Christmas Dresses

Just had to post a few pics of the kiddos in their Christmas Sunday Best. We thought they looked pretty cute.




We actually got a few good ones of all 3 of them this time other than Sabrina's hand being in her mouth. Here's a few that reveal our new picture-taking strategy.




Mike would squirt water in each of their mouths with the squirt bottle and then do something funny like run into something. They thought it was hilarious and they actually sat still for a reasonable amount of time. What we won't do for a decent picture in this house!

Gingerbread Snowmen

For FHE on Monday we made Gingerbread Snowmen. For $5 at Wal-Mart you can get a kit with everything that you need to make the Gingerbread Snowmen, all you have to do is add a little butter and milk to the frosting mix. And since it's more for looks and the experience than for actual eating, you can't beat it! The kids had fun and ate lots of candy!








Last Saturday night was our Ward Christmas Party which was lots of fun. Tons of people, tons of food, and of course a visit from Santa. They had a nice little set-up for pictures with Santa but of course our girls would have none of it. So we have another picture of Benson with Santa.

No Consequences

Today the sun was out and shining brightly which was wonderful after this week of crazy weather. In Sacrament Meeting today our Bishop asked everyone who had been without power at some point this week to stand. There were seriously 10-12 people who didn't stand in our whole ward. What a crazy week. Our Wal-Mart was running off a generator for most of the week. Everyone has school again tomorrow after being out all last week and I think almost everyone has power again. We did end up losing power on Tuesday morning (most people lost it on Sunday and Monday). The kids and I loaded up and went to Bartlesville and Mike came and joined us after work to spend the night. Mike came over to check the house during lunch on Wednesday and the power was back on. Unfortunately we lost everything in our fridge and freezer and Mike had to clean up the big puddles off the kitchen floor. But we were grateful that we were only without power for a short time, many people were without for several days. And the benefit to having a new house with no trees is that we don't have branches to clean up out of our yard.

We had an interesting teaching moment with Benson tonight. We were trying to teach him that our family rules apply everywhere, not just at home. The conversation went something like this:
Mike: Benson, what are the family rules?
Benson: 1 - No hitting, 2 - Be happy, 3 - Share, 4 - Family prayers and scriptures, 5 - Clean up, 6 - No climbing or jumping on the couches or the rocking chair, 7 - Only use nice words (yes, he can repeat them back to you verbatim)
Mike: Now Benson we need to obey the family rules everywhere, not just at home - at nursery, at school, everywhere
Jess: So Benson do we hit in nursery?
Benson: No
Jess: Do we share in nursery?
Benson: Yes
(You get the idea)...
Jess: So Benson if we follow the family rules we get rewards like being able to watch tv, treats, maybe a special toy. But if we don't follow the family rules we have consequences like no tv or time outs. Do you understand?
Benson: Rule #8 - No consequences!
And the teaching moment is lost and we bust up laughing. I'm not sure we are going to make it through this kid.

And just to prove that I can be really random I'm also including a video of Sabrina eating her dinner tonight. She's 13 months old and she eats a million times more neatly than our other two children. We have been so impressed by her forking abilities of late. Please ignore the background noise, in fact, do yourself a favor and turn off the sound.

Ice, Ice, and more Ice!

I know I grew up in Oklahoma, but I really don't remember freezing rain and ice storms. I'm sure they happened, but I have no recollection of them. Yesterday and today Oklahoma has had LOTS of freezing rain, thunder and lighting, and below freezing temperatures. Brrr! When you look outside everything in sight has a thick coating of ice. Benson was excited to see so many icicles this morning. The weather here really is insane.
Mike went to work this morning and he said that the nice trees that line the road into our neighborhood have all fallen into the road (10+). I was really nervous about Mike driving, but he said the roads aren't that bad. There are many people who don't have power and we are so grateful that we still do, although our power has flickered several times today. The kids and I have just been hanging out at home trying to keep warm. Hopefully it will melt soon!

The tree in our front yard. The little tree in our next door neighbors yard didn't make, it snapped in half and is laying out on the lawn.


The icicles hanging from our porch.

Christmas is Coming!

