Going Wee & Sneaking a Taste

January was a slow month around here, and really it was nice.  We didn't have much going on and after such a busy fall photography season and Christmas, it was nice to just be home and try to get back into a semi-decent house cleaning routine again.  Jensen has been oh so adorable and such a little stinker lately!  He has started with the full blown tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, or if I dare disrupt his play time with silly things like putting pajamas on!  Arching his back and nearly diving out of my arms, throwing himself to the floor to cry, all that fun stuff.  Heaven help me.  But when he is not throwing a complete fit, he is the cutest little thing and just keeps me laughing.  It's a very good thing he completely melts me when he's happy, keeps me from  losing my mind when he's not.  His absolute favorite thing is outside.  He love, loves, LOVES playing outside!  If you are in the neighborhood and here him crying like he's being tortured, don't worry, I'm not actually beating him, just bringing him inside.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots from January, here he is going "wee".  He was so cute as soon as I got the camera out he started blowing me kisses, he's quite a good little kiss blower I must say.  

It has been really fun to watch him start to figure things out, one thing he know for sure, is that when he hears mom's mixer going that means "treat" and he comes running for a "taste"!  Last week I made cupcakes for my Activity Day girls, he had come over to see what I was making and I had shown him what I was mixing up.  He went  into the pantry, and I didn't think anything of it, he plays in there a lot, he came out a minute later with a package of napkins, he had a great plan in mind...

As soon as I realized what he was doing with those napkins I dropped my  measuring cup and grabbed my camera, I could not believe he was figuring out a way to reach up and sneak a little taste with a package of napkins!  What a smart little stinker.  He is definitely his Daddy's boy, nothing stands in the way of him and a good treat! 

Our Merry Christmas 2012

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year.  I had been feeling especially excited for this year's Christmas for months, the kids are at such fun ages, and I knew it would be such a ball for Jensen, and fun it was!  We did have a few setbacks - Ryan's truck breaking down the Saturday before Christmas, Madi coming down with croup, and our water heater going out on Christmas Eve!  But thankfully we had Jack the Plumber come to our rescue and spend his Christmas Eve installing a new water heater for us, so all was well!  Really, Merry Christmas to us, "hope you like the new water heater Babe, what gifts can we take back to the store?"  was how our conversation went.  But truly I was very thankful for Jack and his kindness!  And even though Madi had totally lost her voice and had a barking cough, she didn't feel too bad, so I decided if I had to have a sick child for Christmas it wasn't too bad.  Really it was kind of nice, she couldn't screech at Pierson for days.  :)  

Now, onto the pictures, here are some highlights...

I was so excited to do my Christmas baking this year!  Last year I didn't do as much since I was in the "year of the baby", but this year we were ready to rock n roll!  We made mint fudge, peanut butter fudge, creamy chocolate fudge, peppermint rice krispy treats, pretzel hugs, and Grandma Allen's Christmas tree cookies and her "chow cookies", which were favorites of mine growing up (Love remembering her with these!)  I had great helpers and we had a lot of fun baking up a storm and delivering goodies to our friend.  Of course our favorite part was eating them, yum!  

I love having Pierce actually help me in the kitchen!  He really loves working that cookie press! 

Of course Jensen was a great helper as well, he is the best beater licker around!  This kid has quickly figured out that the sound of the beaters going means something yummy and he comes running! 

Sunday best!  Our ward Christmas program was so fantastic this year!  We are blessed to have so many talented people in our ward!

I so love my house at Christmastime.  My mantel was really made for Christmas, it's just not complete the rest of the year!  All ready for Santa to come...

Christmas morning...

Ryan and I always make the kids wait on the stairs so we can be ready with the video camera when they come running around the corner anxious to see what Santa left for them!  I just love seeing their reactions!  Madi was so funny this year, she was a little worried she was going to get coal.  So she was very happy to see that she had not only not gotten coal, but the finally got the "kids camera" she has been wanting since last year! 

Jens trying out his new truck with some help from DaDa.  

Pierce was thrilled to get new Star Wars Lego set and a remote control helicopter!  

Jens didn't last too long on the truck, as soon as Pierce and Madi started dumping out stockings he quickly moved on....

this boy is all about the candy!  I think he was on his third  Reese's peanut butter cup before I even realized.   Daddy's boy for you.

