Pugs and Kisses

We are dog-sitting this weekend! Darla (the pug) and Nellie (the lab/springer mix) came Thursday morning and will be hanging out with us through Saturday...or, if their owners get stuck on I-29 coming home from Minnesota, maybe a little longer! They are super sweet and the kids just LOVE them.

"Mommy, I'm drawing a picture of Nellie and Darla for them to take home with them," says Emily.

"Mommy, doggies really love me!" says Christian.

It's been fun. 'Glad they're only here to play though. Ever since Peanut passed away last January, the kids have really missed having a furry friend around (even though they were constantly getting pestered by him). But, I'm busy enough w/the kiddos and so getting another animal is NOT an option right now. So, when the opportunity to puppy-sit came along, I thought it would be a win-win situation for all! (The kids get their pet-fill for a bit, and the dogs are only here to visit--perfect!) And, I visit teach Darla and Nellie's "mommy" and so the kids will still get to see them at least once a month after this!

(Nellie, licking Emily, while Darla snags a nap.)

Post Office Casualties

It has come to our attention that many of our out-of-town friends and family members have received our Christmas letter and picture in bits and pieces (or not at all--the front of the envelope is all that has survived in a few instances!).


So, along with the resolution to buy better envelopes next year, here is the picture that we sent out this year. The letter outlined the major highlights of the year (and if you're a reader of this blog, you've hit the highlights and the lowlights!). I'm so sorry that so many cards were mutilated and lost to the Great Post Office Abyss and I vow to avenge them next year!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2010!

Merry Christmas!

This year the weather cooperated and we were able to have a wonderful, non-snowed-in Christmas with our family. Christmas Eve was spent out at my Grandma's. Dinner was delicious and we opened up a few gifts as well--let the craziness begin!

Once we got back home, Emily and Christian each wrote their respective notes to Santa and we set out the obligatory treats (complete with Santa's favorite cinnamon roll!). We then read "The Polar Express" and the Christmas story in the Bible. Then, it was off to bed!
Santa came with fun toys for all! Emily's quote to Cubby: "Daddy, I'm surprised that Santa brought us gifts this year b/c we were pretty naughty!" We told her that her good deeds must've out-weighed the bad!

Christian's gift from Santa: Spike! He's been wanting one of these for at least a year and a half. Thankfully, Santa loves Craigslist and we had one happy little boy!
After opening presents here (and after Kari took her little rest), we headed over to my mom's for brunch (complete w/Swedish music) and, of course, more presents!

Kari had much more fun this time (when she first woke up, she was a little unsure about what was going on and just wanted her regular "routine" rather than all of the chaos!) After getting to Grandma's though, she got her second wind and enjoyed opening up some of her little gifts.

When it was all said and done, we had some tired kiddos (Christian especially!) We did have some great bonding time and had a fabulous Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Lindseths!

Her Spidey Senses Were Tingling

This Spideybaby was super excited to get dressed up like the big kids!

L is for Lycanthrope

Emily and Christian's book-of-the-week is a book called "H is for Halloween" by Althea Kontis and Bob Kolar. (A bit out of season, I know, but it's what they brought home from the library last week.) In it, the letter "L" is for Lycanthrope, or werewolf. So, today they were pretending to be lycanthropes. I asked Emily what werewolves do. She said, "we go out and hunt at night. If we bite any people, they turn into werewolves too!" (Pretty accurate.) So, after building an appropriate den, off they went on their hunt (downstairs). Here is their catch:

And here is what Emily had to say about their latest kill:

Emily (snarling): This is my meat sandwich. It's red with blood. But, whatever we don't eat turns back into chicken at night!

I got a good laugh out of it and since I usually don't record all of the funny things they say throughout the day, I wanted to get it down quickly before I forgot! I hope you got a chuckle as well :-).

I LOVE SANTA!

Santa came to visit our church ward's Christmas party. Because our oldest is just a TAD bit afraid of the jolly man in red, we have not taken the kids to see Santa before. This year, though, Christian wanted to see him. And boy, was he excited to see him! He ran right over and gave him the BIGGEST hug--just like seeing an old friend! They then got down to business and discussed the upcoming holiday and what a sweet little boy would want (Zhu-zhu pets and robots).


