Picture Time

I hate getting family pictures taken. It is always such a long process and usually ends up bad. We haven't had professional family pics done since the twins were born so we felt it was about time to attempt it. Unfortunately-we had to go two different times since the first time was horrible!!! Our photographer was horrible, our kids didn't cooperate and we were trying to force it, so we walked away and said we'll try this again in a year or two. I don't know what we were thinking but we decided to attempt the picture thing again. I was prepared this time though. I requested a photographer that I worked with when I worked at Kiddie Kandids and I knew she was good-we had everything ready, we didn't go during or immediately after nap time and it was so much better. We love the pictures!!!

Thanksgiving and more

We had a super busy Thanksgiving holiday. We went to my parents for a Thanksgiving at 1:00. It was fun-and very busy-we played games, colored, made turkeys-played basketball. We were so worn out!

Thank you Grandma Ruth for the matching Hawaiian shirts. So fun! I'm just glad they were for the guys this year!

All of our activities burned off enough calories so that we were ready for our next Thanksgiving dinner at 6:00 at Damon's dad. We did a lot of visiting and hanging out while the kids ran around with their cousins-plus lots more yummy turkey.

We then went back over to my parents church for Emma's first birthday party. Needless to say, the kids slept so well that night!

We also celebrated Thanksgiving with Damon's mom that weekend. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal-plus a little karaoke as dessert-it was so much fun watching Damon, Cole and Ellee(who mostly danced) doing the karaoke thing. Luke would dance every once in awhile but really just wanted to run around playing with the toys.

We had a fun Saturday today. Cole started Jr. Jazz. He is in the kindergarten league. That means the teams practice for about 30 minutes right before each game to help the kids learn the skills. He was so excited choosing out his jersey-he's # 34. I was so proud of him. He listened to the coach and shadowed what the coach was telling them to do so when it was his turn he knew exactly how to do it. It was fun watching Luke and Ellee cheering him on from the side. Every time he'd run past they'd yell "Go COLEY!" He would just grin at them and give us a little smirk. So fun!

The Christmas break countdown has begun! Can't wait---I love being home with my family!

Slowing Down

Volleyball is over and I can't believe how much slower the pace is around our house. We are still busy with the normal stuff-Damon still watches the kids in the morning while I'm at work and I watch them in the evenings while he's at work. I just don't have to stay late for practices and games anymore. I'm usually home by about 2:30 every day. It's nice being able to take the kids to the park and really enjoy the time with them. Damon is still not getting lots of sleep but more than he was. It is so nice! We've just been enjoying the time together.

Last weekend, Sarah and Adam watched the kids overnight so Damon and I could head up to Park City for a little time away. It was good to have some time just the two of us. Thanks Sarah and Adam!!!

We also had some of Damon's work friends and Sarah and Adam over for the Utah-BYU game on Saturday. We were stressed when we turned on the t.v. and no cable. I guess someone had cut the main cable to Riverton and Herriman so nobody was able to get the game. We turned the radio on and listened to the first quarter-they got it fixed and back on a few seconds into the second quarter. Go Utes! It was lots of fun having friends over-I told Damon we'd have to have another party soon. Who knew? I like having people over. I certainly didn't realize how much fun it could be. Maybe again for a BCS bowl game?

Happy Halloween!

The kids were so grossed out carving pumpkins. Cole actually dry-heaved a little bit at first when he had to grab the pumpkin guts. Ellee daintily touched the pumpkin with her spoon and thought she was done. Luke actually started crying when we told him to scoop the insides out. It ended up taking a little longer than we had planned since Damon and I got to clean everyone's pumpkins out and carve them. Cole did his and then drew a picture on it so we could cut it out for him. Ellee just kept telling us that she wanted a princess pumpkin and Luke wanted a Shrek pumpkin. We finally just asked them which shapes they wanted on the pumpkin. It was crazy, but lots of fun.