After his 5th or 6th I took everyone's candy and put it out of reach, he was not too happy about that!  He put up quite a fuss until Big Brother got his helicopter going, then he was mesmerized...

Madi LOVES her new Kids Camera, and so does her new Singing Sock Monkey

Finally decided to give up the candy and give the toys a try.

Jens loved opening presents and was very excited to get some new books from Mom and Dad!  This boy loves his bedtime stories!

 

She may look wondering,  but Madi was very excited about her American Girl books from Mom and Dad.  My little book worm had most of them read before school started back up again.  

Jens loves his new pirate ship from Mom and Dad!
And I love this face!  Talk about melting me!  

We all loved having Grandma with us for Christmas this year!  Last year she had spent Christmas night with us and Pierce had requested that next year she stay with us on Christmas Eve so she could be here to see what Santa brought with us.  We were lucky to have her with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  We were glad Santa found her at our house too! 

We love you Grandma!  We are sick of Mom making us sit still for pictures, but we do love you!

We saved the opening of the kids' presents to each other for the afternoon, I love spreading it out a bit, Ryan get's annoyed with me, but I think it's nice and makes the excitement last so it's not over in 10 minutes of the morning.

 

Fun Games from Madi and Jens! 

Madi loves her LaLa Loopsy bus from Brother, and LOVES her Hello Kitty hat from Jens.  She was practically lived in this hat since Christmas.   She looks so cute in it.  

Pierce working hard on putting together the "Mine Shaft" marble set Mom and Dad gave him.  This kept him busy for a few days!

Sweet boy.

What a fun and special day we had!  I truly felt so blessed this year to enjoy my sweet children and the joy of Christmas with them.  I am so blessed to have such precious kids and to have the best husband on the planet.  We have so much to be thankful for and so many joys in our life.  I am so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ, for the wonderful celebration of his birth, for his life and example for us! 

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  (Well technically today, since it's after mid-night) The month has just flown by!  Honestly I'm a little sad that Christmas is almost here - I love the kids' excitement and anticipation all month long, the lights, the music, the parties, the treats, I just love the fun and the feeling of giving and joy in the air!  I love it so much that I'm always a little sad because I don't want Christmas to be over. It has been a fun filled and busy month for sure, here are some our favorite traditions and fun activities that we've had...

Jubilee of Trees!
Our kids love our tradition of kicking off the season with a visit to see Santa at the Jubilee of Trees.  We have been doing this since Pierson was a toddler, I am glad he is still so excited about it.  Pierce was actually a little stressed as we were getting ready, he just could not decide what he should tell Santa he wanted!  I was worried that Jensen would freak out like Pierce did at this age, but he did great.  Not exactly a smile, but he didn't cry, so I'm calling it a success!

This was an especially memorable year at the Jubilee this year, Ryan totally scored and with $5 in raffle tickets won the "Prize Drawing Tree"!  I could not believe it!  The designers from Tai Pain showed up that night to set it up in our living room!  It has been so fun and the kids have been loving it!   A little hard to see the actual tree but it is in there under all that decor.

Ryan wanted to check "put up the tree" off his list after this, but there was no way I could not have our tree up for Christmas.  Even though our tree is somewhat bare and by no means fancy, I love it!  I love all of our family ornaments and the memories that go with them.  It is fun to see it get a  little fuller each year. Plus the best thing is, that it has been so fun to have a tree up stairs and down, our playroom upstairs is pretty bare, we love having the tree up their to add a little cozy!

I have to say that my very favorite thing about this Christmas Season has been Jensen's fascination with the trees and the lights.  He loves them!  He doesn't even try to destroy them either.  He definitely enjoys rearranging the ornaments, but all kids proof ornaments within his reach have made it all the merrier.  He says "tree" and "lights" so cute, when we get him out of bed in the morning as soon as we walk out into the room, if the lights are not on yet he points and says "ah-oh"! then runs to turn them on.  It didn't take him long at all to figure out all the tricks to turning on all the lights around the house.

Christmas Performances

Pierce has been singing in the school choir this year and they got the fun opportunity to sing at the tree lighting for Dixie Escalante.  Such a fun family event.  We had never been so I didn't know what tree they would be lighting, this tree is huge!  So fun to see it all lit up!

