December ... where did the month go??

Whew! It's almost Christmas, how is that possible!? December has flown by! It's been a busy, but fun month.

Here are the kids at my parents house while Jon and I got out for some Christmas shopping.

Hanging up our stockings!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Starting to decorate our tree!

NONE of the lights worked! Arrggg! Jon was a trooper trying to fix them for me. He finally got a few strands working, but we'll need to replace lots of lights for next year.

Daddy and Jakey

Mommy and one my favorite presents!

Jacob putting the angel on the top of the tree!

Dylan - so cute!

We went out to dinner to Red Robin with Grandma and Grandpa A. after Jacob's preschool Christmas program. It was SO much fun! The kids did great and it was wonderful to spend another fun day with Jon's parents.

Ryan diggin' the onion rings - no surprise!

Grandma A. and Ryan. I love this photo!

Santa Baby Megan!

Megan and Ryan - these two have been little buddies lately. The other day Megan asked me to go get her night-night (her blanket) upstairs, but I was right in the middle of making dinner. I told her to ask Ryan if he'd go with her. She did, but he said no. I said, "Ryan, help Megan get her night-night," and he said ok. So off the two of them go upstairs and come running back with her blanket. Megan was so excited and then she turned to Ryan and said, "thank you Ry-Ry" and gave him a hug and a kiss! So adorable!! I almost started to cry, it was so sweet!

Megan has also taken a huge interest in being a "little mommy". She started changing her baby's diaper the other day and she's also feeding her baby everything she eats. It's been really cute! Good thing she's getting a new baby for Christmas! (a doll that is, not an actual baby!)

Lots of fun memories this month and lots still to come! We've got a busy few days coming up... cookie baking and decorating, Christmas Eve service at church, dinner, looking at lights and of course Christmas day! I can't wait!

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year... filled with lots of family and fun! We first went to my grandparents house for a visit. It was great to see so much of my family and all the kids that we don't normally get to see. Then we headed to Jon's parents house for dinner and more family time. The kids didn't nap a wink all day, but they did great. They love playing with all their cousins, especially Megan and Kaitlin! They became fast buddies on Thanksgiving! So cute! Here are a few photos from the great day...

Aunt Amy and cousin Kaitlin

Grandma A. and Megan singing Christmas carols

Halloween!!

We had a terrific Halloween this year! Our week started off with a special delivery from Mama Sam (Lisa's Grandma). She sent a yummy tin of treats from the Popcorn Factory. The kids were so excited to open it up and see what treats were inside.

Then Friday, Jacob had a fun Halloween party at school. They played games, colored pumpkin pictures, ate treats and trick-or-treated. He wore this adorable pumpkin shirt and I had to snap a photo after the party!

Saturday finally came and we invited Grandma Lynnie and Papa Tommy over for pumpkin carving and lunch. Megan loved the pumpkins! She wanted to help scoop out the guts and everything! The boys weren't really in to it, so they just enjoyed watching and eating their snack.

Now, the best part ... THE KIDS!!!

Mr. Incredible

Ballerina

Pirate

Buzz Lightyear

Trick-or-Treat!

Jacob's first homework assignment was to create a family tree. Their theme for that week was -It's "all about me". Here were Jacob's fill-in-the-blanks:

All About Jacob A.
My favorite color is orange.
My favorite book is Thomas the Train.
My favorite food is hot dogs.
My favorite place is beach at Tahoe.
What I like about school is the toys.

Potty training the triplets!

Four days ago, the triplets decided they were done wearing diapers and wanted to use the potty! For the past several months, we have a daily battle with them to keep their diapers on. We've resorted to duct tape, but now they are getting too smart and know how to get the diaper off even with the tape - little stinkers!! Every time Jon or I went into the bathroom, they'd all follow and say "Ry-Ry go potty" or "Meh-Meh go potty". After fighting it for a few weeks, we finally gave in and decided to try potty training. I still can't believe we are potty training triplets who are not even 2 1/2 yet! What the heck!? We decided to go straight to undies and skip the pull-ups. They are too expensive and they are basically a diaper. The first 2 days, all the kids did pretty good. A few accidents, but overall it was going smoothly. Then Dylan had a slight change of heart and he's now back in a diaper full-time. He wasn't catching on quite as well as Megan and Ryan, so that was it for him for now, which is fine. If we can get one or even two potty trained now - shoot, I'll take it! Megan and Ryan are really starting to do great! Today, both of them came up to me and told me the needed to go potty. Undies were dry still, we went into the potty and they both went! For day 4, I'm really happy! Megan has only had 1 accident in the last 4 days! I'm thinking she'll definitely be potty trained by the time we're done. Yeah! One less kiddo to change their diaper!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to Fog Willow Pumpkin Farm. Lots of fun things for the kids to do - hay ride, play ground, petting zoo, pony rides, farm animals, hay stack climbing and of course a pumpkin patch! Here are some photos from the fun afternoon!

"Too bright, mommy!"

"We're the king of the world!" (my favorite photo of the day!!)

(Yes, that's Jacob's head sticking out of the rear-end of a donkey!)

Hay ride

Boys, being boys!

Rainy day fun!

Last week during that crazy storm, I decided to make peanut butter play-do for the little kids. Megan loved it, scooping her play-do into little spoons and Ryan and Dylan starting eating it right away! So funny! Dylan's pile of play-do just kept getting smaller and smaller. They had a lot of fun with it and the clean-up actually wasn't too bad!

The following day, the kids and I did a little yard clean-up after the storm. We had SO many leaves in the backyard, we didn't even make a dent in the clean-up efforts!

This photo of Megan is priceless! New shoes, Coach bag and transportation ... what else does a girl need??