Halloween was tons of fun this year. Cole wanted to be a mummy so bad-I am still impressed with what Damon and I came up with for a costume-even if it was a pain in the butt. Luke was so excited to be a ghost. He kept walking around with his arms out saying "ooooooooooo". He had lots of fun trying to scare people. Ellee was a black cat. She loved meowing and crawling around like a kitty.

I took the day off at West. Our volleyball season ended on Thursday night and so I was ready for a break, plus I wanted to watch Cole in his kindergarten Halloween parade. It was fun. All the kids came into the gym and walked around it twice, proud as can be. We were all there cheering on Cole. Mama surprised him and came over from work to watch. He thought that was pretty cool.

When Cole got home from school we started getting ready for our Halloween night. Damon's dad and Tonya stopped by to see the kids and visit. After they left we went to make the rounds. We stopped at my parents' first. Some of the cousins were there. It was fun to watch them play with each other and giggle at each other's costumes. Ellee immediately began following Whitney (Belle) and Ruby (Cinderella) around. She thought they were so pretty. She wouldn't let us call Whitney or Ruby by their names-they were Belle and Cinderella. Luke and Cole just got a kick out of roaming around and trying to scare everyone. Luke and Ellee were both a little scared of Courtney's scary costume. All the cousins trick-or-treated around the circle before we headed out.

After visiting Mama and Papa, we headed up to the Bell's home. We got there and immediately headed out the door to go trick or treating. Ellee latched on to Teagan, wanting only her. Cole and Luke were all about the candy. They ran from door to door. Poor Luke kept tripping over his ghost costume on all the big steps, so I ended up tying knots in it to help hold it up a little higher. They were doing great until the rain started, so I headed back to the Bell's house while Damon finished up with Cole. We now have so much candy I get sick just looking at it. It was a fun Halloween and the kids were so worn out they didn't even fight us at bed time.

A couple weeks ago we decided to go up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a picnic and some outdoor time. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast. We barbecued hot dogs and chicken and then went exploring. It was fun watching the kids trying to climb trees and getting dirty. They loved running through the tall grass and playing hide and seek.

Daddy, Daddy, Hi Daddy!

I got pulled over tonight. When the officer walked up to the window Ellee immediately started saying "Daddy? Daddy? Is that Daddy? Hi Daddy!" The officer couldn't help but hear her and started smiling. I told her "No, it's not Daddy." The officer then asked "Who's her dad?" I explained that he's an officer at the courthouse. Needless to say, I was able to get a "Professional Courtesy". Thank you Ellee! I think I'm going to train all the kids to start talking about Daddy whenever a police officer wants to give me a ticket.

Hello Gorgeous!

Some Pictures-Finally!

WWOP(worhtless without pics)-okay-okay-here are your pics. I guess I have not been doing a good enough job getting pictures posted on my blog. Here are just some random pictures of the kids that we love.

Mount Olympus Lagoon Day-I forgot my camera at home so took some pics on my cell phone since it was Luke and Ellee's first time there. This was Cole's third time this year-and he loves it. His favorite rides are Wicked and Colossus.

Ellee finally got her first haircut. She had a pretty awesome mullet going so we decided it was time to even it out and see if we could get it to grow in a little bit thicker.

One quick update-we found out that Damon is not going to be able to get the afternoon shift so he is stuck on graves at least until January when he re-bids.

Volleyball Season is here

We are still here, just super busy with volleyball season! I am at work all day, then volleyball practice, then want to spend the rest of the day with my kids-not on a computer. Damon is getting about 2 hours sleep Monday-Wednesday and working non-stop. There might be an end in sight though! There is an opening for an afternoon shift at Damon's work. If he is able to get that shift he will work Monday through Friday noon to nine. It would work better for us-now we have to wait to see if he has seniority over anyone else trying to get the shift.

Cole is doing everything 5 year olds do. He loves school, even though he does get a little bored. He is learning about safety at school and we are really enjoying his safety lessons at home as well. Sometimes I feel like we have Lou and Lou's safety patrol in our house (sorry if you don't watch Disney Channel).

