Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1983...

We rang in the New Year by hosting an Ugly Sweater Party.

We had food spread from one end of the kitchen to the other. So. Much. Food. Whoa. It was a fun time and here are some pictures to prove it!

Dave picked out our sweaters at the D.I. which I completely appreciated.

When I got home and lifted my sweater out the bag I asked Dave,

"Is this my sweater?"

And yes, of course it was my sweater- ten sizes too small.

Why do men always pick out clothes too small? Sure it's flattering and all but not when you actually have to wear the item of clothing. I think he must have forgotten that I am 6 months post baby and hanging on to some extra flubbage. Or maybe he just thinks I'm a ten year old.

He response to me, "That's part of what will make it so funny. Besides, the tag says Large."

And sure enough- the tag did say large. Large if I'm 10!!!

But whatever, I have no shame so I wore my sweater. With pride. And fatness. And loved it. It was itchy though.

Sara was rather confused when I put on my "ugly" sweater.

She gasped and said, "Mommy, it's not ugly. It's so pretty." I should have known- pink and purple and silver glittery stuff- just up her alley.

How do you like Dave's fluorescent stripes?? Awesome!!!



Sam & Alan ran out of time to get to the D.I. before it closed so they called my 86-year-old grandma and told her they were going to a fancy sweater party. She opened up her closet to them and here is what they found. How Sam can still date Alan after seeing him like this is beyond me.



Yikes. I'll have you know Russ removed his shirt just for pictures. Thanks Russ. Really. Thanks. I mean, you look great and all. But thanks. Russ got his sweater (I prefer to call it a doily) from Smith and Edwards Country Boy Store. Need I say more? And Nat- well, that sweater was gross. Just plain gross. I felt itchy just looking at it. Don't these two make a lovely couple?



My parents raided their own closet to find these treasures. My dad just kept adding layers to his ensemble and well, the jury is still out on whether my mom really thinks that sweater is ugly or not.



I think Kristina raided my parent's closet as well. Is it offensive to look in another person's closet for an ugly sweater? Bailey (Aunt Nat's sister) said she pulled this green and white wonder out of her own closet. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be ugly or not. I am behind the times.



Micah and Lora opted for less ugly and more comfortable. Recognize Micah's sweater anyone? anyone?



The Group- Dave's brother Scott took this picture. He came to the party dressed more for a luau than a sweater party so he took the picture. And no, he wasn't wearing a grass skirt.



Truth be told, as soon as these pictures were taken, nearly all of us ripped our sweaters off and breathed a sigh of relief. It was kind of funny.

At midnight we headed to the backyard to spray Martinelli's off the deck. This is the second year in a row we have done it so I guess it's a tradition! I don't even remember why we thought to do it last year.

Spencer was happy as a little clam in his high chair. He was giggling and kicking at nothing in particular. I love this baby!



Kristina giving Spenny a New Year's smooch.



Me and my sistah!



Sara, Annie, Stina



We were trying to see how many people we could fit in a picture taken by someone in the picture holding the camera out with their arm. If you made sense of that, I applaud you.



This picture is disturbing, yet appropriate for these three, on so many levels.



Happy New Year everyone! I can't wait to see what 2009 has to offer!

Christmas day

The best word to describe Christmas Day- RELAXING!

I don't know how we got so lucky but our kids didn't even wake up Christmas morning until about 10:00 a.m. It was awesome. They actually didn't even wake up, Dave woke them up.

We opened gifts, ate breakfast, and lounged around in our pajamas all day. Dave's fam came over later in the day and we packed ourselves full of food.

It was snowy and lovely.

I love Christmas morning because everyone is bleary-eyed, yawning, and sporting bed head.

Bleary-eyed...



Yawning...



Bed Head...



Taylor looks rather exceptional considering the Christmas morning circumstances. I love this picture because his beloved blankie is by his side. I'm sure he will treasure pictures like this in years to come when his blankie has been loved to the point of disintegration.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve with my family at my parent's house.