It was so darling! Even Kari allowed herself to get a quick picture. But, you ask, where was Emily??

Watching from afar! Even at six, she still wants NO part of the Santa experience. Well, I guess we'll just see if she ends up with what she wants for Christmas!

Emily did have a nice time, however, with her sweet little friend, Aurora. She was so thrilled to be able to sit by her at dinner!

Jingle Bell Rock

Emily's dance puts on an informal Christmas concert. This year, Emily's class did a cute little tap number to "Jingle Bell Rock." Emily was very excited--they got to wear jingle bells! It was such a cute little dance and she did so well; she really knew how to do each of the steps! In fact, her whole class did great and the tapping sounded loud and clear!

I think she liked pretended to "rock the night away" by playing her air guitar!

That's the Jingle Bell Rock!

Sick Day Fun?

I was coming down with a cold Tuesday and Wednesday. And as you all know, the first two days of a cold are the worst. Thus, we had "fun" getting into everything! (B/c Mommy didn't feel well enough to stop it!)

Christian also used his fort constructing skills to build one on his own while Mommy tried to rest on the couch. The picture of Christian and Kari together made me think of a time just a few years back when Emily was the big-kid of the fort and Christian was the baby! Kari also had "fun" playing with the holes in my slippers. (This is the second pair of slippers that I've ended up with holes in the toes!) Kari thinks they're great and they kept her busy so I'm all for them too!Our final bit of fun came when Kari realized that she could clap! I showed her a picture of a baby clapping and then asked, "Kari clap?" Well, she did it! She was so proud of her new trick that she'd clap on command and would even do it while nursing. SO CUTE! It did make me feel a bit better :-).

Perhaps it was all of these little "fun" things, or maybe it was due to my great brother taking Emily and Christian to the library in the afternoon, or maybe it was thanks to prenatal vitamins, EmergenC, Zicam and, a good night's sleep (after a couple of weeks of NO good night's sleep), I feel much better today! I think I've just succeeded in curing the common cold--call CNN!

Allergies

Remember this picture back when Kari turned 9 months old? I had written that she had some mild eczema. Well, hydrocortisone and creams were not working and she had the rash all over her body (except for where her diaper covered). I realized that it all started back when she started eating solids (baby foods and finger foods). So, I took her in to an allergist and she was tested for various food allergies. It came back that she is allergic to milk, eggs, soy and corn. Yup, corn. Very strange, but it made sense b/c this little girl LOVED her Kix cereal (all corn) and Gerber Veggie Crunchies (also corn based).

The doctor assured me that most kids outgrow these allergies, but in the meantime, I'd need to monitor her diet very closely (bring on the label reading!). Since she's still nursing (and she did not have any reaction to my breastmilk), the milk/soy issue isn't huge...yet. Same with the egg thing. However, it is becomming difficult when she wants to eat what we're all eating at dinnertime and what has been prepared has either dairy or eggs in it. So, I'll be heading into Hy-Vee this weekend to have their dietician walk me through the store and show me what I can use as substitutions for these foods. I know there are substitutes for milk/soy and eggs. The tricky one will be corn. EVERYTHING has corn in it (it's subsidized by the government and so manufacturers put it into everything--even wheat and rice-based foods that otherwise she could have.) So, we'll have to test the waters a bit and see what's out there.

The good news is that ever since I substituted Cheerios for Kix and Rice Chex for Corn Chex, Kari's skin has dramatically improved. (Although she doesn't like Cheerios nearly as much as she liked Kix!) She's much less itchy too so, naturally, she's happier! This is just a new area for me since NO ONE in my family has food allergies (especially a weird one like corn!). Where did all of these allergies in kids come from? Growing up, I vaguely remember one friend having a peanut allergy. But that was it! Is there something in the water? Our diets? It's just strange. Hopefully, she'll grow out of them in a few years!

