Snow Day

We had our first Snow Day here in Western Washington. We got maybe 2-2 1/2 inches. In Iowa that was what we called a "dusting". Oh well the kids were excited to not have to go to school. It was 8:15 this morning and they were dressed and ready to hit the backyard. We first had to find the snow tote and see what kind of winter garb we had available. Ayden needs boots, Meysa needs snow pants and Lauryn had everything pink!! Even though Ayden and Meysa were lacking some of the winter wear they still braved the blowing snow. They had a lot of fun for about an hour. I gave them spray bottles with colored water to play with since the snow wasn't the kind to make a snowman. Lauryn came in after about a half hour. Her gloves kept coming off and she was cold. Lauryn looks like a pink marshmellow!!

The kids loved eating the fresh snow!!

Wyatt and I stayed in where it was warm and worked on rolling over. Who knew being four months old was so much work!!!
All ready for some hot chocolate. I love kids' rosy cheeks when they come inside from the cold!!!

Here's to a fun snow day!!!!

Gingerbread House

For Family Home Evening on Monday we put together our Gingerbread house. We cheated and bought the Wilton kit, so easy to use and lots of fun. We were waiting for the icing to set a little before we added the candy!!

Lauryn got caught eating the candy as she was putting it on the roof!!

Finished product, it really only took us a half an hour to do this. Which was good, since we got started late, we didn't have a whole lot of time until bedtime.

The proud kids with their masterpiece. (I think Ayden has hit that stage where we won't get a decent picture from him til he is maybe 16, he always has a weird face in pictures now)

Christmas Festivities

We have been busy as of late with all the fun Christmas activities one could imagine. I have been shopping and shopping and oh, yes shopping. Now, I am not shopping so much because I really have that much money, but mostly because I can't seem to find everything I want at one store and so I have to patronize many stores. It makes for long days, and I really am not that big a fan of shopping to begin with. So enough of my boring Christmas stuff, the kids have been having all the fun!! A good and brave friend invited a few friends over to decorate sugar cookies after school yesterday. And boy did the kids have a lot of fun. All the girls ready and waiting for the go ahead to start decorating. Notice if you will the clean table cloth and the clean children.

We really didn't mean to segregate the boys and the girls, they basically did it themselves. They just didn't want to be near each other.

Ayden's decorated cookies. Not bad, but wait till you see Meysa's and her sidekick Marlee's cookies.

I think there was a little green sugar used in the making of those cookies. I don't think we could really tell where the pile of sugar or cookie began. Meysa's was overflowing with frosting. But hey they had fun!!

I bet you can't guess who's cookies were drenched in green sugar can you? Kids are fun!!!

Well today we got to go up to Dad's work and see someone very special, other than their Dad mind you!! The kids had fun stuffing their faces and waiting impatiently for you-know-who to show up. Larry the head clinic nurse dresses up as Santa every year and the kids love it.

Ayden got a watch, which he as been asking for.

Meysa was eager to sit on Santa's lap and loved her little princess doll!!

Lauryn actually sat on Santa's lap this year. Last year she wouldn't even let her bum hit his felt. She also loved her princess doll!!

And let's not forget little Wyatt. He didn't even cry, but maybe that is because he couldn't see who was holding him.

Wyatt and Dad watching for Santa to make his entrance!!

On a side note, I discovered my youngest Daughter is headed for a life of crime. I don't know where I have gone wrong in teaching her what is right and what is wrong, but I have obviously failed. Let me tell you how it went down. Yesterday I had to get some ink for my printer to finish some Christmas presents and we went to Costco but they were out of my kind. So we crossed the parking lot to check Best Buy. They had what I needed and on the way to the check stand I perused the digital cameras, just to torture myself I guess. After drooling over them and realizing that it was no use, no one was going to have pity on me and give me one, I told Lauryn that we needed to leave. We checked out, got home and went on about our day. Well today I got to the base(for the office Christmas party) and was getting out the stroller (the very same one I used in Best Buy) to put Wyatt's car seat in. And what to my astonishment did I find in the basket? My daughter's loot. She swiped a nice battery kit for a nice camera. I about died!!! I couldn't figure out how I hadn't seen her put it under there, and why had the alarms at the store not gone off as I was leaving. Long story short, I had to return the stolen item to the store and the bewildered customer service guy was surprised that I even brought it back. He just said, and I quote "Uh, wow, thanks!" There must not be many people who would return it I guess. So next time you see Lauryn I give you permission to call her "Sticky Fingers"!! Anyways that is what we have been up to lately!! Lots of fun!!!

First Cold!!

Wyatt has had his first real cold this last weekend. He woke up Sunday morning with a stuffy nose, congested chest and we thought he had an ear infection. So off to Madigan we went, no ear infection but still a baby who didn't feel good. He is starting to feel better with a little shot of Tylenol every so often. I was real curious how much he would weigh now that he is almost four months old. His last weight at two months was 13 lbs. 12 oz or so and on Sunday he weighed 17 lbs. 10 oz. No wonder my back is always out after lugging him around. The upside is there is lots of him to nibble on!! (The swing is heaven sent by the way)

Conner David Finch

I am proud to announce the newest arrival to the Finch family!!! Conner David Finch was born yesterday to my brother Andy and his wife Sariah. They are in California right now because this sweet little boy was born with a heart defect and there are great doctors at Stanford that are taking good care of him. I can't tell you what an impact this little man has had on me long before he took his first breath. Watching my brother and his wife handle this trial with faith and optimism has been such a blessing to me. I consider myself a pretty positive person and one that looks on the bright side of things more often than not. But I tell ya, being a mother I can imagine what Andy and Sariah felt as they learned that their little baby wasn't alright. I would be afraid, angry and sad. But they showed me what it really means to submit their will to Heavenly Father and look for what they can learn in this trial. Their example of faith has been a lesson to me. Even if everything is not ok, it really is ok. The Lord is mindful of us and he will not leave us alone, especially when things get hard. I pray constantly for them and for the doctors that are caring for Conner. I can't wait to hold that little guy and give him sweet kisses. Until then I'll have faith that all will be as the Lord would have it be.