Our December

 Shilo had her 1st piano recital! She did SO well! {of course I teared up..not hard to do these days}She played beautifully. One Christmas song and The singing brook. She got a new outfit to wear to feel confidant:)

 We were SO lucky to get a bit of snow! The kids were two hours delayed getting to school. And truth be told, had it not started raining I wouldn't have been above keeping them home to play the day away! They are so much fun to be with!

 They took to the little hill on the side of our house and glided down over and over again. Such glee and laughter filled the air.

We love when it snows.

 It was a good plan: They all pile on so they all get a turn.

Then they all went flying off at the bottom! They looked like popcorn flying through the air!

Down with a crash. Laughter and giggles pouring out of them!

 Trues turn!

He did this when he was two and remembered how much fun it was! So he was chomping at the bit to go again and again!

 He loved every moment!

I love when you watch your kids experience fun and new things!

 Shilo is my child who could stay out in the cold the longest. She never wants to come in when all our toes are frozen.

I never thought I would be the kind of mom who owns ski clothes for all her kids and even herself. I own ski boots even! Who knew?

 True wanted to make a snow angel, but he didn't like the snow falling on his face when he did it the traditional way, so he did it FACE down!!

Too funny!

 On the eve of Christmas Eve we headed out to Bellevue to go see the snow flake lane show.

We really like to see all the performers and feel the spirit of fun in the air. 

 Me and my girl.

I love her.

 These guys play a fun drum show of Christmas songs. People dance  all around. A drummer girl comes around and dances with the kids and hands out candy cane striped lolly pops.

 these guys stand on podiums and  play and dance for everyone.

 My cute boys!

After the show, we went to Lunch Box laboratory.

So good.

Poor Shilo wasn't feeling well..

True wore his Buzz Pjs and decided to draw Buzz on the back of his menu. 

He did a really good job!

 My brother and his girlfriend Amanda came over for Christmas dinner. Along with my mom and the Schipper family. And of course my gma was here.

12.

That's how many people were happily crammed around our table.:)

With grandma happily cozy in the big white chair. Joining in the festivities.

We had ham & prime rib, pioneer woman cheesy potatoes, three kinds of vegetables, popovers and gravy.

Delicious.

And the best company to spend the holiday with!
We had so much fun!

 On break we headed to the zoo with our new zoo pass from Johns mom.

 Someone made this on the fence on the way into the zoo.

Sums up the season perfectly.

 This little penguin followed Shilos orange glove back and forth for minutes like it was food!

I love that Chastin is such a sweet brother that he happily picked True up so he could see from their perspective.

 The highlight of the kids zoo trip is always feeding the birds!

True and I did it together and thought it was a hoot!

 Shilo patiently held out for one of these birds to want to eat her stick.

 Chastin digs 'the smolder' from Tangled! 

{ can you tell he has sisters he has to watch movies with??}

 True sported this Santa hat around as much as possible.

And in another pair of Buzz pjs! I think he has four sets now! All different!

And that's all he really wants to wear. Which is just fine with me!

 Christmas Eve brought new Pjs.

 Our tree on Christmas Eve.

 Chastins favorite gift....a cell phone!

 Jordan got her own smart phone and cell plan.

 True got a HUGE Buzz!

 And this super cute Hulk jacket! { from Jordan}

 Shilo thanking True for the head phones he gave her. So sweet.

 John got a new drill.

 Great grandma got lots of chocolates!

 I was crying the whole time she opened them. The fact that she could now sit up, open a package, know what was going on and that she was HERE by Gods good graces for me to enjoy Christmas with.

Her being with us was the only gift I wanted for Christmas. I love her so much.

 And John got me new Pjs for Christmas morning too!

Nick & Nora. 

My favorite!

Merry Christmas!

Fall

 True played soccer for the first time! So much fun to watch!

 Little man loves to hang out in his underwear and play!

 He is a warm weather lover like his mom:)

 Great gma enjoying the warm weather & having lunch outside. Jag is just waiting for her to drop some lunch.

 Come fall Chastin joined cross counrty. He's one of the top 4 fastest runners and loves the competition! Last night he said to me "now that I've had a taste of winning, I can't wait for cross country and soccer to start back up" his team just played their last game last week. They were one of the last teams still playing because they kept winning  in the championships! Even through all of his anaphylaxis shock episodes he kept persevering. I'm really proud of him!

 The kids had a day off so we headed out to the reptile museum.

 True had never been, so everything was so exciting and new. I love that!

 These are the cute little turtles my kids tried to talk me into.

Not a chance!

 This was a cute little sleeping tree frog

 They all got to hold a snake~highlight of their day I'm sure!

 It took a few moments, but True gave holding a snake a shot.

 It tickled he said:)

 I wouldn't want that in my bath tub!

 Next thing we knew it was Shilos 10th Birthday!

 True made her a beautiful picture! He's so sweet!

 Daddy brought her the croods and a new shirt.

 We went to cold stone, she picked a waffle cone & was so excited about it.

 I made her this cute shirt for her birthday party. then I made one as a party gift for each friend.

 Heres the one for the boys

 We had strawberry, vanilla and chocolate cup cakes for her 'tea' party. 

 We made pita pizzas with soda. Then we had the cake and hot caramel apple cider. That was a hit!

 I displayed pictures of Shilo through the decade..so sweet

 I ordered tea party themed cookie cutters from etsy. I made way too many cookies, but they all had take home boxes, so at least they went to town decorating, not leaving me with dozens of cookies to eat!

 All the kids dressed in their nicest digs:)

 They all had fun. And so did I!

Can't believe my little girl is 10! Where did all that time go???

I'm so proud of her! She has a strong head on her shoulders {like her mama} she is strong willed {which suits her most of the time!} she is first to help others, she smiles all the time, she knows when I need a hug or a break. She loves to read, she'll ask True everyday if he wants to listen to a book, she LOVES to clean windows! Shilo always helps her class mates, she can be trusted to have responsibilities at school  that are more than others. She reminds me to say pray with her every night, she heads up our family home evenings most times. She's super thoughtful! She always wants to get something for someone else from the piano prize box.  She's always pointing out something good to me, a cute dog, a pretty sky..I love her with all my heart and love spending time with her and seeing that big happy smile!