So far this year...

We have had a lot of fun with the kids out of school for a whole second week. We got out on Friday before Christmas and basically just got ready for Christmas for the next few days and then the next few days after Christmas were spent just enjoying the Christmas afterglow. Once that wore off, we had to find some other things to do because school is out until January 7th. Which I think is awesome, I 'm glad they didn't have to be back today, it would have been way too short.

Parker has had so much fun with his set of K'nex, which kinda surprised me because he has never been a big fan of putting together small tedious things (ie. Legos). But he even spent some of his Christmas money to buy another set (on clearance) that makes a roller coaster. He built the base of it, but then Aliza somehow accidentally fell on it and broke it and he hasn't gotten it put back together. Mostly because they have been spending so much time outside playing that they really have not been in vegging. Today and tomorrow are chilly (40's) but we are supposed to be in the 70's by the weekend! Tyler and Parker are getting really good on their RipStiks! Here is the ferris wheel that Parker made with his original K'nex set:

Parker took this picture himself and is very proud of it!

Since one of my goals for the year is to get myself organized in my craft room enough to actually use it, I started unpacking some of the boxes in there the other night. I pulled out the scrapbooks, and Aliza had absolutely no idea that they existed. It has been literally years since I have worked on them (almost 7 years to be exact) and I have 7 years worth of pictures that need organizing and need to be put in books. Overwhelming. But the kids spent over an hour the other night looking back at the books I have done. I wish I had kept track of things better for Aliza, every move Ty and Park made is documented, and I have forgotten so many details about when they were little. Hopefully, sorting through pictures will help me remember!

On New Year's Eve, I took the kids and my friend Maureen's son, Mateo, to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. I was actually pleasantly surprised that it was an ok movie. It had no depth, but the animation of the Chipmunks was really cute. and it had a feel good (if not predictable) storyline. It had some very funny parts.

We spent New Year's Eve with some friends from our ward, playing games. The kids had a lot of fun and loved to watch the ball drop over Times Square and drink their Apple Cider.

Aliza and Parker counting down.

The excitement is hard to contain for some (check out Aliza.)

Dad and T.

Tyler and Tanner.

T and Park with the girlies...we joke around as parents that this is the dating pool for them when they are older. They are cute girls from great families, so we are good with that! T is talking to Connor in this picture...had to tell him Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, we took the kids to National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It was sooooo good! I really liked it!

And it was a bonus for us that they ended up at Mount Rushmore. We visited Uncle Rick there this summer on our way to Texas and had so much fun there. I highly recommend S. Dakota as a vacation destination alternative for your older kids. Mount Rushmore was incredible and it was fun to see Nicholas Cage lean up against the same wall that we took the kid's pic's on!

Today T and Park went to Tanner's house to play and Shahna, Tori and I took our girls and a couple others to The Joy of Pottery. It is a cute little pottery store where you pick out a project and paint it and then they fire it and you go back and pick it up in a week. Aliza did a great job on hers...it was a butterfly container that she painted pink and green and it will look so cute in her bathroom!

Emily, McKinley, Liza and Reagan.

We are excited for the rest of our week...and as much fun as we are having, I am also glad they will be going back to school next week. I need a few days to "relax" from all our fun!