Yesterday we met Mike at the mall during his lunch to play and see Santa. Benson was in awe, Grace would barely uncover her eyes, and Sabrina was indifferent. As you can see from the picture, it was necessary for both Mike and I to be a part of it for all the kids to be in it. We love being so close to a big mall again with a play area. The kids played for hours and weren't ready when we finally left.


In our new ward, Benson gets to go to the Senior Nursery for the rest of this year. They get to go into Primary with all the big kids at the beginning to start getting them ready for Sunbeams. They sent home a newsletter which said the song they will be working on this month is "Stars Were Gleaming". So we have been working with Benson to help him learn it. He's got the first half of it down pretty well. Notice at the end instead of singing "Shepherds heard it on a hill", he insists on singing "Shepherds heard it on a step hill". We don't know what a "step hill" is but he told us he learned about it at school.

New House

Ahhh, it is so good to be back online! The cable guy just left an hour ago after almost 5 hours of work! I felt so bad for him, it is so cold outside. We are officially settled in our new (rental) house and we couldn't be happier. We loaded all of our stuff in Bartlesville last Friday and unloaded in Broken Arrow on Saturday. It only took an hour and a half to load up and right about an hour to unload. We had lots of help on both ends, it was great! We finished unpacking on Monday and now all that's left is to hang stuff on the walls. The kids didn't miss a beat, it's like we've always lived here. And the best part is that we have seen Daddy so much more this week that we are almost sick of him - JUST KIDDING! He even came home for lunch today.

Here's a picture of the outside of the house:


Next is a tour of the inside of the house. Now I know you will all be amazed by my videotaping abilities, so try not to be too jealous. I did my best ok!

Family Pictures

We were scheduled to attempt a family picture on Saturday, but now since we are moving we will have to reschedule for who knows when. So, these pictures we took after church yesterday will have to suffice for now. By the way, if anyone out there has any suggestions on how we can get a good family picture with a 3, 2, and 1 year old we could use some, see below...

The first picture we took which was also the best one of all 3 of them, go figure.

This is what Grace kept doing when we told her to say "cheese!"

Sabrina getting VERY frustrated with all the picture-taking...she's still cute even when she's angry!

Gracie and Mommy

Aunt Sarah smooching Benson

Exciting news!

We finally found a house! HALLELUJAH! It has been a very long and painful process, but we finally found the perfect house for the perfect price (to rent). Mike has been incredibly patient because let's be honest if it would have been up to him he would have already picked one of the MANY houses or apartments we have looked at. But I think we are all glad we held out. And we are moving in on Saturday. Yes, this Saturday. Busy week. Tonight we also went out and bought a refrigerator. I'm already experiencing buyer's remorse. We will email out our new address and other info for any interested parties.

We had a good Thanksgiving. Chelsea (my sister) came home from BYU and then we had dinner with my Aunt Julie and her family. Benson was convinced that the holiday we were celebrating was Christmas and would argue with anyone who tried to tell him otherwise. He is really looking forward to Christmas this year. He has been begging to put up the Christmas tree, hang the stockings, and put a wreath on the door. We have never put a wreath on our door before, so I'm not sure where he got that from. But he is ready. He is still our child marketing case study and will tell anyone who asks that he wants a Smart Cycle and the #1 game system (the Leapster) for Christmas. Mike told him that his Santa isn't that rich. Silly boy.

We discovered today after many hours of listening to Sabrina fuss that she is getting 5 teeth right now. Poor kid...she has been one unhappy baby today and her mommy is praying that this doesn't continue all week or we may not move on Saturday after all.

And here are some pictures so this post isn't too boring...

What's wrong with this picture??...I usually change the girls' diapers at the same time after lunch. One day a few weeks ago I switched their pants after I changed them. It actually took me a good 15 minutes to notice what I had done. I thought it was pretty funny.

Benson unpacked Aunt Chelsea's suitcase and packed himself inside of it. He told us he wanted to go on a trip and made Aunt Chelsea pull him around in it for quite a while, what a nice aunt!

Breeny and Chels

Grace admiring Aunt Chelsea's bling

Sabrina's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday Baby!

