness), a walking path and a pond!

Hello from Snowy Las Vegas!

I bet you are wondering if you just read that right... snow, in Vegas? Yep! It started around 3:30 today so I got to leave work early by order of the commander of the hospital because of "Inclement weather." And all the schools in Clark County School district are CLOSED tomorrow for a snow day. The last time that happened was 1979. According to the National Weather Service we could get 2-4 inches overnight. After living in Spokane, I am so thankful that is not enough to have to shovel. If I remember correctly, we left our snow shovel for the garbage man as we drove the moving truck out almost 2 years ago. Below are some pictures where you can kind of see some snow flakes... Miss M watching the snow fall in our back yard.

Miss O turns 3!

On Dec 6th, our sweet Miss O turned 3! In honor of her birhday we had a Fancy Nancy party. We had 8 of her little friends and neighbors over for a fun time of playing tea party outside (yes, I said outside... in December.. one of the nice things about living in the desert) in their castle tent and on the playground, hearing a Fancy Nancy story read by our favorite Kindergarten teacher, Aunt Nanny, making a simple, yet fancy, flower necklace and eating cake and peppermint ice cream. Below are some pictures of Miss O over the years, and then some from the party. Unfortunately our camera is nearing the end of it's life, but we did get lots of great video!

Aunt Nanny decorating the cake... kind of a tradition, she has done it for most of the kids' cakes.

Above she is helping the kids glue the craft and below the kids are listening to the story. No, they aren't praying, but imagining something fancy in their heads.

The girls posing for the camera.

Fancy Nancy doll, before she loses all her clothes and accessories... which may have already happened.. at least she will be well loved.

Snow!

Last Saturday, we took a long day trip up to the mountains of Northern Arizona near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We left at 3:30 am for the 250 mile drive (my sister and Tom camped overnight, but Mr. J was not successful in talking me in to doing that with 3 kids....). We stopped at Cracker Barrel in St. George, UT at 5:30 for a nummy breakfast and got to our meeting spot around 9 ish. There we had a camp fire, the kids played in the snow and Mr. J and Tom cut down poles (for a bunkbed for the girls) and a Christmas tree for Deanna and Tom. We enjoyed eating "Bobbie" sandwiches from leftover turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce (our new favorite... we got the idea from a great sandwich shop here called Capriotti's). Also, Deanna and I entertained the kids and tried to keep them from getting too cold (I changed outfits many times). After lunch, it was naptime, so we strapped all the kids in the van and her and I sat in the front to listen to Christmas carols on the van radio and play rummy. However, our Christmas carol listening only lasted 10 minutes because the battery died on the van, and we had to wait for Tom and Mr. J to return with the rover to give us a jump. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and sunny, even though it was only 30 degrees out, so we stayed plenty warm and the kids took good naps. We left the mountains around 330ish and still had enough sunlight to see the Grand Canyon from afar as we drove through Fredonia back to St. George. We stopped at Cracker Barrel again on the way home (it's a pretty delicious place, and that is the closest one to Vegas) with Deanna and Tom. All in all it was a great day. I almost wasn't going to go and was going to stay home with the kids, because I thought it was going to be too much work, but thankfully I realized I was going to miss out on some great memories if I passed this up.. and we had an awesome time!

The snowy trees

Miss M posing

Miss 0's cold hands

Mr. T reading, he loves books! Especially ones that have cars or animals in them. He likes to make the noises.

Tom roastin a brat

Deanna had perfect timing in capturing this picture. This was the exact moment after Miss M asked if we had any marshmallows to roast and I told her no, that I had forgotten them. Pure disgust.

The girls getting ready for naptime in the van.
Me and Deanna playing rummy and draining the battery on the van, fun times! Tom finally getting the chainsaw fired up to go cut down their tree.
The tree he cut down for them, after they beautifully decorated it!

Why I love 4:30 (on base)...

This afternoon, I was sitting in the back yard blogging while watching the kids play on the playground with the neighbors. At promptly 4:30 pm everday, the Star Spangled Banner plays. This is to signal the end of the duty day as well as the time that the main flag on base is lowered. (A military custom called retreat) You can hear the song wherever you are at on base. The kids on the playground have been taught to put their hand on their heart. Some of the kids have seen their daddies salute, if they are in uniform, so they sometimes do that too. It is super cute to see 5 kids between the ages of 3-6 stop sliding and building their bark dust castles for a minute or two to listen as our national anthem plays. One of these days I will try to snap a picture to post. Mr. J and I also find it quite humorous to watch what people do on base when this plays (often times I am leaving work at this time). One time I saw this older civilian guy at the hospital try to run to his car so he didn't have to stand still. And although the main thought in mind is usually to get home asap after work, I do enjoy this time of quiet reflection and am thankful that I live in this great nation.

Speaking of the Air Force, I thought I would take a second to brag on my little brother. He joined the Air Force in 2004, right after he graduated high school (and Miss M was born). He was stationed in Wichita, KS (where he met and married his wonderful wife) and this year they got orders to England, where they get to travel and see awesome things (he took her to Paris for the 1st anniversary!). Anyways, while he has worked full time at his AF job, he has taken online classes and just a couple weeks ago graduated with his bachelor's degree! For the last few months he has been working on applying to a program that would allow him to become a Medical Service Corps (MSC) Officer. The civilian equivalent to this job would be a healthcare administrator. The application process has included interviews and essays and I am sure a lot of paperwork. Well, I got the very excited call from him this morning at 6:45 am that he got accepted! I am so proud of him! Way to Go!!! Below is a picture of them at their beautiful wedding.