Some highlights of the evening:

The kids acting out the nativity-

Spencer was baby Jesus, sporting jeans and a bulldog t-shirt. So much for swaddling clothes... Taylor was a wiseman, with a big fat jewel plunked dead center on his forehead to make him seem more Wisemanish. Ethan was Joseph. Sara was Mary (obsessed with being Mary). Emma was the angel. Livvy was a Ute fan disguised as a shepherd. And finally, we threw Eliza in as all the misc barnyard animals. She did a fabulous job wandering about.

Santa Clause wasn't able to come to the party this year. Fortunately for us, Alan stepped in as a good jolly old elf and was handing out gifts like a mad man- the crowd favorite being the green sweaters. Alan has connections (hi Sam!) at J Crew and came across this great deal- the catch- only the green sweaters were on sale. And so, every guy in the fam got a green sweater. And that was only the beginning of the stuff he was handing out. Fun times.

Mark and Annie brought along their dog Charlie. Livvy loves this poor little dog. In this picture I would say it is possible that Charlie is having a good time.

In this picture I would have to assume the dog is fearing for her life.

Spencer having a little snack.

The kids opened their Christmas jammies at my parent's house. I have them do this in case one of them falls asleep in the car. We got the girl's night gowns at Disneyland. They were very surprised and excited to see them.

For some reason Spencer opened his jammies later and got a picture all by himself. Look at his little hands posing for the camera. He is a natural...

Spencer- 6 months and counting...

Spenny is growing so fast! I can't believe 6 months has come and gone.

Here are his stats:

• 18 lbs. 1 oz. (55-60th percentile)
• 27.5 inches long (75th percentile)
• His head was 75th percentile as well. I don't know what it is with my boys having gigantor heads. I personally love the orange on a toothpick look, especially on someone as cute as Spencer.

Things he can do now:

• Smacks his lips
• He has started noticing that we are eating- his little head follows our food from our plates to our mouths. It's funny.
• Went on a his first big trip to Disneyland (first time on an airplane!).
• Sits up like a champ.
• Grabs things and puts them into his mouth. I love it that he can play with toys all by himself. Yay Spencer!

In honor of him turning 6 months, I am posting his birth announcement. I got it out a month or two ago (sorry to those who didn't get one- I had an address debacle) but thought I would post it here for kicks.

How Sweet It Is

I would like to introduce you to our very own little Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Sara came home from preschool looking so cute. She was so excited to tell me all about her day.

She wanted me to make sure I got a close up of her masterpiece Gingerbread House. In a matter of hours Livvy had this thing picked clean.

Disneyland or bust!

Sitting down to type this post has kind of left me speechless, or I guess I should say "typeless".

We went to Disneyland with my parents and my sister Kristina. Between all of us, we have hundreds and hundreds of pictures. Dare I say thousands? And I'm going to post every. single. one.

We had ourselves a great time. It was the first time any of the kids had been on a flight (that they remember). They loved it. Livvy didn't love sitting so much. But that's Livvy and we pretty much expected crazy behavior from her. The good (or maybe bad) thing about flying to California is that many of the other passengers on the flight are also on their way to Disneyland. For me, that pretty much means the other naughty kids act as a distraction for any bad behavior my kids may have. It's just like sacrament meeting. My kids did behave very well. Taylor had an incident where he lifted up his drink tray while his drink was still on it (and very full with orange juice, might I add). Fortunately for me, I wasn't sitting by him. Kristina was. hehehe! She cleaned it up and they recovered nicely. I'm already giving way too many details and we haven't even landed in California yet. I'll stop.

Oh, and if you're worried about the picture thing, I'm really not going to post every picture. Only a couple hundred.

Monday was our buffer day. We explored Downtown Disney. We went to the movies and saw Bolt in 3-D. The sound and screen were messed up the entire time despite our numerous complaints. As we walked out they gave us free tickets to see another movie (thanks but we don't live here for crying out loud). I guess the best part of that would have to be that we actually all slept through most of the movie so bargain!

We spent four blissful (and tiring) days at Disneyland. (Tuesday-Friday) It was awesome. Tuesday we had early entry at 7:00 a.m. We basically had the park to ourselves for a couple hours. Our hotel was just across the street from the park so it made for fast and easy access.