A Very Dapper Christmas

Christian's preschool Christmas program was Tuesday night and boy, was he Mr. GQ! The littlest kids did three songs--Christian knew each one, he just sang very quietly (as did most of them!). He was definitely rockin' the mohawk and, for some reason, was going for the hands-in-the-pocket pose. We loved it!

The lighting was terrible (it was in a gym) and so the pictures are a little dark. But, you get the idea.

Uncle Kyle came to cheer us on too! (And, he took Christian over to get his oh-so-important post-concert cookie!

It's Fun at the Y-M-C-A!

This year, Emily had her party at the YMCA. They have a nice little deal where you use their "party room" for an hour and then you get to go and swim for an hour. It worked out so well and I was thrilled that my house wasn't going to be destroyed by kindergarteners! Emily celebrated this joyous occasion with six of her little friends from school. We went with a semi-butterfly theme (in decorations and cake choice) b/c Emily loves butterflies so much right now.

Pizza was an easy option for dinner...

We played a couple of simple games and boy, these kids were wired! They all really enjoyed opening gifts with Emily (she had told almost all of her friends that she liked the Littlest Pet Shop and Squinkies and so she ended up with lots' of them--she was thrilled!!

Silly kids!

Emily, getting ready to blow out her butterfly cupcake-cake!

Christian decided to forgo the fork and dove head-first (literally) into his ice cream

After opening up presents, we headed into the pool!

Daddy, explaining "Sharks and Minnows" to the crew

The kids loved squirting and attacking each other!

Even Kari (who hates her baths) had a blast in the water!

I highly recommend having a pool party in December! It was so much fun! Happy Birthday, big girl!

Emily is SIX!

Yesterday was Emily's sixth birthday! It was a super fun day for her. She wore all blue. She got to eat in her special "birthday chair" and she got a special visitor at lunchtime (GRANDMA!) and ended up with some pretty fun toys!

Her "scuba" set--we're all set for swimming!

She also was super suprised with her "Littlest Petshop" house. I just loved seeing her face (and Christian's for that matter) light up!

Then, at night we took Emily and Christian to see the BYU vs. Creighton basketball game! Cubby had gotten tickets through work and we all doned matching shirts for the occasion! ("Gotta' support the team," right?) Both kids enjoyed cheering for the Cougs (and using the bathroom every 5 mins--what is it about being out and having to go?) It was a great game and BYU ended up winning. We all got to go down to the court afterwards and see the players. There were so many BYU Alumni down there--it was like a Stake Conference! (It was also funny b/c you could tell who the BYU fans were versus the Creighton fans--BYU fans all had kids!)

We loved being able to go out and do something fun on Emily's big day--and she loved all of the attention (really, who doesn't?)! I can't believe how time has gone by too--I'll have to do a separate post on all my reminiscing! We love her so much and are so excited for all of the years and funtimers that are yet to come. Happy Birthday, Emily!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! It was a nice day and we really have so much to be grateful for. Here are the highlights from our wonderful evening!

Kari had a great first Thanksgiving and thoroughly enjoyed her feast of carrots, applesauce, Kix, and even some turkey and stuffing! We were all eating our delicious dinner (at Mom's) and all-of-a-sudden, we pause, and realize that the grown ups were actually able to converse with one another without an interuption every 30 seconds. It was sooooo quiet. We look over in the family room and see Emily and Christian playing quietly with Tinkertoys. It was as if the clouds parted and Heaven's light was shining down (complete w/angels singing). Incredible doesn't begin to describe this phenomenon. A pleasant dinner with the Lindseths! A true Thanksgiving miracle!

After dinner, Emily and Christian put Auntie Erin and Uncle Kyle to work decorating graham-cracker gingerbread houses. (A Thanksgiving tradition in our family; this was the first year Emily and Christian have done it.) Emily was an old pro at delegating and told Erin that she was in-charge of frosting while she decorated. Christian adapted a more free-form method and made sure he and Kyle's sugar levels didn't drop: "One for you, one for me, and one for the house" was his motto.

So busy! Harvey also got in on the playtime action and he and the kids enjoyed a good game of Silly Faces. Here's the whole crew!

Happy Thanksgiving!