Cell Phone Picture Randomness...

In the fall was the big Presidential Election, where Barak Obama was reelected for his second term. We did a co-op mock election and used stuffed animals as the candidates and the kids got into groups and came up with platforms, etc. I think this stuffed elephant would make a great president!

Alice just being goofy...

Huh. Exciting...Betsey befriending a bug. Yuck.

Carson was so cute about Santa this year, he wanted lots of people to write to Santa for him so he could make sure Santa knew what a good boy he was. He asked me and I happily complied.

We went to see Santa Claus, and Hailey and Emma were with us. Everyone got to sit on his lap and ask for what they wanted.

Daddy has such fun games he plays with the kiddos. Here he has them curl up into a ball in the center of a blanket. Then, he twists the blanket up and lets them spin and spin out of the twist. They emerge quite dizzy!

Betsey is Miss Independent. She really likes washing her own hands, and this sink at IKEA rocked her world. A lot.

Cuddling on a stuffed animal we weren't going to buy while I shopped at IKEA.

This is a typical hold for Betsey. She throws her head down on your shoulder and just melt into you. I love it.

Betsey made this picture for me. One of the girls taught her how to make circles and she is good at them!!

We had major roof issues at our house and here are some of the workers doing the repairs which took roughly three weeks in several stages.

Leaving Oma and Opa's house, where Hailey and Emma and fam temporarily live...they chase us down the driveway.

Ruby told Oma she liked breakfast in bed, and Oma was all over it. What lucky kids I have...for that matter, I was a lucky kid too with a great mom like that!

Nerdy, I know. Sometimes when I am in the neighborhood, I check on Mimi's house...this time I took a picture and texted her.

Rarely, but usually when my mom visits, my laundry room is actually clean! Here are the counters free of clothing! I think this was over a week after my mom visited and I wanted to show her how I had tried to keep it up.

Betsey got $5 for her birthday from Great Grandma and Grandpa Hamm. She spent it all on the rides at the mall...she loved it! Thank you!!

Every so often, Ruby will do her own hair and ask me to take a picture so she can see what it looks like. The old days of two mirrors are no more. Just snap a picture!

While participating in a public school water days thing put on by the local fisheries, water districts, etc...Ruby got filmed on some district video talking about the fun activity. She was a pro.

We had the house painted. It used to be Khaki and now it is dark grey with blue undertones. I like it so much better! The roof doesn't stand out as bad now.

 

Cell Phone Randomness...

Chris takes so many interesting (not so much) pictures of things on his cell phone. I had to include this one.  

I travelled twice to UT for my good friend Monica's wedding. I ditched my driver's license in the Seattle airport and they sent it home. I didn't have my ID still when I was flying home...guess what a big deal that was? Not an issue at all. They didn't even care. I told them, "they told me to show you my Costco card" and they didn't ask who "they" were (SEATAC housekeeping lady)...they just glanced at it and sent me through. What if I were plotting something terrible!?
 

My friends and I gave Kelly a little shower for her third baby boy! We did a moustache theme and it was a lot of fun. We started at a spa for pedis and some got manis or massages...then to a good restaurant for delicious food and fun conversation. I was in charge of the decorations/theme with Kel's sister in law and we were happy how it came together.
 

 

 

I love my "sissies". That's what we call them...the "sissies." 

Shopping with Betsey can be kind of hard if she finds something she wants. Here she is hoarding some webkinz at Justice. That was fun.

Betsey got $5 from her Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Hamm for her birthday. She spent it all on the rides at our local mall. It was super cute and she was thrilled and it may have ruined her forever...I'll never let her do that many rides in one trip! :) She is lucky to have such wonderful great grandparents!