So here's some highlights from the week:

• Taylor riding Space Mountain and bursting into tears the moment it stopped. And then riding it again the next day, only to burst into tears again.
• Sara riding the Matterhorn and squealing with delight. She pronounced it her favorite ride.
• Taylor bursting into tears once again after Splash Mountain. And no, he didn't ride that one again. He was traumatized for quite a while after that. We are proud of him for trying it though! The picture they captured of his face was priceless.
• I've learned that it's much less stressful to lose a child when you don't even know they are missing. Yes. You heard me right. One night we got on the train (lame). All were accounted for on the platform. We boarded. A couple minutes later an announcement came over the loud speaker, "Parents, please look around you and make sure you have all your children." Crap. The second I heard the announcement I knew it was Livvy. I just knew it. And yes, Livvy was missing. Dave went off to retrieve our child. One lady turned around and said to me, "How many children do you have?" (all sympathetic like) I said "four" she nodded her head all matter of fact "That's why". What is that supposed to mean? I didn't exactly agree with her on that one. Keeping track of four kids is not impossible- this woman has just obviously never met Livvy.
• Sara wore pull-ups the entire time! Such a life saver.
• My parents taking the kids back early and letting us stay and play!
• We went through Mickey's house in Toon Town. When they let us in the room to meet Mickey, Livvy timidly walked up to him. She kind of eyed him for a minute. Then she went in for a hug. We snapped pictures. Oohed and aaahed. Mickey pulled his arms away. Livvy didn't. She kept on hugging. So Mickey hugged her again. He let go. Livvy didn't. This went on forever. It was hilarious. She was in a dead-lock hug with Mickey and wouldn't let go. Mickey just kept patting her and hugging her. It's one of those moments you kick yourself for not having the video camera out.
• One day Dave, Taylor, & Kristina went over to check out the Jedi Training. Taylor didn't participate because Dave wanted me there with the cameras. I showed up maybe 5 minutes into the show. It was absolutely hilarious watching Taylor watch the show. His face was so fierce. As the kids were fighting Darth Vader and Darth Maal his face was all mean and contorted and he was holding an imaginary light saber in his hands. I could just see this intense battle going on in his head just by watching his face. It was priceless. The next day he was able to get up on stage and do the training. He was definetly more reserved about the whole thing being in the spotlight but he got to battle it out with Darth Vader and had himself a great time!
• And then there was the other time we lost Livvy in Toon Town... quite terrifying actually.
• It was so fun watching the kids experience all the rides. We took Livvy on the Gadget Go-Coaster in Toon Town and she screamed "More! More!" as the ride ended. I think the first ride we took her on was Small World and she loved it. She kept standing up, pointing at everything, and looking at us like "do you see that?"
• Sara wanted more than anything to have her face painted like a princess. Livvy got hers done as well. Taylor took the manly route and got a dragon done on his face.
• We loved seeing all the Christmas decorations. The Sleeping Beauty castle was awesome, especially when it was all lit up at night. Small World was also lit up really cool at night too.
• The girls met Mulan (Livvy calls her Boo-lan), Cinderella, & Jasmine. They danced with Snow White during the Princess Coronation thing. They listened to Sleeping Beauty and Snow White tell stories. And they saw Ariel and Belle. I would say we were quite successful in the Princess department.
• Other characters we met: Tigger & Pooh, Tinker Bell, Pluto, Taylor met 2 pirates, who both pulled out their swords and threatened to removed "that serpent from your face".
• Dave's first time seeing Fantasmic- it did not disappoint.

Saturday we flew out but we pretty much had the whole day to spend in California. We headed back over to the movie theater and used our free movie passes to watch Madagascar 2. It was actually pretty good. I was reminded once again that I am glad I don't live in California- everything is just too darn expensive!