Our baby turned 1 on Friday. I never thought that I would get in the habit of calling one of my children "baby" all the time, but I have. Probably because Grace still can't really say Sabrina so just calls her "baby", and the rest of us have adopted the practice. Anyways, to celebrate her birthday my mom and I took the kids to the Tulsa Zoo. The kids were so good and had so much fun. I was very impressed by the Tulsa Zoo (I don't really remember ever going to it before), especially after going to the Sacramento Zoo! All of the animals seemed so close and they were all up and walking around so the kids could see them. Sabrina would point and "talk" up a storm with each new animal we saw. Then on Friday night we had a little party for her. My Aunt Julie and cousins came as well as a bunch of Jenny and Sarah's friends (who knew teenagers would enjoy a 1 year olds birthday party). We made her a little cake all her own and she enjoyed eating it. She liked all her presents, but she hasn't really been able to play with them much. Ben and Grace have pretty much dominated them. She won't really fight over them, she just moves on to something else. Ben and Grace have done plenty of fighting over them. I guess that's how it goes being #3. All in all I think she had a great birthday! As I have said before, she is walking more every day, but last night she figured out how to stand back up in the middle of the floor. Basically since then she hasn't really crawled. When she started standing up by herself last night we all started clapping and cheering so she started clapping too. Her balance still isn't the best, so she would make herself fall over again. Then she would stand back up and we would clap and she would clap and fall and on and on it went. Eventually she started to intentionally fall over so she could get back up and we would all clap again. This went on for probably 1/2 hour or more, it was hilarious. She really loved all the attention. We sure love "baby"!

Here is a video of the kids at the zoo. Sorry it is so dark, we were in a dark building. They were looking at a big fish tank.

Sabrina, Sabrina

Since our baby turns 1 this week, I thought I would do a post devoted to her. Sabrina is really getting into walking. I caught her walking several times today when I wasn't even there to encourage her. One of the times she walked across the kitchen to Grace and then they stood there giving each other a hug, it was so cute. Sabrina has also been pointing a lot lately, at everything. She can say "uh-oh" and "wow" and we think she is saying "hi" as well. She loves to play, especially with her Daddy. Tonight during scriptures she kept sticking a puzzle piece in Daddy's mouth and then he would spit it out and she would laugh and go get it and stick it back in his mouth over and over. She is really a snuggler lately, especially with her mommy. She also still likes to stick her hand down people's shirts, also mostly her mommy's. We're hoping she grows out of that soon. She still doesn't sleep through the night, little stinker. That is mostly because we haven't been able to let her cry it out since she shares a room with her brother and sister right now.
She was so sick and miserable last week and I was getting worried that she was entering a new 1 year old phase, but she is feeling much better this week and she is just such a sweet baby. We sure are grateful to have her around!
Here's a video of her a week or so ago. We were getting ready to go to Tulsa so I hadn't put her down for a nap hoping that she would sleep in the car. She was playing in our closet and the next thing I knew, she was asleep.

Here's a video of her walking from tonight. She's getting better at it every day.

Happy Halloween!

Whew, what a week so far! We started our Halloween festivities on Monday night with cookie decorating and pumpkin carving. Benson and Sabrina loved the pumpkin but Grace was terrified. She was really afraid of our jack-o-lantern last year but I thought it was just because she was so little, but nope, she's terrified of carved pumpkins. Which is so hysterical because she is not afraid of ANYTHING else. But I guess we all are afraid of something.

Sabrina thought the pumpkin looked tasty

Grace thought the cookies looked tasty

Daddy DID NOT think the pumpkin guts looked tasty

The finished product (not sure why they were all shirtless at this point...)

Then Tuesday night we went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. The kids did the Cupcake Walk, Donut-on-a-String, Grace did the Jupiter Jump, and of course they trunk-or-treated.

Benson enjoying his donut

Eating cupcakes

Helping hand out candy at Trunk-or-Treat

Sabrina was actually at Trunk-or-Treat but she has been quite sick the past few days and miserable, so she really wasn't in a picture taking kind of mood.

