Ward Christmas Party

Due to the calendar of events this year our ward party was quite early. The kids had a wonderful time and I didn't have to cook.  Chris was even able to get off a bit early so we could all go together.  It was fantastic.  The members of our congregation all provided the food and the activities for the children.  There were even crafts as well as coloring, a Santa that we got pix with, yummy holiday food, and a performance of a special Christmas story.  We even sang carols.  It was a good night for all of us.

 Liz and Joe worked hard on their masterpieces.

daddy and Ally made a bell necklace.  we knew where she was for weeks!

 my cutie pie smiles for the camera

 Ally really liked the bell - good eating I guess!

 Great picture Joe!

 Evie made a bell necklace too, but wouldn't keep it on

Singing carols after dinner and dessert

This was a good way to continue the holiday festivities.  We had a lot of fun with our ward and they were very nice about making sure the kids had fun things to do.  Our kids are usually so well behaved at things like this that we always enjoy taking them to activities like this.

December Birthdays

Oh my goodness this was such fun!  Our little Lizzy turned 2 and Daddy turned 33, sshhh!  We had a combined birthday which I think will be a regular thing until she gets bigger.  She doesn't mind and it saves mom a lot of time and energy during a time of year that is already very full of activity.

Anyway, so mom only baked one cake and we just sat down on the afternoon and had a little party.  It's so fun to have a big family.  We never have to worry if our kids feel like they had a big party - of course they did, we were all there!

We piled all the gifts at the end of the table and had a great time!  Just look!  Liz got lots of fun things and daddy got some comfy clothes, a tie, and candy (his favorite kind of gift).  We had a good time.

Lizzy had so much fun.  She's also the most careful present opener we've all ever seen.  She carefully opened the tissue paper and looked inside.  Then got all excited and pulled out the baby princess.  It was adorable.

Evie was our present giver.  She gave one to Liz and then one to daddy.  It was great and she felt very special and included.  It was fun to see how fun they all participated.

Chris was so cute.  He cracks me up!

This was a gift that Evie picked out special for Liz.  It took Evie almost 20min to choose so I was really grateful that Lizzy liked it as much as she did...

 ...it's a talking picnic basket

It's a family tradition in the Fosburgs to have to guess what their gifts are before they open them.  So here is where Chris is smelling his present to help him figure it out.

he was so excited to get his favorite candy - picked especially by Liz

Ally was so cute and happy just to be there.

Lizzy loved this little phone.  In actuality, everyone likes the little phone.

Joseph was really excited to pick out the tie for daddy.

more fun stuff just for Liz

it was more fun to switch off and on with gifts so this was dad's turn

see? careful Lizzy!  this gift took almost a full 5 min to open.  

the kids were going nuts waiting for her to open it!

 this was the gift from grama and grampa Fosburg 

Then of course we had the cake.  It was so hilarious.  Our kids love cake, but Lizzy seems to love cake more than anyone else.  She eats every bit and then licks the plate, fork, and anything else she can get her hands on that has cake.  It's so funny!

 this is the only picture with me in it from this day.  Sorry!

this is the gift from Nana and Papa - the singing card got so much attention from everyone that I eventually had to put it away to save mommy's and daddy's sanity!

It was a great day and both my little Lizzy and my sweet husband felt loved.  I was so grateful for the family members who remembered us on that day.  With us living far away, sometimes out of sight means out of mind!  Thankfully, that has never been the case with our families.  They got singing phone calls and thoughtful gifts.  Thanks so much everyone!

Library Days

So every couple of weeks we usually go to the base library.  We go to the library for books of course, but also for the story time, the listening stations where Joe practices telling stories and answering questions, and the computer station for Eve who loves to learn by tech.  It is a great library with an enclosed children's section and arts/crafts sometimes.  This was our last visit to the library for a while due to circumstances and a lack of updated tabs!

 this is Tami, her last day in the children's section

Isn't this adorable?  Joe and Liz sometimes are so like twins when they are together.  This moment they were a little bored with the storytelling and chose to read by themselves.  They shared surprisingly well and I got lots of cute pix.

Even Ally really enjoys the story time at the library.  Due to the number of kids I bring in, we're pretty easy to spot and remember.  Most of the librarians wave hello and come to take a look at who is new and who is growing.  I'm a bit of a pariah, but never looked down upon on base.  I really enjoy the kindnesses of those around us (they often hold doors for us and are patient with tantrums).  Ally is always absorbed by a good story!

Anyway, so this day we read books, listened to stories, and made gingerbread men with construction paper, puffy paints, and sequins.  They turned out wonderfully and made for great decorations in our kitchen.

Christmas daddy/daughter date

 For Evie's daddy-daughter date in December, Chris and Eve went to the local production of the Nutcracker.  It was so cute.  She wanted to wear her new dress, tights, and shoes.  Then we did her hair in a special way and added some of mommy's sparkly stuff, like clips and necklace.  She was so cute and very excited.  We even gave her a little perfume to smell nice.  It was so great to see her having so much fun and she hadn't even gotten to the playhouse yet.

her lovely hairdo

 isn't she so pretty?

she loves! these special dates.

It was so funny - Chris said the production wasn't amazing because it was mostly local kids, but they did a good job and of course, the audience was very supportive.  Evie really enjoyed it.  She loves ballet and honestly, she would've participated except for the performances and practices on the Sabbath.  Chris said it was almost like watching a recital because the local parents were cheering after their children appeared.  Cracked me up.  At least there was a lot of support right?

Evie didn't care if it was the included the most amazing ballerina ever, she just liked that it had one.  She talked about it for several days afterward.  It was a great experience for all involved.

Being Home

After all that traveling being home was really nice.  My husband, sweet man that he is, made sure to have an extra day off or two when I got home to give me a nicer easing back in period.  Something else he did?  He had put up the Christmas tree and pulled out all the holiday stuff for us to get started.  Wasn't that nice?

So, I didn't do much when I got home except hang out with my kids and my husband.  Take a look.

 yep, we all just laid around

 my little cutie

 such a beautiful girl!

 so adorable, my Ally

 aahh, my boys - aren't they so cute?

While I was gone Ally accomplished another growing feat!  She began pulling herself up on things!  I was so excited I took lots of pix.  I was really happy to see her doing a bit more as she neared her 1st birthday.

 she finally began seeing the top of this toy!

I so loved these pictures!  The first cracked me up so much, I couldn't help but put it in here.  My kids are so silly.  I love it.

 one of our first pix of all four kids together 

- so much get up and go, so little mommy energy