We had a great time. We were so tired by the end of every day. I love vacations that wear the kids down so they sleep as soon as (if not before) their heads hit the pillow. Dave was convinced to be at the park every single second it was open. He pretty much met his goal with one exception- the kids got drenched at 'A Bugs Land' in California Adventure so we hauled all our soaking kids back to the hotel to change clothes and to take a nap.

The best part of the entire trip was having my parents and Kristina come along. It's so fun to share experiences in life with family. Family is everything and if you don't value that, you are missing out! We had a great time being together. Of course it was also nice to have more adults than children. However, I think that may be one reason we lost Livvy- we all thought someone else had her!

I've decided that going to Disneyland is kind of like being pregnant. The idea of it is all exciting and fun. But once you get there- you're dead tired. It's fun. And amazing. But tiring. By the time you leave, you're done. And you don't want to go back. But then you forget just how tired you were. All you remember is the amazing part- and oops, you're back. Is anyone following me here?

Good times. I'll leave you with a few pictures just to prove that yes, we were actually there and the content of this post is not just a figment of my imagination! Happy looking!

In front of the castle with the sun in our eyes:



See how chummy we were with Pooh? This was right after Taylor got off Splash Mtn so he was rather traumatized and sulky.



Liv meets Mickey:

the eternal hug:

Sara was thrilled to have her face "painted like a princess". I've yet to see a princess with her face painted like this. How do they dupe these kids into stuff like this? Doesn't matter- she totally loved it. I love her make-up coated teeth. What a treat!

For Liv we chose a much less involved design. With Olivia we never know exactly what is going to go down so it's best to choose the shortest route between point A and point B. And this was it. She did so good and held oh so still.

Taylor opted for the fire breathing dragon:

Here Taylor is battling it out with Darth Vader!

This picture makes me laugh because Taylor is asleep, all hunched over, on top of the stroller.

How sweet is this baby? Yum. I just want to eat him. He was such a trooper. He never got a good nap and caught a cold halfway through but was still a happy little guy.

Sara & Livvy met Cinderella and Sara suddenly became the shyest little girl on the planet

Me and Kristina



My parents. Bless them for coming on this trip with us! Seriously. My mom is flower obsessed so this picture is perfect.

Now that we are home I need a vacation from our vacation.

the big Three Five

This year Dave's birthday was squished smack dab in the middle of chaos- the day before taking off to Disneyland and worst of all, Air Force Reserves weekend- he had Air Force Reserves on his birthday. Booooooring!

My parents were kind enough to give him his gift a couple days before. He was thrilled- you know, these men and all their man things.



That same evening, Livvy stole center stage from Dave (which was fine by him) by holding this poor Snowman hostage, toting him around all night like her new best friend. She did have an incident where she dropped and put a dent in his bounteous tri-part body- that turned into an emotional deluge of tears but it didn't stop her from finding him once more (despite all grandma's efforts to hide him from her) and dragging that guy all over tarnation (is that a word?). Just one more reason why we don't own a cat.

Dave's actual birthday was on Sunday. So he was off at the Reserves and I was off to church by myself with all 4 kids and then home to pack. But before packing, the girls helped me whip up a yummy lemon cake to eat for dessert. Dave's favorite. I guess I should clarify who actually made the cake- I made the cake, the girls just helped with clean up- licking everything clean (dish soap is totally over-rated). Back to the cake, it doesn't look all that fabulous because it has a glaze on top, rather than a frosting but trust me, it's good.

So here he is, all dressed up in military brown, smiling for the camera. And I'll have you know, that wicked awesome Darth Vader candle on his cake is a repeat use from Taylor's birthday. I'm going green people! I'm going green...



Dave's sister, Amy, gave him a birthday phone call and decided to drop in for a visit. They came over, not knowing I had made lemon cake. Lemon cake. A riot almost started when they found out about the lemon cake. A riot. And to make it even better, I sent them home with the left overs because we were leaving the next morning at 5:30 a.m. (painful, I know). Anyhoo, they came, we sang, we ate. And then we reminisced about Dave's mom because she always made lemon cake. I love it when people just drop in. It makes for a fun time.

Happy Birthday Dave! (I know, I can't believe you're that old, either) Love you!