Ward Christmas Party 2013 and SANTA at the Mall

I was in charge of it. And in reflection, I don't think I should ever take on something like that again until my children are all over the age of 10. WAAAAY to much ignoring, movie watching, and screaming at everyone just to get things done. I'm not above delegating. As a matter of fact, I delegated most of the big things. And then everyone backed out. And THEN…all my dear friends came to my rescue, who also all happen to have small children. Interesting dynamic. Mathieu was in charge of a photo booth. Here's us testing it out:

Sicily is cute. Grandma Jaylene made Delainey that outfit. She was VERY upset that it no longer fits her, and has been handed down.

Santa gave out rubber ducky reindeer this year. The girls were fine with it, especially Delainey because she thinks candy canes are "spicy" and she doesn't like them. Please enjoy the play-by-play we experienced as Sicily realized what was happening, Ella wanted to make sure we captured her new toy, and Delainey is just happy to be there.

And Santa visits through the years as captured by Daddy's phone:

2008

2010

2011

Whew...it's been too long!

Okay. Here are the biggest and most important things that have happened in the last 2 months-ish for us!

1) I'm homeschooling Ella and Delainey. I could not shake the feeling that it wasn't the right thing for Ella to be in school. I don't know if that means I'm going to homeschool forever, or just this year, but I know the second I pulled her from school I felt SO much peace. Unbelievable difference. We all love it and are excited about homeschool. Ella mentions missing her friends from last year, but we have done some play dates with them and she's always excited to the brim about seeing them.

2) We've had a few friends come and visit since we moved into our new house. It's SO AWESOME to have a guest room and bathroom in the basement!

3) Ella turned 5! We do birthday parties every other year. This year Ella chose Hello Kitty as her theme. This is the cake I made. It was pretty good for me! She had lots of friends come, some from last year's Pre-K class, and some new friends. Tons of fun was had. On Ella's real birthday Grandma Jaylene took her and Delainey to Gym & Swim at the YMCA, and then out to lunch. In 2 of the pictures below Ella is talking to Granny and posing with her birthday celebration breakfast...a banana ;)

4) We love each other. I love my sweetheart and our 3 little girls. I feel so blessed every single day. Hard things happen, I lose my temper,  don't get as much done as I'd like, etc. BUT, we have so much. Too much to not feel gratitude for Heavenly Father's blessings.

Ella is a Full Day Kindergartener

I feel sad, excited, anxious, and protective about the whole "send your 4 year old to full day Kindergarten" thing. Ella has been so excited and ready for school to start. It's bitter-sweet for me. Even though Ella can drive me crazy sometimes, she is so awesome! I love her a ton. She is so fun and funny and creative. She loves to learn and to teach her sisters things. She's a really great organizer, and I catch her at the right time, she will clean and organize the entire playroom! But free child labor isn't why I feel sad--it's just hard to let go of her for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, not knowing exactly what she's being exposed to. Faith. That's what it's all about from here. The Lord will help me know if something isn't right. The bus ride is too long, so I'm planning to drive her both ways. HOPEFULLY carpooling will work out sometime this year so I only have to drive one way, but I feel adamant about her not having to ride the bus for such a long period of time. I don't want to give up an entire 1.5 hours more with her! Aunt Becky took Ella shopping for some school clothes last weekend and Ella KNEW what she was going to wear for the First Day of School the second she walked in our front door! It was laid out in her room for 72 hours!

And here is my little 16 month old baby girl. She has the cutest smile. She talks all the time and even says 15 or so words we can understand ;) She puts food in her mouth of all sorts, but doesn't swallow a darn thing. The special Neocate formula is keeping her happy and gaining weight.

Blogging Behind

What I mean by that, is I'm behind in my blogging, not that my blog actually has a behind ;) 

July was such an awesome month. We had tons of family in town and were able to watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant a couple of times as a family, we got unpacked a little bit, and started attending our new Ward (congregation). We love it all. This house and neighborhood are so great. We are so happy that we finally figured out the Lord's choice! After 6 offers falling through one way or another, we were so relieved and excited about things working out so smoothly on our new home. 

Ella is watching a movie. The funny thing about this is that she watches out of the corner of her eye. I used to do that (and apparently still do according to my brother who brings it up as often as possible--shout out, Mike). And then I got a patch. And now it's supposed to be fixed. I foresee a patch in Ella's future...that comes from the Moscarello side.

Our Gordon cousins from Provo, Utah! They were randomly, and I mean RANDOMLY, in our ward when we were first married and living in Provo. We fell in love with them immediately.

This is my niece Haley. Before you start trying to set her up with all the single boys you know, please note that she is ONLY 13 and will not be dating until she's 25. That's what you said, right Jenny? What 13 year old is this pretty? She skipped the awkward phase. Lucky duck.

The girls have transitioned so much better that I thought they would. Delainey LOVES having her own "woom" (room). Ella and Sicily are doing great sharing their room. Sicily has decided to wake up and sleep walk every night, so we have a gate in their door at night now. I know what you're thinking; you're asking yourself why Mathieu and I are so crazy and let our 15 month old sleep in a regular bed. The answer my friends, is that she refused to sleep in a crib before she even turned 1. We have feisty girls. They know what they want, and won't give in. That comes from the Graham side.

I get to teach Primary and I LOVE IT! Dream calling, people! I teach the 9 and 10 year olds. They are the most obnoxious and wonderful age group in the world. I love being their teacher. My other calling is to pick the hymns we sing in Sacrament Meeting each Sunday, lead the music, find special musical numbers for Sacrament Meeting, and conduct WARD CHOIR! Other dream calling! Loving life.

Again, Ella watching a movie out of the corner of her eye...

Sister Snuggles!

Our Ward is doing a Daddy-Daughter Campout tonight. It's been rainy and stormy, so Mathieu decided to do one here! The older two girls have been SOOOOO excited, Ella especially. They are having so much fun right now. It almost makes me want to leave my peace and quiet to join them...ALMOST.

June Videos

Some Family Fun

Sicily liked pureed black means for like 5 seconds the other day.

 Ella and Delainey wanted me to take pictures of their eyes. Eye color is a big deal in our family.

 Sicily has discovered the fun that exists in a kitchen cupboard.

 Sicily was reeeeeeally constipated a couple weeks ago. It was awful, and she was so uncomfortable. This is how she fell asleep most times during that duration of time.

 We attended the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for a new Highway Building in a town nearby (Mathieu insures the town, so they invited us to go). We got to take a tour of the building afterwards. The big girls were excited to sit in the big "twactow" (tracer, Delainey-style).