Tyler's 9th Birthday!

I know I say this every single year, but WOW! time flies so fast! My sweet not so little Tyler turned nine on the 19th of December. He woke so excited that I had to take his picture.

It feels good to be nine!

He didn't have school that day either. It was our first day of winter break and he thought that was all kinds of awesome.  He invited his best friend Jack over and before we headed to uncle Ben's basketball game, we opened his one and only present.

Yep, it is his very first gun. A pellet gun actually. (Tooele must be rubbing off on us)

He loved it and only had a few minutes to admire it before we headed out for the basketball game.

Uncle Ben won the game, but I didn't take any photos for some reason. Jack had a good time as well. We got some free balls and Lily got a hat in a raffle that she LOVES. She also refused to give it to Tyler even though it was his birthday.

We weren't able to eat his birthday cake on his actual birthday, but I did make a cake and we ate it the next day. He wanted a 'Minecraft' cake. It is his favorite computer game and he even spent his own $30 to buy the game a few months ago. This is a 'creeper' from the game. Or, at least, my interpretation of it. hahaha. It was quite the fiasco getting the cake done. At one point Lily's elbow went through it (after it was frosted). Maybe you can tell on the bottom left hand side? It made Tyler happy so it was worth it in the end.

Tyler is sweet and caring and getting kinda crazy (in a nine-year-old kind of way). He makes us laugh. He is great at helping me out whether it is taking out the trash, getting a door for me or watching his little sisters. He is a wonderful blessing in our family. He adores reading, doing math problems, drawing comic strips, writing his novel on the computer and most of all, hanging out with friends and/or dad playing X-box games. He likes shooting now too! Happy Birthday Tyler! We love you to death honey!

FHE

For FHE on December 10th, we had our lesson on the Christmas story and read from Luke chapter 2. We also opened a present and it was the little people nativity. We used it to help the kids with the story. Afterwords, we made our own nativities using stickers. The kids had a blast! Hopefully they learned something as well.

Good times!

Aird Family Christmas!

Before we headed to Arizona for Christmas  (December 2nd), we had a little early Christmas get together with my parents, my sister Michelle and her family and my little brother Ben. Since Michelle's family had our family for Christmas and vice-verso, we wanted to do a gift exchange. It was really fun too. 

Grandma great giving Alyssa what she loves best! 

 Tyler with one of his gifts

 Tyler and cousin Will being goofy

 Lily with her barbie

 Jakey opening his present

I

I love this picture. My mom is an awesome grandma

Lily's First Ballet Recital

 Getting ready for the recital

 

She wanted me to take a picture of her "sparkly hair"

 Of course by the time we made it there, she had fallen asleep in the car! :)

 She awakened and was excited to dance on stage. It was The Nutcracker and she was a mouse

 Lily and her friend Gracen before the show.

 I had to take a picture of all the cute little girl coloring behind stage.

 so cute.

 Waiting to go onstage.

 Her class also played little snowflakes. They were adorable.

 Lily and Gracen in their snowflake costumes.

 We had quite the busy day leading up to the recital (I had to help get the ward Christmas party ready even though we were going to miss it). Anyway, in our hurry, we forgot to get Lily some daisies from Grandma and Grandpa Bremner. So, after the recital, I took Lily to the store and she picked out her own daisies, starburst candy AND redbox movie. It was the BEST! She asked me if she would get flowers after every recital and I told her "yes." She then replied "I just want to be on the stage FOREVER!" 

She seems to really like ballet when she isn't actually there. Every Tuesday when it is time for class she complains and says she hates it. But, her teacher says that Lily is the best in the class and does wonderfully when she is there! Crazy. She love love loved being on stage. We liked watching her too.

Uncle Ben and UVU

Last week uncle Ben invited us to the UVU kids night. It was SO much fun!

As we walked in they handed each of the kids their own basketball and UVU T-shirt. They also played ball with the kids. They had dinner and fair type games for the kids to play for prizes. Lily liked watching the dancers and cheerleaders.

 They were able to have the entire men's basketball team sign the balls.

 She was so excited to get her own ticket to the game the next night.

 

 Uncle Ben at the end of the line signing balls.

 This little one was having fun crawling around too.

 Lily and Jake playing around with their new stuff.

 All the stuff we walked away with. I love the little onsies they gave to the babies!

 I had to take a picture of Tyler making our gear look "just right" fr the picture.

 Here are couple of pictures from the pepperdine game the next evening. Alyssa liked her new shirt and enjoyed watching everything.

 Daddy and his girls. (Alyssa has found her nose and her finger is usually up there.)

 Lovely Lily.

Today's Agenda

8:30 AM: Wake up (late) and get the kids ready and eat breakfast for school.
8:45 AM: Run Ty and Jake to school.
8:55 AM: Finish feeding Lily and Alyssa (and myself) breakfast
Clean up breakfast/kitchen
9:30 AM: Put baby down for a nap
Continue cleaning and get lily dressed and hair done.
10:30 AM: Pick up Jake from Kindergarten
10:45 AM: Go to playgroup and hangout with other mommies who are also going mad.
Try to enjoy some mommy time, but end up with a screaming Lily who cut her ankle. She wants to go home. Entertain Jacob by constantly giving him ideas of what to do with the other children. Feed Alyssa cheerios and help her avoid getting hit in the head by the basketballs flying around.
12:30 PM: Pick up Tyler from school (because it's raining)
12:45 PM: Make and feed everyone (5 of us) lunch.
1:15 PM: Put baby down for another nap
1:30 PM: Get Lily and Jake to have a "quiet time."
1:30 PM: Enjoy MY quiet time by catching up on the 'Parenthood' episode I missed last night and fold laundry while I watch.
Clean up and chat on the phone with my sister. Fix lily's hair for dance.
2:45 PM: wake Alyssa early and take Lily to her ballet dress rehearsal.
Come home and nurse Alyssa and read to Jake.
4:00 PM Send Tyler to scouts
4:00-4:30 PM: get everything ready to leave for the night (or blog for a few minutes. :))
4:45 PM Go pick up Tyler from scouts, pick up Lily from dance
5:00 PM: Hopefully on the road to pick up Randy from work.
Pick up something cheap for dinner
6:30-6:45PM: Be seated and ready for Uncle Ben's basketball game at Weber state.
Enjoy the game. Hopefully not too much whining and boredom from the kids because their cousins will be there.
9:00PM: Head home for an hour and a half. Hopefully with happy/content children! I said "hopefully!"
10:30 PM: Feel guilty for getting the kids home late on a school night. Usher them to bed through the screaming and late night tantrums. Nurse baby again.
11:00PM: Enjoy a few minutes of alone time with Randy before we both collapse from exhaustion.
 Sleep. Repeat some of the same tomorrow. 

It figures

I made some beef and bacon bundles with Worcestershire gravy for dinner the other night. The house smelled heavenly.

 Dinner looked tasty too!

 The kids, however didn't appreciate the smell, taste, or time it took to prepare. What did they eat instead?

 

Cold cereal. And they each enjoyed it so very much!

It figures.