Tonight we went to my Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan's house for an Elder's Quorum barbeque and then we went trick-or-treating around their neighborhood. Their neighborhood is actually where my family lived when I was in high school and it is CRAZY on Halloween night. There are cars parked on all the streets in both directions and tons of kids. Half the town must come over to Colonial to trick-or-treat. Anyways, the kids had lots of fun and really got into it. They would run up to every door and they loved saying trick-or-treat! As soon as Ben would get his candy he'd say "Ok, let's go to the next house." Aunt Jenny and Aunt Sarah came with us which made it easy to carry them from house to house when they started to get cold. We left Sabrina at home since she is still not feeling well and it was pretty cold and windy. By the way, Benson was Peter Pan, Grace was Tinkerbell, and Sabrina was supposed to be Michael. Benson got asked if he was Robin Hood a lot. My mom and I made Benson's costume and I think it turned out pretty good for basically my first sewing project ever. Anyways, Happy Halloween!

All dressed up!

The kiddos with Grandma Stacey

Grace running away screaming from the Jack-O-Lantern

Practicing at Grandma's house

They know the drill

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT KATHLEEN!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Mike's 27th Birthday. We went to the pumpkin patch and then to a park for a picnic. I was kind of bummed because the weather was not nearly as nice yesterday - very windy and a little too warm for my taste, but we made the best of it. The kids enjoyed the pumpkin patch for the most part, although Benson found the only mud puddle on the entire farm and jumped in it with both feet. Mike literally had to pull him out because his shoes got stuck. But we found a pumpkin and Benson got to go on another pony ride (Grace was being shy so she wouldn't ride the pony). Then my Aunt Julie watched the kids last night so Mike and I could go out to dinner, which we really appreciated. I think it was a pretty good day. I am so grateful for Mike and all that he does for me and for our children. He is a wonderful husband and father and works so hard to meet our needs. We love you Daddy!

You would think we could get 1 kid to look at the camera...
Well we got 1...sort of...

Benson sitting on a pumpkin (I think we promised him candy if he would look at us)
We went to the pumpkin patch with 3 kids and
left with a giant pumpkin with 3 faces

Daddy feeding Sabrina cake (he even shares his birthday cake, what a dad!)

Happy Birthday!

Outdoors Unlimited...

We finally got some good pictures and videos of the kids playing outside.

Benson wouldn't ever look at the camera, so this is the best picture I got of him

Benson and Grace both like to push Sabrina in her stroller

On your mark, get set, go!

Gracie LOVES her bike

Exciting week

It's always amazing to me that some weeks are so uneventful and others are so full you have a hard time remembering what's happened. This week was a very full one at our house. On Tuesday the kids and I went to Tulsa to look at a rental house in Broken Arrow. No decisions yet, but it has possibilities. On Wednesday my family left to go to Moab for Fall Break and we had the biggest storm since we moved to Oklahoma. It was a little scary for all of us. Mike wasn't home from work yet and it was pouring rain, the wind was really blowing, lots of lightning and thunder, and there was even some hail for about 10 minutes. Then the power went out. It went out at 7:30pm and didn't come back on until 9:30pm. I was so glad that I had called my dad earlier in the day to ask him where the flashlights were and that I had been carrying one around with me when the storm got bad. I don't know how I would have gotten to a flashlight in a pitch black house with 3 scared little kids. Anyways, Mike got home shortly after the power went out and we found some candles and put the kids to bed.

Mike reading Benson and Grace a story with the help of a flashlight (it looks like there was a light on because of the flash, but there really wasn't).

On Thursday the kids and I again went to Tulsa with my Aunt Julie and cousin Jackson. We went to the Aquarium and Chuck E. Cheese's. The kids had a BLAST! They got to feed some sting rays at the aquarium and loved checking out all the different fish. Benson's favorite was the baby snapping turtles. Sabrina enjoyed pushing the big double stroller all over the aquarium. Mike came and met us at Chuck E. Cheese's and when he walked up none of the kids would acknowledge his presence. They were too distracted by everything that was going on around them. It was a very exciting day! On Friday we played outside a lot of the day because the weather was so beautiful. If only it was like that every day. Mike's birthday was on Saturday, but I think I'll do another post for everything we did for his birthday. Here are some pictures from the aquarium.

Benson and Grace helping to put shrimp on the stick to feed the sting rays.

Grace feeding the sting rays (sorry, I know our camera is bad)

Sabrina pushing around the double stroller

Benson and a baby snapping turtle

Jackson, Benson, and Grace in front of some jellyfish