When you get behind

I could give you a million reasons why I have gotten behind in my posts lately, but I will skip those and just go straight into all the fun and craziness that has been keeping me away from the computer.

The first weekend in Dec our ward had its Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast playing with their little friends and eating lots of yummy treats. Makenna was in the nativity for the first time. She was one of many angels up on stage. The pictures that we were able to take were Terrible quality, so we are not sharing those. But she looked adorable. In good ol' Makenna fashion she would stand still for about 20 seconds at a time and then move to a different spot amongst the angels. At one point, while all the other children were singing, she walked to the edge of the stage and waved her hand and said "Hi Mom!" That's my daughter! When I asked her why she was moving around so much up there she claimed she was nervous :) My silly wandering angel. Anyway, it was fun and cute. Here are a few cute pics of her with her little church buddies.

All the girls (all the same age) were sitting together on the stage and kept giving big group hugs, then laughing and then doing it again. It was the cutest thing!

Kellen anxiously awaiting Makenna's appearance on stage. Silly boy. This is the same sweater he wore last Christmas. I was amazed that it still fit him so I thought it would be funny to put him in it again. I swear he has grown, but hey, it works.

I always love when I come out and see these two sitting together doing sweet things with one another. When Kenna is in the mood she is great at sitting with Kellen and reading him books.

Kellen and Brookie playing at the park. It is cute to see the age gap closing and watching Brooke run around with the big kids now. I think my kids still overwhelm her a bit, but she will just have to get used to it :)

Kellen has finally mastered how to get up and down these tricky ladders....and he is very proud of it! He will do it over and over again, cheering for himself every time he gets to the bottom. Such a cutie pie. It is weird to see him getting bigger. He is changing these days so much. Even the way he is talking is sounding older. He used to call Elmo "Ya-Ya" and then it was "Ya-Yamo" and now it is pretty much "Elmo". He used to just call Makenna "sissy" and now he calls her "sissy tenna mae". It always makes me sad when you notice their baby talk fading out.

Pa just had his Birthday on Dec 9th. We went with him to Phil's BBQ for dinner and the kids "helped" Pa open his giant tin of Almond Roca that we got him. We love our Big Pa. He may be "feisty" as Kellen calls him, but that is all part of his charm!

The other day I finally relented and let Makenna play around a bit with some of my make-up. It was just hilarious. Here she is showing you her blush (which you can't see at all).

She was a very serious make-up artist during the application process.

The finished product. Todd and I both laughed and said she looks like an old 80 year old woman with bad make-up. But she was very proud of herself. She smiled for a few pictures, then studied herself in the mirror and said "Mama, this stuff makes me look funny. I want it off now" I told her I was glad she felt that way. I am far from ready to think about Makenna and make-up.

Kellen stole Kenna's which hat and ran around the house for the evening in it, calling himself a "bad guy" and thinking he was mighty cool. What a goof.

Kenna posing as a Jaguar (which she does any time she wears these jammies. Putting these on her is a sure way to fill the home with growling and snarling until bed time).

It's so nice having another set of hands around the house that can help hold Conner for me. And are they not so cute together?!

Conner hanging out on the trampoline outside while I swing and chase the big kids outside. I like him to join us and get some fresh air, and he loves it. Kellen said he was keeping Conner safe from snakes and monsters. What a good brother. He has quite an imagination for being just 2, part of which is provoked by his older sis.