The choir kids did a great job!  Ryan and I love watching Pierce get into the songs, he is a great little singer.

Madi's ballet studio  put on "A Christmas Carol" ballet this year.  This was her first year being in the ballet and she loved it.  They got to perform at the Dickens' Festival, at Tuachan and then their studio recital.  She has a lot of fun performing, especially with her best friend, Annie.

Love these two beautiful girls!

Pierce, Madi and Jens having fun after Madi's performance at Tuachan.   Cute little Shepherd and animals if I do say so myself.

Gingerbread Houses!
I think our annual "Gingerbread Houses with the Woodbury's" is the kids' most anticipated Christmas time activity - they LOVE this!  This was our 5th year doing this together and  it was even more special this year, we got to do gingerbread on Annie's birthday!  Here are some highlights...

Kathryn always makes real gingerbread from scratch, (she's amazing like that, we are just lucky she invites us!) and she always makes extra so we can enjoy some fresh gingerbread cookies.  Which I think is my favorite part.

Pierce with his cookies, he was not very happy with me for eating them, better make my own next year.  

Our lovely gingerbread house!  We did a pretty good job this year!  Much better than last year.

Madi with birthday girl Annie!  Happy Birthday Annie!  I can't believe you are seven! 

I was also relieved that Madi's tooth had finally come out that morning!  The poor girl had been brave and let me try to pull it out for her, it seemed so ready, and when I gave it a little tug it did not come out!  One side was totally detached and the other side was not letting go, I felt so bad, I never would have tried pulling it if I didn't think it was ready, I'd never seen such a stubborn tooth!  So after that she was terrified and we had a week of her with the lovely "tooth hanging by a thread".  She would not let any one touch it and did not want to pull it out herself.  Thankfully, it finally just fell right out!  She was so happy and I was so relieved!  Even though she has lost 4 teeth, they've all been on the bottom so this one is the first to really change her smile, I love/hate this.  So cute and so sad at the same time.  They are growing up way too fast.  

Holiday Attire Party

My most hilarious friend, Angie, hosted a couples "Holiday Attire Party" and it was such a fun night for Ryan and me!  Ryan scored himself this sweet sweater at DI in preparation for the big night.  I wasn't as on the ball, next year I'll have to come up with something much better.  Here we are in our Sadie Hawkins pose.

All the girls -

Jen, Kimberly, Lauren, Kathryn, Andrea, Laura, Shelley,
Mel, Kendra, Me, Angie, Kenna

The Couples - 

We all enjoyed some delicious food and had some good laughs.   A lot of good laughs.  We played the candy bar game, (round 1 for the ladies, round 2 for the men,)  and Guesstures.  I was so impressed with everyones acting and pantomiming skills!  We are just surrounded by talented people here!  So much fun!  Thank you Ang, you are the best!  

Thanksgiving

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year!  We stayed home and had a small, somewhat quiet Thanksgiving with JoAnn/Grandma.  Our niece, Miranda, who's attending BYU, came down to spend the weekend with Grandma, so it was just the two of them from the Robison  Family, and my sister, Ginger, and niece Taylee, came to town for a soccer tournament and were able to come stay with us and get here to enjoy Thanksgiving with us.  I was really looking forward to being home, cooking, and having a small gathering (very small in compared to our regular Robison Thanksgivings, which we have at the church so we can fit all 16 siblings/spouses and 30 grandkids!) It was really nice to be home, enjoy the day and be able to use my china!  

I had visions of the beautiful pictures I would take of the delicious looking food all prepared and of my beautiful children, dressed nicely, smiling and cute for a great Thanksgiving day portrait.  Ya, that didn't happen.  I was too busy bustling around the kitchen getting all the food ready to take any pictures of it, and as for the kids, well  they were too uncooperative, busy for any lovely  pictures.  Imagine that. 

I did manage to capture one of the choicest moments of the day though.  My little man was desperately wanting my attention as I'd been ignoring him all morning trying to get things ready.  So I decided to let him sit up on the counter and see what I was doing - he was as happy as can be!  Here are some darling shots of my little helper...

So cute!  I know.  Have I mentioned I am kind of in love with him?   

Ryan did a great job cooking the turkey and I was happy to get at least one Thanksgiving-ish shot...

Love my boys! 

