New Year's Eve

What do you do on New Year's Eve when you have 3 kids? You tell them at 8 pm is really midnight and you do a countdown.

We decided to let them go crazy with the pans.

And yells.

and whatever other sounds there are.

They had fun!

A lot of fun!

As for Blake and I, we were in bed my midnight. We did lean over and give each other a kiss. I was teaching a boot camp the next morning, so I wanted to get well rested for that. It went well and I started the New Year off right. I am sure this is a holiday that will get more exciting as the boys get a little older. No major traditions have started thus far, but I am sure they will.

Christmas Break

Christmas Break went on as normal. Blake worked, I worked and the kids and I played. We made our way to the library.


The boys on the teeter totter.

 

We also headed up to the WSU Rec Center. It's only $1 while the students are away. The boys have loads of fun here. We actually went twice.
 

 

 

 

 

We just got done running and working out, so I was showing the boys the stretches they should be doing. Rule #2 ALWAYS Stretch after a workout (Rule #1 Always warm-up before beginning).
 

I thought the 2 weeks Braden was out of school would kill me, but they didn't. For the most part I enjoyed having him home. With that being said, I was more than fine when school started up again.

Christmas Day 2012

Onto Christmas. Yes, they loved everything about it. They came down and were excited to see their gift. We opened them, played, ate breakfast, played some more, played in the snow, watched a movie, got a little bored, played some more and then went to bed. It was a great day. Mixed feelings on that day. We would love to be around family, but we also loved doing our own thing. The pictures kind of tell the day, so I won't say much.

You can see the mess in the bottom right corner. The boys got their favorite movies from Uncle Brent and Aunt Mallory.

Gma/pa Forsberg got them superhero snuggies. Gma/pa Barnett outfitted the whole family in Jazz gear. Brody got an Imagex castle from my mom and then Blake and I got him the dragon to go along with it.

More gear. He also got Chutes and Ladders from us. I think that's his favorite gift since we play it a million times a day. I felt guilty because we didn't get him any toy toys. Fun stuff yes, but no big toys like we did Brody. I went out the next day and got him the Ogre to go with the castle. The boys play very nicely with it. Word is my mom got Brody more things to go with his castle.

There was a beautifully powdery snow outside. The boys wanted to play, sure! Blake and I took bets on how long they'd last. We both guessed around 10 minutes.

Hunter and I hung out inside and watched by the window.

They made it 20 and could have gone more if Blake didn't pelt Braden with a snowball that dripped down his shirt. (Picture is before they went out of course. He was in tears when he came in.)

The best gift of Christmas comes from me (That's 2 years in a row now, last year I got Blake the ipad). This year I got Blake an icopter. Super cheap and super fun. What boys doesn't like a helicopter? Braden and Brody just adore it. My favorite was hearing friends say they got their 10, 13, or 15 year old boys helicopters for Christmas. I was proud to say I did too.

 In love with this little boy. He had no clue what was going on, but loved the excitement. 

Mom and Hunter wearing their Jazz gear.

Gma/pa and Aunt Amber, you would be so proud. We all wore our Jazz gear, except Blake.

A fun little rock ant Mallory got me. I LOVE it and plan to get another one when I visit Vegas again.

That was our Christmas. It was great and I am confident it will only get better each year.

Christmas Eve

Gasp, I know, I am making a blog post. I promise this won't be quick, but I have had tons of people ask me where I went. Life is where I went. I am busy training (about 12-16 hours a week), chasing 3 kids, cooking, cleaning, selling our house, you name it. I will start from where I left off and that is Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve was always a big deal at my house growing up. We have decided to keep it the same. That means a big fancy meal so mom doesn't have to actually cook on Christmas. I worked that morning and so did Blake. He got off early and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. I made a delicious ham, twice baked potatoes, and broccoli. You can tell 3 little boys enjoyed themselves.

I let the older boys drink raspberry lemonade out of champagne glasses. We also collected all the candles from around the house and ate in the light of the candles.

It was extra special. I even made rainbow jello. This is no easy task, it honestly takes around 4 hours to complete it. Worth it!

My lovely boys!

After dinner, we let the boys be Santa. They got to bring all the presents down from our room and put them under the tree. In the meantime, we had a huge box filled with presents from Gma/Gpa Barnett. The boys spent a good hour playing in here. 

We read Luke 2 and acted out the Nativity story. I am sure this will be an even more fun tradition as they get older. And then for the one gift. Yes, they get to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Jammies, of course. Matching, even better!

After a nice long bath, the boys headed to bed to await Santa's gifts in the morning. I wanted to make cookies for Santa, but Braden told me that he would be sick of cookies and would just prefer some good left overs (thanks Megan- a friend from the gym). Braden had been asking for a razor scooter like Micah (his cousin) or a drum set like Isaiah. I am sure you didn't have to guess which one Santa brought.

He actually brought one for both boys.

Hunter got the same gift that each boy got for their first Christmas. The ball popper.

Even with a really tight budget (due to medical bills, thanks boys!) we were more than blessed this year. We have grandparents who spoil the kids and us. Blake and I couldn't wait to see the kiddos faces in the morning.

Best Friend Myles

Just the two best buds eating food together in kidcare.

He leaves in March, so they better get all the time they can in together. They both love their food.

Bigger Sink

I don't know if it's the fat baby or the small sink, but all I know is...

 in my next house, I want a deep sink!

(I can't remember exactly what happened, but I am pretty sure it was some kind of diaper accident that needed to get cleaned up quickly.)

Appaloosa Christmas Party

It is that time of year again when we celebrate the birth of our Savior at the Appaloosa museum. Ok, we don't really celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas, but we did get to see Santa come into town on his Appaloosa.The kids were very excited, even though it was very cold and windy.

Here he comes.

This is what Brody's face looked the like the whole time Santa was coming down the hill.

And of course we attempted photos with Santa. You can tell Braden was eager to get up there. His requests: a drum set (no way baby!) and a razor scooter (perhaps!). Hunter had no clue what was going on.

 And Brody, he wouldn't get near the guy. He was even upset that I was near him.

  And some collages of each of the boys during our hour stay. Brody always had a cookie in his hand and some kind of animal.

Braden participated in each activity, well, he more told everyone the proper way of doing each activity.

 And this little man, he was just along for the ride.

He looks so much like his daddy. I love these two boys.

It was a ridiculously fun time. We got there early, had fun and got out. We then headed to that mall to walk around. This was the first time in the history of the Blake Barnett family that the boys walked around (no stroller) and just wandered the mall with us. It was honestly the best morning. Blake and I looked at each other as we headed out to the car and just asked, "Who's boys were those?" They were well behaved, patient with our browsing and just joys to be around. I am one happy mama!