Christmas Wrapup

Our Christmas was great this year. We spent Christmas Eve with my family. We had a nice breakfast and opened presents at my parents house. It was a nice start to Christmas Eve. The kids also got to open a gift on Christmas Eve and they got some cute p.j.'s. Then it was off to bed to anxiously await Santa's arrival.

The kids found success under the tree Christmas morning. We got up about 7 a.m. Christmas morning and opened our presents and had a yummy breakfast. Then we got ready for church and enjoyed a nice Christmas program at church. The kids enjoyed the afternoon playing with their toys and then we were able to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. They all got what they asked for and have enjoyed spending the past week playing with their new loot.

Paige got a Lego Medeival Village, some clothes, and a beanbag.

Kayla got Barbie Princess Charm school barbies and house set, clothes and a bean bag.

Aiden got a Toy Story 3 Imaginext toy, geotrax train set and a dvd. Brock got a Cars Shake n' Go ramp, geotrax train and a Baby Einstein DVD. Collin got a Cars 2 Ramp, geotrax train and his favorite gift was Cars 2 cars, Francessco and Nigel. (I left photo taking to Matt and I realized he didn't really get any good pictures of the boys with their toys. I am going to have to help him out with his picture taking skills.)

I was excited for one of the gifts Matt gave me for Christmas. He surprised me with tickets to Lady Antebellum on Valentine's Day. I am really excited for that. Matt got some new fishing waders from the kids, so hopefully when he goes fishing this summer he won't get wet feet anymore.

We had a very nice Christmas and it has been fun having the kids home but I am so ready to send them back to school tomorrow. The good thing is they are also ready to go back.

Santa Pictures

A Visit to see Santa

We were able to take the kids to Santa on Friday night. Santa comes to the Carosel and that in and of itself is a highlight. The boys only wanted to ride the horses, but I made them sit on Santa's lap before they could ride.

We are ready and excited for Christmas. The girls have three more days of school and then get a nice long break. We have so much excitement it is oozing out the door at our house.

Playing Catch Up

It has been awhile since I have posted. Life has been a little nuts. I have had alot of projects going with Christmas and Primary. I think I am to the point of having all of my shopping done. Now I just have to wrap it all and do some of the last minute things.

We were able to spend this weekend for the Nielson Family Christmas Party. It was a day full of games, food, presents and spending time with the cousins. We were able to do a family picture with all of Matt's family. It has been about 5 years since the last one, so it was fun to do that.

Most of the grandkids who participated in the Nativity.

Our nephew Ryan is leaving on his mission on Wednesday, so we were able to also attend his Mission Farewell. It was a fun weekend and we look forward to the next couple of weeks as we count down to Christmas.

Our family with Elder Nielson. We love you and good luck to you as you leave on your mission.

Change is Good (Right?)

Change is going on all around us. I am checking some big to do's off of my list. Number one was get the boys potty trained. Check. Number two was to get the boys out of their cribs and into toddler beds. I have been putting this off, just because they have never climbed or even tried to climb out of their cribs and it is so nice having them contained in one spot at night. I finally decided they are almost 3 1/2 and they are big boys now, so it was time. Last night we took two of the cribs down and put two toddler beds in and then we converted one of the cribs to a toddler bed. They were all so excited and could hardly wait to get in bed. The first night was good, so let's hope they continue to do well in their beds and stay in bed at night.

Before....

and after...

Aiden with a very cheesy smile.

Brock showing me his "gamey."

Collin playing his Leapster.

Winter has arrived. Today we got a couple of inches of snow. Matt and Kayla went out to move some snow and get a start on our snow hill for sledding. Whether we like it or not, it isn't going to be warm until May around here.

We are looking forward to all of the upcoming holidays and I have a really good start on my Christmas shopping. Hopefully I can finish up in the next couple of weeks and then we can start decorating and really counting down the days.

They Did It

The boys are actually potty trained. The first 2 days were really rough and we had several accidents. After the first few days they started figuring it out pretty quick. They get excited to go and love getting the potty treats. We have been accident free since Thursday. Let's just hope they don't digress from where they are. It was something I was totally dreading, but after the first few days, it wasn't to bad. I actually survived potty training multiples.

Aiden, Brock and Collin all ready for church

Last night we carved pumpkins. The kids have been looking forward to that all week since we bought the pumpkins. The girls had fun cleaning them out and choosing their faces, and the boys had a lot of fun as well. I bought them the little kits that they could put their own pieces on and that was fun for them. Collin loved it the most. He even wanted to take his pumpkin to church with him today, and it was quite traumatic.

Aiden and his witch pumpkin

Brock and his Frankenstein pumpkin

Collin and his pirate pumpkin

Friday night we went to the Spookfest at the girls school. The kids loved all of the carnival games and got some fun prizes. They are really excited to go trick-or-treating and get lots of candy.

Potty Training

Yes. Those are two words I have dreaded for a long time. It is finally time to bite the bullet and start the potty training process. We have bought the cool underwear, bought M & M's for potty treats, filled a basket full of prizes and made potty charts. What more could we need? A little cooperation. I am constantly asking them if they need to go potty or always trying to make them sit on the potty to go and I am getting some resistance. They have all gone only once in the potty but we have spent a lot of time sitting on the potty. I am getting frustrated already, and we just started. I am wanting to get it done before the holidays, but I am beginning to wonder if they will every figure it out.

Aiden and Collin trying to be successful.

Brock in front of his potty chart.

I have never potty trained boys before, so I am clueless if my approach is going to work. If any of you have any suggestions, I am totally open to them.

I had to share this funny picture of Kayla from the other night. I went in to turn her lamp off and she just looked so cute with her pig and her hair done up in little buns. (The little buns make the girls hair kind of wavy/curly if you put them in wet and let them dry completely.)

Also, a couple of weeks ago, Matt was able to go over to the pool and test the redone water slide. It took them several tries to get the water slide right and this time it was good. Several guys went down this time around and no one got injured. The kids and I were able to go in and watch while they tried it out. It was fun for the kids. (I am pretty sure Matt enjoyed it as well.)