This was as close as I got to my mental picture...

 Jensen, Piece, Madi, Tay and her friend Paige
Already in p.j.'s,  Jensen, unable to hold still, Madi busy in her notebook (wonder what she was writing?), hey at least Pierce smiled for me, he loved having cousin Tay here to play with! 

After dinner we had our friends, The Binghams,  join us for pie and games, the kids had a ball playing and we had more delicious pie than we knew what to do with.  Well, not really, we knew what to do with it.  We enjoyed it thoroughly for the next several days.  One of the reasons I was most excited to cook Thanksgiving dinner, all the leftovers!  We really had a wonderful day - delicious food, great company, lots of fun!  We are so blessed with a beautiful family, home and the gospel of Jesus Christ!  It was a Happy Thanksgiving at our house! 

Breaking Dawn Part 2 - The End of an Era

 The Twilight Saga - I can't believe it's over!  As much as I was excited for Breaking Dawn Part 2, I just kept thinking how I couldn't believe this was the last movie.  I have had 5 years of Twilight fun and it has been FUN!  I have always blamed Kathryn for my addiction to Twilight, she suggested I read the book (back in 2007) and told me it was about vampires, I said "no thanks!  I am not reading a book about vampires!"   So to convince me to read the book she gave it to me for Christmas.  I started reading it and by chapter 3 I was totally hooked!  I was reading like a mad women and went and bought New Moon and Eclipse before I even finished reading it.  I read all 3 books in 9 days.  And I thought I didn't have time to read with 2 kids.    Funny how vampires who suck you in can convince you to stay up til 2:00 am reading, and read while you stir noodles and read while your kids are playing in the tub and pretty much read any spare second you can.  I had never had so much fun reading a novel before and I honestly hadn't read anything for fun in years, I had forgotten how much I like to read!  I have pretty much always been in a book since then.  I love having a little escape from reality for a few minutes (or hours, you know, depending on the obsession) everyday.  So I'm thankful to Kathryn and I'm thankful to Stephanie Meyer for getting me back into reading for fun.  I have read a lot of great books in the last 5 years, but I will say the Twilight Series have been my favorite for sure.  Nothing like the thrill of reading it for the first time, if you haven't read them yet, you should.   

I have had such a fun time seeing the movies with our friends,  a little trip down Memory Lane....

 Kathryn & Me at Twilight, November 21st, 2008 in our 1st matching shirts, "Twilight Vampires are Forever" (they were awesome!)

Lynds, Kathryn, Me and Mel at New Moon, November 20th, 2009, in our funny matching shirts, "My heart belongs to Ryan (husband's name), but my neck belongs to Edward."  I love this picture, one of my favorites to this day, love these girls so much!

Tonya, Me, Kendra, Kathryn, Staci S., Angie, Lynds, Staci D., Annette at Eclipse, June 30th 2010.  Lynds, Kathryn and I had shirts that said, "6.30.10 Eclipse My Vampire Awaits".  We had had it with the iron on that year, that's when we came up with our awesomeness of Breaking Dawn....

 Lynds, Jana, Mel, Kathryn, Tonya, Annette, Ashley, Staci, Kendra, Me at Breaking Dawn, November 18th, 2011.  Epic, Awesome shirts - "Couples Who Watch Twilight Together Stay Together!" 

And Here is a look at our fun gang for the big finale - Breaking Dawn Part 2, November 16th, 2012!

Shane & Laura, Dustin S. & Staci., Curt & Mel, Darin & Lynds, Dustin W. & Kathryn, Dustin T. & Kendra, Nate & Ashley, Ryan & Me

Love these girls!  Me, Lynds, Mel, Kathryn, Laura, Stace, Ashley, Kendra

Kathryn and Me, love that we have a picture of us at every movie!

Best Husband on the planet right here.  Thanks Babe for putting up with my Twilight obsession, listening to the books on CD, designing our awesome shirts and being so fun for all the movies!   I am the luckiest.  Edwards got nothin' on you. 

Such a fun night!  I loved the movie!  I think this one was my favorite one, they did a great job wrapping it up!  Probably the most intense 10 minutes of my life too!  Ok not my life, just my novel/fantasy life.  Glad everyone can live happily forever!  Thanks gang for 4 years of movie fun!  It's been a blast!  What now??!!