Ellee and Luke are busy, busy, busy! They are going non-stop! How would it be to have that much energy again? They love volleyball and run around the gym the entire time, making up games, climbing on the bleachers, exploring---they just go, go, go! They haven't been getting a nap every day because they are at volleyball with me so they sleep pretty well at night.

I hope I will get more free time this weekend so I can post some pics and better update.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Ellee and Luke's new favorite thing to do is roll down the hill at the park. Luke loved doing it at all of Cole's baseball practices, but hadn't done it since. When we were at the park yesterday he said "Come on Ellee, roll a hill." They then spent the rest of the time rolling down the hill. They didn't want anything to do with the slides or other toys-just that big hill. Cole was a little disappointed because we still have to be careful with his hand so he no rolling for him. He decided to go looking for bugs. On a good note-Cole went to the doctor today and he only has to wear his splint to school so he won't be tempted to play on the monkey bars. He is so excited!

A little freedom!

Cole was able to take a real shower for the first time in a month! He was so excited-he got his cast off last week and is loving his newfound freedom. Last Tuesday the doctor took off Cole's cast and replaced it with a splint. He is still pretty confined in the splint but at least now he can move his elbow and take it off for showers. He was disappointed when the doctor told him he still couldn't go swimming or take baths. He had been associating getting his cast off with going swimming and it was a big let down. He will have the splint for two weeks total-as long as the finger is healing well. It has been one week since the cast came off and we are already seeing lots of improvement. He can now almost straighten the finger which he had surgery on. It is still too soon to tell if the surgery was completely successful because it is too swollen to bend or make a fist-and the doctor doesn't want to strain it that much. In order to hold the tendon in place the doctor had to attach it to a wire, drill a hole through his fingernail into the tip of his finger, and pull the wire through the hole-he then tied a knot in the wire and tendon on the outside of his finger to hold it in place.

Gross-I know but if it works we won't care how he did it. Cole is a little bit freaked out by the fact that his fingernail is gone, but is also very intrigued by it. He loves checking it out and trying to figure out exactly what happened to his finger.

Kindergarten update: Cole loves kindergarten. It has been pretty slow moving and lots of review but he is still enjoying it. We hope it will start to pick up soon. He's also pretty proud of himself because he has no problems reading the books-no words-no letters-in class. They haven't gotten into books yet, so I think we will just start supplementing a little bit more at home. I told him that this time of year is for the teacher to figure out what the kids really know and to review all the letters and things he learned in preschool. Luke has also adjusted to Cole going to school, no more crying. Ellee and Luke go down for naps right after Cole gets dropped off so that helps the time go a little bit faster for them without Cole here. Ellee and Luke have also been coming to volleyball with me whenever possible. They absolutely love it! Thank goodness-last year was a struggle the whole time-they did not like volleyball. Ellee just copies the girls jumping and running around and Luke follows me around with a stop watch around his neck and yells at the girls when I do. I remember when Cole used to do that. It makes me sad that he is in kindergarten and is not my little shadow anymore. Everyone at West has been asking for Cole, it seems he has stolen all their hearts and they don't know what to do without him there. I guess Luke and Ellee have a lot to live up to-but the two little flirts should have everyone wrapped around their finger in no time.

Well-I am back to work full time now. It is so hard for me. I love coaching and teaching but it is so hard leaving the kids at home and watching Damon adjust to the no-sleep thing again. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays he gets about 2 hours of undisturbed sleep-and that's only if the twins take a good nap. We tried looking into daycare for just Mondays and Tuesdays, but most of the daycare places by our house are either full time 5 days a week or full time 3 days a week. They won't add any kids who are just part-time because they want to fill it with full time kids. Plus, daycare is expensive-especially when there are two kids to pay for. I feel so bad for Damon-I've been looking for solutions, but don't know what to do. Volleyball season is even harder because I can't come home at 2:30 because there is practice after school. I would love any suggestions!!!